The Smile "Cutouts" (2024)

Cutouts

release date: Oct. 4, 2024

format: digital (10 x File, FLAC)

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

producer: Sam Petts-Davies

label: XL Recordings - nationality: England, UK

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

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

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

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

Recommended.

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

The Smile "Wall of Eyes" (2024)

Wall of Eyes

release date: Jan. 26, 2024

format: digital (8 x File, FLAC)

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

producer: Sam Petts-Davies

label: XL Recordings - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Wall of Eyes" (4 / 5) - 2. "Teleharmonic" - 3. "Read the Room" - 4. "Under Our Pillows" - 7. "Bending Hectic"

2nd studio album by The Smile following nearly two years after A Light for Attracting Attention (May 2022) with Petts-Davis as producer - he previously produced Thom Yorke's solo soundtrack Suspiria (2018) for Luca Guadagnino's remake of a Dario Argento horror classic.

Although, the album has been made with a new producer, it really doesn't fall far from the trio's first album and you could also argue that the project here doesn't expose a tone that essentially differs from that of Radiohead, perhaps because that band's musical centre is constituted by Thom Yorke and Johnny Greenwood who are 2/3 of The Smile. And although, many compositions were nearly finished by Greenwood and Yorke in the Summer of '23, all songs and music here is credited the band only.

The now two studio albums by The Smile are so much alike that it's tempting to regard them as two chapters of the same book, or two sides of the same coin, and that's the only snag to a otherwise fine follow-up. On the positive side, you could add that it's really nice to have renowned artists like Yorke, Greenwood, and Skinner, who choose to make an album with focus on musical experimentation instead of going mainstream pop, and in that regard, the trio still offers a refreshing and challenging side-step to the Grammy Awards' self-centrered spotlight of make-believe where everything is about performance.

Recommended.

[ allmusic.com, The Guardian, NME, Rolling Stone 4 / 5, 😮Pitchfork 8,5 / 10, 👎Exclaim! 3 / 5 stars ]

John Cale "Mercy" (2023)

Mercy

release date: Jan. 20, 2023

format: digital (12 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,74]

producer: John Cale, Nita Scott

label: Double Six / Domino - nationality: Wales, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Mercy" (feat. Laurel Halo) - 2. "Marilyn Monroe's Legs (Beauty Elsewhere)" (feat. Actress) - 3. "Noise of You" - 6. "Moonstruck (Nico's Song)" - 8. "Night Crawling" - 9. "Not the End of the World" - 11. "I Know You're Happy" (feat. Tei Shi)

17th (or so?) studio album by John Cale following M:FANS (2016) - which by many isn't really considered an actual new album as it's a redrawing of songs from Music for a New Society from 1982, although, from my perspective it's still a new album containing newly re-arranged songs. A new studio album doesn't necessarily mean new compositions; however, his last to feauture newly written material was Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood (2012).

Cale was 80 years old when he recorded this album, and you could ask yourself if his high age would show on this album - it doesn't! Actually, the album is a most wonderful combo of soft art rock, singer / songwriter and subtle but noticeable electronica. Several tracks are collaborations - the most prominent artist is probably Weyes Blood (on "Story of Blood"). For the moment, I just feel that is one of the weak songs here, but you can't really put a finger on anyone's contribution that lifts this from Cave's shoulders. Through and through, it's the successful product in the spirit of the artist himself.

The album has been met by positive reviews, and I must confess that it strikes me as one of his better and more coherent studio albums. Since the relase, Cale has been on a world tour with the new album.

The album is still new to me - I rate it just under 3,75, but it might just grow stronger during the following months.

Highly recommended.

