Toyah "Anthem" (1981)

Anthem
release date: May 22, 1981
format: cd (1999 enhanced reissue)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,82]
producer: Nick Tauber
label: Connoisseur Collection - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "I Want to Be Free" (4 / 5) (live) - 2. "Obsolete" - 3. "Pop Star" - 5. "Jungles of Jupiter" - 7. "It's a Mystery" (4,5 / 5) - 8. "Masai Boy" - 9. "Marionette"

3rd studio album by Toyah [the band] following The Blue Meaning (1980) originally released on Safari Records. Here the band again showcases one of its ever-changing line-ups as only lead vocalist and songwriter Toyah Wilcox and main musical composer Joel Bogen on guitar took part in the making of the predecessor, and here they constitute Toyah together with three new members: Phil Spalding on bass, Adrian Lee on keyboards and Nigel Glockler on drums.

Musically, the album is not only Toyah's best charting album (and only album to reach "Gold" status) but also the band's most famous studio release. Despite only following The Blue Meaning (1980) by some 11 months, this is quite a different tonal experience. The '80 album was made with other band members, and although, the songs were also primarily by Wilcox and Bogen, the songs on Anthem introduce a completely new approach and style, but more importantly: the songs are simply better on every level. The Nina Hagen / Siouxsie Sioux influences are gone, and instead some would argue that Wilcox here instead loans (too) much from songs and the singing style of Kate Bush.

The album spawned Toyah's biggest hit song, the non-single cover song "It's a Mystery" (released on the Four From Toyah ep) - written and composed by Keith Hale (originally for his band Blood Donor), who also co-wrote two songs for Toyah on the debut album, Sheep Farming in Barnet (1979), and the album itself peaked at #2 on the albums chart list only surpassed by Kings of the Wild Frontier by Adam & The Ants [which is a bit of a paradox as that was released in Nov. 1980, hence only featured on the successive year's list]. Also the single "I Want to Be Free" was a commercial success peaking at #8 on the singles chart list.

Anthem may owe much to Kate Bush, David Bowie, Blondie and Patti Smith, but it's still an original mix and a most coherent whole that belongs to the list of truly fine and important albums of the early 1980s, and imho, it should be included in any list compiling the best of new wave.

The 1999 "enhanced" cd issue contains an additional six bonus tracks.

Recommended.

Out of the Woods "Birds and Beasts" (2020)

Birds and Beasts [debut]

release date: Jun. 12, 2020

format: vinyl (gatefold - OOTWLP1)

[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,48]

producer: Ditte Grube Barild

label: self-released - nationality:

Studio album debut by Out of the Woods aka Ditte Grube Barild who has written, arranged, recorded, and produced all songs.

I purchased this on the evening of a concert with Nana Bech and Out of the Woods in my hometown back in 2020. I must confess that I found the performance and the music by Bech superior to this but still wanted to support two performing artists by purchasing their music. However, I do find this lacking an original tone and frankly think of it as non-inspiring. That said, Ditte Grube has produced everything on her own, which calls for much respect, but as a an original work of art, as a musical statement, I think the album suffers on several parameters. The songs and the albums as such are quite a coherent whole but also lacking colours that enables you to distinguish the single tracks from one another., and then the arrangements of it all simply call for supporting instrumentation. Not all music needs melody lines and musical hooks in a traditional sense, but if you aim to construct music in other ways, you need something else to grab the listener's attention - and this is where Birds and Beasts fail, 'cause the narratives are not strong enough, the music is too anonymous, and I guess you could say the same about the vocal performance by Ditte Grube.

Not recommended.

Bob Mould "Blue Hearts" (2020)

Blue Hearts

release date: Sep. 25, 2020

format: digital (14 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,88]

producer: Bob Mould

label: Merge Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 2. "Next Generation" - 3. "American Crisis" - 5. "Forecast of Rain" - 7. "Siberian Butterfly" - 8. "Everyth!ng to You" - 10. "Baby Needs a Cookie" - 12. "Leather Dreams"

13th studio album by Bob Mould as usual released on Merge follows 1½ years after Sunshine Rock (2019), and it's as usual with Mould as producer and songwriter and composer on all tracks.

It may not be the strongest progression that we are witnessing here - in fact, it's as if in his older days Mould seems to have sought back towards the starting point of his musical career in the harder-hitting punk rock. Where Sunshine Rock was more upbeat, Blue Hearts is its unpolished counterpart. It's a mixture of energetic and raw guitar-driven melodies with an angry and wronged older man, and on the other hand the few more harmony-driven and melodious compositions. Taken together, you are easily led to believe that you are back in the late eighties and are about to listen to music that was to shape the foundation for the grunge rock wave of the early 90s, but this is Bob Mold in 2020. And strangely it's not the experience of old music sounding as something he has already made several times before. It's a collection of solid rockers exuding sheer energy fronted by an artist who appears as someone with a desire to play, and you may think it's a lie when this guy three decades ago explained his withdrawal from music because of acquired tinnitus as he nearly hasn't been this loud before. Bob Mould has always been a kind of valve for the political climate and the living condition of Americans, and you could say he has rarely faced so much to open up about. He comments on the infected political climate, on our collective global climate as well as the handling of a worldwide pandemic. And by that, it's like gasoline on Mould's eternal fount of inner lyrics just waiting to be ignited. As good as anyone, he can compose a 2-3 minute hard-hitting song with three verses, a bridge, and a rich chorus - 'Bang-bang-bang! On to the next one!!'. In fact, three tracks are under two minutes long, and at the other end, only one track plays for more than three minutes, and the entire album of fourteen tracks is over in under 36 minutes.

Never has he released a solo album that bears so many similarities to the music he helped create in Hüsker Dü, and the album emerges as a beautiful essence and a bit of a late journeyman work of art showing us what Bob Mould is capable of as a songwriter: that commenting with a rare directness and precision on social conditions that affect most people - and done with finesse, with and without noise! Some might argue that the album comes 30 years late, but the messages are contemporary and the music is just universal.

Blue Hearts is quite simply one of Bob Mould's very best solo albums and therefore highly recommended.

[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, 👍Rolling Stone, Clash 4 / 5 stars ]

Grant-Lee Phillips "Lightning, Show Us Your Stuff" (2020)

Lightning, Show Us Your Stuff

release date: Sep. 4, 2020

format: digital (10 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,68]

producer: Grant-Lee Phillips

label: Yep Roc Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Ain't Done Yet" - 2. "Drawing the Head" - 3. "Lowest Low" (live acoustic) - 4. "Leave a Light On" (live acoustic) - 5. "Mourning Dove" - 6. "Sometimes You Wake Up in Charleston" - 7. "Gather Up" - 8. "Straight to the Ground" - 10. "Walking in My Sleep"

10th studio album by Grant-Lee Phillips follows 2½ years after Widdershins (Mar. 2018), which showed us an upset Phillips on behalf of his fellow Americans regarding the election of the 45th president. Since then, COVID-19 happened, and here Phillips is back in his more introspective corner with ten songs about the fragility of life and the small things in everyday routines. It's alt. country and singer / songwriter folk songs more than anything else - and a bit of contrast to his 2018 album and follows more directly on the path laid on with The Narrows (2016).

