Laurie Anderson "Amelia" (2024)

Amelia

release date: Aug. 20, 2024

format: digital (22 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,72]

producer: Laurie Anderson

label: Nonesuch - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 3. "Take-Off" - 5. "San Juan" - 7. "Crossing the Equator (feat. ANOHNI)" - 11. "India and on Down to Australia (feat. ANOHNI)" - 13. "Flying at Night" - 15. "Road to Mandalay" - 21. "Radio (feat. ANOHNI)"

8th studio album by Laurie Anderson following more than 14 years [!] after Homeland (Jun. 2010) is a conceptual album based on the last 1937 flight by American aviation pioneer, Amelia Earhart. It's in many ways what we have come to know as a work of art by Laurie Anderson - not as much for being what you would have expected, 'cause it's not that Anderson repeat a well-known formula. It's more that it couldn't have been made by anyone else. The album comes with 22 tracks - yes, that's quite a bit, but it has a total running time of just under 35 mins because most tracks only run around one minute - ranging from 29 seconds to nearly 4 mins, but again, most tracks have running times under two minutes. This may sound weird but it works really well because of the nature of being interconnected with one another. The album tells the story of Earhart's last flight with Anderson both making what appears as an account of what was known, where and when did she start the flight? What was her mission? There are factual notes from journals and technical logs, and then the single tracks are made like small diary notes of what she could've experienced along the way - it's fictionalised storytelling. And then of course, Anderson doesn't tell the story of the last flight in chronological order. Cleverly, she has reversed the story but still manages to start with the idea behind the Earhart's flight: to circumnavigate the Earth from West to East, from California and back to California. An audio excerpt (track #12 "This Modern World") of Earhart suddenly appears in midst of a song, and Anderson continues the narration, and we as listeners are led deeper into the mystery. It feels like witnesssing a film through the ears, and Anderson showcases her ability to structure works in an extraordinary level, and I come to think of her great fascinating film "Heart of a Dog" from 2015, which naturally also exists as a recommended soundtrack album. The instrumentation here is classical orchestra music featuring vocal performances especially by ANOHNI, and by the use of full orchestras including Filharmonie Brno and Trimbach Trio with much focus on strings.

It's not an album of regular songs. It's spoken-word, but there's a lot of music to emphasize emotions and actions, much as in a regular film. Anderson has her own distinct vocal and her own diction, which works as a magnet to your ears - just watch the aforementioned film, or listen to this very album.

This is one of Anderson's best albums, and I'm only bewildered in how to rate this remarkable work. I've had the album on repeat - it works really well on endless repeat. And again: there are hardly any regular songs here - perhaps track #21 comes closest to that, but what should be highlighted is the netire album. It's one 'long' story, meant to be listened to from start to finish, and actually points to the question: shouldn't it be regarded as one long composition divided into musical cues.

Highly recommended.

[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, Pitchfork 7,1 / 10, Uncut 4 / 5, PopMatters, Clash 4,5 / 5 stars ]

Sinéad O'Connor "I'm Not Bossy I'm the Boss" (2014)

I'm Not Bossy I'm the Boss

release date: Aug. 11, 2014

format: digital (15 x File, FLAC) (Deluxe Edition)

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

producer: John Reynolds

label: Nettwerk - nationality: Ireland

Track highlights: 1. "How About I Be Me" - 2. "Dense Water Deeper Down" - 4. "Your Green Jacket" - 5. "The Vishnu Room" - 6. "The Voice of My Doctor" - 9. "8 Good Reasons" - 10. "Take Me to Church" - 11. "Where Have You Been?"

10th and final studio album by Sinéad O'Connor following 2½ years after How About I Be Me (And You Be You)? (Feb. 2012). The standard digital, cd, and vinyl issues comes as 12 tracks versions, and a digital and cd 'Limited' Deluxe Edition adds another three tracks to the set list and extends the total running time from 41 mins to 50 mins. As was the case with her fine 2012 album, this one is produced by John Reynolds, who plays drums and keyboards and also handles programming and mixing of the album, and then he's also co-composer of more than half of the songs. Guitarist Graham Kearns is co-composer of five songs. Guitarist Justin Adams has co-composed two tracks - he also played on her 2012 album as well as playing on the Gospel Oak ep (1997), but Reynolds is the only recurring name from her earliest albums who participate on this, as he appears as O'Connor's only stable instrumentalist throughout her career. Additionally, Sean Kuti is credited saxophone on an album that also features Brian Eno on keyboards as he did on the 2012 album.