[ 👍Pitchfork 7,8 / 10, Mojo 4 / 5, Uncut 4,5 / 5 stars ]

The Smile "A Light for Attracting Attention" (2022)

A Light for Attracting Attention [debut]

release date: May 13, 2022

format: digital (13 x File, FLAC - XL1196DA

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

producer: Nigel Godrich

label: XL Recordings - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "The Same" - 2. "The Opposite" - 3. "You Will Never Work in Television Again" (live on KEXP) - 6. "Speech Bubbles" (live) - 7. "Thin Thing" - 9. "Free in the Knowledge" - 11. "Waving a White Flag" - 13. "Skrting on the Surface" (live)

[ full KEXP live performance, Dec. 2022 ]

Studio debut by project-trio The Smile consisting of the two Radiohead members Thom Yorke and Johnny Greenwood together with Sons of Kemet-drummer Tom Skinner. The project is one of many offspring-projects during the COVID-19 lockdown. The album counts 13 tracks with a total running time of 53 mins.

Sonically, it appears as another take on the Radiohead / Atoms for Peace musical universe founded on experimental progressive (art) rock - and here with stronger focus on the electric guitar as opposed to Yorke's solo works and the music Yorke made with Atoms for Peace, where electronic equipment takes up a more present role, but it's also music where the rhythm section really unfolds thanks to Tom Skinner's sense for jazz drumming. In that regard, The Smile offers more room for Greenwood and Skinner - and then, it doesn't fall far from later albums by Radiohead except for being more loose.

Thom Yorke is credited as vocalist and for other instrumentation, he's songwriter and together with Greenwood, Skinner and producer Godrich they're all credited as composers.

The album was met by critical acclaim - several critics noting that there's not much new going on but also answering that it doesn't matter too much because the songs feel new and it just sounds great.

Recommended.

[ 👍allmusic.com, Rolling Stone, NME, The Guardian 4 / 5, Pitchfork 8,6 / 10 stars ]

The Gist "Embrace the Herd"

Embrace the Herd

release date: 1982

format: cd (2007 reissue)

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

producer: Phil Legg

label: Cherry Red - nationality: Wales, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Far Concern" - 2. "Love at First Sight" (4 / 5) - 3. "Fretting Away" - 4. "Public Girls" - 9. "Carnival Headache" - 10. "Concrete Slopes" - 11. "The Long Run"

Studio album debut and only album originally released on Rough Trade is by Welsh band, The Gist, formed after the disbandmentment of Young Marble Giants by the two Moxham brothers, Philip and Stuart with the latter being credited almost all songs and playing most instruments on an album of twelve songs. The trio Young Marble Giants released Colossal Youth in Feb. 1980 to fine reviews, and the album went as high as number #3 on the UK independent albums list. The Gist is often mentioned as a band when in fact it may just be regarded as a one-man project of Stuart Moxham. His brother Philip plays bass on three compositions, guitarist Dave Dearnaley features on another three, Stuarts girlfriend Wendy Smith lends her voice on two tracks and former band member of YMG, Alison Statton, sings on one song, but apart from only few people contributing here and there, the album is entirely made alone by Stuart Moxham.

Stylistically, it's quite simple and yet it incorporates various styles to form a highly original stripped down soundscape. Some tracks points toward later jangle pop and twee pop styles, whereas other songs seem more bonded to a synthpop version of 70s art rock, e.g. music influenced by Brian Eno.

Embrace the Herd hasn't achieved the same status as the debut by Young Marble Giants, and it's quite likely that it goes down in music history books as the album, which includes the hit single "Love at First Sight", which also was my entry to the band after finding it on the compilation album Rough Trade Records / MNW (1983). Several songs on the album stick out as original music, and especially the composition "Concrete Slopes", which was probably inspired by Eno, however, listening to this early electronic piece only makes me think of The Prodigy and the formation of big beat electronica in the 90s.

This very album may point in many directions, and it's not a collection of memorable harmonies but it's still a quite simple and unique construct and one of musical historic interest.

