Alice Boman "Dream On" (2020)

Dream On [debut]
release date: Jan. 17, 2020
format: digital (10 x File, MP3)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,62]
producer: Patrick Berger
label: PIAS - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 2. "Heart on Fire" (live) - 3. "The More I Cry" - 5. "Don't Forget About Me" - 6. "Everybody Hurts"

Studio album debut by Swedish singer / songwriter Alice (Maria) Boman primarily produced by Patrick Berger. Other producer credits: Fabian Prynn (tracks #4, 6, 9); Tom Malmros (#4, 6); Alice Boman (non-produced, self-recorded track #10).
The album has attracted my attention for its original qualities. Boman draws on some of the same strengths of introspectiveness that you'll find on albums with Chelsea Wolfe, Anna von Hausswolff, Sharon Van Etten, and Lana Del Rey - without further comparison, and completely without plagiarising any of them. The music on Dream On is in a subtler gear and with a delightful absence of pompous sensations, yet, it's still like a ceremonial breeze. There's a simplicity and a lightness, which goes hand in hand with Boman's delicate vocal.
Dream On is more than fine.
[ allmusic.com, Uncut 3,5 / 5, Gaffa.dk 4 / 5 stars ]

other: live on KEXP 2014

Kraftwerk "Ralf und Florian" (1973)

Ralf und Florian

release date: Oct. 1973

format: digital (1994 unofficial reissue)

[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,15]

producer: Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider

label: Germanofon - nationality: Germany

Track highlights: 1. "Elektrisches Roulette" - 3. "Kristallo" - 5. "Tanzmusik" (live) - 6. "Ananas Symphonie"

3rd studio album by Kraftwerk originally released on Philips and here in an unofficial version from Czech Germanofon released approximately 1½ years after Kraftwerk 2 (1972), and as on that, the band / music project here, as the title indicates, only consists of the two founders: Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Both are jointly credited a long range of instruments - and as something new: now also on vocals, which is, however, quite minimalistic with vocals as backing choir and a kind of secondary instrument - also without recognisable lyrics. Konrad 'Conny' Plank is not co-producer on the album, as he was credited on the first two albums, instead he is here credited as sound engineer. And just like the two previous albums, Ralf und Florian was reissued on Philips and Vertigo through the 70s, but releases after 1979 are all unofficial issues, and Kraftwerk has basically written off the albums from before Autobahn (1974).

The album is the first to be listed as having been recorded at the band's Klingklang studio in Düsseldorf, and it clearly bears the stamp of being somewhat more well-produced and reworked. Stylistically, Kraftwerk has moved towards the mastery of greater spaciousness and a more condensed simplicity, again taking a move further away from the rhythmic krautrock, although you'll find reminiscences of more traditional instrumentation with guitar and rhythm instruments such as bass and drums on some compositions. With the exception of the final track, 'songs' have generally become shorter and the music has been shaped as electronic ambient and less chaotic. The album has been hailed as essential for the ambient genre, and when listening to "Tanzmusik" it's hard not to think of more contemporary acts such as The Orb, Boards of Canada, Sigur Rós and Danish band Efterklang - to name just a few.

After the release, the band made several live performances, including on German TV, where Wolfgang Flür often participated on drums (see live version of "Tanzmusik") - from Autobahn and afterwards he was credited as permanent member of the band's new line-up.

[ 👍allmusic.com 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Icehouse "Icehouse" (1981)

Icehouse [debut]
release date: Jun. 1981
format: digital (1990 reissue)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,08]
producer: Cameron Allan
label: Chrysalis Records - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 1. "Icehouse" [same song by Flowers] - 2. "Can't Help Myself" [same song by Flowers] - 4. "Walls" [same song by Flowers] - 6. "We Can Get Together" [same song by Flowers] - 10. "Not My Kind" [same song by Flowers]

Studio album debut by Australian band Icehouse; or actually: the international debut 'cause fact is, in Oct. 1980 this band was called Flowers, and they released the debut album Icehouse exclusively for the Australian and New Zealand markets on Regular Records. Flowers was founded in '77, and the debut album provided some entries on the Australian charts and the band soon signed with Chrysalis, who wanted the album released worldwide. Songwriter, lead vocalist, guitarist, keyboardist and oboist Iva Davies was the band leader and together with bassist and backing vocalist Keith Welsh they founded the band, who were joined by keyboardist Michael Hoste - who is replaced during the recordings of the first album by Anthony Smith, and together with drummer John Lloyd they were Flowers. Now with a record contract with Chrysalis the quartet was sat out to re-record both music and vocals, and the company wanted Flowers to pick another band name for the release, since a Scottish band were already called Flowers, so they came up with the title of their first track for new band name. The two albums (Flowers' Icehouse and Icehouse by Icehouse) appear almost identical. The '80 album was released with eleven tracks - one more than the Icehouse album, and then the track order is different.