No matter how he constructs a new album, he always makes sure to include a varied songlist, and here you'll also find more uptempo tracks, which only makes more appetising. A song like "Gather Up" is almost a Tom Waits kind of thing that lights up when it tends to darken, and I really like his approach as it doesn't appear inconsistent but only varied.

With this, Phillips almost proves he's unable to make a poor album. It's always highly original and something you need to pay attention to. The songs are fluid, in essense straight-forward and purposeful.

It's... nice and fine, and recommended!

[ allmusic.com, Uncut 3,5 / 5, Mojo 4 / 5, American Songwriter 4,5 / 5 stars ]

The Streets "None of Us Are Getting Out of This Life Alive" (2020)

None of Us Are Getting Out of This Life Alive (mixtape)

release date: July 10, 2020

format: digital (12 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,18]

producer: Mike Skinner

label: Island Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Call My Phone Thinking I'm Doing Nothing Better (ft. Tame Impala)" - 2. "None of Us Are Getting Out of This Life Alive (ft. Idles)" - 3. "I Wish You Loved You as Much as You Love Him (ft. Greentea Peng & Donae'o)" - 5. "I Know Something You Did (ft. Jesse James Solomon & Eliza)" - 8. "The Poison I Take Hoping You Will Suffer (ft. Oscar #Worldpeace)" - 10. "Falling Down (ft. Hak Baker)"

Mixtape album by The Streets, aka Mike Skinner, following nine years after Computers and Blues (Feb. 2011), and then also following the 2017 rebirth of his most distinct music project, which saw him on a world tour performing the best of The Streets after years away from the brightest spotlight. The album is not described as a new studio album but merely a mixtape - perhaps to avoid too strong expectations and then again: every song on the album has been made with a featuring artist, which in a way, and only on a surface, makes the songs highly individual, though they all have Skinner's characteristic beats putting them quite close to one another.

First impression was that of a bland experience, which had me thinking of his 2011 mixtape Cyberspace and Reds, but then after some time, I think this is bettering that, although, it's clearly not one of his best albums with a bunch of great tunes sticking out. The biggest issue here is a clear connection to his earlier rhymes and beats, where you end up thinking 'Ah, that's close to the rhyming on...', or beats reminding you of former songs - bits and pieces, here and there, making it a bit of a strange listen. Best thing about it is that Skinner is back making music as The Streets, and hopefully he will soon be releasing an actual follow-up to his 2011 studio album.

[ allmusic.com, Exclaim! 3,5 / 5, 👍Clash 3 / 5, Pitchfork 5,5 / 10, Soundvenue 2 / 6 stars ]

The Go-Betweens "Oceans Apart" (2005)

Oceans Apart
release date: May 3, 2005
format: 2 cd (Deluxe)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,88]
producer: Mark Wallis and David Ruffy
label: Lo-Max Records - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 1. "Here Comes a City" - 2. "Finding You" - 3. "Born to a Family" - 4. "No Reason to Cry" - 6. "Darlinghurst Nights" - 7. "Lavender" - 8. "The Statue" - 9. "This Night's for You" - 10. "The Mountains Near Dellray"

9th and the irrevocably final studio album by The Go-Betweens following just over two years after Bright Yellow Bright Orange (Feb. 2003) sees a reunion with producer Mark Wallis, who stood behind the acclaimed 16 Lovers Lane (1988). The 2 CD Deluxe edition comes with the addition of a live recording from The Barbican Concert Hall, London, Jun. 27, 2004.

For once, the quartet is intact compared to their most recent album but what makes the biggest difference here is concerning the actual production of the album. Forster and McLennan themselves were in complete control when producing the band's last two outings, and these are both quite good, but when listening to Oceans Apart, you clearly sense the bond to 16 Lovers Lane. It's not just similar, as it doesn't merely copy what was successful on the '88 album but the new collection of songs has a presence of the same 'multi-layering' without obvious attempts in reproducing the instrumental contributions by Amanda Brown and John Willstead of yesterday.

Another significant positive quality is that it feels and sounds like a band effort, whereas the two previous albums had an unmistakable imprint of the Forster / McLennan guitar duo weaving on all tracks. Here, it's as if bass, keyboards, additional guitars, and drums all contribute to colour the whole picture and, overall, create a sonic complexity that fits together ever so nicely. That said, the songs demonstrate the two songwriters' abilities as skilled storytellers and the end product is no less than the band's second best studio album - ever.

Oceans Apart won the prize for best Adult Contemporary Album at the Australian Grammy Awards in 2005 - first time happing for Forster and McLennan - and as a new experience, the album made its mark on the albums chartc in a number of countries besides Australia. Two tracks were released as singles: tracks #1 and #2, which didn't garner significant chart entries. And that's maybe not too strange, because it's the album itself that appears as a coherent strong album, basically without fillers. It's just extraordinary well-made from start to finish.

Unfortunately, just as the band was finally experiencing growing international recognition - again, the project was brutally interrupted when Grant McLennan suddenly died of a cardiac arrest around the anniversary of the album's release on May 6, 2006. With McLennan's passing, The Go-Betweens ended for good and Robert Forster returned to his solo career and subsequently released the album The Evangelist (Apr. 2008). In 2007, two recurring awards were founded: an annual prestigious Australian honour award "Grant McLennan Lifetime Achievement Award", as well as the annual 1-year music scholarship "Grant McLennan Fellowship" awarded emerging talents in Queensland.

Highly recommended.

