Johnny Madsen "Godt nyt" (2015)

Godt nyt

release date: Sep. 25, 2015

format: cd

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

producer: Chief 1 (aka Lars Pedersen)

label: REO / Universal - nationality: Denmark

16th and final studio solo album by Johnny Madsen. This is posted on the day it was publicly known that Madsen had passed away, Nov. 4, 2024 (age 73). The album is the only one by Madsen that I purchased shortly after it came out. I never was a huge fan but I really enjoyed much of the music he made from 1982 to 2015, and also in the lasting trio Dalton together with Lars Lilholt and Allan Olsen. I think, I first noticed one of his songs after he had launched his third album Chinatown, Yellow Moon og Den Sorte Fugl in 1987 when I came across the title song and "Halgal halbal" - two songs that had some radio airplay. I thought of these songs as highly original and not without appeal, although, I wasn't a big fan of the blues, and simply wasn't ready for his sometimes surreal original take on the genre back then. His follow-up Udenfor sæsonen (Aug. 1988) was a national breakthrough and it's an album that brought several classics with it, incl. the title track, "Færgemanden", "Komadibovser", and "Tidlig mandag morgen". With that album, he established himself as a contemporary artist with an unusual strong original take on soft blues rock in a most original style and certainly notable for his ear for his local dialect, garnered with strong lyrics and his rasping singing voice.

Godt nyt ['Good news'] may sound like an inappropriate title to pick on this day, but with Madsen's sense for the surreal, an abundance of irony, and a gift for word-play, this title could be as good as any to pay tribute to his gifted soul. The album provides us with a mature and personal look on modern life with well-placed comments on social media, globalism, traditions, and smaller things from everyday life. I really like this one. It both contain great hooks, well-crafted and powerful arrangements but it also has a certain Lo-Fi tone to it that makes you think of something echoing early rehearsals in an organic kind of way, as an ingredient of authenticity, which is a quality I think stick to all his records. He leaves us with a solid discography that I need to dig more into 'cause his music is there, and I do know several of his albums, and they're definitely all worth knowing.

Thank you for the music, Johnny. Keep rockin'!

Daniel Norgren "Wooh Dang" (2019)

Wooh Dang

release date: Apr. 19, 2019

format: vinyl / digital (10 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,84]

producer: Daniel Norgren

label: Superpuma / self-released - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 2. "The Flow" - 3. "Dandelion Time" - 4. "The Power" (4 / 5) (live) - 5. "Rolling Rolling Rolling" - 6. "So Glad" - 8. "The Day That´s Just Begun" (live on KEXP)

[ full perfomance on KEXP ]

Studio album by Swedish guitarist and songwriter Daniel Norgren originally released on vinyl and cd on Superpuma Records, and released as digital album via Norgren's bandcamp profile. The album is filed as Norgren's seventh full-length studio album and it follows two studio albums released in 2015: The Green Stone (Oct. 2015) and Alabursy (Apr. 2015). Since then, he has released a US-promotion compilation Skogens frukter (May. 2017) released on vinyl for the American market only.

I only recently knowingly discovered the music by Norgren. I was watching the 2022 Italian film "Le otto montagne" ("The Eight Mountains"), an adaptation by directors Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeerschof of the 2016 novel debut by Paolo Cognetti, and I then made sure to pay attention to the music credits at the end of the film, and there I noticed that Daniel Norgren was credited all music. The music score was a most fitting mesmerising dimension to a beautiful film and it left me curious to check out more about this artist. I then discovered Norgren's bandcamp site - understood he is Swedish, although, I had been convinced it was an American artist - I then purchased several of his digital albums after receiving Wooh Dang, which appears to be his most recent studio album, and one that made me want more. All of his albums, or at least all of his seven full-length studio albums that I have come to know of, seem differently shaped. From his first album out Kerosene Dreams (2006) - an album which for some reason isn't included on his bandcamp site and an album I have come to know of via a major streaming service (and which isn't part of my six purchases) - through to Outskirts (2008) and Horrifying Deatheating Bloodspider (2010), Norgren appears much influenced by especially Tom Waits and Captain Beefheart, and then from Buck (2013), Alabursy and Green Stone, his music influences appear more complex with a stronger country foundation, and they all represent music with bonds to more original blues traditions with a bolder accentuated folk at the base, and then you could also say similar things of his more apparent experimental approach on his later albums.

Wooh Dang is modern indie folk with an experimental touch from someone who must be familiar with bluegrass, roots rock and a whole world of country. In that way, it's hard to pin out other Swedish acts as natural influences when Norgren's touch mostly sounds if shaped through the ages of American outback culture. Daniel Norgren is not only a great songwriter and composer, he also narrates and sings in a highly original tone. You can't always tell where it's going, but the journey, so far, is only a most delightful and pleasant one.