Stylewise, the album follows the rock-energy of the predecessor, and in many ways it feels much like a second chapter to that. There's of course the new distinct persona of O'Connor, which makes this stand out in all of her discography. For this, she has been styled as some new Joan Jett-inspired dominatrix, which both serves to create a distance from her own life and at the same time comes out as something forced, or at best: a new suit to represent a new image to create the proper distance - a shield. Musically, the album continues the blend with a few soft ballads and a majority of energetic rockers. It has become more evident that O'Connor no longer possesses the same prolific vocal instrument she became renowned for. Age and smoking (?) has taken a toll on her vocal cords that necessarily provides for another expression. It's not that her vocal performance by normal standards is bad or particular narrow, it's just that it has become clear that there's a change and a limitation. That said, the album is far from one of her lesser ones. It's actually as if she has regained some of her initial strengths on this and on the former that should've served well to extend the career. Some see this as another step up with more tension and better arrangements and production compared to her 2012 'comeback' album. Some critics highlight this as a kind of a swan song and they accentuate that she succeeds in abstaining from lyrics about her own experiences in life. This I think, is more a matter of style and oversimplification, I think, 'cause the album is filled to the brim with songs that could easily be viewed as sheer autobographical as any of her previous songs. You could instead argue that her writing skills have improved, which isn't to say that her starting point and the source to her songs has changed. In her private life, O'Connor seems to continue struggles with life and relationships. In 2006 she gave birth to a son Yeshua - the father, Frank Bonadio and O'Connor separated in 2007. In 2010, O'Connor married Steve Cooney - the couple separated in early 2011, and then in late 2011 she married a therapist, Barry Herridge in Las Vegas - a marriage that lasted one week.

Two tracks from the album were selected as singles: "Take Me to Church" (Jul. 2014) as promotional single followed by "8 Good Reasons" (Oct. 2014), none of which made a huge impact on the singles chart list. I'm Not Bossy, I'm the Boss is a fine and a solid album to end a splendid career with, although, it did became an unforseen early end. Her final years appears to have been overshadowed with personal difficulty, which also explains why a follow-up to this very album never was recorded. In 2017 O'Connor changed her name to Magda Davitt as she explicitly wanted to free herself from 'patriarchal slave names', and one year later she converted to Islam and adopted the name of Shuhada' Sadaqat.

O'Connor passed away Jul. 2023 after a period with unstable health. She openly talked of mental sickness, and she spent some time in and out of hospital after having released this album and she also fought her cannabis addiction. In 2022, O'Connor was outspoken about a new mental low after her son Shane had committed suicide, and she was again hospitalised with mental struggles. O'Connor's death in 2023 at age 56 is, however, declared due to natural causes.

In the liner notes to most of her albums, O'Connor has often directed the attention to others, husbands, peoples, religions - on I'm Not Bossy, I'm the Boss O'Connor dedicates the album to herself. She issued an autobiography "Rememberings" in 2021, which are critically acclaimed memoirs. The album here may not be among her top-5 albums but lesser will do and it's definitely one to know of. Imo, and out of her ten studio albums, this one sits comfortably as her sixth overall best.

Recommended.

[ 👍allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, 👉Pitchfork 7,3 / 10, Mojo 4 / 5, The Guardian, Slant 3 / 5 stars ]

Rumpistol "Nebula" (2025)

Nebula

release date: May 13, 2025

format: digital (10 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]

producer: Jens Berents Christiansen

label: The Rust Music - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "Ascension" - 2. "Stargazer" - 3. "Nebula" - 4. "Pale Blue Dot" - 5. "Above the Horizon" - 6. "Celestial Awe" - 9. "Silver Seed"

Studio album by Danish electronic act Rumpistol ['Space Gun'], a solo project name by Jens Berents Christiansen, which has survived for more than 2 decades as he released his self-titled debut album in 2003. Since the debut Rumpistol has released an abundance of records and Rumpistol has taken part in various collaboration projects, also counting the Danish experimental world music band Kalaha. Nebula may be regarded Rumpistol's ninth regular installation, and here Christiansen has made use of several featuring instrumentalists, which include: Sven Dam Meinild on flutes, EWI, clarinet & saxophone, Maria Jagd on violin & viola, Emil de Waal (from Kalaha) on drums, percussion & bowed metal, Helene Tungelund on Celtic harp, Anders Stig Møller on bass, and Anna Roemer on guitar.

