The Fratellis "In Your Own Sweet Time" (2018)

In Your Own Sweet Time
release date: Mar. 16, 2018
format: vinyl (LTD. orange vinyl) / digital (11 x File, FLAC)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,86]
producer: Tony Hoffer
label: Cooking Vinyl - nationality: Scotland, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Stand Up Tragedy" (4 / 5) (Jon Fratelli solo acoustic) - 2. "Starcrossed Losers" - 6. "I've Been Blind" - 7. "Laughing Gas" (Jon Fratelli solo acoustic)

5th studio album by Scottish trio The Fratellis following the 2015 album Eyes Wide, Tongue Tied with music exclusively composed by vocalist and guitarist Jon Fratelli (aka John Paul Lawler) who is also credited as keyboardist.
Where the 2015 album revealed a more laid-back and less garage rock-styled collection of songs, this new album brings back the prolific energy of the debut, which may coincide with the fact that they have brought back the producer of their debut album, Tony Hoffer, who also produced their 2015 album.
I easily find it the band's second-best album, much alongside We Need Medicine from 2013, but this has more of the original simplicity that characterised the band's first studio album, and then there's a stronger glam rock sensation that makes you understand the importance of one Marc Bolan.
[ 👎allmusic.com 3 / 5, 👍PopMatters, Spill Magazine 3,5 / 5, Express 4 / 5 stars ]

The National "I Am Easy to Find" (2019)

I Am Easy to Find

release date: May 17, 2019
format: cd (4AD0154CD)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,52]
producer: The National, Mike Mills
label: 4AD Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "You Had Your Soul With You" - 2. "Quiet Light" - 5. "The Pull of You" - 10. "Not In Kansas" - 11. "So Far So Fast" - 14. "Rylan"
[ a short film "I Am Easy to Find" directed by producer Mike Mills ]

8th studio album by The National following the acclaimed Sleep Well Beast from 2017 follows closely with the same formula as the successor.
What appears as the most poignant new change to a rather strict soundscape is an inclusion of several featuring (female) vocalists including Gail Ann Dorsey (5 tracks), Lisa Hannigan (4 tracks), Kate Stables (3 tracks), Mina Tindle (1 track), and Sharon Van Etten (1 track). The album contains 17 tracks and has a running time just above 63 mins.
The National sounds like no other act around, and they play as a strong and well-balanced entity without adding much new to an already established sound and compositions, primarily by lyricist(s) Matt Berninger and / or Carin Besser together with composer(s) Aaron Dessner and / or Bryce Dessner that touch on the usual subjects about identity and (love) relations.
It's not bad. It's quite fine, and really not surprising in any way.
[ 👍allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, The Guardian, Mojo, NME, Q Magazine, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]

Heligoland "Pitcher, Flask & Foxy Moxie" (2005)

Pitcher, Flask & Foxy Moxie

release date: Jan. 1, 2006

format: digital (9 x File, MP3)

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

producer: Tim Friese-Greene

label: self-released (bandcamp) - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Wedding Feast" - 3. "Black Girl" - 5. "The War, Stupid" - 7. "Down to Zero" - 8. "3 Stills"

2nd full-length album by project-band Heligoland (aka Tim Friese-Greene) following Heligoland (Jan. 2000).

Magazine "The Correct Use of Soap" (1980)

The Correct Use of Soap
release date: May 2, 1980
format: cd (2001 remaster)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,88]
producer: Martin Hannett
label: Virgin / Universal Music - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Because You're Frightened" (4 / 5) - 2. "Model Worker" - 3. "I'm a Party" - 4. "You Never Knew Me" - 7. "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" - 8. "Sweetheart Contract" - 10. "A Song From Under the Floorboards" (5 / 5)

