Shaun Ryder "Visits From Future Technology" (2021)

Visits From Future Technology

release date: Aug. 20, 2021

format: digital (11 x File, MP3)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,78]

producer: Sunny Levine

label: SWRX Recordings - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Mumbo Jumbo" - 2. "Close the Dam" - 3. "Popstar's Daughters" - 4. "Monster" - 5. "Honey Put the Kettle On" - 6. "Crazy Bitches" - 7. "Straighten Me Up" - 11. "Clubbing Rabbits"

2nd solo album from Shaun Ryder follows a full eighteen years [18!!] after the solo debut Amateur Night in the Big Top (2003) and has been released on Ryder's own label SWRX Recordings. In a certain way, this could probably count as his actual debut, but that's not how music rights work [see comments for the 2003 album]. It is no state secret that Shaun Ryder's life as a musician and as a private person has involved various types of stimulants [!], and the media image of Ryder is first and foremost that of a skilled songwriter - and an addict. First he fronted the Madchester band Happy Mondays, which saw its heydays in the years from 1988 to '93. He then became lead vocalist of Black Grape from 1993 to '98. And in the period after that, he has managed to restart and disband Happy Mondays and Black Grape in almost countless new formations - possibly mostly because he wanted to be able to tour or play individual concerts, and thereby keep the income alive, but this hasn't led to much new music. Most recently, he released Pop Voodoo (2017) under the name of Black Grape, which probably could have just as well been under the name of Happy Mondays, which on the other hand most recently released its Uncle Dysfunktional in 2007. However, he has explained that when he made new music on his own, it would be released as Happy Mondays, whereas with Black Grape, it would always be co-composed with Kermit (aka Paul Leveridge). And although Ryder hasn't been involved in releasing much new music in this Millennium, he has never really been away from the media spotlight in his home country. He has published books, participated in reality shows ('Gogglebox' and 'I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!'), and he has been guest musician on a large number of other artists' releases. With Visits From Future Technology, Ryder has managed to collect a number of older and more or less unfinished tracks he had lying around, and with the help of producer Levine, it has become a new album under his own name. Under the name SWR [Shaun William Ryder], "Close the Dam" was already released in 2015 as a single, but is on here anyway. It's not surprisingly music that bears the stamp of the Madchester style that he himself helped establish. It's a danceable mix of alt. dance, indie rock, and electronic music with a good portion of sampling effectively thrown in here and there. The album comes with eleven tracks and a total playing time of just over 40 minutes.

Visits From Future Technology has come out to mostly positive reviews, and it's actually quite a performance he delivers here. It's basically surprisingly good craftsmanship. There are clear reminders of both Happy Mondays and Black Grape, but who really cares as long as it swings?! And it surely does exactly just that! Ryder occasionally mumbles, but charmingly as an old boxer, and without sounding like Shane MacGowan of The Pogues, and then he delivers some of his funniest lyrics - he's sharp and direct and bloody charming. And then he sounds like he's over years with self-abuse, which mostly secures better end results. The album is largely without fillers and represents a quite original combo that manages to raise the level from Pop Voodoo considerably and Ryder has made one of his best albums, ever!

A mighty fine and recommended album!

[ 👍Mojo, TheArtsDesk.com, XSnoize 4 / 5, LouderThanWar 4,5 / 5 stars ]

Lotte Kestner "Stolen" (2011)

Stolen

release date: Jun. 1, 2011

format: digital (12 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,42]

producer: self-produced

label: self-released - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 2. "Flume" - 5. "Hur jag fick dig att älska mig" - 6. "Fake Empire" - 8. "Let's Go to Bed" - 11. "True Faith"

3rd studio album by Lotte Kestner (aka Anna-Lynne Williams) is often mentioned as her sophomore album to China Mountain (May 2008), but she released China Mountain B-sides in 2009, although, the album is no longer filed on her bandcamp-profile; however, it's been out, and it's now a part of her discography.

Stolen is Kestner's first official covers album, and there's a few. The album is lo-fi, indie folk - and propably recorded by Williams without the use of overdubs and practical editing of tracks. In that regard it's quite coherent, although the original songs stem from very different sources and represent a rather wide stylistic span. You only have to mention some of the artists: Damien Jurado, Bon Iver, Kent, The National, Eels, The Cure, New Order, Interpol. And she even sings in Swedish when covering Kent!

The album nicely 'covers' Kestner's musical universe. It's melancholic and quiet lo-fi folk, where you sense the inspiration from the gloomy side of the post-punk influence but there's something uplifting in Kestner's airy / ethereal vocal.

Martha Wainwright "Love Will Be Reborn" (2021)

Love Will Be Reborn

release date: Aug. 20, 2021

format: cd

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

producer: Pierre Marchand

label: Cooking Vinyl - nationality: Canada

Track highlights: 1. "Middle of the Lake" - 2. "Getting Older" - 3. "Love Will Be Reborn" (4 / 5) - 6. "Body and Soul" - 7. "Hole in My Heart" - 9. "Sometimes" - 11. "Falaise de malaise"

5th studio album by Martha Wainwright as follow-up to her 2016 album Goodnight City is with a new producer in the form of Pierre Marchand, who is known for his work with musicians within singer / songwriter and folk music, such as Sarah McLachlan, but also Kate & Anna McGarrigle (Kate is Martha's mother), Rufus Wainwright (Martha's brother), as well as Daniel Lanois and Lhasa de Sela. Nearly five years is a very long time in between releases, and Martha Wainwright has never been the one to spit out albums like others do, but here she is back with 11 of her very own compositions as she last did with Come Home to Mama in 2012. Since 2016, she has gone through a divorce from former musical partner and regular producer Brad Albetta, and she has had to reconcile with the role of a single mother of two, which may also have a significant impact on the musical drought. If nothing else, the existential challenges have been food for several of the new songs, such as the title track, "Getting Older", "Hole in My heart" and "Falais de malaise" are clear examples of.