[ 👍allmusic.com, Blender, Uncut 4 / 5, 👎Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5, The Guardian, Mojo 5 / 5 stars ]

Lisa Gerrard "The Silver Tree" (2006)

The Silver Tree

release date: Dec. 5, 2006

format: digital (14 x File, FLAC - 2007 reissue)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,88]

producer: David Badrick & Lisa Gerrard

label: Rubber Records - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 1. "In Exile" - 2. "Shadow Hunter" - 4. "The Sea Whisperer" - 6. "Space Weaver" - 8. "Serenity" - 10. "Towards the Tower" - 12. "Devotion"

2nd solo album by Australian artist Lisa Gerrard follows more than a decade after her solo debut The Mirror Pool (Aug. 1995). This doesn't by any means suggest that Gerrard isn't a highly productive artist. She often releases music with collaborating artists, and she has made a golden career from her engagements as soundtrack composer. In '96 she released a so far final studio album, Spiritchaser with the duo-project Dead Can Dance (together with Brendan Perry). In '98 she released the collaboration album Duality with Pieter Bourke, and also with Bourke, she made the soundtrack to Michael Mann's The Insider (1999), the soundtrack to Ridley Scott's The Gladiator (2000) composed with Hans Zimmer - an accomplishment that sky-rocketed her composer value - and again with Bourke she composed the soundtrack to the biographical sports drama Ali (2001), the soundtrack to Whalerider (2003), the collaboration album Immortal Memory together with Patrick Cassidy (2004), and the soundtrack Salem's Lot (2004) with Christopher Gordon to a TV-series. And it doesn't stop with this, as Gerrard has also delivered compositions and vocals to songs appearing on various other releases including TV-series, movies, documentaries and as performing guest on other artists' releases.

Lisa Gerrard works on a classical arena with trained classical intrumentalists and composers, but she also works with artists from a "popular" music culture, the experimental electronic music scene and often on music labeled as neo-classical. On top of this, Gerrard has made it her trademark to blend national folklore from various parts of the world, and not seldom you will find traces of music inspired by traditional folk from the Balkan area - sometimes incorporating tones from an Arabian / Middle East tradition - all brought together in an original colourful blend with her timeless ethereal signature. She has become an acclaimed vocalist with a vocal range of three octaves, and when performing her own songs, she often sings in her own made-up language, sometimes referred to as 'glossolalia'.

The Silver Tree was nominated the Best Album Prize at the Australian Music Awards in 2006, and it may be an album that brings many of her former releases to mind, but it's not a matter of picking bits and pieces from her past and mixing it all together anew. It's more the result of a skilled artist's inspiration overflown with her quality trademarks that makes it a highly original album. It's both electronic, ambient and neo-classical, and not necessarily styles that are present in all 14 compositions. As in styles, the songs vary in tempo, in cadence, in mood but it's all cleverly woven together with Gerrard's delicate touch - be it in the arrangements of the single composition or in the tone of her singing voice. The tracks also vary in running times with the shortest playing for only 1½ minute and the longest for more than 10 minutes. In between there's nearly everything. It may be based on electronic rhythm beats, on hymn-like ambience, or progressive darkwave, but still it remarkably works as a coherent release.

I've always fancied the music with Gerrard's partecipation and it never ceases to amase me, and it always reminds me, what an absolute great artist she is! She has been awarded many prizes for her work, but in my mind, she is way to overlooked an artist and deserves much more recognition - as composer, as vocalist, and as performing artist.

Highly recommended!

John Frusciante "Maya" (2020)

Maya

release date: Oct. 20, 2020

format: digital (9 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,28]

producer: John Frusciante

label: Timesig Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Brand E" - 2. "Usbrup Pensul" - 3. "Flying" - 7. "Amethblowl" - 9. "Anja Motherless"

[ full album ]

11th studio album by John Frusciante following a series of releases under the moniker of Trickfinger with the album She Smiles Because She Presses the Button (Jun. 2020) as his most recent album, but already as of Mar. 2020, Trickfinger released the EP Look Down, See Us; however, his most recent album under his own name remains Enclosure from 2014. Frusciante began experimenting with electronic music about a decade ago, which saw him form Trickfinger as an outlet for mostly instrumental electronic music, but at the same time electronica became a strong influence in his other solo releases, and Maya appears as his first full electronic album to be released under his own name. Apparently, Maya was the name of his beloved cat, and this album is Frusciante's tribute to her.

Maya is made with breakbeat sampling at the heart of the compositions, and they simply sound much like Frusciante's own attempt with Brittish breakbeat anno 1992-ish - say, strongly The Prodigy-inspired compositions making it a bit of a strange experience. Some of the tracks here still sound great, although, altogether it's difficult to listen to without thinking the 1990s dance scene - but then again: it was a great and influential period, so why not reminding everyone about it?! And then, I think this is bettering his idm-fused acid house debut as Trickfinger.

[ allmusic.com 4 / 5, Pitchfork 7,6 / 10, 👍Loud and Quiet 3 / 6 stars ]

Kraftwerk "Electric Cafe" (1986)

Electric Cafe

release date: Nov. 10, 1986

format: cd

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,38]

producer: Kraftwerk

label: Kling Klang / EMI - nationality: Germany

Track highlights: 1. "Boing Boom Tschak" - 3. "Musique Non-Stop" (video-version) - 4. "Der Telefon-Anruf" (4 / 5) (single-udgave) - 5. "Sex Object" - 6. "Electric Café"

9th studio album by Kraftwerk released 5½ years after Computerwelt (1981) is the first album where the whole band is credited as producer - and the whole band is no longer as it used to be. The front cover shows the usual four faces, which are supposed to look like Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider, Karl Bartos, and Wolfgang Flür, however, only the first three actually appear on the album, while Flür is only credited as a permanent member. On his own initiative, he would leave the band after the album release at some point in '87. Additionally, Bartos has been 'promoted' from solely being credited 'electric percussion', he's now credited keyboards, 'electronics' and as lead vocalist on track #4. All six compositions are credited Hütter, Schneider, and Bartos, and only tracks #1 and #6 were created together with the songwriters Emil Schult and Maxime Schmitt, respectively. The original version counts six tracks with a total running time at just under 36 minutes.

Stylistically, the album doesn't introduce new elements or a change of sound, and the music is easily seen as an extension of the '81 album, and in reality most of the compositions were composed already in '82 but the production and mixing of the new Kraftwerk-album, which was intended to showcase 'top-of-the-art' sound quality was delayed for various reasons - including the fact that Hütter was injured in a cycling accident. The composition "Tour de France" had originally been intended for the this album, but as the album proved to be further delayed the song was instead selected for a stand-alone single and EP, and similarly, various titles for the new album were in play. In 2009, Electric Cafe was released under the original working title: Techno Pop, which came with the addition of "House Phone" and a shorter version of "Der Telefon-Anruf". The album release was met by lukewarm reviews, and nationally it peaked at number #26, at number #9 in Sweden, but at a more modest number #58 on the albums chart in the UK, which by this time already featured big synthpop names like New Order and Depeche Mode, who delivered breakthrough albums. Two singles were released from the album: track #3 "Musique Non-Stop" (Oct. '86) and "Der Telefon-Anruf" (Feb. '87), as the best composition from the album, although, also sounding like inspired by New Order.

