What does it sound like?:

The 4th album by West Coast band Dawes is not as immediate as the last one, Stories Don’t End. However, that may turn out to be a good thing. Four days, and repeated listens, has meant that several songs that felt a bit like filler have now opened up to reveal a depth that wasn’t immediately apparent.

Let me declare a bit of an interest here – since someone on this (or, more probably, the previous) site posted a Dawes video, 4 years ago, the band has become one of my favourites of all time. Which, at my age, is bloody fantastic. I have devoured their records, seen them live quite a bit and bored friends and family by slipping Dawes tracks onto every mix-CD I make for them. So, I was just a bit excited by this new album.

Once again, it shows Taylor Goldsmith to be a consummate songwriter. Lyrics about lost love, aging, California and the world around him draw you in and, coupled with his voice, soothe your ears. The band are no slouches, as anyone that has seen them live will attest. Tight playing, tight harmonies and a surprising » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

It’s hard to encapsulate the album’s sound in a word, so I won’t try but it is woozy, claustrophobic, dreamlike and sparky – a real star turn by producer Ed Harcourt who also adds harmony vocals. The opening ‘Electric’ is slowly enveloped by a fuzzy warm embrace as Kathryn’s vocal slips into accepting ennui. ‘Mirrors’ crackles with synapse pulsing energy, Kathryn utilising her onstage vocal looping to great effect echoing Esther’s confusion and fear as her grip on her self starts to change. On repeat listens you hear new sounds and vocal inflections that pull you further into the eye of the storm.

The expressiveness of Kathryn’s voice has always been what drew me in to her work and on this record she really does emote the hell out of the material, the ‘ticking, ticking bomb’ of ‘Battleships’ giving the feeling of menace, fear and disgust in the book’s scene where Esther is cajoled into meeting her boyfriend, Buddy, by both their parents in an attempt to steer her onto the path to marriage and the accepted norm for a young women of the age. The imagining of this scene as a game of » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Do you remember that lad at school? You know the one, the class clown, always larking about? The practical joker with the gift of the gab, who could charm his way out of any trouble? He loved to party, loved being the centre of attention and everyone loved him too. He never revised, flunked his exams, but dropped on by pulling the brightest, prettiest girl in the school. You knew he was going to be just fine.

Then, decades later, you bump into him at a motorway service station. Over forty minutes, accompanied by scampi and chips, you’ve heard his life story. He is battered by a broken marriage, damaged by years of addiction and grief-stricken by the loss of his children. It’s a wonder he has pulled through and managed to retain a whiff of the old wit and charm. He tells a good tale well. There is much you can relate to. You are both the same age and you share some of the same regrets. The time passes quickly and enjoyably. You shake hands goodbye. You glimpse the sadness in his eyes and worry he can see it reflected in yours.

» Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Amazingly good. Like it is still 1974, man. Percussive guitar like early John Martyn, sings like Tim Buckley, arrangements like Bryter Layter period Nick Drake, apparently also a bit like the late Bert Jansch. You really owe it to yourself to check this guy out. He is on Spotify, Facebook and available in a good record shops. You will thank me.

What does it all *mean*?

The progressive folk revival starts here pop pickers.

Goes well with…

a good book whilst sitting outside in the sun sipping a refreshing drink. What sort of question is that?

Might suit people who like…

John Martyn, Tim Buckley, Nick Drake. He is playing Hoxton 2nd Sept and Guildford 3rd Sept. I’m going to the London gig. It is only £10.70.

What does it sound like?:

Rising from the ashes of (sorry, Bob, but the FUCKING AWESOME) Earl Brutus came The Pre New, whose Music For People Who Hate Themselves debut was so seriously ignored as to provide conclusive proof that there really is no God.

This new one seems to have more traction, though — witness this glowing review in The Guardian…

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/may/07/the-pre-new-the-male-eunuch-review

As to what it sounds like — like The Sleaford Mods you can dance to. Oh, all right then, like The Auteurs gone electro. Or like Half Man Half Biscuit if they were really, really cross and had a sampler and a bunch of Giorgio Moroder records to play with. There’s something about listening to The Pre New that makes you want to laugh and cry at the same time. This lyric, for example: ‘You left your tarmac on my drive, it’s the stupid things that make it so good to be alive, sleeping now, I am within, past photographs of you when you were thin, up your stairs, down my hall, past the Farrow and past the Ball, past the pictures of the kids when they were young, and all the emptiness the guy » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Merzbow and Whitehouse meet John Carpenter. In other words, dark cinematic melodies with screaming and power electronics thrown in. Sometimes it’s just the power electronics. Sometimes it’s just the dark ambience. But the best tracks, like the opener, Myth Of Building Bridges, combine the two.