The cover quite nicely reflects the title with Wainwright sitting as if in a waiting position, ready in her fine dress to turn towards a new love. Musically, there is no revolutionary news, but the music has generally become more subdued with several songs in the singer / songwriter style without a lot of frills in the shape of synths and other electronic equipment. It's occasionally alt-country, it's naked and honest, and the album appears to be her most complete since the more poppier I Know You're Married but I've Got Feelings Too from 2008. She has never been shy about writing openly about her own life, about challenges with parents, family, and especially love - the broken and the new, but the songs here appear as her most mature, where self-reflection has been given more space than before, and where it mostly was an issue of pointing outwards rather than seeing inward. Also, and for once, she sounds more like herself than all possible others.

Recommended.

[ allmusic.com, Gaffa.dk 4 / 5 stars ]

Toyah "Desire" (1987)

Desire

release date: Jun. 1, 1987

format: digital (11 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,88]

producer: Mike Hedges

label: E.G. Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Echo Beach" - 2. "Moonlight Dancing" - 3. "Revive the World" - 8. "Deadly as a Woman" - 11. "Desire"

2nd solo album by Toyah following two years after Minx (Jul. 1985) and now with new wave and post-punk producer Mike Hedges. The album consists of songs by Wilcox and former members of the band Toyah - two songs co-composed by Simon Darlow, one with Adrian Lee and one with long-time associate Joel Bogen. Apart from these, Toyah wrote two songs with Nick Graham, one with Bruce Wooley, and the title track with husband Robert Fripp. The album also features two covers: track #1 originally a 1980 song by Martha and the Muffins, and track #6 originally a '77 single by Donna Summer.

Desire appears as an attempt to regain some of the aura but also the sound from the heydays with the band Toyah instead of being a natural follow-up to the poppier Minx. In that way the new album sounds more as something stemming from the early 80s with a stronger new wave appeal. "Echo Beach" preceded the album as a minor single hit reaching number #54 on the singles chart. The second single was "Moonlight Dancing", which doesn't reflect any chart entries, and despite I find it the best song here, it might have fitted better on the band's 1982 album The Changeling - and fact is, the song was co-written by two other band members and also contains the lyrics from the song "Dawn Chorus" from that very album.

The album didn't perform too well and basically didn't enter the albums chart, and it mostly sounds as a bit of a dated release when thinking 1987, and Toyah issues this album that sounds more like 1983-ish. Some of the songs are filled with keyboards and a drum sound that makes me think 'early Nena' or 'Toyah 1980s', and I wonder if some of the tracks are outtakes or alternative versions of older songs, because that's mostly what the sound yells. A few songs take up a tone from Love Is the Law (1983) or Minx but the overall sensation goes back to another time - also underlined in the lyrics. It's the pale imitation of a well-documented period and therefore not recommended.

Anna von Hausswolff "All Thoughts Fly" (2020)

All Thoughts Fly

udgivet: Sep. 25, 2020

format: digital (7 x File, FLAC)

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

producer: Anna von Hausswolff, Filip Leyman

label: Southern Lord - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 1. "Theatre of Nature" - 2. "Dolore di Orsini" - 3. "Sacro Bosco" (officiel video) - 6. "All Thoughts Fly" - 7. "Outside the Gate (for Bruna)"

5th studio album by Swedish organist Anna von Hausswolff, who has now switched to the admirable label Southern Lord. The album follows 2½ years after Dead Magic (Mar. 2018) and it includes seven instrumentals, which have been created in a combination of live recordings and post-production with the addition of electronic instruments. The live element is Anna von Hausswollf on a large (German) baroque organ in Örgryte Nya Kyrka, Gothenburg, and the entire work is based on sensory impressions that von Hausswolff experienced in releation to her visit at the Parco dei Mostri, also named Sacro Bosco (and Villa delle Meraviglie), the remarkable 16th-century Baroque park in Bomarzo, Lazio, Italy, from which the front cover photo was taken with von Hausswolff in the mouth of the meter-high head L'Orco.

It's not an album where you find von Hausswolff looking for new paths - not that she needs to - her music is most original, kept in her well-known experimental, neoclassical darkwave. The simple post-production leaves the music quite bare, where you get a clear sense of the pompous power of the organ. These are progressive compositions that slowly indicate a beauty side by side with a darkness that both evokes a sensation of security but which also may be perceived as gloomy - completely in line with the history of the Baroque garden.

All Thoughts Fly is an almost peerless work and nothing less than Anna von Hauswolff's best to date.

Highly recommended.

[ allmusic.com, SputnikMusic 4,5 / 5, New Noise 5 / 5, 👍Pitchfork 7,7 / 10 stars ]

Jon Fratelli "Bright Night Flowers" (2019)

Bright Night Flowers

release date: Feb. 15; 2019

format: digital (9 x File, MP3)

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

producer: Jon Fratelli, Stuart McCredie

label: Cooking Vinyl - nationality: Scotland, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Serenade in Vain" - 3. "After a While" - 5. "Rolling By" - 7. "Dreams Don’t Remember Your Name" - 9. "Somewhere"