Nebula is an instrumental album, which for me, shares bonds with early Trentemøller - the idm / micro-house elements but it's not 'just' echoing other artists' works, there're obvious original traits and facets from his early releases and it basically represents a style palette that isn't entirely electronic. Rumpistol has been engaged in various genres and styles throughout the years, and in this regeard Nebula showcases elements from space rock, ambient and the world of jazz, which are scattered and more or less heard on these quite different compositions. At times you will find similarities, or say: bits pointing at early electronic synthpop and ambient, but in essence it's only showcasing the strengths of Rumpistol as an orginal shapeshifter, who employs whatever is needed.

Needless say, as an instrumental work, it's music for attentive listening and then it really unfolds the more you listen to it. Given the short time I have known of this new album, I only suspect it will grow on me.

I like it, it's really good. And if you do not know the works of Rumpistol, I leave you to check it out. The act is an international secret of sorts, and I really enjoy albums like Mere rum (2005), Away (2014), After the Flood (2020), and Isola (2022).

Recommended.

[ Nebula on bandcamp ]

Lorde "Virgin" (2025)

Virgin

release date: Jun. 27, 2025

format: digital (11 x File, MP3)

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

producer: Lorde & Jim E-Stack

label: Universal Music New Zealand - nationality: New Zealand

Track highlights: 1. "Hammer" - 2. "What Was That" - 4. "Man of the Year" - 6. "Current Affairs"

4th studio album by New Zealand pop artist Lorde, aka Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor. The album follows four years after the album Solar Power (Aug. 2024), which received positive reviews, some found it a shiny, yet formless affair, and others saw it as a potential masterpiece. In that regard, Lorde has devided fans and critics since her international debut with the album Pure Heoine (Sep. 2013), which attracted some attention, although, her follow-up Melodrama from 2017 is widely regarded as her actual breakthrough album, which both peaked on album lists world-wide and secured the artist various international music awards but also was such a massive success that Lorde vanished from the spotlight for a period of time. She has already experienced the kind of success many dream of but few ever experience and the short journey to the top in pop surely has its toll.

Personally, I'm not in the target group, and I have lukewarm feelings regarding the type of music she has produced, so far. Lorde is a name that is impossible to neglect and that's the only reason I listened to her albums. Again: I'm not part of the target group and I simply don't enjoy this album that much. To me, it's generic pop music, sounding like much else out there that I don't find any enjoyment in. It's definitely uptempo, it's lush, and it's primarily held in a positive vibe - there's just too many things about it, I don't like. The arrangements are too heavily crammed up - effects to fill in gaps to avoid boredom or blanks? Then: many tracks sound alike, and I guess that's a good parameter telling you, it's not your style like when I'm trying to understand a Wagner opera: I get bored and think it's touching on obnoxious.

Then why 3/ 5 instead of below 2,5, you may ask? Well, I acknowledge the inert qualities, I guess. It's not like I feel exposed to harmful matter and there's definitely good energy in the music, which I also find shaped for physical movement as I probably would even appreciate this at the local gym. Especially "Hammer" is a quite catchy electropop tune. Just as quite decent background muzak. And I'm not really on par with any of the critics, as they mostly praise this as her second best album. So, it should be good, only not for me, and if this is a genuine contender to her best ever, I kind of get the hint: I shouldn't look down this alley for hidden gems - possibly making this my only comment on the music by this contemporary giant pop star.

Not recommended.