What does it all *mean*?

Aaaarrrrggghhh!

Goes well with…

Emptying rooms.

Might suit people who like…

The idea of a Wolf Eyes and Haxan Cloak team-up

What does it sound like?:

It has been eight years since Murphy’s last album, Overpowered, one of the great lost pop albums of the last ten years. Now the ex-Moloko singer returns with an album of dark, pulsating dance tracks. Eight songs, all over 5 minutes long, one stretching out to over 9, this album takes a few listens to get into, but once the songs worm their way into your brain, you’re hooked. The first track, Gone Fishing, perhaps the weakest, meanders a bit too much, but the the album kicks into gear with Evil Eyes and then never lets up. Beautifully sung, Murphy’s voice giving depth to cryptic lyrics while synths pound and the bass pummels you into submission. There is dark disco here, but also touches of jazz. Standouts are Exploitation, Uninvited Guest and House of Glass. A superb return.

What does it all *mean*?

That one of our quirkiest pop stars is back and in fine form. Her previous solo albums, Ruby Blue and Overpowered are well worth listening to. As is the stuff she did with Moloko. Murphy has a voice of great range and emotion and really should be a bigger star than » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Gather round all you Yes fans – others have permission to leave the room! A 14 cd set encompassing 7 shows from late 1972 taken from recently discovered and restored tapes. The set list is the same for each show, although there are minor variations in the performances of individual songs of course. Some of this material was used on Yessongs, but these cds, unlike that album, do not include any material from earlier tours – so favourites such as Starship Trooper, Long Distance Runaround and Perpetual Change are absent. What you do get is a run through of classic era Yes material with the band firing on all cylinders and at their improvisational best. The set is accompanied by an informative illustrated and detailed booklet with articles on the discovery and restoration of the tapes and the background to the album, and comes nicely presented in a box with new Roger Dean artwork.

What does it all *mean*?

A 2cd highlights set is available as well, but hardcore fans will want the full 14 cd 12 hour experience experience, which is a worthy addition to the catalogue.

Goes well with…

Classic prog from » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

This album sounds like sunshine. It feels as though it was recorded outdoors with everyone dressed in bright colours and gleaming from ear to ear. It is lush with hooks and melody, sparkling singing, dazzling musicianship and lashings of percussion.

Ngoni Ba are a family band from Mali, a country until recently torn apart from civil war. There was a real threat from fundamentalist Islamists, who did gain control part of the country for a time and persecuted Mali musicians simply for being musicians. Now that the extremists are vanquished and a peace treaty signed, it is time to celebrate and dance.

A Ngoni is a four stringed instrument similar to a lute. Mastery of it is passed from generation to generation in the Kouyaté family. At least four of them are in the group. When they lock into a groove, the interaction and intricacy of the playing is stunning. Bassekou’s wife is the main lead singer but they share the role around and any number of them can participate on backing vocals. It seems like the entire extended family are given something to hit. The whole brew is topped off with western rock » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

It sounds like you’re having a night out. Only, in! HOW FANTASTIC IS THAT!

What does it all *mean*?

It means that Australia is still, after many decades, the most reliable source of top new music.

Goes well with…

The eighties. I didn’t expect to like this album, being mostly sorta-disco-synth-dancefloor (the album, that is, not I), but the sheer talent here – not least in the songwriting (hooks that stick like STDs) but the production, playing, singing – everything – hang on – where was I? ‘Ave I ‘ad me dinner yet?