3rd studio album by Manchester quintet Magazine originally released by Virgin is the band's only album to be produced by Martin Hannett, and it's the last to feature guitarist John McGeoch, who would leave the band after this. Fact is, two other acts had sought his expertise - together with both bassist Barry Adamson and keyboardist Dave Formula, McGeoch also took part in the early formation of Visage, and he already was engaged with Siouxsie and the Banshees for the recordings on the album Kaleidoscope earlier in 1980, and from the Summer of '80 he became a stable member of the more guitar-fuelled The Banshees while continuing as full-time member of Visage, and you may say that Magazine ended up losing a key member.
Without being the most obvious post-punk band, Magazine has been recognised as one of the most original and defining acts of the post-punk era. On The Correct Use of Soap the band consists of lead vocalist Howard Devoto (formerly punk rock band The Buzzcocks), guitarist John McGeoch, bassist Barry Adamson (former stand-in with The Buzzcocks), keyboardist Dave Formula (aka David Tomlinson), and drummer John Doyle. The band's style is a blend of genres and styles where post-punk is the easiest label when no other really suffice. They are known for a highly original rhythm section with avantgardist bass and drum-lines, and both bassist Adamson, keyboardist Formula and guitarist McGeoch have all gained artistic acclaim for their contributions, and on top of this vocalist Devoto surely has his own distinct sound. There's hardly any links to the punk rock era here but somehow this band works in its own dimension of art rock, new wave and avant-garde building on elements from soul, synthpop and... who-knows-what?!
The album peaked at number #25 on the UK albums chart list but both band and album were met by critical acclaim without reaching top popularity.
From a contemporary perspective this very album hasn't aged as much as most other releases from the 1980s, and Adamson, Formula and McGeoch have all rightfully been hailed among the most influential British musicians of modern ages.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, 👍Uncut 4 / 5 stars ]

Sun Kil Moon "Universal Themes" (2016)

Universal Themes

release date: Jun. 2, 2015

format: digital

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

producer: Mark Kozelek

label: Caldo Verde - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "The Possum" - 2. "Birds of Flims" - 4. "Cry Me a River Williamsburg Sleeve Tattoo Blues" - 6. "Garden of Lavender" - 7. "Ali / Spinks 2" - 8. "This Is My First Day and I'm Indian and I Work at a Gas Station"

7th studio album from Mark Kozelek's solo project Sun Kil Moon following a little over one year after the critically acclaimed Benji (Feb. 2014). Musically, it is somewhat in the same vein as his other recent albums, although, there's a new bearing of compositions with a more informal tone. This approach consists of several passages of spoken word and compositions consisting of more complex arrangements, where parts of songs sound like single tracks that together form a whole. The album features a reunion with Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley, who also appeared on Benji, and who here is only other musician besides Kozelek on all tracks. There are quiet semi-classical tracks, compositions where Kozelek mostly dwells on pure narration, tracks with a more distinct folk feel, and more uptempo sequences that remind us of his former heydays with Red House Painters. And then there are abrupt shifts from distorted electric guitar to acoustic passages and vice-versa, as well as passages that mostly sound like studio improvs.

The album consists of 8 compositions of relatively long playing length with the shortest track ("Ali / Spinks 2") at 6:45 minutes, and the longest ("Garden of Lavender") running for more than 10 minutes, and a total playing length of 60 minutes. Kozelek seems long ago to have given up on the idea of ​​reaching a greater audience and he basically sounds like someone who only releases music for his own pleasure - which is a super nice premise, and in that way, Universal Themes is so unlike anything else. I like Kozelek's weird universe, his acoustic guitar sound, his melancholic and occasionally devilish expression where he sounds like a distant cousin of Black Francis.

Universal Themes is not an album with ear hooks but with distinctive songs about colourful people from Kozelek's life. It's narrations of meetings with family members and short and long stories about daily life - life and death. There are also the usual references to the sport of boxing, specific boxers (Ali / Spinks) and it all needs to be taken in at full length and preferably just attentively listened to.

Recommended.

The front cover image, as on the latest album, is a photo by Mark Kozelek.

[ allmusic.com, Mojo, Q Magazine, Spin, NME 4 / 5 stars ]