Electric Cafe is not really a poor album, but it's yet another step in the wrong direction, where you find much of the compositions sounding like repetitions of previous ideas and parts of familiar songs - in general, the album doesn't stand as something that others could take great inspiration from, and the band appears most of all like a train that has lost its steam and perhaps should consider a (permanent) return to the garage.

[ allmusic.com, Uncut, Drowned in Sound 3 / 5, Smash Hits 2,5 / 5 stars ]

2009 cover

Kraftwerk "Tour de France" (1983) (single)

Tour de France, cd single

release date: Aug. 3, 1983

format: digital (1999 remaster)

[single rate: 4 / 5] [3,86]

producer: Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider

label: Kling Klang / EMI - nationality: Germany

Tracklist: 1. "Tour de France (Radio Version)" (4 / 5) - 2. "Tour de France (Kling Klang Analog Mix)" - 3. "Tour de France (Remix François K)"

Single release by Kraftwerk, originally intended for the album Electric Cafe (1986) but instead issued as a stand-alone single when the album ran into several years of delay. The single has since '83 been issued in many different versions and the 1999 edition is also an edited version. Originally, the single was released in 7'' and 12'' format versions with the maxi single having a more than 6 minutes version followed by the two tracks from the regular 7'' single - a 3 minutes version and a 2:40 minutes instrumental. The '99 CD edition starts off with an edited version of the original track, followed by an edited mix of a 1984 remix, and it ends with a 1984 François Kevorkian remix.

The single was neither a major hit nor went completely unnoticed when it first came out. It charted as No. #47 in Germany, No. #20 in Ireland, No. #6 in Sweden, and as No. #22 in the UK. When it was reissued in 2003 in a re-recorded version for the Tour de France Soundtracks album, it once again delivered similar chart positions, but the track has nevertheless become almost synonymous with Kraftwerk as the track that links the band's earliest and later phases smoothly together.

Protomartyr "Ultimate Success Today" (2020)

Ultimate Success Today

release date: Jul. 17, 2020

format: digital (10 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,55]

producer: Protomartyr, David Tolomei

label: Domino - nationality: USA

5th album by Protomartyr follows nearly three years after Relatives in Descent (Sep. 2017), and it sort of arrives as a gritty exploration of existential dread. The album continues straight out of the tone of the predecessor showcasing that raw, driving energy that has become the band's hallmark.

Musically, the album features the band’s signature blend of jangly guitars, punchy rhythms, and hints of noise rock. While the album has standout tracks that showcase the band’s growth and depth, some songs can feel meandering, perhaps lacking the punch that defines their best work. Nonetheless, the reflective nature of tracks like "The Aphorist" adds a layer of introspection that complements the album's overall narrative.

Ultimate Success Today is a fine entry in Protomartyr's discography. It captures the spirit of its time with sharp lyrics and a robust sound, even if it occasionally falters in pacing. For fans of post-punk and those seeking a reflection on contemporary anxieties, this album is worth a listen, and even though, I don't find it among their absolute best, it definitely has its moments - much in the same way their other albums have turned out as rough and dirty, and filled with light beams in the darkest of nights, as something sinister overthrown with elements of beauty.

Toyah "The Blue Meaning" (1980)

The Blue Meaning
release date: Jun. 6, 1980
format: digital (2002 reissue)
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,52]
producer: Steve James, Toyah
label: Safari Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Ieya" - 7. "Visions" - 9. "Love Me"

2nd studio album by Toyah succeeding Sheep Farming in Barnet by less than three months. Here the band already demonstrates its ever-changing line-ups as bassist Mark Henry has been replaced by Charlie Francis.

Apart from the line-up change, The Blue Meaning is very much like the other side of the coin to the debut with ten new pompous arrangements and a little more screaming - Wilcox is credited for "verbals & unusual sounds"... [sic], and she has taken an even stronger theatrical sound, which may have seemed avantgarde and experimental at the time. By doing so, she may have looked to both appearances by Kate Bush and Siouxsie Sioux, but in retrospect it only seems rather forced - to put it mildly.

The album was a minor success as it went as high as #40 on the UK albums chart list - at a time when the public in Britain became familiar with her through her acting career. Wilcox appeared in two movies by Derek Jarman: "Jubilee" (1978) and "The Tempest" (1979), she played a minor role in The Who's "Quadrophenia" (1979), and then she also appeared in several TV-series from the late '70s including "Quatermass" (1979), "Minder" (1980) and she was TV-presenter on the BBC programme "Look! Here!".

Had Wilcox not been such a familiar face, it is doubtful that this album would have entered the albums chart list in 1980.

Is it any better or worse than the debut? That's hard to say, really. But as an original piece of music it's not recommended.

[ Smash Hits 1,5 / 5 stars ]

Band of Horses "Infinite Arms" (2010)

Infinite Arms

release date: May 18, 2010

format: cd

[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,18]

producer: Band of Horses; Phil Ek (add. pro.)

label: Brown Records / Sony Music / Columbia - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Factory" - 2. "Compliments" - 3. "Laredo" (live on Letterman) - 5. "On My Way Back Home"

3rd studio album by Band of Horses following 2½ years after Cease to Begin (Oct. 2007) presents a completely new line-up where only founding member, lead vocalist and primary composer Ben Bridwell and (new) drummer Creighton Barrett re-appear on this. Keyboardist Ryan Monroe appeared on the former as additional musician and became a permanent member after the 2007 album, which had been completed as a trio together with guitarist Rob Hampton, who then left the band before commencing the recording sessions for this one. Hampton was replaced by new members guitarist Tyler Ramsey and bassist Bill Reynolds completing the new formation as a quintet.

Infinite Arms doesn't land far from the previous albums with its predominantly folk rock-foundation. What distinguishes this from the former releases is an addition and strings and brass arrangements, which I don't think improves the whole picture. Some songs could have fitted nicely on the 2007 album without straying far from that - mostly the above highlighted tracks, but what I feel lacks here is outstanding compositions, or: original new material. Bridwell mostly sings like the "old" Bridwell, but at times he sounds like a tired circus artists going through motions he has learned to repeat. The album was generally met by positive reviews, most of which points to a certain americana-feel to the new album. Something I find difficult to hear. In general, the album is positioned as the band's best performing album in the US by reaching number #7 on the Billboard 200.

To me, Infinte Arms simply sounds like a lesser release - compared to their first two it could be an album of leftovers. Bridwell is less poignant, the compositions are well-played but do not contribute with much new, and the overall impression is easily forgettable.

Not recommended.