Highly recommended.

👉[ Norgren on bandcamp]

Goat "World Music" (2012)

World Music [debut]

release date: Aug. 20, 2012

format: cd

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

producer: ?

label: Rocket Recordings - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 1. "Diarabi" - 2. "Goatman" - 3. "Goathead" - 5. "Golden Dawn" (live) - 7. "Run to Your Mama" (live) - 9. "Det som aldrig förändras / Diarabi"

Studio album debut by Swedish music collective Goat [stylised: GOAT] founded in Gothenburg, and according to the band's bandcamp profile originating from the (Swedish!) village of Korpolombolo, thus implying connections to ancient voodoo cult religion. All members have masked their identity and also perform masked - not unlike The Residents. One of the three 'core' members has been identified as Christian Johansson. Track #1 is a cover credited Malian musician Boubacar Traoré (included on his 1990 debut album Mariama), whereas the remaining compositions are all credited the band.

Musically, World Music represents a huge melting pot of stylistic influences, just as the title indicates with inspiration from various parts of the planet, and then you could add that everything is made with psychedelia at the centre of attention. Some tracks are afro-pop-founded, some are more krautrock-inspired, others reek a certain jazz fusion-feel, but you'll also find hard rock bits and everything is nearly naturally experimental and mostly progressive instrumental, although, some tracks are made with clear vocal harmonies. A fitting description is found on the album site explaining: "The band takes in many influences, from the Afro groove that is central to the album, through to head nodding psych, post-punk, turkish rock, kraut repetition and astral folk."

The album has generally been met by positive words from international critics - only Swedish music magazine Gaffa is more reluctant in its review. Imo, it takes a few spins to get accustomised, but if you happen to enjoy early Zappa / The Mothers of Invention and think a cocktail with 1980s The B-52's sounds like an interesting mix, then GOAT may be what you're looking for. Despite the wide stylistic variations, it actually feels like a musical whole, which is a great accomplishment.

Recommended.

[ The Guardian 5 / 5, Clash, musicOMH, PopMatters 4 / 5, Pitchfork 8,1 / 10, Gaffa.se 3 / 6 stars ]

Bo sundström "Mitt dumma jag - svensk jazz" (2018)

Mitt dumma jag - svensk jazz

release date: Jan. 26, 2018

format: vinyl / cd

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

producer: Jonas Kullhammar

label: Columbia / Sony Music / Mr RADAR - nationality: Sweden

Second solo album by lead vocalist Bo (Sigvard) Sundström of Swedish band Bo Kaspers Orkester. His solo debut Skåne was released as early as 2005 and that showed an artist trying out pop ballads with various stylistic influences, but this is something entirely different as indicated in the subtitle "svensk jazz" ['Swedish jazz']. All ten songs are old staples from vocal jazz with new lyrics - mostly by Sundström. The end result is a new take on the world of classic jazz and with lyrics in Swedish combined with Sundström's gift for jazz pop as heard on several albums with his usual band and this turns out as a most welcome album. The subtitle delicately hints as the legendary Swedish jazz album of them all: Jazz på svenska by Jan Johansson, and it's in this light you should listen to Mitt dumma jag. All compositions have been handed Swedish titles - only on the back cover the original titles are added, and it's quality titles like "(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons", "The Way You Look Tonight", "Once Upon a Summertime",... "My Foolish Heart", the latter translated to "Mitt dumma jag" (track #5). There's also "Waltz for Debby" translated to "Monicas vals" of course in memory of Monica Zetterlund, who made that song an international hit with Bill Evans, and then there's the end-track "Danny's Dream", originally a 1954 Swedish jazz instrumental by Lars Gullin - here with the addition of lyrics written by contemporary Swedish pop diva Lisa Nilsson.

The album is no less than a truly positive surprise. It's not the jazz pop, as some would expect, neither is it pop / rock-styled but instead genuine contemporary vocal jazz in a Swedish tradition that goes hand in hand with jazz greats of former ages.

Recommended.