2nd solo album from The Fratellis front figure Jon Fratelli (aka John Paul Lawler) as his solo follow-up to Psycho Jukebox (Jul. 2011) may follow 7½ years later but it's a bit of a difficult situation thinking Jon's solo releases represent something different from what he makes with the band - partly because in The Fratellis, he's the only songssmith of the band, he mostly stands as only composer, and he delivers the songs as lead vocalist accompagnied by his lead guitar or keyboard notes, and then also because the music by the trio hasn't exactly been a one-dimensional soundscape but it has changed considerably over its five studio releases. And whether Jonn has been in front of the band, representing one half of the duo-project Codeine Velvet Club, or delivering his own songs entirely on his own, the music blends, loans, and make up a whole that is the product by John Paul Lawler. He obviously enjoys baroque pop, power pop, glam rock, garage rock, and appears to have been influenced by American singer / songwriters of various eras, and that may be found on the music he produces. His first solo attempt from 2011 sounded much like a blend of The Fratellis as they came out on the debut Costello Music (2006) with hints from the more orchestrated follow-up Here We Stand (2008). With Codeine Velvet Club (2009) he revealed his love for baroque pop, and then followed three more albums with The Fratellis that both show various stylistic variations and in a way sums up the big pond from where he's musically influenced. All that history sort of lays a foundation to Bright Night Flowers, although, it fits perfectly in Lawler's musical influences, it nevertheless reveals a new side to his many statements so far by being more soft rock -or ballad-oriented with music inspired by an American songwriter tradition, I think. It's not far from what the albums Codeine Velvet Club, Here We Stand, and Eyes Wide, Tongue Tied (2015) indicated. There's like a deeper layer to his songs with themes that he attempts to ellaborate on instead of building music on sing-a-long catch-phrases and tickling guitar-hooks. In that way, he does remind me of how Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys stood out as someone with more substantial things on his mind. That said, there's something more traditional to the music of Lawler, who focuses more directly on the strengths of his stories than what could have been a way to produce new music that blends almost anything. In that respect, Lawler stays on secure musical roads where others may have been but he nevertheless exells with his fine vocal and delicate touch with a handful of melancholic songs that may grow on you when given enough attention.

Don't expect The Fratellis' hooks or energy. It's not something revolutionary but more a quite traditional

menu with glimpses of beauty.

[ allmusic.com, Spill Magazine, Hot Press 4 / 5, Uncut 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Robert Forster "Inferno" (2019)

Inferno

release date: Mar. 1, 2019

format: vinyl (tr429lp) / digital

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

producer: Victor Van Vugt

label: Tapete Records - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 1. "Crazy Jane on the Day of Judgement" - 3. "Inferno (Brisbane in Summer)" - 5. "Life Has Turned a Page" (live) - 6. "Remain" - 7. "I’ll Look After You" - 9. "One Bird in the Sky"

7th solo album by Robert Forster following Songs to Play (Sep. 2015) is Forster's second album on German label Tapete. It offers nine new compositions, all of which except track #1 with lyrics by William Butler Yeats, are credited Forster himself, and the album was produced by Australian Victor Van Vugt, who previously, among other things, produced for names such as PJ Harvey, Beth Orton, Nick Cave, but he was also sound engineer on Forster's debut Danger in the Past (1990) - just as he is credited on a large number of Australian releases in the 80s and 90s before he chose to settle in New York and here he established himself as producer in mainly the singer / songwriter category. As with the predecessor and Forster's debut, wife Karin Baümler participates on this. Forster has a certain thing for belonging to a band rather than standing on his own, so the album is actually credited the band 'The Magic Five' consisting of Earl Havin on drums and bongos, Michael Mühlhaus on piano and keyboards, Karin Baümler on violin, glockenspiel and backing vocals, Forster himself as vocalist and on acoustic and electric guitar, and with Scott Bromiley on bass, electric & acoustic guitar, synthesizer, organ and backing vocals. The latter also featured on the 2015 album (which he co-produced with Luke McDonald and Forster).

Stylistically, Forster never strays far from the traditional singer / songwriter and folk rock scene rooted in the 60s and 70s. His lyrics about human relationships, sadness, happiness, friendships, the past and the present carry these songs, with a predominantly gentle instrumentation treated with melancholic bits and hints of jangle pop.

Thirteen years have passed since Forster lost his songwriting friend and the other founding member of The Go-Betweens, Grant McLennan, but he still fills - both in Forster's music as well as in his lyrics. Strictly musically, McLennan was the one who came up with the fine harmonies, and in his autobiography "Grant & I" Forster explains how they wrote the music for The Go-Betweens, and it's quite clear that McLennan (from Forster's perspective) had a particularly natural gift to write good songs, while Forster himself always had to struggle more with his music, and when he occasionally plays with more catchy harmonies, thoughts easily falls on the importance of his old friend.

Inferno is another series of fine songs from a musician who has clearly always felt, he had been born in the wrong era, but he is a highly original rhyme and soundsmith, who makes his mark with manners without making a huge fuzz about himself. The album may not be his absolute best, but it's far from the ordinary or copy mode, and it contains some of the freshness he launched with his 2015 album and to that he adds a little more depth to his fine lyrics.

Recommended.

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

Kraftwerk "Tour de France Soundtracks" (2003)

Tour de France Soundtracks

release date: Aug. 4, 2003

format: cd

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,46]

producer: Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider

label: EMI - nationality: Germany

Track highlights: 2. "Tour de France Étape 1" - 3. "Tour de France Étape 2" - 7. "Aéro Dynamik" - 9. "Elektro Kardiogramm" - 12. "Tour de France" (4 / 5) (officiel video)

11th and final studio album by Kraftwerk released a full twelve years after The Mix (1991) - and seventeen [!] years after Electric Cafe (1986), which stands as their most recent album with completely new material. This final outing is also the band's only album with a line-up consisting of Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider together with the two new members of Fritz Hilpert (who in '87 replaced Wolfgang Flür) and Henning Schmitz, who after ' The 91 album replaced Fernando Abrantes (who had only just replaced Karl Bartos). The album is as all the band's albums from '74 and onwards also released in a remastered 2009 version, and for that, it was issued with the shorter title, Tour de France for the simple reason that it had been created to the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the first Tour de France. At the same time, it also happens to be the 20th anniversary of the band's first edition of the title track. The album consists of 12 compositions with a total running time at approx. 56 minutes.

Stylewise, the band here presents a new sound based on basic elements from their previous albums but now with an implementation of techno, for which the band itself is seen as a major inspiration, and which in a way provides the music with a breath of fresh air. Most lyrics are written in collaboration between Ralf Hütter and French songwriter Maxime Schmitt.