[ allmusic.com, Uncut, Q 4 / 5, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5, Slant 3 / 5, Pitchfork 5,3 / 10 stars ]

The Killers "Imploding the Mirage" (2020)

Imploding the Mirage

release date: Aug. 21, 2020

format: cd

[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,08]

producer: Jonathan Rado, Shawn Everett

label: Island Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "My Own Soul’s Warning" - 2. "Blowback" - 3. "Dying Breed" - 4. "Caution" - 5. "Lightning Fields" (feat. K.d. Lang)

6th studio album by from The Killers released three years after Wonderful Wonderful (2017) and now with a somewhat lesser-known duo in the producer role. Rado and Everett are also credited as co-composers on several tracks on an album, which is the first after being momentarily reduced to a trio as guitarist Dave Keuning went on an indefinite hiatus after the 2017 album. In his place, the band's bassist Mark Stoermer handles guitar on several tracks and otherwise multi-instrumentalist Rado is credited as guitarist, bassist, keyboardist, cellist, etc.

When The Killers deliberately have chosen quite different producers, it's of course because they want a direction for the music, and with the younger guitarist from Foxygen as co-composer and multi-instrumentalist, it adds a natural turn towards a more indie rock-oriented universe - and thus also a step away from a stadium rock image that The Killers have quite rightly been attributed. There's definitely less Springsteen heartland rock on Imploding the Mirage but it's an album that doesn't quite operate in the same direction. Sometimes it's electronically driven pure synthpop sounding more like Brandon Flowers solo, while at other times it's more unpolished indie pop - though 'unpolished' is a label that pretty much never fits The Killers - and at other times attempts to produce Springsteen-rockers, whicj supposedly should be an extremely popular choice sneak in... And no, 'coherent' is not exactly a term that pops to mind.

As usual, the album performed above its capacity. Reviewers are again divided, but the sales figures don't lie, and as the sixth consecutive album, The Killers' have launched a new studio album, which goes to number #1 on the UK albums chart. Nationally, it lands a nice eighth place on the Billboard 200, while like its predecessor it also tops the list in Australia. It seems as if The Killers have long ago been satisfied running in circles, making new tracks that sound extremely familiar and then simply add a little spice here and there, e.g. outsourcing their sound image to skilled sound designers, and then something 'new' has been wrapped up.

I'm really far from impressed. The album is a long way from the their first albums but it's still better than the rather thin Wonderful Wonderful, so perhaps there's still hope for a decent album from The Killers.

Not recommended.

[ 👎allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Pitchfork 7,4 / 10, 👉The Guardian 3 / 5, Gaffa.dk 3 / 6 stars ]

Best of 2020:Gorillaz "Song Machine, Season One - Strange Timez" (2020)

Song Machine, Season One - Strange Timez

release date: Oct. 23, 2020

format: vinyl / digital (17 x File, FLAC - Deluxe)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,22]

producer: Gorillaz, Remi Kabaka; James Ford et various

label: Parlophone - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Strange Timez" (feat. Robert Smith) (4 / 5) - 3. "The Lost Chord" (feat. Leee John) - 4. "Pac-Man" (feat. ScHoolboy Q) (4 / 5) - 5. "Chalk Tablet Towers" (feat. St. Vincent) (4 / 5) - 7. "Aries" (feat. Peter Hook and Georgia) (4 / 5) - 8. "Friday 13th" (feat. Octavian) (4,5 / 5) - 9. "Dead Butterflies" (feat. Kano and Roxani Arias) - 10. "Désolé" (feat. Fatoumata Diawara) (4 / 5) - 11. "Momentary Bliss" (feat. Slowthai and Slaves) (4 / 5) - 12. "Opium" (feat. EarthGang) - 15. "With Love to an Ex" (feat. Moonchild Sanelly) - 16. "MLS" (feat. JPEGMafia and Chai) - 17. "How Far?" (feat. Tony Allen and Skepta)

7th studio album by Gorillaz following two years after the The Now Now album is the continued Damon Albarn-led music project. Albarn is the mastermind behind the songs and Remi Kabaka, Jr. is his wingman in terms of producing the sound of the individual tracks.

The Song Machine experiment is an episodical project launched Jan. 2020 with the song "Momentary Bliss" (featuring Slowthai and Slaves) (track #11) - and the idea has been to release one new song each month alongside a video directed by graphic director of Gorillaz, Jamie Hewlett - something that has been accentuated after the Corona-lockdown. Albarn has written and composed partial or more definitive ideas and sent these to collaborating artists, who then have developed on or contributed with vocals or instrumentation, after which Albarn and Kabaka have laid down a final production. The cast of featuring artist is as diverse as the music itself. Here, Albarn mostly collaborates with new musical friends, although, the final track features the late (Nigerian-born) Tony Allen - who also were part of Albarn's side-project The Good, The Bad & The Queen. Robert Smith of The Cure has contributed with vocals and instrumentation making the first song sound like a mix of 1980s post-punk scene and electronica of the early noughts. And in a not so far stylistic universe, Peter Hook of New Order seamlessly blends with Albarn's most Bernard Sumner-like vocal and produces a song resembling New Order's Low-Life-period. Beck has never sounded fresher and Elton John comes to live again, but the featuring artists has been gathered from not only various decades and genres but from several continents - especially when including the Deluxe Edition. The majority of artists come from Britain or the US, but you will also find Malian singer / songwriter Fatoumata Diawara, South African vocalist Moonchild Sanelly (Sanelisiwe Twisha), Japanese all-female rock quartet, Chai, Venezuelean vocalist Roxani Arias [?], and Unknown Mortal Orchestra from New Zealand.

Stylistically, this is a genuine Gorillaz album - considering the wide-spread pond of musical influences you always hear in the music by Albarn - or at least in his post-Blur period. However, far he moves in various directions, he almost magically condenses everything to something fitting within the Gorillaz' universe. The 2017 album Humanz also featured various guest artists but somehow this works even better on this album. and if the 2018 album was a favourite of mine, this newest collection of songs simply beats that and not only is years' best album but also Albarn's best-ever album.

Albarn is simply one of the most underrated artists in the world of modern music, and I do know he's quite successful and that his music is cherished and played all over the globe, but from my perspective, it's nearly only possible to underrate the value of his contributions. On this album he makes sure that the guest artists comes out as individual artists - they shine because of his arrangements and at the same time he adds his own vocals and / or instrumentation to the songs making all compositions sound as stemming from one and the same source - which in a way they do 'cause Albarn made it all happen!

As far as concern the album's track highlights it's a bit of a job to pin out highs on an album that shines in its own light. The standard vinyl album is an eleven songs album, and the Deluxe Edition - made available in a download edition and as a 2 lp vinyl edition contains seventeen tracks (the Japanese edition contains 18 tracks).

Unfortunately, I find that it has become a rare thing to come across new music that stirs you in the same way music did when you were young but with this, I can frankly say that this is it! And did you notice? The album is called "Season One"... And yeah, the second chapter is already on its way and according to Albarn himself scheduled for release Mar. 2021. This man is a factory of music!