[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, The Guardian, NME 4 / 5, Pitchfork 7,6 / 10 stars ]

Janis Joplin "Pearl" (1971)

Pearl

release date: Jan. 11, 1971

format: cd (1999 remaster) / vinyl (2020 reissue)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,02]

producer: Paul A. Rothchild

label: Columbia - nationality: USA

Track highlights: A) 1. "Move Over" - 2. "Cry Baby" (4,5 / 5) - 4. "Half Moon" - 5. "Buried Alive in the Blues"

B) 2. "Me and Bobby McGee" (4 / 5) - 3. "Mercedes Benz" (4,5 / 5) - 4. "Trust Me" - 5. "Get It While You Can"

2nd and final studio solo album by Janis Joplin - her fourth including two albums with Big Brother and the Holding Company is a master class blues rock album that follows a little less than 1½ years after the less succesful solo debut I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama! (Sep. 1969). Janis lived life in the fast lane and she was the leading star on two iconic studio albums from 1967 to 1971 - the other being Cheap Thrills (Aug. 1968) by Big Brother and the Holding Company. The 1999 cd remaster contains four live tracks from the Festival Express Tour, all recorded on Jul. 4, 1970 in Calgary. The tour was arranged with various artists all travelling together by train across Canada from East to West, from Toronto, via Winnipeg, and ending in Calgary featuring acts like Buddy Guy Blues Band, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Grateful Dead, and The Band - the tour was originally planned for five events but eventually the concerts in Montreal and Vancouver were cancelled.

The album was released three months after Joplin's death (Oct. 1970) during the recording sessions for the album, which means that "Buried Alive in the Blues" involuntarily ended up being an instrumental. The album is included in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" and on Rolling Stone's list "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" and it's still a mighty highly recommended listen.

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

The Pop Group "Y" (1979)

Y [debut]

release date: Apr. 20, 1979

format: cd (2007 remaster)

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

producer: Dennis Bovell, The Pop Group

label: Radar / Rhino - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: *1. "She Is Beyond Good and Evil" - 2. "Thief of Fire" - 3. "Snowgirl" - 5. "We Are Time" - 7. "Words Disobey Me" -

*Bonus track on 2007 remaster

Studio album debut by Bristol-founded avant-gardist band The Pop Group consisting of vocalist Mark Stewart, guitarist John Waddington, bassist Simon Underwood, guitarist & saxophonist Gareth Sager, and drummer Bruce Smith. The original album issue consists of 9 tracks - cd issues of the album add the band's single debut as track #1 and its B-side as track #11, and the running order has been altered slightly. The original vinyl album has a running time of 40 minutes, and with two additional tracks, the cd just exceeds 47 mins.

Stylistically, this mostly sounds like... nothing else really - and especially considering the year 1979, it stands very much on its own. It's both funk, post-punk, and an experimental release, which makes me think of a fine blend of acid rockers Captain Beefheart and post-punk rockers The Birthday Party with the addition of funk. Only, the latter band, alledgedly, appears to have been itself heavily inspired by The Pop Group. So, how did they end up with such an original blend on two stand-out albums that has been hailed as inspirational sources to a long list of followers? The thing is, the album was anything but acclaimed when it came out, and the even sharper follow-up How Much Longer Do We Tolerate Mass Murder? from 1980 didn't make record labels cue in line to sign with this highly original band. Instead, they were met by mixed to negative reviews and the band ended up dissolving after two albums. The members, however, went on to perform in various other constellations who were all somewhere on the frontier of new musical directions - and all far from what was perceived as mainstream.

I have only recently discovered the musical qualities of this band and my first reaction had me thinking of Captain Beefheart and Shriekback. The first name comes to mind by the vocal performance of Mark Stewart and the experimental and krautrock-like and syncopated rhythm section with heavy use of percussion and brass, whereas Shriekback probably have listened much to The Pop Group before mustering it's own sound, which in itself carries a bolder source to the industrial style. In that regard, Y basically represents a huge conglomerate of styles, where the most apparent ones are funk, funk rock, surf rock, post-punk, dub, and garage rock. At the time of the release it probably would've been labeled art punk, I guess. There's definitely also bonds to the strong political approach of The Mothers as well as politically-oriented punk bands of the anarcho-punk rock fraction of the British punk rock wave - again, something which becomes more evident with the angrier follow-up.

Back in the day, I would most certainly have rejected this as being too noicy and too weird, a bit alongside other iconic albums I missed out on upon a first introduction - artists which count The Fall, Crass, The Creatures, and Psychic TV (to name a few), but when knowing of later manifestations of the alt. rock umbrella, The Pop Group has come to stand as founders of something out of the ordinary - an experimental detour into mystic musical landscapes - in a quite refreshing manner.

This is defintely something else - a first draft, you could say - intentionally, it may have been more connected and constructed with experimental krautrock and that of pure funk in mind, but with inspiration from the punk rock scene it surely turned out as a highly original take on genre definitions, and it's nevertheless an exciting take on post-punk with an original tone that would be further investigated on a wilder and more experimental follow-up.