Stylistically, it's in the category of uptempo synthpop and pop / rock with influences from especially Ultravox, Gary Numan, David Bowie, early Roxy Music, and T. Rex.

I didn't listen to this until some point in the 90s, and by then found it of little interest but simply had to hear it 'cause Icehouse's sophomore album, Primitive Man (1982) was such a distinctive and originally strong release. Despite also being 'synthpop', it's still quite far from their more famous album(s), and what really strikes me - of course listening to it from a later point - is how little original it sounds. It is very much with Ultravox, Gary Numan, Roxy Music and Bowie in mind that you listen through (nearly) all of these songs.

Only a must for collectors.

[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

"Icehouse"

by Flowers (1980)

Dead Can Dance "Spleen and Ideal" (1985)

Spleen and Ideal
release date: Nov. 1985
format: vinyl (CAD 512) / cd (1986 reissue) / cd (2008 remaster)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,06]
producer: Dead Can Dance & John A. Rivers
label: 4AD Records - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 1. "De profundis (Out of the Depths of Sorrow)" - 2. "Ascension" - 4. "The Cardinal Sin" - 5. "Mesmerism" - 6. "Enigma of the Absolute" - 7. "Advent" - 8. "Avatar" - 9. "Indoctrination (A Design for Living)"

2nd studio album by Australian neo-classical darkwave band Dead Can Dance, who at this point have been reduced to a duo consisting of singer, drummer & percussionist Lisa Gerrard (who would later become an acclaimed film composer) and British multi-instrumentalist Brendan Perry. The album consists of nine compositions with varied durations from approx. 3 minutes to the album's longest track "The Cardinal Sin" of approx. 5½ minutes, and with a total running length of just 38 minutes.

In terms of style, the music here can only poorly be compared to other contemporary releases. In its time it fell under the category of post-punk, which it really never was. I think the closest critics could rightly describe the style as was gothic rock and experimental rock - perhaps with a touch of art rock, but seen from a music historical perspective it's nothing less than a modern cornerstone, which has only gained greater recognition over time. It's difficult, and perhaps impossible, to imagine contemporary works by artists such as Jocelyn Pook and Anna von Hausswolff, but also Chelsea Wolfe and Lingua Ignota, and basically: the whole wave of contemporary artists in neo-classical darkwave without pointing to the legacy of Dead Can Dance and perhaps this album in particular.

I purchased Spleen and Ideal on vinyl back in the mid-80s without having any knowledge of the band or of the music they played. All I knew was that 4AD Records put out music with super-interesting names and pretty original artists, and the band oozed that particular post-punk edge that (to me) connected them to bands like Bauhaus, Modern English, This Mortail Coil, and Joy Division (which admittedly came out on Factory Records). However, I also remember the first time I listened to the album and was really disappointed. It wasn't at all like the other bands I knew of. And it wasn't even close to some of the ones mentioned here. I tried repeatedly to listen to the album but always ended up putting something else on. Luckily, I kept the album, although in the late 80s and early 90s I got into a really bad habit of selling off early 80s albums that I didn't listen much to in order to finance newer music with a stronger appeal.

When I finally re-listened to Spleen and Ideal again in the 2010s it was like a sheer revelation. How could I have failed to understand the obvious qualities of this very album?! No, it doesn't sound like anything else from the early or late 80s - except subsequent albums by Dead Can Dance. It's enchanting and beautiful music sounding like timeless tones that call for a kind of ceremonial gathering. The beauty of it is that you can simultaneously let it fill you without thinking about cultural or religious boundaries. But above all, it's remarkable how little it shares with other music originating in the mid-80s.

Highly recommended.

[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]

[ collectors' item ]

Kraftwerk "Kraftwerk 2" (1972)

Kraftwerk 2

release date: Jan. 1972

format: digital (1994 uofficial reissue)

[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,02]

producer: Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider-Esleben, Konrad 'Conny' Plank

label: Germanofon - nationality: Germany

Track highlights: 1. "Klingklang" - 3. "Strom" - 5. "Wellenlänge"

2nd studio album by German band Kraftwerk, here only credited the two co-founders of the band, Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider, after the recently included drummer Klaus Dinger left the band and instead co-founded the band Neu! According to Hütter, it was hard to find drummers for Kraftwerk because no one would work with them when they chose to use non-typical (electric) instruments, so Hütter and Schneider themselves are credited percussion on the album here, just as they are on sucessorRalf und Florian (1973). The opening track "Klingklang" is almost 18 minutes long and in addition to being the album's longest composition, it has also given name to Kraftwerk's studio and record company Kling Klang, founded around '73.