Highly recommended!

[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5, The Guardian, Clash, NME, Mojo 4 / 5 stars ]

2020 Favourite releases: 1. Gorillaz Song Machine, Season One - Strange Timez - 2. Kesi BO4L - 3. I Break Horses Warnings

Blanck Mass "Animated Violence Mild" (2019)

Animated Violence Mild

release date: Aug. 16, 2019

format: digital (8 x Files, FLAC)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,62]

producer: Blanck Mass

label: Sacred Bones - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 2. "Death Drop" - 3. "House vs. House" - 4 . "Hush Money" - 8. "Wings of Hate"

4th studio album by Blanck Mass (aka Benjamin John Power) is the follow-up to World Eater (2017), although more recently the artist has been engaged in collaborating on the 2018 album Violence by Editors, which was released in an alternative version as The Blanck Mass Sessions (Apr. 2019).

Animated Violence Mild continues where the 2017 album ended, and in many regards it's like a new chapter to that. Here and there Power introduces something that sound like melody-lines, which could reflect inspiration from his work with the alternative rock band Editors - to me, this only adds a new dimension to his predominant industrial electronica.

[ allmusic.com, The Guardian, NME 4 / 5, Pitchfork 7,9 /10 stars ]

Mark Kozelek "Night Talks" (2017) (ep)

Night Talks, ep

release date: Mar. 22, 2017

format: digital (5 x File, MP3)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,54]

producer: Mark Kozelek

label: Caldo Verde Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Night Talks" - 2. "I Love Portugal" (Acoustic Version) - 3. "Astronomy" - 5. "Famous Blue Raincoat"

Ep release from Mark Kozelek as follow-up to his only one month old double Common as Light and Love Are Red Valleys of Blood (Feb. 2017) released under the stage name of Sun Kil Moon.

Night Talks consists of five tracks and Kozelek is back as how he sounds on Universal Themes (Jun. 2016). It's alt. country with acoustic guitar and Kozelek narrating about big and small things from everyday life to dramatic stories he has heard about on TV or read about in a newspaper. The track "I Love Portugal" is included here in an acoustic version but the track is found in its original version on Common as Light and Love... And precisely the acoustic part is perhaps the small common denominator you'll find on his most recent releases as this EP, because otherwise, the basic material is not immediately different to what he has released under his own name and to what ends up being attributed Sun Kil Moon. In any case, Night Talks is released on Caldo Verde with Kozelek in full control as producer, songwriter, composer, just as he often is only musician. Much to his usual procedure, there has been room for covers: "Pretty Little Flowers" by Kath Bloom and "Famous Blue Raincoat" by Leonard Cohen, which is the actual highlight of the ep, here in a live recording on which Kozelek is accompanied by piano.

Night Talks is Kozelek as fans have come to love him: mostly alone with acoustic guitar, and himself narrating / singing about big and small subjects, and with the additions of a some covers. And in that way there is hardly anything new or surprising about this release - it's fine and welcome.

Electric Light Orchestra "Out of the Blue" (1977)

Out of the Blue

release date: Oct. 1977

format: digital

[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,06]

producer: Jeff Lynne

label: Jet Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Turn to Stone" - 3. "Sweet Talkin' Woman" - 13. "Mr. Blue Sky"

7th studio album by Electric Light Orchestra following one year after the breakthrough album A New World Record and like that produced by primary songwriter and leader of the band, lead vocalist Jeff Lynne. The band has gone through various line-ups but maintained a quite numerous members list, and here they count seven (three of which exclusively play violin and cello). The band has evolved from playing primarily experimental progressive rock with bonds to symphonic rock and hard rock and through a stage with baroque pop to eventually play progressive pop with bold use of elements from funk and disco - and needless say: with a much more evident mainstream appeal.

I recall this very album from when it wasn't all brand new and they still hadn't released the successor Discovery (May 1979). In Feb. 1979 (at age 13) I happened to be in London with our class, and several mates from class both purchased the predecessor together with this one that I only knew little about. I recall from some teen club evenings at the local church (!) they played this quite a bit. From our journey to London, I remember buying albums with The Police (Outlandos d'amour and Regatta de blanc), Pink Floyd (The Wall) and Dire Straits (the debut) and a few others that I have now forgotten about - alongside a handful of releases for my older brother (I brought a handwritten list of titles to purchase for him). Unfortunately, I didn't yet know anything to the existence of punk rock or new wave at this point - that only came to my attention upon my return later that year, so I was more into music that I already knew of, and especially heavily inspired by my brother's music taste (except The Police, which he didn't play). But what I soon learned was that I didn't like Electric Light Orchestra - not one bit! In fact, I loathed the disco and progressive pop harmonies that my class mates soon praised as the new big thing alongside music by Patrick Hernandez, Kelly Marie, and / or Bee Gees.

The album is included in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" as the only by ELO, as they were commonly known. Out of the Blue is the band's second consecutive Platinum-selling studio release, which eventually was surpassed in sales numbers by Discovery and Time (1981). The only reason I have put it here is that I wanted to revisit an album I really never understood. And still don't, it turns out! From the aforementioned book: "Released at the height of disco, Out Of The Blue was seen by some as a futuristic fish out of water." As much as I relate to that picture, it's probably not in the most positive of ways. To me, this is awkwardly over-arranged. Waaaay too much funk and disco, and not just that but with so many synths and strings that it should belong in space. And it makes me think of a musical wedding cake: Mostly impressive and nice to look at, but who really wants to consume that?! In my ears it doesn't fall far from the ABBA and Olivia Newton John melody structures that I disliked then as I still do to some minor degree nowadays. I have definitely grown much milder when it comes to polished pop of the 80s and 70s, and I do understand the qualities of a lot of music that I didn't like at a younger age, but ELO from '76 and onwards still doesn't do much for me. "Mr. Blue Sky" was a hit but would never have seen the light of day without The Beatles and The Moody Blues. "Turn to Stone" was another major hit back then - at least in Europe - but to me that was, and still is, a pastiche - a conglomerate of songs by artists suchs as Giorgio Moroder, Hot Chocolate, Earth, Wind & Fire merged with some Stevie Wonder-arrangements and equal parts of 10cc smoothness - all artists I'd rather listen to than this fine musical mish-mash that remains far from distinctive original.

Out of the Blue is still a cornerstone in the discography of Electric Light Orchestra no matter what I think of it, but I'm not in a position where I feel that I should actually recommend it. If asked back then, I would most likely have handed it 1 or max 2 stars - basically, suggesting it was crap, so in that respect I have come (much) closer in accepting it as genuine acceptable music. It's still over-produced, over-arranged and it didn't do much good for music, imho. But hey, wasn't I into punk?! And punk rock was in many ways a response to exactly this kind of music, and I still do understand the reaction and need to change music as it was back in the mid-70s.