Marianne Faithfull "Broken English" (1979)

Broken English

release date: Nov. 2, 1979

format: cd (1994 cd reissue)

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

producer: Mark Miller Mundy

label: Isand Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Broken English" (4 / 5) - 2. "Witches' Song" - 3. "Brain Drain" - 4. "Guilt" - 5. "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan" (4 / 5) - 7. "Working Class Hero" (4 / 5) - 8. "Why D'ya Do It" (4 / 5)

7th studio album by Marianne Faithfull following the release of Faithless (1978) was the first album by Faithfull that I have a recollection of listening to. Speaking of the actual number of studio albums, is a bit of a detective work, and even then it comes down to a discussion of what qualifies as 'real' studio albums. The thing is, early on, Faithfull released different albums for the European and for the North American markets, respectivily, and if only looking at her European albums, you could argue one or two are not traditional studio albums but rather alternative releases, or say 'near' compilations..., and there's another story of Rich Kids Blues from '85, which was actually recorded in '71 and rightfully precedes this one but it was shelved for 14 years, and... there you have it! It's up for someone else, to determine, I guess. Broken English is, however, most commonly identified as her seventh, and the predecessor Faithless is both regarded as her sixth studio album, although, it's basically and also what could be described as an alternate version of her fifth album Dreamin' My Dreams (1976).

Broken English came out when punk rock roared and Faithfull was one of punks' idols stemming from another era where most artists didn't find peers amongst the young and angry generation. In that regard, she stood alongside Nico, Lou Reed, Neil Young, and Iggy Pop - survivors of the needle. There's a distinct new wave- or art punk-ish seasoning to this very album, and then it's also a huge melting pot of styles. Perhaps, it's all about a naked anger and an honest attempt of unglorification. The album is like many of Faithfull's a mix of writers and composers and a ceratin amount of covers, and regardless the origin, Faithfull knows how to make songs her own. This also goes for Shel Silverstein's "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan" and Lennon's "Working Class Hero".

The album is Faithfull's only to be included in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die". To me, it's not her absolute best but it's close enough and a certified highly recommended listen.

[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Pitchfork 8,7 / 10, The Guardian 5 / 5, Q Magazine, 👉Record Collector, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]

The The "The Comeback Special (Live at the Royal Albert Hall)" (2021)

The Comeback Special (Live at the Royal Albert Hall)

release date: Oct. 29, 2021

format: 2 cd

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

producer: Matt Johnson

label: Cinéola / Ear Music - nationality: England, UK

Live album by The The celebrating the return to live performances after a 17 years hiatus. The album is recorded live at The Royal Albert Hall, London, Jun. 5, 2018. The The consists here of Matt Johnson on vocals and guitars, Barrie Cadogan on lead guitar and backing vocals, James Eller on bass and backing vocals, DC Collard on keyboards and backing vocals, and with Earl Harvin on drums.

Long story short: Johnson basically left the limelight of the music business as a result of losing his brother Eugene in 1999, and the loss of brother Andrew (aka illustrator Andy Dog) in 2016 made him decide to return as a performer.

The album is packed with great renditions of his back catalogue - it's amazing how strong these songs are performed. Now, everyone holds their breath and hope Johnson will take up his career releasing brand new material as The The.

Great comeback - highly recommended!

[ Mojo, Uncut, Record Collector 4 / 5 stars ]

Thom Yorke "Anima" (2019)

Anima
release date: Jun. 27, 2019
format: digital (9 x File, FLAC)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,92]
producer: Nigel Godrich
label: XL Recordings - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Traffic" - 2. "Last I Heard (...He Was Circling the Drain)" - 4. "Dawn Chorus" (live at Montreux) - 6. "Not the News" - 8. "Impossible Knots" - 9. "Runwayaway" (live at Montreux)