This is recommended for anyone interested in modern music history.

[ allmusic.com, Uncut 4,5 / 5, Mojo, Record Collector 4 / 5, Sounds 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Bob Mould "Here We Go Crazy" (2025)

Here We Go Crazy

release date: Mar. 7, 2025

format: digital (11 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,56]

producer: Bob Mould

label: BMG - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Here We Go Crazy" - 2. "Neanderthal" - 3. "Breathing Room" - 4. "Hard to Get" - 9. "You Need to Shine" - 11. "Your Side"

14th studio album by grunge rock-forefather Bob Mould following 4½ years after Blue Hearts (Sep. 2020) is not surprisingly an album filled with much energy. The album is Mould's first on BMG after having released a long series of albums on Merge Records but with Mould himself in his usual roles as songwriter, composer, and producer, this new album shouldn't result in many raised eyebrows regarding style or themes. In the past, Mould has experimented with his soundscape and the use of instrumentation, however, since Silver Age from 2012, he has been quite consistently on an energetic alt. rock platform, boldly shaped via his preference for power pop and with hints to his more distant past in Sugar and Hüsker Dü in a more traditional guitar-rock setting. Comparing with his most recent album Blue Hearts, this is a wee bit harsher, slightly more direct, less politically oriented, and instead it's filled to the brim with sheer emotions. This both fits nicely with the applied amount of energy and a melodic drive, and then at times you could argue that it tends to touch on repetitiveness but we're talking about freak*** Bob Mould here!, and that guy should forever be granted every right and permission there is to go ahead and plug his electric guitar into his amplifier and have his fun at shouting and confronting whatever he feels like - be it the world, himself, his relationships, himself growing older, or the country's intolerable leader! Bob Mould is a sort of valve of modern times. Let the steam come out!

I have followed his work since the final two albums with Hüsker Dü, and he has always been an artist whose work I've shared a particular soft spot for, and most of the time he has been able to enrich my life, which is why I remain a stable fan. He's not an artist who invent music any longer but he's a guarantee of quality and a voice that speaks up for humanity as well as being someone who takes a stand against stupidity, which is another good reason to follow this great artist.

Here We Go Crazy is basically what we have come to expect from Mr. Mould, and once again it's relevant and recommended!

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

Anna Ternheim "Psalmer från sjunde himlen" (2025)

Psalmer från sjunde himlen

release date: Jan. 17, 2025

format: digital (10 x File, FLAC)

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

producer: Joakim Berg, Martin Sköld

label: Universal - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 1. "Kom tilbaks" - 2. "Nära dig" (4 / 5) - 3. "Orkanen" - 4. "Hit men inte längre" - 6. "Lämnar alla bakom" - 8. "Kalifornien" - 9. "Sjunde himlen" - 10. "Små mirakel"

[ Promo-video ]

8th studio album by Anna Ternheim following her 2019 album A Space for Lost Time offers something quite different from what she has so far released as a solo artist. Former Kent-frontman Joakim Berg is here credited as composer of all tracks, and former Kent-bassist and producer Martin Sköld is also credited as co-composer on half of these ten new songs. Berg and Ternheim are together 2/3 of the project-band Dead People who gave us the debut We Love in 2022, an album which reflects a style that blends folk pop and synthpop, and that's basically also what greets us on this new album from Ternheim. In that sense it marks a huge leap from her 2019 stripped-down folk release. Berg previously worked with Veronica Maggio on her Fiender är tråkigt (Oct. 2019) for which he co-composed 9 songs, and it's tempting to point to that album when listening to Psalmer från sjunde himlen. The vocalist has been exchanged but Berg's fingerprints are all over this album, and he really has a gift for writing melodic pop-tunes. To finish off the tempting comparison with Maggio's solo release, that one is held in more uptempo synthpop arrangements, which in many ways fits her vocal better, whereas Ternheim appears more of a vocalist, which succeeds in the blue notes. That said, this album is remarkably uptempo when comparing to Ternheim's discography, and it's her first to be exclusively with Swedish lyrics.