[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, Rolling Stone, The Guardian 3 / 5 stars ]

~ ~ ~

This post is part of MyMusicJourney, which enlists key releases that have shaped my musical taste when growing up and until age 14. Most of these releases come from my parents' and / or my older brother's collection.

The Fall "Grotesque (After the Gramme)" (1980)

Grotesque (After the Gramme)
release date: Nov. 17, 1980
format: cd (1993 reissue)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,92]
producer: The Fall, Grant Showbiz, Mayo Thompson, Geoff Travis
label: Castle Classics - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Pay Your Rates" - 2. "English Scheme" - 3. "New Face in Hell" (Peel Sessions) - 4. "C'n'C-S Mithering" - 5. "The Container Drivers" - 10. "The N.W.R.A."

3rd studio album by The Fall produced by The Fall, Grant Showbiz, Mayo Thompson and Geoff Travis (tracks 1-5), tracks 6-10 are produced by The Fall and Geoff Travis originally released by Rough Trade. The Fall always was Mark's band - here the band credits are as follows: Mark on vocals, tape operation, kazoo (#3) and guitar, Marc Riley on guitar and keyboards, Craig Scanlon [credited as Craig Scanlan] on guitar, Steve Hanley on bass, his brother Paul Hanley on drums and with Kay Carroll on additional vocals, which more or less is the same line-up as on Dragnet (Oct. '79) as well as on the next following albums of the 80s, but the debut album Live at the Witch Trials (Mar. '79), saw the band in a completely different line-up. This is, however, merely an early incarnation of the band and the only staple member of the band remains Mark E. Smith.

Style-wise, this is an example of early post-punk labelled as art punk with influences from pub rock and garage rock and its minimum attention on production layering with focus on 'recording as is'.

The album wasn't met as a landslide album - much unlike what it's regarded as in retrospect. Critics were positive without praising the album and fans were, as they would constantly prove to be with The Fall divided in two groups: either belonging to a strong cult of followers, or to fierce haters; however, the album is generally regarded as one of the band's masterpieces. Unfortunately, I didn't appreciate the album in the early '80s - I did actually purchase the original Rough Trade vinyl issue back in 1982 or '83 and kept it for a decade or so, and then I re-sold it in a small pile with other obscure albums just to afford to buy new music, and what a mistake that was! I have come across this '93 CD reissue but I'd rather have the original vinyl, which by now is a collector's item.

I perfectly know how I was unable to see music in a broader perspective in my teens but it still puzzles me, why I couldn't just regard it as a musical curiosity. Anyway, the music lives on and even from a modern perspective I think the music still stands out as both highly original but also with something to offer. The Fall blends perfectly in with standards of Velvet Underground, The Stooges, Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa as a music collective, who simply ignores all conformities and just do what they think is the right thing to do. Mark E. Smith narrates about English society, working class life, taxes, capitalism, and he often focus on the English class system. Unlike Bob Dylan's social awareness, lyrics on contemporary human conditions, I find the lyrics by Smith to be much more entertaining but also without all the... fuzz [to say it as politely as possible].

Mark E. Smith continued to play with The Fall in various line-ups in the new millennium and also kept releasing new albums being quite keen on not repeating themselves. The last studio album by The Fall is New Facts Emerge (2017), the band's 31st studio album, released only six months before Smith's untimely death at the age of 60, Jan. 24, 2017. The international music press and the entire British press in general were overflown with appraisals dedicated to Smith's legacy as one of Britain's most influential songwriters in 2018, and he is today mentioned alongside the greatest of music.

For those unfamiliar with music by The Fall, it may not seem evident how they ever became such an acclaimed band. It may take some time to get accustomed to - some will never - but from my perspective, the true strengths of The Fall lies in Mark E. Smith's lyrics, his uncompromising attitude towards and against conformity whether concerning music or modern life in general - be it capitalism, class system or politics. The band has its unique sound and its very own conception of musical soundscape, which leaves no listener in doubt of who made it.

[ allmusic.com, Mojo, Rolling Stone 4 / 5, Spin 4,5 / 5, Sounds 5 / 5 stars ]

Phoebe Bridgers "Punisher" (2020)

Punisher

release date: Jun. 18, 2020

format: digital (11 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,80]

producer: Tony Berg, Ethan Gruska, Phoebe Bridgers

label: Dead Oceans - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 2. "Garden Song" - 3. "Kyoto" - 4. "Punisher" - 5. "Halloween" - 6. "Chinese Satellite" - 9. "ICU" - 10. "Graceland Too" - 11. "I Know the End"

2nd studio album by Phoebe Bridgers following her acclaimed debut Stranger in the Alps (Sep. 2017).

Where the melancholy glue of acoustic folk on the debut probably reminded many about the long list of folk artists, Punisher adds layers to that artistry. Some songs are like extended threads to the 2017 album, but since then she has worked with Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker on their side-project Boygenius, and she has collborated with Conor Oberst on Better Oblivion Community Center, and those projects now have coloured this new collection of songs in a most positive way - making it a coherent whole but also by widenening the musical universe of Phoebe Bridgers.

Bridgers still narrates with the colour blue as main ingredient but her music invites other colours in, which makes it more alive and powerful.

Highly recommended.

[ Rolling Stone, 👍The Guardian, Slant 4 / 5, Pitchfork 8,7 / 10, allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, NME, 5 / 5 stars ]

Kesi "BO4L" (2020)

BO4L

release date: Jul. 31, 2020
format: digital (Deluxe) (15 x File, MP3)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,08]
producer: Hennedub
label: Disco:wax - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 2. "Niveauer" - 3. "Tilbage" (feat. Hennedub) - 4. "Ik tænk" (feat. Benny Jamz) (4 / 5) - 5. "Blå himmel" (feat. Hans Philip) (5 / 5) - 6. "Snak lidt med mig" (4,5 / 5) - 7. "Baku" (feat. ICEKIID) - 9. "Forretning" (feat. Sivas) - 10. "Hygger mig pt. 2" (feat. Gilli) - 12. "Om igen" (feat. Noah Carter) (4 / 5)