Might suit people who like…

Music in their cars (this is, like, awesome driving music), music in their stereos (push back the coffee table and pop the button on those dad jeans! YOU ARE YOUNG!), music in their ears. I haven’t had such a good time (in a sad, lonely way) with an album since, ooh, since … hang on – I left the gas on …

What does it sound like?:

If the constant work-rate of the artist otherwise known as Mark Oliver Everett has been a bit much to cope with then this live pit-stop is for you. Never knowingly touring the same show twice, last year’s jaunt promoting ‘The Cautionary Tales…..’ was a stripped back, non rocking affair cherry-picking songs from across his career that fit the downbeat vibe. “Good news, this next one isn’t that much of a bummer…..no wait, sorry, yes it very much is” – it’s the way he tells ’em – mumbled deadpanned between songs. Despite being in the expansive, expensive (which is why I was at Cambridge for this tour) grand old venue, this sounds very intimate, warm and downright cosy. The band sound great subtly adding colour to the bleak canvas yet Eels music is more black dog humour than depressing. ” she locked herself in the bathroom again so i am pissing in the yard i have to laugh when i think how far it’s gone but things aren’t funny anymore” . The encore features Harry Nilsson’s ‘Turn On Your Radio’ and it’s a lovely song that I was unfamiliar with. Does E win his battle » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Following on from the release late last year of the 7 cd box of Oldfield’s albums for Warners comes this 2 cd ‘best of’ covering the same period featuring key highlights plus a dozen or so rarities. Disc 1 concentrates on pieces released as singles, including several non-album remixes and closing with the rerecorded version of ‘Sailor’s Hornpipe’ from the 2003 version of TB. Disc 2 features rarities and remixes, and starts with a demo version of TB2’s ‘The Sentinel’. Billy Connolly gives the rundown of instruments on ‘The Bell’, also from TB2 instead of the more familiar Alan Rickman version – Viv Stanshall’s attempt at the same piece appears on CD1. Several B sides are given rare outings, but the remainder of CD2 harks back to the period when Oldfield’s music was adopted by the ‘ambient/house’ scene. Of the remixes offered in this genre, the best is The Orb’s ‘Orbular Bells’ mix of ‘The Sentinel’.

What does it all *mean*?

The first cd is a handy collection for the casual fan – the second is for the more hardcore completist follower of Oldfield.

Goes well with…

Prog fans will like most of the » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

One day, you may find yourself browsing in one of those new-fangled record emporiums. You may stumble across this album in the Jazz section. There is Dee Dee on the cover, resplendent in a white evening gown, draped across a chaise longue, a perfectly posed white dog by her side. Behind is what appears to be her butler but is, in fact, Irvin, sporting a matching bald head. They are clearly in the drawing room of a stately home.

The photograph is a perfect representation of the album; high class musicianship, but staged and conservative. It is meant to be a journey through the history of New Orleans, including covers of old classics and a couple of new ones. The arrangements of the old songs are quite ordinary and the new ones don’t sound ‘new’ at all. All the New Orleans clichés are here, familiar to anyone who has seen a single episode of Tremé, right down to the Dr. John feature. I spent a lot of energy stifling a yawn.

To be fair, everyone is enjoying themselves. Dee Dee allows herself a couple of genuine giggles. Her scat singing is excellent and Irvin’s » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Last year’s untimely death of Frankie Knuckles caused an outbreak of ignorance on the Afterword board, but I’d point any lingering doubters in the direction of this new two-disc compilation, a worthy tribute to a man who not only practically invented house music but remained one its leading lights until the end of his life.

On offer are two discs of remixes and original productions chosen by the man himself, and though you may know many already (Your Love, Tears, Where Love Lives and Baby Wants To Ride are all present and correct) they sound absolutely spiffing here, buffed up and leaping out at you with fresh sparkle.

Meanwhile there’s a ton of stuff that you (and by you, I mean me) probably haven’t heard before: a tremendous, piano-led re-rub of the Pet Shop Boy’s Left To My Own Devices, which over eight minutes builds from its skeletal, jack-track beginnings into a full-on, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink mini-opera, and a gorgeous remix of Chaka Khan’s Ain’t Nobody that feels like a sensuous, otherworldly echo-memory of the original track. His mix of First Choice’s Let No Man Put Asunder repositions a 1970s disco number for the » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

The 40th anniversary of Tull’s eighth studio album is marked by the issue of this 2cd/2dvd set. The original album has been remixed by Steven Wilson, and is supplemented by the Summerday Sands B side together with three tracks recorded for BBC sessions (previously unreleased) and three early takes of tracks on the album, these also being released for the first time. The second cd is a Paris concert from July 1975, also unreleased until now. This shows what many would describe as the band’s definitive line-up performing at the peak of their powers.The tapes have been restored to pristine condition by King Crimson guitarist Jakko Jaksyk, who also remixed the recent ELP reissues. The two DVDs add various 5.1 mixes of the two albums, plus an unseen till now eight minute film of the band on stage performing the title track. The package is completed by a lavish illustrated 80 page book with numerous articles and interviews with those involved with the album, which is a great read.