The album was generally met by positively reviews and it ended up topping the German albums chart as the band's only. It reached number #7 in Sweden, number #21 in the UK, and a position as number #3 on the US Top Dance/Electronic albums chart, although it didn't chart on the Billboard 200, as the band's only album to date. A total of four tracks were selected for single releases: "Tour de France 2003" (Jul. 2003), which contains four different versions of the title track - none of which appear on the album (which basically is in keeping with the multiple versions of the original "Tour de France" single from '83), "Elektro Kardiogramm" (released as a promo single) in a 'Radio Mix' version, "Aéro Dynamik" released in 2004 as "Aerodynamik" for a single with the track in four different mixes, again, all of which differ from the album version and "Aerodynamik + La Forme Remixes" released 2007. The first single peaked at number #50 on the German singles chart, which was bettered by a number #20 in the UK.

The album stands as Kraftwerk's final with new material, although several releases have followed, e.g. the live album Minimum-Maximum from 2005, the box set Der Katalog (2009), the live box set 3-D Der Katalog (2017) and most recently, the exclusively digital release Remixes (2020). The band has maintained regular live tours up to the present day, despite one of the band's founders, Florian Schneider left the band in 2009 and then later in 2020 died at the age of 73.

The title track has iconic status and fits fantastically as an underlay for cycling, but the album is a slightly odd conglomerate with few other highlights and quite a bit of filler material, but it's nevertheless still worth to know off.

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

Lightning Bug "A Color of the Sky" (2021)

A Color of the Sky

release date: Jun. 25, 2021

format: digital

[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,75]

producer: Lightning Bug

label: Fat Possum Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "The Return" (live) - 2. "The Right Thing Is Hard to Do" (live) - 3. "September Song, Pt. II" - 4. "Wings of Desire" - 6. "Song of the Bell" - 7. "I Lie Awake" - 10. "The Flash"

3rd studio album by American indie pop band Lightning Bug is the band's first on an actual record label, as their first two albums were pure self-releases. Yet the band is still in full control with keyboardist Logan Miley as mixer and the band themselves in the role as producer. On the their first two outings, the band was a trio but it's now expanded to a quintet with the addition of bassist Vincent Puleo and drummer Dane Hagen, and thus it has been possible to record the album live in the studio, where vocalist and songwriter Audrey Kang previously both played bass and drum tracks.

The style has become more laid back, more spacious and ethereal bonding stronger to dream pop, although it also sounds like a natural extension of the band's second album October Sky (2019). Still, Cocteau Twins and other 80s and 90s dream pop bands pop to mind, but on the album here you may also notice a more apparent inspiration from the two final albums by post-rock band Talk Talk as well as Mazzy Star. It's a fine mix of ambient noise and primarily melodic harmonies, and the album appears to me, as the band's finest to date.

[ allmusic.com, SputnikMusic 4,5 / 5, Slant 4 / 5, Pitchfork 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Bill Frisell "Guitar in the Space Age!" (2014)

Guitar in the Space Age!

release date: Oct. 6, 2014

format: digital (14 x File, FLAC)

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

producer: Lee Townsend

label: Okeh Records - nationality: USA

Studio album by Bill Frisell - his 29th, 30th, 31st, or 32nd, give or take - is in the category of cover albums. It follows the strings-album (violin, viola, cello) Big Sur (Jun. 2013) and it contains fourteen instrumentals, two original Frisell compositions (tracks #6 & #13) and twelve interpretations of popular compositions stemming from the late 1950s to the mid-60s. Several of these were originally surf rock, rock & roll, folk rock, or pop / rock tunes but in Frisell's rearranged versions they have all become jazz-influenced modern standards.

The album is almost naturally critically acclaimed - that's just the way a new Frisell album is met - and it's hard not to understand why Frisell is one of the most valued instrumentalists over the most recent four decades or so. He plays his instrument with an original voice, so to speak. That said, I immediately thought of The Raybeats, who released the album Guitar Beat back in '81, an almost peculiar release at the time with its modernised surf rock instrumentals, completely out of sync with contemporary stylistic waves but at the same time: extremely timeless. And with a selection of popular tunes, Frisell almost replicates that effort. The tunes are very much intact - perhaps a bit too much to my liking, but they still uphold a freshness and universality that cannot be denied. I only wish Frisell would've improvised more on the originals - something that works nicely on his rendition of Ray Davies' "Tired of Waiting for You" - where he gives us that extra layer he often adds to other people's songs 'cause here they mostly shine in their own rights. On the one hand, it makes it perfectly uncomplicated and then it reminds us of what great tunes the originals are. I'm not always in the mood to fully appreciate this collection, but I still find that Frisell just show us, not only what an exquisite instrumentalist he is but also what a fabulous interpretor he also is. I know most of the originals and mostly just think Frisell wants to remind us about these wonders - it's his tribute to that forgotten era of his own youth.

[ allmusic.com, The Guardian 4 / 5, 👍PopMatters 3 / 5 stars ]

Mellemblond "Solregn" (2020)

Solregn

release date: Sep. 11, 2020

format: vinyl (MØS 017) / digital (11 x File, FLAC)

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

producer: Brian Mørk Hansen

label: Møs Møs - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "Hvor er magien" - 2. "Vildrede" (4 / 5) - 3. "Et øje" (4,5 / 5) - 4. "I mit stille sind" - 5. "Levende stemmer" - 6. "Mørkt stof" - 7. "Solregn" - 8. "Vinterskæbner" - 10. "Vågnede en morgen"

5th studio album from Mellemblond aka Kristoffer Munck Mortensen as follow-up to Guldlokzonen (May 2018), is like that issued on the small independent label Møs Møs located in Copenhagen.

This new album is exclusively acoustic tracks - of which five of eleven are Kristoffer Munck Mortensen's own reinterpretations of older songs, while the other six are new compositions. I imagine the 'old' songs have been given another present life through live versions and via the restrictive (long) quarantine period that was still a reality in relation with the release. The track "Vildrede" is a duet, also released as a single, credited Mellemblond and Kira Skov. In addition to Munck Mortensen (and Kira Skov on track #2), only other musician participating here is the experienced jazz bassist Nils Davidsen, who is also credited on cello.