3rd full-length studio album [or fourth when including his mixtape Ung Hertug from 2013 to the list of albums] by Danish rapper Kesi (also stylised KESI, aka Oliver Kesi Chambuso) released on the Sony Music Scandinavian sublabel Disco:wax and produced by Hennedub (aka Henrik Bryld Wolsing) - a usual suspect to Kesi and his associates. The title refers to and is the homage to the Danish music collective B.O.C. (aka Bomber Over Centrum) - referring to "Bomber Over (Centrum) For Life". The album is by Kesi but many of his old friends from B.O.C. - Gilli, Benny Jamz, Kimbo, and Noah Carter participate on several tracks, and apart from these also Sivas and Hans Philip are featuring artists. The standard album runs just over 40 mins and the Deluxe Version contains two bonus tracks making it a 15-track album just below 46 mins.
The whole album appears as a look down memory lane, and more so than the usual rap lyrics about sex and drugs, although, you basically find all kind of existential subjects in this broad collection, which is mostly held together in a tight yet wide style of grime and trap. The album starts off with the intro BO4L, and with an older sound clip featuring a young Oliver (Kesi himself) telling a reporter how he has just quit secondary school to concentrate on his music career and about his hopes for the future and his dream about being the best Danish rapper. In several songs, Kesi takes us back to school days, to a harder time but also to days of his musical foundation, when everything was all new, unknown and yet falling into place.
Some compositions are echoing and sound like sequels of older Kesi hit songs, some are expressive up-tempo dancepop related like many of his recent (hit) single releases and others are near ballad-like and introspective - which shows us a new side to his talent. Sound-wise, it's a top-of-the-art production and an impressively coherent collection despite the many stylistic ingredients.
In a time when Danish rap may be looking for replacements for Ukendt Kunstner, Kesi sums up his strengths and simply jumps several steps up the ladder and positions himself as the current best Danish rapper.
Highly recommendable and a strong contender to album of the year.
[ Politiken, Soundvenue 5 / 6, Gaffa.dk 4 / 6 stars ]

2020 Favorite releases: 1. Gorillaz Song Machine, Season One - Strange Timez - 2. Kesi BO4L - 3. I Break Horses Warnings

Kraftwerk "Computerwelt" (1981)

Computerwelt

release date: May 10, 1981

format: cd (1986 reissue)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,66]

producer: Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider

label: Kling Klang / EMI - nationality: Germany

Track highlights: 1. "Computerwelt" - 2. "Taschenrechner" - 3. "Nummern" - 4. "Computerwelt 2" - 5. "Computer Liebe" (4 / 5)

8th studio album by Kraftwerk released three years after Die Mensch-Maschine (1978) - also seen as number five in the list of classic Kraftwerk albums counting from Autobahn (1974), which by Hütter and Schneider is regarded their first, although, they actually released three albums before that. Like the band's recent albums this was recorded in the band's Kling Klang studio in Düsseldorf, and as usual it's the band's founders Hütter and Schneider who are credited as producers. On the 79 album we saw percussionist Karl Bartos as co-composer and on this, he's been granted a more prominent role as composer, and he is thus exclusive composer together with Hütter on all of the album's tracks. Schneider is credited the music on four of a total of seven tracks, and once again Emil Schult is credited album cover and as contributor as songwriter of three songs. And - one might be tempted to add - percussionist Wolfgang Flür is only credited as... percussionist, although rumor has it that he only appears in the credit list and doesn't play on the album at all, but officially it's the band's final album with Flür as instrumentalist.

The album continues deom where the '78 ended, and may at first sound like a mere extension of that, but Kraftwerk basically defined their strength in the present by composing small hooks and catchy melodies, made sharper as pure 'pop' tunes. This is best expressed on "Computer Liebe", as song Coldplay has used on its 2006 hit "Talk", just as La Roux incorporated parts of the track in the song "I'm Not Your Toy" (2009), and LCD Soundsystem has used a sample of "Heimcomputer" (track #6) on the song "Disco Infiltrator" from its debut album LCD Soundsystem (2005).

Reviews were again quite positive and in Germany the album reached number #7 (as Autobahn had done back in '74), and number #15 in the UK. Four tracks in total were selected for singles release: in order tracks #2, #5 , #3, and #1, with no significant rankings. The second single "Computer Love" didn't initially perform significantly, but when it was re-released later that year as the B-side to "The Model" (from the 78 album Die Mensch-Maschine), then it topped the singles chart in the UK (although it was more likely "The Model" pulling that home). In retrospect, the album has achieved a fine position as an influential album, appearing on a number of lists counting the best albums of the 80s.

In my opinion, the album is a classic Kraftwerk album, although without reaching the same heights as the previous four. In the early eighties, the band was overshadowed by bands and artists who managed to write better hooks and music that wasn't so strictly electronic, although most of them drew great inspiration from Kraftwerk's back catalogue. I don't find a lot of recycling in many of the album's compositions, and it may be seen as the band's first step away from the strong influence they have otherwise had in shaping synthpop.

The title track makes it essential.

[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Rolling Stone 3 / 5, Mojo, Select 4 / 5, Uncut, Q Magazine 5 / 5 stars ]

Gregory Porter "All Rise" (2020)

All Rise

release date: Aug. 28, 2020
format: 2 lp vinyl (gatefold, pink vinyl) / digital (16 x File, FLAC - Deluxe)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,54]
producer: Kamau Kenyatta, Troy Miller, Gregory Porter
label: Blue Note / Decca Records - nationality: USA

6th studio album by Gregory Porter is originally released on Blue Note and Verve in the US and on Blue Note / Decca in the EU. The album comes in many formats and in at least two versions as far as track numbers concern. The various cd versions contain 13 tracks as does the European - traditional and pink vinyl - 2 lp editions, but it also comes in a Dutch 3 lp version and a cassette edition both containing two bonus tracks, and it also comes as a 16 tracks digital Deluxe album (Qobuz). This rises a bit of a negative aspect about his releases, I think, 'cause with a running time at just over one hour, the thirteen tracks could be fitted on a normal 1-disc issue, and fifteen tracks would then be "the excuse" to release the Deluxe edition as a double album - though only on vinyl - but it has become a bit of a habit that Porter's album's are released as standard double albums despite not running that long. Three tracks on each side of the vinyl issue results in short playing times at approx. 15 mins. It's hardly compressed adding one or two tracks to each side.
Another thing is the cover art.... and let's just get straight to the point: Porter's front covers have never been about art, or attempts at making great art work, but let's be frank, it has never been this poor, and a triangle with the title alone would even be an improvement.
That bit aside, and speaking entirely of the musical qualities, All Rise is yet another strong evidence of Porter's composer and vocal qualities that simply makes him the king of contemporary vocal jazz. Gregory Porter has relaunched jazz as an everlasting and very modern genre by adding stylistic elements from contemporary popular music - be it funk, pop, or soul. It's remarkable how this man is able to write and compose songs of near classic status over and over again, and that's perhaps where this new collection may feel like an exercise in treading water.
Recommended.