Mariza "Fado tradicional" (2010)

Fado tradicional

release date: Nov. 29, 2010

format: cd

[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,82]

producer: Diogo Clemente

label: EMI Music Portugal / Capitol / World Connection - nationality: Portugal

Track highlights: 1. "Fado Vianinha (Fado Vianinha)" - 3. "As meninas dos meus olhos (Fado alfacinha)" - 4. "Mais uma lua (Fado Varela)" - 6. "Ai, esta pena de mim (Fado Zé António)" - 8. "Rosa da Madragoa (Fado Seixal)"

5th studio album by Mariza following the album Terra (Jun. 2008). The album is Mariza's return to the roots of the fado after having released albums of more experimental content, where she have challenged the style, or perhaps better: she has widened her repertoire by incorporating stylistic elements from contemporary folk, pop, and latin jazz.

As the title suggests, Fado tradicional is her so far most traditionally shaped album of pure fado compositions. It consists of 12 songs but only reach a total running time of 35 minutes. All songs here are not surprisingly closely bonded songs with small variations, which is also stressed in the arrangements with only acoustic guitars supporting Mariza's vocal. That said, Mariza here reassures her status as one of the best and most wonderful exponents of the Portuguese fado.

Highly recommended.

[ 👍The Telegraph 4 / 5, The Guardian 3 / 5 stars ]

Ali Farka Touré & Toumani Diabaté "Ali & Toumani" (2010)

Ali & Toumani
release date: Feb. 23, 2010
format: digital
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,96]
producer: Nick Gold
label: World Circuit - nationality: Mali

2nd and final album for the collaboration work of Ali Farka Touré and Toumani Diabaté. The album was actually recorded in June 2005 shortly after the release of the acclaimed In the Heart of the Moon (2005) but somehow the album wasn't released until 2010 - four years after the death of Touré.
The album follows closely in the footsteps laid out on the debut by partly containing traditional Mandé folk songs arranged by either of the two or together, and also songs composed by Diabaté and Touré. Altogether, Ali & Toumani is yet another beautiful collection of songs by these two wonderful artists.
[ Uncut Magazine review ]

Kalaha "Hahaha" (2014) (live)

Hahaha (live) [debut]

release date: Sep. 1, 2014

format: digital (9 x File, FLAC) (RUMPLP016)

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

producer: Troels Bech Jessen (sound engineer)

label: Rump Recordings - nationality: Denmark

Tracklist: 1. "Spejderrobot" - 2. "Allahabad" - 3. "Assymetriader" - 4. "K-Sounds" - 5. "Ellas Drager" - 6. "Amar" - 7. "Klap" - 8. "Amnesia" - 9. "Atacama"

Debut album by Danish electronic experimental quartet Kalaha is the live recordings stemming from Red Roof Jam, at the rooftop of DGI Byen, Copenhagen at STRØM [Festival], on Aug. 15, 2013. Kalaha is a colourful act made up by the two, primarily, jazz instrumentalists, drummer Emil De Waal and guitarist Niclas Knudsen [here nicknamed 'Ibrahim Electric') together with the two electronic musicians Rumpistol (aka Jens Berent Cristiansen) and Spejderrobot (aka Michael Elkjær). Together, they explore a combo of jazz and electronica with obvious inspiration from world music and afro beat, and on this debut, they showcase their talent for improvs based on music stemming from each of the members own back catalogue.

Giving the musicians' various starting points and the fact that these compositions are all improvs, Hahaha works surprisingly well - basically showcasing how musical talent will perservere regardless the form, and then of course: both jazz and electronica are genres that include an experimental approach per se.

Kalaha would later release the actual studio album debut Masala in 2016 and the band is definitely worth checking out with Hahaha standing as a promising start that later would be consolidated with a series of studio releases. Mystafa (Mar. 2021) appears to be their most recent album.

[ Purchase the album here ]

Faye Webster "Atlanta Millionaires Club" (2019)

Atlanta Millionaires Club

release date: May 24, 2019

format: digital (10 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,70]

producer: Faye Webster, Matt Martin, Drew Vandenberg

label: Secretly Canadian - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Room Temperature" - 2. "Right Side of My Neck" - 3. "Hurts Me Too" - 5. "Jonny" - 7. "Come to Atlanta" - 9. "Flowers"

3rd studio album by Faye Webster, her first with Secretly Canadian. After a self-released debut of Run & Tell (Oct. 2013) she released Faye Webster (May 2017) on Awful Records.

Atlanta Millionaires Club is a unique mix of indie folk, country and hip hop, which in the hands of Webster sounds just like the normal blend of styles. The country element secures a laid-back tone in the arrangements, and Webster narrates maturely about everyday life and relationships much contrary to being merely 21 years of age. Her vocal is distinct, light and fragile, making me think of a wind sweeping soothening through an open window on a lazy afternoon when temperature is too high for outdoor activities.

The album is my first listen to Webster's sound, but definitely not the last.

Recommended.