Solregn has garnered positive feedback and the song "Vinterskæbner" from Guldlokzonen and "Et øje" from Lysvågen (Mar. 2013) have received some airplay on (national radio) Danmarks Radio P3 and P4, and the album is also a quite unique release. Mellemblond has been a musical project right from the start, where it is clear that the poetic side has played a major part. Munck Mortensen has his own distinctive vocal, but it's especially the lyrical dimension of his songs that elevates the compositions to something other than ordinary pop music. In this way, he has managed to bring something other into the music than what we usually find in Danish-language music, and there is a consonance with late Eik Skaløe (from Steppeulvene), Povl Dissing (who sings Benny Andersen), and Trille, who are all musicians with a distinct lyrical quality and who have bridged to a textual universe much closer to that of author Tove Ditlevsen than the majority of other Danish songwriters have succesfully made attempts to build a kindred relationship with.

The gentle post-production, and the completely simple soundscape make the lyrics stand out even more clearly. You may think what you want concerning doing reinterpretations of one's own melodies - but this way, at least they get an intentional new and different life, which in a way reminds me of how British band Tindersticks in 2013 succesfully made the album Across Six Leap Years.

Solregn is downright excellent in places. Heartfelt and sensual. This is music with great depth.

Great recommendation from here.

[ 👍Gaffa.dk 5 / 6 stars ]

// - - -

3 versions of "Et øje" by Mellemblond

• 2012 single version
• 2013 album version
• 2020 acoustic version

Band of Horses "Why Are You OK" (2016)

Why Are You OK

release date: Jun. 10, 2016

format: digital (12 x File, FLAC)

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

producer: Jason Lytle

label: Interscope - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Dull Times / The Moon" - 2. "Solemn Oath" - 3. "Hag" - 4. "Casual Party" - 5. "In a Drawer" - 11. "Barrel House"

5th studio album by Band of Horses succeeds Mirage Rock by nearly four full years and like that it introduces a new producer - this time with band leader of indie rock band Grandaddy, Jason Lytle. Once again, the band remains intact, but this is also the last featuring guitarist Tyler Ramsey and bassist Bill Reynolds, who both departed in early 2017.

The album didn't produce better charts than the predecessor but critics generally saw it as bettering the 2012 album, and I fully agree with that. In fact, I easily find it the band's third best but also as a clear improvement from the more incoherent Mirage Rock. It's not that Why Are You OK is another great album, but it's a return to actually attempting to produce something worthwhile instead of reproducing an old recipe. Bridwell sings again with sincerity and there's a balance of soft and hard - almost with bonds to Modest Mouse or Sonic Youth - completely without further comparison other than the play with energies 'cause this is still an indie folk release. With this, Band of Horses appear to be back on track. I like it, it's a certified grower.

[ The Guardian 4 / 5, 👉Rolling Stone, 👍Uncut 3,5 / 5, Pitchfork 6,0 / 10, Mojo 3 / 5 stars ]

Fritz "Pastel" (2021)

Pastel

release date: Feb. 12, 2021

format: digital (9 x File, FLAC)

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

producer: Fraser Marshall

label: Inertia Music - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 1. "Sweetie" - 2. "Arrow" - 3. "Pastel" - 4. "She's Gonna Hate Me!" - 7. "Die Happily" - 9. "Jan 1"

2nd studio album by Australian music project Fritz (stylised FRITZ) consisting of Matilda Murphy (aka Tilly Murphy) on vocals, rhythm guitar and bass, Cody Brougham on (lead) guitar, and with Darren James on drums. Or at least that's what you could think, and then in the band's music videos you may also see a (second) bass player and a keyboard player, although the band members apparently only count Murphy, Brougham, and James. Matilda is also credited as songwriter and composer. The band is based in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, and before Pastel they released the self-promoted album FRITZ in 2017 - which makes Pastel the band's debut on an actual label.

It's music somewhere in between The Vaccines, Jezabels, and Dum Dum Girls with clear inspiration from My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth, Breeders and Swedish The Radio Dept. with a balance between light noise pop, classic dream pop and what perhaps should be referred to as pop-grunge. The album consists of nine songs with a modest running time of just under half an hour.

It may be the kind of music that sounds as if made in the 90s, but it has a naive freshness and unimpressiveness that could stem from the fact that the band members have only just stepped out of their teenage years. Musically, it could be described as somewhat narrow - both in terms of production sound and in the variation of the individual compositions - but it's nevertheless delightfully refreshing at a time when music is something that ideally requires a new producer (or preferably several) for each track, and where the compositions should ideally be piled up in countless soundtracks and advanced arrangements to perhaps cover up the fact that the good songs are basically missing. After a quick spin, you might feel like uttering 'was that it? I mean, the whole album?' And yes, it is kinda short, sweet and most of all, it sounds promising for the future, so we have another real alternative to Eilish (and bro), Del Rey, multi-billionaire West and all the other overrated and overproduced hitmakers.

Recommended.

[ 👍Awfultrackrecord.com 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Siouxsie and the Banshees "Voices on the Air (The Peel Sessions)" (2006)

Voices on the Air (The Peel Sessions) (compilation)

release date: Oct. 23, 2006

format: cd

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

producer: diverse

label: Polydor / Universal / BBC - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: (1. session, 29/11/79): 1. "Love in a Void" (anden liveoptræden '79) - 2. "Mirage" - 3. "Metal Postcard (Mittageisen)" - (2. session, 6/2/78): 5. "Hong Kong Garden" - 6. "Overground" - 7. "Carcass" - 8. "Helter / Skelter" - (3. session, 9/4/79): 10. "Playground Twist" - 11. "Regal Zone" - (4. session, 10/2/81): 13. "Halloween" - 14. "Voodoo Dolly" - 16. "Into the Light" - (5. session, 21/1/86): 17. "Candyman" - 19. "Lands End"

Compilation album by Siouxsie and the Banshees from Polydor / Universal who just keep finding material to issue with a band they didn't see as commercial enough while active on the label. Here, however, it's not another best of, which looks like many others but a collective work of all the band's appearances on John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show over the years from 1977 to 1986. The John Peel Sessions is a legendary radio show existing from 1967 until Peel's death in 2004, and it includes more than 4,000 recordings by more than 2,000 artists. The album here comprises a total of 19 tracks spread over five appearances, where the only two regulars from all five recordings are vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bassist Steven Severin. The first three sessions, Nov. 29, 1977 (tracks #1-4), Feb. 6, 1978 (tracks #5-8), and Apr. 9, 1979 (tracks #9-12) respectively, sees John McKay on guitar and Kenny Morris on drums. The fourth session recorded 10/2-1981 (tracks #13-16) is with John McGeogh on guitar and Budgie on drums, and the fifth and final session Jan. 21, 1986 (tracks #17-19) is with John Valentine Carruthers on guitar.