All in all, the album is a refreshing new move on Ternheim's musical path. At times, I sense references to the Kent back-catalogue, and some songs reek a certain simplistic naivity but then again, these are explicitly 'psalms from the seventh heaven', and shouldn't shock anyone as primarily positive melodies, and then it's mostly just honey for ears and mind, and at bottom line this whole album is like a blow of fresh air. And don't we all need that. Psalmer från sjunde himlen is up there among Ternheim's best albums, and it's a recommended listen.

[ Aftonbladet.se 4 / 5 stars ]

Mogwai "The Bad Fire" (2025)

The Bad Fire

release date: Jan 24, 2025

format: digital (10 x File, FLAC)

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

producer: John Congleton

label: Rock Action - nationality: Scotland, UK

Track highlights: 1. "God Gets You Back" - 2. "Hi Chaos" - 4. "Fanzine Made of Flesh" - 6. "If You Find This World Bad, You Should See Some of the Others" - 7. "18 Volcanoes" - 9. "Lion Rumpus"

11th studio album by Scottish band Mogwai following four years after As the Love Continues (Feb. 2021) sees a turn to hot producer name of John Congleton (Lana Del Rey, The Killers, Sharon Van Etten, Modest Mouse, St. Vincent,... to name a few) - a name that, imo, doesn't appear as a natural first choice, but hey, the band, or the managers may have thought they were in need of a distribution hack (?). Perhaps, Dave Fridmann didn't have the time? I think Fridmann have proved that he suits the band really really well, and he has always been a guarantee of a prominent production.

Compared to the excellent 2021 album, it's not a completely different release but it does feel like an inferior collection of compositions where the usual wide span has been narrowed in - confined - restricted, and the end result is of something where there's definitely steam but not enough coal to make the difference. The exceptions are "Hi Chaos", which sounds more like a left-over bonus track from the '21-album and "Fanzine Made of Flesh", which is the closest the band has been to switch to indie pop.

The Bad Fire is not a poor album and far from it, but after such a great achievement it does feel as inferior. What I miss here is a stronger direction - what is it really? It's obvious that the band has come a long way since Come on Die Young (1999) and that synths have by now become a more integral part of the band's primary instrumentation but where As the Love Continues showcased a fine mix that allowed for guitars to be fully heard side by side or together with huge electronic arrangements, this new outing sort of blends everything into one huge pot where new boundaries are no longer being pushed or new soil is investigated. To me, this is undoubtedly Mogwai, which means it can't be bad, and it never is. It's just that they sound like the music has been restricted from delivering as freely as it could.

Recommended.

[ allmusic.com, The Guardian, Mojo 4 / 5, Pitchfork 7,4 / 10, Rolling Stone, 👍PopMatters 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Kings of Leon "Can We Please Have Fun" (2024)

Can We Please Have Fun

release date: May 10, 2024

format: cd (2 cd) (Limited Edition)

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

producer: Kid Harpoon

label: LoveTap Records / Polydor - nationality: USA

Track highlights: Disc 1) 1. "Ballerina Radio" - 2. "Rainbow Ball" - 4. "Mustang" (live on the Tonight Show) - 5. "Actual Daydream" - 6. "Split Screen" - 9. "M Television"

Disc 2 - Live at Wrexham) 1. "Crawl" - 4. "On Call" - 5. "Find Me" - 6."Pyro" [ official audio concert ]

9th studio album by Kings of Leon following three years after When You See Yourself (Mar. 2021) is the band's first with British producer Kid Harpoon, who has previously worked with Harry Styles and especially has been welcomed as an acclaimed songwriter for his substantial work on Styles' album Harry's House (2022). The 2-disc limited edition has been titled in Welsh as Gawn Ni Hwyl Plîs, with reference to the live tracks stemming from a concert in Wrexham, Wales recorded at the Racecourse Ground, May 27 and 28, 2023.

