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.

What does it sound like?:

Kendrick Lamar’s last release, Good Kid: M.A.A.D. City, was a masterpiece, a rite of passage tale of growing up in Compton. However, that now sounds suffocating, introspective and monochrome compared to To Pimp A Butterfly. This is a multicoloured kaleidoscope of sound with complex lyrical themes and narrative threads woven within its rich tapestry. Although one of the themes is being conflicted and depressed, Lamar exudes confidence. At times, his raps are literally breath-taking; they go so fast, one wonders how he actually physically does it without pause. He experiments with rolling the sounds around his mouth and adopting different voices to reflect different characteristics of his personality. He bounces his raps off the music’s flow much better than he has ever done.

The music is spectacularly imaginative. It sounds like a wild free jazz band, underpinned by Bootsy bass and backed by P-Funk singers. But, it can also slow down to perform polished sweet Soul. Thundercat provides the bottom for much of To Pimp A Butterfly and Robert Glasper sprinkles his stylish jazz piano embellishments just as Mick Garson did for Bowie on Aladdin Sane. Its vast array of styles most resembles the » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

A documentary about Little Feat’s charismatic front man and muse, from childhood through to his death. Lots of clips, rare photos and talking heads, pretty much unanimously agreeing he was incredibly talented and burned himself out before he could fulfil his potential. No family or band members were involved, or really famous collaborators such as Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt or Bonnie Raitt, but rather people who worked with him in the studio or in pre Feat band The Factory. It is non the worse for it. Famous heads would have been unable to resist talking about themselves, but the participants clearly saw him for what he was and talked in detail about real stuff, such as George Massenburg who taught Lowell the studio, or Russ Titleman who produced the first album.

What does it all *mean*?

One of this correspondent’s favourite artists, a 2 hour love in on the great man is a joy. I learned some new stuff and heard some old faves, plus, frankly, 2 hours of Lowell and the Feat in any format can only make life better (I write as one with manflu…).

Goes well with…

I watched accompanied by » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

All the Hawkwind you could ever need covering the years 1970-74. An 11 cd box comprising the studio albums Hawkwind, In Search of Space, Do Re Mi, and Hall of the Mountain Grill plus double live sets of Space Ritual, the band’s set from 72’s Greasy Truckers Party and 1999 Party recorded on the US tour of 74 but not released until 1997. The final cd, Of Time and Stars, is new for this collection and comprises numerous singles, edits, rarities, etc.

What does it all *mean*?

If you like what we can loosely define as ‘space rock’ then you will be in your element with this set, which is nicely presented in a clam shell box. Sometimes the live material can drag and be a bit much of a muchness, but all the classic material from that period is present and correct here.

Goes well with…

Meant for dipping into rather than hearing in one sitting! The best of the material, eg on Space Ritual, has stood the test of time well, bearing in mind it was recorded over forty years ago. Other pieces have not aged so well however, and some judicious » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Melancholy. There’s no way around it. That the cheeriest song on the album is called ‘Until You Were Gone’ gives you some measure of how chirpy the whole thing gets, nevertheless you never feel depressed by it. There’s a sort of mournful nobility about the record that prompts people to mutter things like ‘well crafted’ and ‘organic’.

What does it all *mean*?

You still can’t beat a man with an acoustic guitar telling stories.

Goes well with…

Dim lights and thick smoke.

Might suit people who like…

Townes van Zandt, John Prine, Slaid Cleaves.

What does it sound like?:

On their first album for seventeen years Swervedriver decide, in my view correctly, that a comeback album had better connect you with why people liked you in the first place. It’s straight outta Oxford circa 1990 and sounds all the better for it. Languid vocals, pattering drums and gauzy washes of guitar abound in a set of strong songs with an easy mid-pace flow the dominant rhythm. It’s if possible even more melodic than I remember from them first time around, with less rifferama and softer guitar work. English Subtitles, in my view the standout track, is just beautiful and (should) have you reaching for the replay button.

What does it all *mean*?

The worst-named genre of all time has life in it left. And as with all such bands the vocals are buried so deep in the mix that they could be singing, in very lovely ways, about frozen peas, or world peace. I might go and see them on tour in May as they’re coming to Birmingham.

Goes well with…

Sitting in the park with the sun out and some cold beers. Driving through Monument Valley with the top down. It’s a » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

You wouldn’t expect the voice to be the standout feature of an album from a bloke in remission from cancer of the oesophagus but that’s how it is with the 2014 release from Jesse Winchester. I bought it last year but Mrs Wells has latched onto it and has it on high rotation which has prompted me to spread the word. From his first eponymous album all the way through this fairly lethargic recording career it has always been the voice that has captivated me and many others. He is at his best singing wistful ballads or gospel styled paeans to the simple life and simple values (Yankee Lady for example) which are punctuated, less successfully by upbeat country rock or New Orleans influences. Being in remission is the ultimate reminder that your career is drawing to a close so there are songs including some doowop harking back to his youth .But it’s always the ballads that have me just stop whatever I am doing, turn up and wonder at the gentle glory of a voice that makes me feel comforted like the warm glow. Elvis Costello organised a tribute album when he was » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Post-industrial funk, light on the anvil smashing and slap bass but heavy on the choppy guitars and being shouted at through a megaphone, the re-lifed Brizzle funsters are back, Back, BACK with an all-new album of very angry, but strangely uplifting songs about how rubbish modern life really is. ‘S.O.P.H.I.A.’ is, actually quite lovely in its own, twisted way, and ‘Box 9’ gets the blood pumping in a compelling and hypntotic fashion.

What does it all *mean*?

I don’t know – these oldsters today, you’ve seen ’em, down the town hall, in their ill-fitting suits, jumping on the bins, shouting “Wake up, Sheeple!” at folk; you can’t hear a word they’re singing…

Goes well with…

Shouting at Audi drivers on the morning commute.