It's mainly the band's earlier period you'll find documented here - with only three tracks are taken from the band's seventh album, Tinderbox (1986), the remaining 16 tracks (apart from one track by The Creatures) may be found in studio versions on the band's first four albums.

Voices on the Air (The Peel Sessions) is obviously a collector's item, as the recordings have not previously been broadcast together. The band's first Peel Session was independently released as an ep in '87 (on cd in '89), the second session released in '89 - both are collected on a compilation from '91.

The album is fine musical historic release, virtually showcasing the band before any label had a contract ready, and with the BBC's limited sound studio with a single sound track available, it's really the documentation of pure rawness, white noise, and electric energy flowing from one of the most notable British bands who instantly managed the progression from punk rock and into the wider scene of post-punk.

The album is dedicated BBC radio presenter John Peel (1939-2004) and producer John Walters (1938-2001, who was producer on many Peel Sessions, but not on the tracks on the album mentioned here).

From the band's BBC performances, there also exists a later rather extensive 3 CD + 1 DVD box set (with around 85 tracks), Siouxsie and the Banshees at the BBC released in 2009, which in addition to the five Peel Sessions also includes other radio-broadcast concerts and television appearances.

Recommended connoisseurs.

[ 👍allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Julian Cope "Interpreter" (1996)

Interpreter

release date: Oct. 14, 1996

format: digital

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

producer: Julian Cope

label: Echo - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "I Come from Another Planet, Baby" (4 / 5) - 2. "I've Got My TV & My Pills" - 3. "Planetary Sit-In" - 5. "Cheap New-Age Fix" - 7. "Arthur Drugstore" - 9. "Re-Directed Male" - 12. "Dust"

12th studio album (some file it as his 13th and probably include his collaboration album Rite) by Julian Cope is like its predecessor 20 Mothers (Aug. 1995) released on Echo, as his final on another company after which he should only release his music via his own labels. Alledgedly, Cope had rejected to perform in the US, which made Echo cancel their work with Cope. The incident was perhaps the last straw, which made Cope turn his back on the established music industry and from hereon take full control of everything he would do. The album follows more or less the same musical paths as his '95 album, albeit as a stylistically narrower release, where the compositions are Cope's own neo-psychedelic mix of glam rock, beat, folk rock, space rock, and pop. Thematically, it varies between the cosmic, about space travel, and the more down-to-earth stories, but especially strong political positions are noteworthy, which take their starting point from Cope's commitment as an environmental campaigner. There has also been room for his 'Neolithic hobby', although it's only reflected in a poster and the album front cover.

Musically, this appears quite complex with a certain grandiosity, but still with a strict simplicity in the harmonies, as an echo of 70's nostalgia.

The album was not commercially successful, briefly peaking at number #39 on the UK albums chart, and with two singles - tracks #1 and #3 both peaking at number #34 on the singles chart.

Personally, I think there's too much room for distorted guitars, heavy rock attitude, orchestral arrangements, and a repetition of naïve choruses, but still: it's probably part of his fascination of space rock. On the whole, there is a lot of recycling without much originality and at times I find myself wondering if he had either Lou Reed, David Bowie, Tom Verlaine, Scott Walker, or Neil Young on his mind when he wrote and recorded individual tracks. However, it's not only in the somewhat more distant music history that he finds his inspiration. At times he takes completely different paths when incorporating new styles with electronic or a synth-pop touch - and wherever he moves, Cope's strength is to write songs and to speak his mind, even if the messages occasionally drown a little in pompous and odd mixtures of styles. And you really have to give it to him: despite pulling all kinds of stuff from his musical shelves, there's still a remnant of presence and strong universal musical skill at stake - a Copesque charm and completeness, which manages to elevate the album to anything but copycat and mediocrity.

The album was Cope's final on Echo and all of his subsequent music has been self-released either through his own label Head Heritage or through his internet site, carrying the same name, and where he has commented on this and that up until Mar. 2014 when he made his final post. However, he has kept releasing and issuing new albums via Head Heritage since.

Recommended.

[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Kele "The Waves Pt. 1" (2021)

The Waves Pt. 1

release date: May 28, 2021

format: digital

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

producer: Kele Okereke

label: Kola Records / !K7 - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Message From the Spirit World" - 4. "How to Beat the Lie Detector" - 6. "Nineveh" - 8. "The Patriots" - 9. "Intention" - 10. "Smalltown Boy" - 11. "From a Place of Love" - 12. "The Heart of the Wave"

5th studio album by Kele (aka Kele Okereke, whose full name is Kelechukwu Rowland Okereke) following 2042 (Nov. 2019). Unlike most of his releases, Kele himself is credited as producer on this, as was also the case on his second album out Trick (Oct. 2014).

Unsurprisingly, the album comes with COVID-19 as a theme and as a starting point for the creation of an album, which offers 13 cuts and a total playing length of just under 50 minutes. Nor is it any surprise that Kele presents us with new styles and a mix of all possible inspirations. It's a near natural habit of his that the basic tone of any new album is from a new perspective - much in the same manner as we've come to understand the soundscape in Bloc Party. On this new release, there is less, or practically no room for alt. dance, funk, or disco. Instead, the album is somewhat subdued without approaching a bare folk rock and singer / songwriter orientation, as the one he cultivated on Fatherland (Oct. 2017). It's a type of quiet indie pop and alt. folk with the narrative at the center of the compositions. Where 2042 presented us with a series of tales about future English society, The Waves Pt. 1 are stories about Kele's present time. It's about being a parent, living in a relationship, and it's about small and big changes affecting us all.