[ allmusic.com, Uncut 3,5 / 5, Pitchfork 7,8 / 10, Rolling Stone, NME, Mojo 4 / 5 stars ]

Anna Ternheim "A Space for Lost Time" (2019)

A Space for Lost Time

release date: Sep. 20, 2019

format: cd

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

producer: Thom Monahan

label: BMG - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 1. "This Is the One" - 2. "You Belong to Me" - 3. "Everytime We Fall" - 5. "Remember This" - 6. "Lost Times" - 8. "All Because of You"

7th studio album by Swedish singer / songwriter Anna Ternheim following two years after All the Way to Rio (Nov. 2017).

The album comes with ten compositions of which one half are co-composed by Björn Yttling - the rest are exclusively by Ternheim. The album is releatively short in total running time hitting just above 34 minutes. All songs represent a strict folk outing and these songs are generally a more naked collection than some of her previous albums, which have had a slight tendency towards art pop, although, Ternheim strikes me as a songwriter who apparently feels much at home in more simple arrangements and often accompanied with a distinct acoustic guitar, although, she does shine in more complex songs.

A Space of Lost Time comes out as one of Ternheim's absolute best. She hasn't always been able to find her own personal style but here, she succeeds quite well, I think.

Recommended.

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.

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 ]

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 ]

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 ]

Robert Forster "Songs to Play" (2015)

Songs to Play

release date: Sep. 18, 2015

format: digital (10 x File, FLAC)

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

producer: Robert Forster, Luke McDonald & Scott Bromiley

label: Tapete Records - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 2. "Let Me Imagine You" - 4. "And I Knew" - 6. "I'm so Happy for You" - 8. "Turn on the Rain" - 9. "I Love Myself and I Always Have" - 10. "Disaster in Motion"

6th studio album by Robert Forster following a full 7½ years after The Evangelist (Apr. 2008). Apparently, most of these songs were written in 2010 / 2011 but weren't recorded until around five years later. Forster has explained that he needed a break in his music career, and initially had set himself up for a five-year hiatus, which then turned into seven... It was a period during which he wrote music articles and simultaneously worked on his autobiography. The album has been made completely without former collaborators Adele Pickvance and Glenn Thompson. Forster clearly wanted to make a fresh restart and in their place he has invited the two members from Australian The John Steel Singers: Luke McDonald and Scott Bromiley - both as multi-instrumentalists. Forster produced the band's 2010 debut Tangalooma and together they then played some of these songs, which would end up on Songs to Play, and here the two are also credited as co-producers. Forster's wife, Karin Baümler, previously participated on his albums playing violin and doing backing vocals, but on this, she has played a fuller part on all tracks, and together with drummer Matt Piele from Forster's tour band, they all form the new backing 'band', which of course gives the output new colours.

Although McDonald and Bromiley have been given rein to contribute with their ideas, it's still very much a Robert Forster solo with lyrics and music credited the man himself. The style is laid in an acoustic contemporary folk rock characterised by strong bonds to classic rock & roll in its simplest form. At times it's uptempo without being danceable rock and the songs appear with a marked lightness compared to the gloomier tone on his previous albums.

Songs to Play is an album where the music has come to the fore and Forster successfully acts as a classic singer / songwriter without being weighed down by his former achievements, suppressed emotions and the melancholy, which have been natural traits in the past, and by that, the album could pave the way for a new dynamic in his original musical realm. In any case, it's not an album, as the predecessor, that sounds like falling in between The Go-Betweens and a solo album - it's definitely a pure Robert Forster release on which he deals with the present.

The front cover is a photo of Robert and Karin's daughter Loretta Forster.

Recommended.

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

Band of Horses "Mirage Rock" (2012)

Mirage Rock

release date: Sep. 18, 2012

format: digital (11 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,12]

producer: Glyn Johns

label: Columbia - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Knock Knock" (live) - 3. "Slow Cruel Hands of Time" - 4. "A Little Biblical" - 6. "Dumpster World" - 8. "Everything’s Gonna Be Undone" - 9. "Feud"

4th studio album by Band of Horses follows 2½ years after Infinite Arms and it introduces Glyn Johns as producer. For once, the line-up remains unchanged from the previous album.

Initially, the album was met by quite positive reviews with critics stating that the band continues to deliver a remarkable strain of folk rock, but after some time the overall reception seemed to be less overwhelming with fans seing this a step down. The band gained some succes with the promotion single "Knock Knock" but both that and the two following singles (tracks 3 and 9) failed in the charts and the album didn't perform like the predecessor.