Might suit people who like…

Adrian Sherwood, dissonance, Agit prop, amphetamines.

What does it sound like?:

I bought 3 albums on the one day and all were bought with trepidation – but with each I had different reasons for the trrepidation. Mary Gauthier’s album of last year sounded like another gut wrencher documenting her emotional torture after a broken relationship- and it was . Steve Earle has also had a break up but he should be used to them. His album was reported as straight up blues and I feared it could be just a bar band thumper and so far it seems that way. Then there’s Bob’s newie. It seems like he is working through his bucket-list of things he wants to do – Xmas album – tick,next up Bobby does Frankie. I wonder what’s next. Most will know the background. He has his tour band playing pretty much live in the studio, doing stripped down sparse interpretations of songs that may not necessarily have been made famous by Sinatra but have at least been sung by him. Maybe these were just songs Dylan liked and the marketers packaged it up as a collection of Sinatra songs.But I digress. The trepidation -well it’s obvious innit. Perhaps the greatest voice » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

The fourth SW album proper comes with a storyline (loneliness in the city, detachment from the world… you probably all know it by now) and the resulting songs are gorgeously evocative examples of Wilson’s craft. He’s ditched the Crimson riffing this time for beautiful melodies and some spooky ambient/electro passages; lots of proggy time changes of course, but everything is held together by a unique vision.

What does it all *mean*?

If you listen to music in your car or from your telephone apparatus, this clearly isn’t for you. This album (especially the multi-disc version) really IS an album, and it keeps you interested on so many levels: there’s the story, the 140-page book with pictures, documents, crossed-out text and narratives that add a whole new dimension to the songs. And on the additional discs are alternative arrangements and mixes, too.

Goes well with…

…all his other projects. There’s the grandiosity of Porcupine Tree, the atmospheric moods of No-Man, the dark ambience of Bass Communion, and the melodic song craft of Blackfield. Plus, Mr. Wilson plays some beautiful piano on some of the demos included (one solo reminds me of ELP’s “Like A Pebble” » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

I’ve been waiting for this album for a couple of years, since I first heard of the band – eagerly since I saw them live last summer. At long last it’s here! That kind of anticipation can easily turn into bitter disappointment, but not this time. In fact; I wouldn’t be surprised if this album is still in my top ten when we sum up the music year of 2015. Amason is a Swedish “indie super group” with members from Dungen, Miike Snow, Idiot Wind and Little Majorette, and together they make the loveliest pop music I’ve heard in a long while. The voice of Amanda Bergman is sensational, the overall sound is relaxed and effortless. The melodies are immediately catchy without being shallow or banal or annoying. Most tracks have English lyrics, some have Swedish lyrics. Some titles are in English and some in Swedish – not necessarily to do with the language of the lyrics. Gustav Ejstes’ fingerprints are all over the Swedish lyrics, but this is not another Dungen, this is something else, this band has its very own voice.

What does it all *mean*?

Listening to this album feels like » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Yet another compilation, presumably put out as a way to flog the three ‘new’ songs on here. The best of these by far is ‘Let Me In Your Heart Again’, an outtake from The Works album, and decent enough if you like the commercial/poppier side of Queen. ‘There Must Be More To Life Than This’ is a duet with a very youthful sounding Michael Jackson, whose voice sounds very weak next to Mercury’s. The other two songs they recorded in 1981 remain in the vaults, presumably held back for another future release, but you can see why this was rejected for inclusion on both Hot Space and The Works before a solo version finally appeared on Fred’s Mr Bad Guy album. ‘Love Kills’ is simply a slowed down band version of the Giorgio Moroder hi – nrg track most will be familiar with.

What does it all *mean*?

Comes in both single and expanded two cd versions, and it’s good to hear some of the less familiar Queen songs like Lily of The Valley, Drowse and Nevermore alongside the usual selection of well known tracks such as You’re My Best Friend, Somebody To Love » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

This is the fourth LP from Marple’s finest Dutch Uncles. I caught a support slot from them a few years ago when they were promoting their debut and was immediately grabbed by their strangeness and charm. It’s hard to pin down what they do, best way I can describe it is a mixture of angular indie, a jauntier take on the sort of sophisticated pop the likes of Talk Talk, late period XTC and Blue Nile did in the 1980s, a Kate Bush approach to melodic leaps and twists and just a dash of the less noodly side of prog rock. This record is more electronic than previously, the guitars take a back seat to synths which recall 80 movie sountrack tropes albiet offset by a lush sounding string section. There is, on first listen, a certain lack of instant hooks, however there are melodies and refrains that creep up on your with repeated listens which is the mark of an album you’ll want to revisit again to reveal its charms.

What does it all *mean*?

If you’re not familiar with the band, some may find the fey, warbling vocals and some of the » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Quiet pastoral folk, with occasional shuffling beats and mumbled vocals. Basically it sounds like his other albums. The album is another treat or anyone who fell in love with his music when his cover of The Knife’s “Heartbeats” was included on a Sony advert with bouncing balls in San Francisco. The track “Leaf Off / The Cave” is perhaps a bit more gospel influenced than his previous work, with a video celebrating uniqueness. The haunting “Every Age” follows a similar vibe, celebrating the whole of life itself through somewhat melancholy music, and a pioneering music video offering a unique view of the earth from space.

What does it all *mean*?

I’m sure when he wrote the words he meant it, man, but essentially this is just a nice folk-y album to listen to… nothing more.

Goes well with…

Jumpers, comfy slippers, beards and everything else Scandinavian (although maybe not lengthy crime dramas…)

Might suit people who like…

Damien Rice, Kathryn Williams, Nick Drake, Sun Kil Moon