Nationally, the album has been met by a somewhat lukewarm reception, but that's not something new for Kele personally, nor for his experiences concerning album releases with Bloc Party.

It's not exactly an album of a lot of ear bangers or melodic hooks, and it's generally a more quiet and introspective Kele as opposed to what you might have expected. It may appear as a demanding album, where the listener must take an active part in an attempt to create his/her own understanding. My first impression had me think of it as an off the target album, but it's not necessarily all bad because it makes demands on the listener. As the title indicates, one could expect The Waves Pt. 2.

Not recommended.

[ The Guardian 2 / 5, NME, Mojo 3 / 5, Clash, Narc Magazine 4 / 5 stars ]

Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band "Trout Mask Replica" (1982)

Trout Mask Replica

release date: Jun. 16, 1969

format: digital (28 x File, FLAC) (2021 remaster)

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

producer: Frank Zappa

label: Zappa Records / Bizarre Industries - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Frownland" - 2. "The Dust Blows Forward 'n the Dust Blows Back" - 4. "Ella Guru" - 6. "Moonlight on Vermont" - 7. "Pachuco Cadaver" - 12. "My Human Gets Me Blues" - 14. "Hair Pie: Bake 2" (instr.) - 16. "Well" - 17. "When Big Joan Sets Up" - 18. "Fallin' Ditch" - 21. "Orange Claw Hammer" - 22. "She's Too Much for My Mirror" - 25. "The Blimp (Mousetrapreplica)" - 28. "Veteran's Day Poppy"

3rd studio album by Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band (here: a sextet) follows 8 months after the album Strictly Personal (Oct. 1968). As a start, let's just conclude that this very album is 'beyond'... Just beyond... anything! It's unlike anything else, and for that alone, it's worth paying attention to. Whether you like the content - its musical statement - or not, because it tampers with the idea of music as such. At the point of the release, I guess people thought of it as a band effort and generally thinking of Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band as a unit of sorts - like that of The Jimi Hendrix Experience, and / or Frank Zappa and the Mothers - without comparison but with the idea of a band with a leader, and in this case with Don Van Vliet fronting His Magic Band (sometimes refered to as 'The Magic Band'). And to some extent that perception makes sense; and then on the other hand, when comparing His Magic Band over the years, it appears much more of a one-man project with shifting collaborators - of sorts. Yes, a few of these reappear over many albums but already here, only drummer & percussionist John French plays on all three albums up until this point. Guitarist John Cotton (here credited as 'Antennae Jimmy Semens') was included in the band on the predecessor but this is the first with guitarist Bill Harkleroad (credited as 'Zoot Horn Rollo'), bassist Mark Boston (credited as 'Rockette Morton'), and bass clarinet player Victor Hayden (credited as 'The Mascara Snake') - alledgedly, names that Van Vliet came up with. The album was released as a double vinyl album on Straight Records and with Frank Zappa as sound engineer and producer. Much has been said about this specific album. There are testimonies indicating that much of the recordings were taped live in the studio, or with the band playing instruments in one room and with Don Van Vliet contributing with vocals in another room. And then there's the story of how an untrained Van Vliet composed and made the basics of the songs on a piano (an instrument he didn't know how to play) after which John French transcribed Vliet's instrumental pieces into musical notations that he then handed out to individual instrumentalists to play on their instrument in whatever way the music had been transcribed to fit the specific instrument. Other ideas were used as creative ideas such as having the individual band members sit in isolated rooms playing their part while they couldn't hear the others - same approach was used for recording Vliet's vocal, which resulted in out-of-sync passages that were used as they were recorded, and then there are stories suggesting that Van Vliet insisted on day-long rehearsals which included sleep deprivation and little food intakes to maximize attention to the individual parts - as a way to become a part of the instrument itself.

I first came across this album in the early 80s at the local library. I was immediately attracted by the front cover, which I somehow found appealing. That cover told me what was inside it, was something special. I took the album home and understood absolutely nothing of it and thought of it as unappealing chaotic noise - a mistake. Over the years, I have come across the album at various stages of my life, and each time, I have discovered something new about it, found out that little bit more - and found it increasingly more fascinating. Needless say, the album is longtime a musical treasure and the good old Captain Beefheart has become an icon.

The album wasn't a big contemporary success - hardly any of Captain Beefheart albums experienced major commercial success, although, this one did reach number #21 in the UK. In retrospect however, none of his albums have been rejected as musical failures, which I guess has to do with Van Vliet's mission as an artists: to create music free of conventions [this is not a statement by Van Vliet but my assessment]. There's no doubt that Van Vliet was inspired by early American music and he is nonetheless regarded as one the most genuine original blues rock vocalists. As a composer, he was quite unconventional and an untamed figure. He was always motivated by ideas of creativity and has always found his music labelled as avant-garde. Yes, it's experimental but he appears to have been inspired by free jazz and world music, and what he pursued was perhaps a confrontation of the perception of how music is established as a concept. Why and when do we understand something as music?

Trout Mask Replica is a... wonderous one-of-a-kind release. It's an extensive listen with around 80 mins. playing time. Some regard it as a stunning masterpiece, others see it as more of a non-sensical piece of formative artistic matter. The latter group of people, I find, often reject the album instantly, or quite early. Regardless, how people experience the album, there's no doubt that artists have and will continue to be inspired by its ideas and its output, which in essence comes from an unrestricted form. The album consists of 28 fragments of music - some tracks may sound alike and yet they all give you a taste of patternless music, paradoxically, with obvious traits of patterns. An overwhelming thing about it is that it was produced in 1969 and still sounds as something quite new. And did I mention, it's experimental? Actually, it's quite experimental and could be a bit of overwhelming to listen to in one long take. I'm still in doubt about how to regard it entirely - I guess, I might never will, I'm not a genius but not few have called Van Vliet just that. He may have been living in a period of acid heads but his ideas still made a lot of sense. Just the title of the album is something, isn't?! What is a 'trout mask'? And then a 'replica'! "Ah, the good old 'trout mask' but as a replica! The title itself plays with conception of an idea, of what is art and what sense does it make when we roll a dice and change the rules?