My guess is that a big majority of Kings of Leon fans find the music by Harry Styles as more than a shortcut from that of the American band but I have come to understand this band as a unit who sees themselves in another light than I would intuitively. Working with producers like Angelo Petraglia & Jacquire King probably had many think of the band as a natural part of the alternative rock scene, but when turning to Markus Dravs on two consecutive albums, I think, it's quite clear that the band has other desires than 'just' representing pure rock, and Kid Harpoon (aka Thomas Edward Percy Hull) may perhaps be seen as a British-styled partner in crime to Dravs - narrowly speaking of course. But really, KoL is one of those bands - not far from The Killers - who stands with one foot heavy buried in dirty rock-mud and the other in sticky candy-flush. They started out as a psychedelic rock band and then experienced international fame when they jumped the pop-train, and ever since, they have kind of stood there with their feets in a limbo. Easy money and gigantic fame is hard to reject when your hobby becomes your job, and why on Earth would you? The disc 2 concert here shows the dilemma: concert goers scream and shout for their hits "Revelry", "On Call", "Find Me", and "Pyro", and they deliver. KoL is on their way to become the closest to an American version of U2, and they sail along on these streams 'cause that's all they can do. I would't be extremely surprised if they made a U-turn in the near future and made their Achtung Baby with some prominent producer-name and then spent the rest of their career jumping stepping stones to avoid the fogs of oblivion.

Meanwhile, Can We Please Have Fun is a solid and delightful collection of melodic uptempo pop / rock, which verifies how they have found their formula and also have refrained from past failures like Walls (2016) and Mechanical Bull (2012) that today appear as necessary attempts with sugary content as recipes that went too far off bulls eye.

Recommended.

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

2-disc Limited Edition

Sarah Vaughan "Crazy and Mixed Up" (1982)

Crazy and Mixed Up

release date: 1982

format: vinyl / cd (1985 reissue)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,85]

producer: Sarah Vaughan

label: Pablo Records - nationality: USA

Studio album by Sarah Vaughan released on the Pablo label is recognised as one her better albums in the last decade of a long career. The album follows the release of Send in the Clowns (1981) recorded with the Count Basie Orchestra also on Pablo. Crazy and Mixed Up is a collection of standards and vocal jazz songs, which count the two Rodgers & Hart songs "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" and "You Are Too Beautiful", the Kosma and Prévet composition "Autumn Leaves" (org. ""Les Feuilles mortes") with English lyrics by Johnny Mercer, the Haymes and Brandt classic "That's All", and four other fine and nicely fitting compositions by various others - all showing that Vaughan in her late 50s still is alive and kicking.

Highly recommended.

[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings 4 / 4 stars ]

Tindersticks "Soft Tissue" (2024)

Soft Tissue

release date: Sep. 13, 2024

format: vinyl (Lucky Dog41LP) / digital (9 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,96]

producer: Stuart A. Staples

label: Lucky Dog / City Slang - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: A) 1. "New World" - 3. "Nancy" - 4. "Falling, the Light" (4 / 5) - - B) 1. "Always a Stranger" (4 / 5) - "The Secret of Breathing" - 3. "Turned My Back" (4 / 5) - 4. "Soon to Be April"

14th studio album by Tindersticks following 3½ years after Distractions (Feb. 2021) is as usual produced by songwriter and front-figure Stuart Staples, who is credited all songs, two tracks (#A4 and #B4) are co-composed with bassist and keyboardist Dan McKinna.

From scratch on, it's evident that Soft Tissue goes in quite a different direction than the electronic bits suggested on the predecessor - except for the drum-programming heard on track #2 "Don't Walk, Run". These eight / nine songs - the vinyl issue comes with eight tracks, the digital with a ninth bonus track "New World (Edit)" - are kept at more normal running lengths varrying from 3:35 to 6:15 mins, but what's most striking is a strong dominance of strings - making it a characteristic chamber pop album. And then, when strings are not dominating the song arrangement, keyboards either hold focus with a sound of an accordion or a Wurlitzer piano or an organ are often taking the leading stance. Perhaps with the exception of track #B3, which is a soul-like chorus-based warm side-step, but overall the songs are arranged in quiet, simple, and mellow tones. Ordinary drums are hardly heard throughout the album - instead, there's either subtle jazz-like percussion, glockenspiel, bells, or bongos as musical accompanies.

Once again, it's an album where Staples' narating and haunted vocal dominate the picture, but it's done with delicacy and that neccesary variation that makes it all so much more appetising.

As with the 2021 album, cover art is credited Staples' daughter Sidonie Osborne Staples.

Tindersticks once again deliver a solid and strong collection of songs to its long list of modern staples.

Recommended.