What does it all *mean*?

As with the Passion Play and War Child rereleases, this album has really benefitted from being remixed and now has » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Surprisingly enough for a Blur record, this sounds a lot like, well, Blur. After over a decade since their last album, much has been made of this “surprise” return. Anyone who has seen them since their 2009 return will know that this new record has always been something of an inevitability, although no timeframes were ever announced. This album sounds reassuringly like the band’s previous work, but with a hint of further experimentation, to ensure that hardcore fans will satisfied, and that new audiences will still be found. The punky, shouty “I Broadcast” is possibly the most distinctively Blur track on “The Magic Whip”, and will slot in nicely to setlists alongside familiar tunes such as “Song 2” or “Jubilee”. This is Blur playing themselves, and as such is probably the most immediate, yet predictable, track on the album. Songs such as “My Terracotta Heart” and “Thought I Was a Spaceman” continue the ethereal, vibe-based, nature of Albarn’s previous work on The Good, The Bad and The Queen, and his solo album “Everyday Robots”. A few of the tracks also reflect the funkier music he’s put out with Gorillaz. But the presence of Coxon’s » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Their last two or three studio albums have found The Fall sounding like the received Hepworthian opinion insists they’ve always sounded. ‘Like a drunk tramp fighting a vending machine in a bus station’, or something. And for a long-time fan and staunch defender it’s been tough hearing MES gargle incomprehensibly over boring, repetitive music driven by the worst-sounding keyboards this side of a toddler on a Bontempi.

While by no means a classic, album number 31 is enough to restore your faith if, like me, your fandom has been wavering. Back comes vocal melody and lyrics you can actually hear, while on the music front, Poulou’s tragic keyboards are less prominent and the guitar work more creative than it has been since Imperial Wax Solvent in 2008. Ten-minute psych-epic Auto Chip 2014-1016 is the Blindness we’ve all been waiting for since, well, Blindness, and Fibre Book Troll bristles with aggression and anger. In fact, for twenty minutes or so, this album is as good as anything they’ve ever done, and finds The Fall in all their Beefheartian glory, with singer and band clicking in an unholy and irresistible cacophony, an inscrutable puzzle of music » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

I have to declare my bias here before proceeding with my review. I consider Tom Russell to be currently the greatest living songwriter in the genre we describe as Americana. In short he has no equal. This is the third in a trilogy chronicling the West that started with The Man from God knows where and continued with Hotwalker. It is his magnum opus, his raison d’être for the last few years and is an absolute joy from start to finish. It should be listened to in one sitting but at 2 discs long and with around 140 minutes of music it may not be possible to devote that much time in one go. Bitesize chunks do not detract from the enjoyment and it is clear that this is a labour of love that he must surely be proud of. How can anyone be this good? It tells the story of an Irish immigrant who left the shores of the Emerald Eyes as a young boy. The narrator is 90 years old and looking back on his life. A life of Cowboy hustlers, barroom brawls, gamblers, roustabouts and ne’er do wells. The whole set » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

This album is the sound of a young band finding its feet by searching for something new in the guitar-led blues/rock template. It is organic, sizzling with the interaction of a handful of humans, living, breathing, sweating, bleeding together in a room.

Brittany Howard doesn’t simply possess a remarkable voice. It is a voice that arrived with the slave ships, baked in the cotton fields for a century, then swept along the Mississipi to emerge with the power and authority of a lifetime’s hard labour. Effectively, she carried the first album, Girls & Boys, but, now, the band have grown and perform with assurance allowing Brittany to experiment. She approaches each song with imagination. It’s almost as though there is a different vocalist for each one. She is incredibly versatile, not just with her harmonic range but with the ability to switch the decibel count from one to 500 and back in a single breath. Her screeches and scratches are a joy in themselves. The songs and the arrangements may be painstakingly constructed but the playing is rich, tense and dramatic and there are plenty of surprises in the dynamics of the song » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

A vibrant time capsule from March 17, 1963. Not exactly a new release (2008!) but one that I’d managed to miss until now – my Clancys fix usually being delivered via my dad’s old vinyl. This, however, is the complete concert, complete with between songs banter (including some good crack about JFK – “Hail Mary, full of grace – the masons are in second place!”).