In my mind, the band performs fine, Bridwell sings with enthusiasm, and overall the album appears as nice and warm, but it also has a tone of something anonymous. The biggest lack is its coherency with some tracks appearing as mere fillers. A few tracks are truly fine and stand out as solid workmanship, but compared to the first two albums, this is goes down as a pale immitation.

[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5, Q Magazine 3 / 5, Pitchfork 4,0 / 10, Spin 2 / 5 stars ]

Gróa "Gróa" (2018)

Gróa [debut]

release date: Apr. 26, 2018

format: digital (7 x File, FLAC)

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

producer: ?

label: Post-dreifing - nationality: Iceland

Track highlights: 1. "Prakkari" - 2. "Downward Dog" (live) - 3. "Ocean Is Amber" - 4. "EoEo" (live) - 7. "Lokadans (Onofos)"

Studio album debut by Icelandic three-piece Gróa comes with an album title stylised in capital letters. The name of the band is taken from Norse mythology and the völva, and goddess of knowledge named Gróa. The trio consists of the two Maríudóttir sisters: drummer Hrafnhildur Einars Maríudóttir (aka Hrabba) and younger sister Karólína Einars Maríudóttir (aka Karó) on guitar and lead vocals teamed up with bassist Fríða Björg Pétursdóttir.

The trio plays an experimental type of art punk, which here appears inspired by punk rock, post-punk, and noise rock, but it's also tempting to list Björk, The Sugarcubes, and Kukl as natural inspiration sources, although, there's also an original tone burried in these quite diverse compositions. This album of seven tracks [sold on bandcamp] with a total running time of just over 23 minutes is a fine and refreshing short take on established styles, and it will be exciting to follow the trio in a near future, as they manage to come out with something to offer other than the ordinary, which succeeds both in terms of melody and as an alternative to mainstream music.

Recommended.

Band of Horses "Infinite Arms" (2010)

Infinite Arms

release date: May 18, 2010

format: cd

[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,18]

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

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

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

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

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

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

Not recommended.

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

Blanck Mass "Animated Violence Mild" (2019)

Animated Violence Mild

release date: Aug. 16, 2019

format: digital (8 x Files, FLAC)

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

producer: Blanck Mass

label: Sacred Bones - nationality: England, UK

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

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

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

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

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

Night Talks, ep

release date: Mar. 22, 2017

format: digital (5 x File, MP3)

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

producer: Mark Kozelek

label: Caldo Verde Records - nationality: USA

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

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

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

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

Ane Brun "Rarities" (2013)

Rarities

release date: Oct. 2013

format: digital (20 x File, FLAC)

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

producer: Ane Brun et al

label: Balloon Ranger Recordings - nationality: Norway

Track highlights: 1. "All My Tears" - 2. "Halo" - 4. "From Me to You" - 5. "Tragedy" - 6. "Ain't No Cure for Love" - 7. "Orphan Girl" - 10. "It's Alright (Baby's Coming Back)" - 11. "Oh Love (piano version)" - 12. "The Opening" - 13. "Jóga (live at the Polar Music Prize 2010) - 15. "Virvelvind" - 16. "Fly on the Windscreen" - 17. "Humming One of Your Songs 2013" - 20. "She Belongs to Me"

2nd compilation album in 2013 - like with Songs 2003-2013 (Jun. 2013) in celebration of her first decade as an active musician, and this time with 20 'rare' recordings, i.e. songs that are not found on any of her previous studio releases, or have been scattered out on various singles and / or other compilations. On Brun's bandcamp site the album is described with the following: "According to BRUN, “RARITIES is a compilation of songs and recordings that have either not been released, or have been released on other compilations or as singles. This is a way to empty our cupboards of recordings that have been lying around, and another way to mark my ten year anniversary as an artist.” The collection includes covers of Björk and The Beatles, Elvis and Eurythmics, as well as new versions of fan favourites and, of course, previously unreleased songs, contributing further to an already impressive back catalogue. Many of the recordings are here described more fully with Brun's own words.

In a year with two major compilations from Ane Brun, it's more than hard to choose between the two, and then you don't have to, because with Songs 2003-2013 she has made a great collection of familiar key songs from that period and with this, she shows us more of the full palette - and 'palette', I think, nicely describes this artist's way with her music: she sort of utilises a painters approach with music, words, tones, arrangements, and choise of instrumentation are colours on the canvas, and Brun sure understands how to make use of the whole palette. Also, she has made a vast number of original compositions but she's also a remarkable interpretor, which makes her covers so powerful. She doesn't have to copy the original to make it swing. This is a wonderful collection of highly varied originals.

Highly recommendable.