[ 👍allmusic.com, Rolling Stone, 👍The Guardian 4 / 5, Gaffa.dk 4 / 6 stars ]

The Dukes of Stratosphear "25 O'Clock" (1985)

25 O'Clock

release date: Apr. 1, 1985

format: cd (2009 remaster - APECD023)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,52]

producer: John Leckie, Swami Anand Nagara, The Dukes

label: Ape House - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "25 O'Clock" - 2. "Bike Ride to the Moon" - 3. "My Love Explodes" - 4. "What in the World??…" - 5. "Your Gold Dress" - 6. "The Mole From the Ministry" - 13 "Black Jewelled Serpent of Sound (Radio Caroline Edit)" - 14. "Open a Can of Human Beans" - 15. "Tin Toy Clockwork Train"

Debut album by project-band The Dukes of Stratosphear - basically XTC having fun playing psychedelic rock the way it sounded in the mid to late 1960s. The original album released on Virgin Records is a six-track Mini-album with a total running length of less than 27 mins, and the 2009 remaster (issued on Andy Partridge's label Ape House) add another nine tracks of demos and outtakes extending the running length to 49 mins. At the time, XTC was a trio of vocalist & guitarist Andy Partridge, vocalist & guitarist Colin Moulding, and lead guitarist & keyboardist Dave Gregory, and with the inclusion of Dave's brother Ian on drums, they here perform as The Dukes. On the album they're credited as Sir John Johns, The Red Curtain, Lord Cornelius Plum, and E.I.E.I. Owen [!]. Producer John Leckie is credited both with his actual name and with his alias: Swami Anand Nagara.

Stylewise, it's a strong attempt in producing music with a Syd Barrett-version of Pink Floyd in mind. Alledgedly, everything was played and recorded with old equipment [wiki about the album].

For most of their career, XTC has played with elements of psychedelic rock - on later albums they're exponents of neo-psychedelic rock, and it's obvious how this side-project may be seen in the stylistic progression of XTC - especially considering the traits of the albums that followed, e.g.: Skylarking (1986), Oranges & Lemons (1989), Nonsuch (1992), Apple Venus Volume 1 (1998).

The album was promoted by Virgin as an actual debut of sorts - a collection of 1960s compositions made by an unknown act, which finally had been released. Most tellingly, the album sold twice as many records as the predecessor The Big Express (Oct. 1984) by XTC at a time when no one knew of the actual identity of the band.

25 O'Clock is a powerful album, and both as original psychedelic rock and in the discography of XTC. It's an album that may require some time accustomising and although released on April Fools' Day and exposing plentiful of British humour the music is not entirely meant as a joke.

[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Pitchfork 7,7 / 10 stars ]

The Smile "Cutouts" (2024)

Cutouts

release date: Oct. 4, 2024

format: digital (10 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,72]

producer: Sam Petts-Davies

label: XL Recordings - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Foreign Spies" - 2. "Instant Psalm" (4 / 5) - 3. "Zero Sum" - 4. "Colours Fly" - 8. "The Slip" - 9. "No Words" - 10. "Bodies Laughing" (live)

3rd full lenght from The Smile follows only 9 months after Wall of Eyes (Jan. 2024) and it's a collection of outtakes - 'cutouts' from the same recording sessions that led to the predecessor. It's a total of ten tracks with a running length of approx. 44 mins.

Not surprisingly, this new album sounds much like the former, and at a first listen it doesn't bring out new sensational singles but given some time, it may actually fall out as the better of the two. It's not that Johnny Greenwood and Thom Yorke have neglected the experimental side in their many former releases, and Radiohead wasn't exactly famous for their standard rhythm section but it appears that with the inclusion of drummer Tom Skinner (Sons of Kemet), there has been a valuable addition of jazz vibe to Yorke and Greenwood's drafts. Skinner has an exploring nature where syncopation adds up on the natural weirdness of Greenwood and Yorke compositions, which turns everything into synchronised improvs with a strong sense of creative coherence, and the jazz element makes it extremely vibrant. Just as some critics suggest, I think the bottom-line of Cutouts is that it represents more free improvs thus making it more experimental, and yet the selection of compositions make a fine coherent whole where you really get to hear what great musicians they all are. Which of these two releases you prefer is a matter of taste, and in the long run, they may be regarded much more on par.

For the time being, I prefer this one. I think, i's a fine grower - but gosh, imagine they had originally released it as a double album!

Recommended.

[ 👍allmusic.com, Slant 3,5, The Guardian, NME, 👉Pitchfork 8 / 10, 😲MusicOMH 5 / 5 stars ]