The album is not entirely a pleasant listen, but it surely has its moments. Fragments are there, binding it together for an instant before dissolving and reappearing as something else. Rhythm patterns are not continous. Nothing is. It means, you probably won't be listening to this as a nice background tapestry for any social arrangement. You may not want to put it on while driving with your family, and so on. It's something that require your attention. Pieces and fragments are both funny and absolutely strong. As something with music pleasure potential, I would hand it 1 out of 5 stars. I'm still thinking 4 out 5 and understand critics who see it as 5 / 5 when you see it as a statement that challenges out perception of how music is constructed. And then I land on 3,5 / 5 because of its musical 'qualities'... though, what is quality when speaking of music? And this is the kind of questions you may have to ask yourself when listening to this, which basically proves its worth. I really enjoy it but for various reasons and at various times.

Definitely recommended.

[ 👉allmusic.com, Rolling Stone, Q Magazine 5 / 5, Pitchfork 10 / 10 stars ]

Julian Cope "20 Mothers" (1995)

20 Mothers

release date: Aug. 28, 1995

format: cd (ECHCD 5)

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

producer: Julian Cope

label: Echo - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Wheelbarrow Man" (live) - 2. "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" - 3. "Try Try Try" (Top of the Pops performance) - 4. "Stone Circles 'n' You" - 10. "Adam & Eve Hit the Road" - 15. "Senile Get" - 16. "The Lonely Guy"

11th studio album by Julian Cope is like the one year old predecessor Autogeddon released on the Chrysalis-owned sublabel Echo. With the album, Cope returns to his 'habit' of releasing extensive albums - 20 Mothers is nearly 72 minutes long and is divided into four 'phases', as was also the case with Peggy Suicide (Apr. 1991). His new album is similar to his most recent concept albums without it' being absolutely obvious where the focus lies, because it's more of a unifying album for all of Cope's thematic interests: climate and environment, the condition of our planet, consumerism, cars, religion, prehistoric cultures, and then as a more recent theme of his: stories from one's own lived life about family relationships. In the same way that themes are diverse, the music aspect is even more varied than on most of his other albums. Yes, there is the usual neo-psychedelia and space-rock, and then you'll also find indie rock, funk, and tracks with a clear folk touch, but also elements taken from Europop, synth-pop and rock & roll - in other words, the range is w--i---d----e, and the seemingly conceptual title, supported by the cover featuring family members - wife Dorian and friends, all of whom are actually mothers (as mentioned in the inlay) - then the album basically covers everything, and in that way it comes across as a bit of an all sorts mix - on all levels.

20 Mothers is by no means a bad album, the best side to it being Cope's stories, but at the same time it's somewhat incoherent and occasionally odd to listen to in its entirety.

[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]

 

back cover: 
Julian with his
two daughters

inside:
Julian with family and friends
(wife Dorian on Julian's right)

Chet Baker "My Funny Valentine [Essential Jazz Masters]" (2006)

My Funny Valentine [Essential Jazz Masters] (compilation)

release date: 2006

format: digital

[album rate: 3 / 5]

Compilation album by Chet Baker, which seems like a reissue but is filed as a 2006 album release, however, all tracks must have been recorded in the 1950s and/or 1960s, which is quite evident from the mono recordings. It features live sessions, hard bop jazz, as well as his romantic cool jazz ballads including one vocal jazz track, which sort of comprises all his styles but also makes it a very uneven compilation of songs.

Marie Key "Marie Key" (2020)

Marie Key

release date: Oct. 23, 2020

format: digital (11 x File, FLAC)

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

producer: Andreas Sommer

label: Temper Records - nationality: Demark

Track highlights: 1. "Min tabte ven" - 2. "True Love" - 3. "Tænker på os to" - 4. "Din bar" - 5. "Biler" - 6. "Venner" - 9. "Et kys er ik nok mer" (4 / 5) - 10. "Vi følger hinanden"

5th studio album by Marie Key following a little more than two years after Giganter (Jul. 2018) sees a welcome back to producer Andreas 'Maskinen' Sommer, who is credited as multi-instrumentalist and also as co-composer of six out of a total of eleven songs. The album also sees a few featuring guests, which include Tim Christensen on guitar (track #2), Christoffer Gregersen on vocals (track #6), and Simon Kvamm on vocals (track #9). The album has primarily been issued as a vinyl only album (also available as digital download) but not in cd format, and it appears to be the first release on Key's own label, Temper Records.

As many releases from 2020 the album has been recorded and produced at a time of uncertainty - with reference to global lockdowns and in that regard it may have been delayed as Key probably were prevented to follow it up with a tour.

Marie Key is a way of showing a more stripped down view on an artist, who has taken the country by storm but also experienced a difficult time after two acclaimed albums, although Giganter was a fine album, it just wasn't welcomed by enthusism nor great reviews. And that tendency may have hit this very album even harder as it hasn't been promoted with much fuss and then it basically appears to have near vanished from any public interest, which is more than really strange. Yes, the song "True Love" was a minor national hit but the album failed to enter top 40 and seems to have come out only to be greatly ignored, which is quite sad because it's a fine album on which Key once more showcases her position as a gifted contemporary songwriter of personal and inner conflicts with an obvious broad appeal and always serving her songs with glimpses of hope, despair, and humour, but also has a purposeful sense for a wider target group. It's both simple narratives and modern poetry on a another level than generic pop without substance. Key simple deserves more listeners but may have found the limitations in singing entirely in Danish when everyone's eyes and ears are on a globalised perfect world that is reflected to us via Insta, Tik-Tok, X - the SoMe-poison.

Definitely recommended.

[ Gaffa.dk, Kulturen.nu 4 / 6, 💩Ekstra Bladet 3 / 6 stars ]