The recording quality is wonderful – I’m playing it right now and it sounds like they’re singing in my living room. And the songs! This is a great sampler of their range from up-tempo drinkers to heart-breaking ballads, via poetry (The Host of the Air), children’s songs, sea shanties and rebel songs. Most of my own favourites – their sparking rendition of Shoals of Herring, the Patriot Game (to which one Bob Dylan obviously paid close attention), the Wild Colonial Boy (any attempt by me to sing this is a generally reliable indicator that I have had Too Much to Drink) – are present and correct. And the singing! Those soaring harmonies show the Beach Boys how it’s done.

It just sounds like four men having a » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

This record had a difficult birth having begun life as a Beach Boys album which was derailed by the resuming spat with Mike Love. Following a somewhat derailed collaboration with a baffled Jeff Beck it then became a duets/collaborations album with ‘edgy’ names like Frank Ocean and Lana Del Rey guaranteed to earn Brian some Twitter attention. With both having walked off the project (apparently nobody in Team Wilson expected Frank Ocean would want to ‘rap’) this finally emerges as remnants of a Beach Boys album that never was and collaborations with artists which may be household names in the US but I have honestly never heard of – Kacey Musgraves? She & Him? Nate Ruess? Nope, me neither. In some ways I’m in the same boat as Brian as he regularly admits in interviews he has no interest in contemporary music (and recently claimed in The Guardian he had never heard of Kraftwerk or Punk Rock). I suspect these name artists were chosen and delivered to the studio by ‘his people’ – and that in a nutshell is the problem with this album.

I wonder just how much of this record is actually » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

A natural successor to the band’s debut Lonesome Dreams, this second album doesn’t change the template too much, although it’s a bit less of an immediate delight and takes a few listens before it starts to entrance. And entrance it certainly does, with a spacey, echoey twangsome feel that wouldn’t be out of place on a David Lynch film soundtrack. It has that lush rockabilly vibe and dark lyrical content that conjures up nights at the Roadhouse or cherry pie at the Double R diner. There’s also a bit of The War On Drugs going on here too, although you might occasionally wish the ethereal lightness would give way to the kind of guitar workouts that made Lost In The Dream everyone’s favourite album of last year. Best songs? There isn’t a duffer here really; close your eyes, soak it all up and let it beguile you. Best of the year so far.

What does it all *mean*?

“Where they’re from, there’s always music in the air”. The band turned their recording studio into the Twin Peaks red room in order to record Strange Trails.

Goes well with…

A damn fine cup of coffee.

» Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Very recently I picked up on Leeds post-rock band called Hood who released a brace of fine albums in the 90s/early 00s. They’re now no longer active but I’ve gradually been picking up their CDs whenever I see them in second hand shops as they’re now “out of print”. As I’m such a latecomer I also hadn’t realised that one of the key personnel, Richard Adams, has been making beautiful albums as The Declining Winter for a few years now so now I’m really playing catch up.

This latest one has all the hallmarks of Hood so if you liked them you definitely need to get into this. A somewhat wistful melancholy but strangely uplifting atmosphere prevails. The basic MO is a repeating, beautiful guitar figure which builds up with sometimes almost jazzy/motorik drum patterns and additional looping patterns of bass and other instruments added, and hushed vocals riding on top.

What I particularly like is the fact that the music feels like it’s constructed much like dance music along a series of interlocking loops and pretty repeating figures except that it’s played live and the instuments are mostly made of wood » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

This is – slightly unexpectedly – brilliant. I was a fan back in the day but haven’t heard his most recent stuff. However, for whatever reason,I took a punt on Mr Hackett’s new album, Wolflight. I have to say that I am enjoying it very much indeed. He seems to have thrown in a whole bag of influences – his trademark prog guitar, orchestras, choirs, some classical guitar, probably a kitchen sink too. And it all works. Wolflight is never less than melodic and tasteful – and is often downright exciting.

What does it all *mean*?

Jings, I don’t know. That I’m regressing? Oh, you mean the album? Ah, that musicians long in the tooth are still capable of flashes of brilliance.

Goes well with…

A mug of Earl Grey and some Quality Street, if this evening chez Cakes is any guide.

Might suit people who like…

The last Opeth album, Porcupine Tree. You know the drill.