Musically, a lot has actually happened since the debut Kraftwerk from 1970. The absence of actual drummers distances the album from other contemporary 'krautrock' releases and points to a purer electronic-founded style, where Hütter and Schneider - aided by the later legendary Konrad 'Conny' Plank sound - only stage their instrumental compositions using rhythms from percussion instruments such as xylophone, marimba and primitive programmable instruments, and on top of this basic substance they have added sounds from organ, electric piano, flute, violin, accordion, but also from more traditional instruments such as bass and guitar.

Still, it's a long way to the band's more iconic compositions with more traditional musical structures, but there is much pointing in the direction of ambient and progressive pop, and then the music has also taken a direction away from the initial improvisational and more abrupt compositions from the debut, which still had contained elements from psychedelic rock.

The album (just as its predecessor and the follow-up) has never officially been reissued, but only exists as a result of pirated copies - as here from the supposed Czech company Germanofon.

[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Michael Kiwanuka "Kiwanuka" (2019)

Kiwanuka
release date: Nov. 1, 2019
format: 2 lp vinyl (gatefold)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,42]
producer: Danger Mouse, Inflo
label: Polydor Records - nationality: England, UK

3rd studio album by Michael Kiwanuka is a double gatefold vinyl album produced by Danger Mouse [aka Brian Joseph Burton] and Inflo [aka Dean Josiah].
His two previous albums more more traditionally crafted with a folk rock style, but here he has added a psychedelic touch, which is widely known as psychedelic soul and shows influences from Prince and Sly and the Family Stone. It's an even bolder introspective collection of songs than you'll find in his back catalogue.
The album was generally met by positive reviews and Kiwanuka has gained reputation as a modern singer / songwriter of contemporary soul.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5, The Guardian, NME, Q Magazine 5 / 5, 👍Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Kraftwerk "Kraftwerk" (1970)

Kraftwerk [debut]

release date: Dec. 1, 1970

format: digital (1994 unofficial reissue)

[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,84]

producer: Ralf Hüttel, Florian Schneider-Esleben, Konrad 'Conny' Plank

label: Germanofon - nationality: Germany

Track highlights: 1. "Ruckzuck" - 2. "Stratovarius"

Studio debut album by Kraftwerk consisting of the two founders Ralf Hüttel and Florian Schneider-Esleben after they had left the experimental German band Organisation, who had released the album Tone Float (Jun. '70). On this first outing, the drummers Andreas Hohmann and Klaus Dinger are also credited as members. Hohmann plays drums on the first two compositions, while Dinger is credited drums on the final cut.

The album consists of four tracks with varying playing time running from 7:50 to 12:10 minutes and with a total running time of just under 40 minutes. It's experimental instrumental music pointing to inspiration from another German band: Tangerine Dream, which had just released its debut Jun. '70, and then it's also music with influence from experimental releases by Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa, John Cage, and especially Karlheinz Stockhausen and musique concrete in general. Several tracks and parts of compositions sounds very much like the result of spontaneous sessions with Hüttel playing organ and a special instrument: electric 'tubon', while Schneider is credited playing violin, flute, and percussion. Besides a krautrock style, the individual compositions are made with some interesting twists pointing to ambient and progressive elements and rhythms you may find on early electronic music of the mid-70s by Brian Eno, Roxy Music, David Bowie, Jean-Michel Jarre, and in the early eighties by an artist like e.g. Laurie Anderson and among many synthpop bands, and then again in the early techno scene. You'll find sound bits hinting at this in the actual electronic explosion from the late 80s and early 90s with bands like The Orb, The Chemical Brothers, The Prodigy, Dust Brothers etc. and in much wider sub-styles. The album was originally released on Philips - reissued several times through the 70s and also on cassette from '77, but it has never been officially released on CD format, nor has it been reissued after 1980, and Germanofon releases (many from '94) of the band's three earliest albums are all unofficial or 'bootleg' releases, and the band themselves haven't found it fruitful to reissue the earliest albums. This may also be seen e.g. with the band's own 8-CD box set Der Katalog (2009), which doesn't include releases from before Autobahn (1974).

The album is a pure curiosity. There are many other and better experimental albums from the period, and it's only interesting that Hütter and Schneider already here named their music-project Kraftwerk, although, the electronic characteristics were only established with the band's fourth album. Still, it's a bit of shame how Hütter and Schneider somehow won't acknowledge their musical starting point. There are some fine parts pointing to both their own later progression, but also to much other music that flourished during the 70s.

[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]