3rd solo studio album by Thom Yorke is very much 'business as usual' by being produced by Nigel Godrich. Apparently, Yorke found inspiration to the songs in readings about dreams and the subconscious, and the entire album was recorded partly through live studio recordings, Godrich's collaborative takes on Yorke's musical drafts, and eventually Yorke writing lyrics to pieces they came up with along the way.
Stylistically, the result is not far from his two previous solos, The Eraser from 2006 and Tomorrow's Modern Boxes from 2014, as well as drawing on similar elements from the Radiohead album A Moon Shaped Pool from 2016 with a clear glitch pop twist and the usage of musical loops.
The album release was followed by American film director Paul Thomas Anderson's 15 mins. short "Anima" featuring Yorke and his partner, actress Dajana Roncione as choreographed dancers with music from the album [excerpt from the film].
The album has generally been met by positive reviews with The Guardian and its 3 out of 5 stars review presenting the perhaps most luke-warm reception, and the Telegraph and a 5 out of 5 stars review as probably one of the most positive responds.
I find it quite fascinating and clearly bettering his second solo Tomorrow's Modern Boxes, and it took me quite a long time wondering whether the album, as some critics suggest, is his best. I finally settled with a similar judgement and rate it close to his solo debut from 2006, and I can only say that it's a very fine and originally sounding album, which is worth a great many spins.
[ 👎The Guardian 3 / 5, The Independent, 👍NME, Rolling Stone 4 / 5, The Telegraph 5 / 5 stars ]

Stuart A. Staples "Arrhythmia" (2018)

Arrhythmia
release date: Jun. 15, 2018
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,66]
producer: Stuart A. Staples
label: Lucky Dog Recordings / City Slang - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "A New Real" (4 / 5) - 3. "Step Into the Grey" - 4. "Music for 'A Year in Small Paintings' "

3rd solo album by Stuart A. Staples released a full twelve years after his most recent solo album is as Tindersticks' albums produced by Staples himself and released through his own label Lucky Dog in collaboration with City Slang.

Since Leaving Songs (May 2006), which nearly came to mark the break with Tindersticks, Staples has established a strong and seemingly more stronger second unit of the original Tindersticks. The new version of the band - with roots in Asphalt Ribbons, which, in addition to Staples, also consisted of guitarist Neil Fraser and keyboardist David Boulter - is a consolidated unit who since 2006 seems to have reignited the band's joy of playing music together and since then it has been able to constantly seek out new ways without losing its distinctive character. Staples has been revisiting some of the same paths on his solo albums, where he also has used the skills of Fraser and Boulter along with several other recurring artists that he prefers on his releases. Staples has also collaborated with the two French musicians Thomas Belhom and Christine Ott on the creation of the soundtrack Minute Bodies - The Intimate World of F. Percy Smith (2017).

On Arrhytmia - which directly refers to a disorder ('a-rhythmic heart rhythm'), rhythms that can either be too slow or too fast - Staples experiments far more than he usually has. The album is 54 minutes in total running time but it only consists of four compositions. The first cut is just over five minutes long [and wait, wait, wait…'Was it what's lost? - Was it what's...' ], the following track clocks in at ten-and-a-half minutes, the third is nearly seven-and-a-half minutes long, and the fourth and final instrumental composition is nearly 31 minutes long [!]. On the vinyl issue, this final composition fills the entire B-side, which is titled: "Music for 'A Year in Small Paintings' " is Staples' music for wife, Suzanne Osborne's screen printed work "A year in small paintings - Skies, Sep. 2010 - Sep. 2011" [see also here]. In fact, in addition to Staples, the track is also credited three other Tindersticks members, Neil Fraser, Dan McKinna, David Boulter, as well as French composer and multi-instrumentalist, Christine Ott. The track appears as a kind of new-classic post rock with a clear influence from ambient.

Arrhytmia is an exciting album, which certainly doesn't use ordinary pop structures, and which to a large extent demands active listening in order to get the whole experience. If you give the album a go, it is definitely worth an experience and something that, in the right mood, may give rise to great enjoyment.

Recommended.

[ The Line of Best Fit 4 / 5, Uncut, Loud and Quiet 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Arctic Monkeys "Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino" (2018)

Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino
release date: May 11, 2018
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,82]
producer: Alex Turner, James Ford
label: Domino Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Star Treatment" - 4. "Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino" - 6. "Four Out of Five"

6th studio album by Arctic Monkeys released after a five-year hiatus and produced by composer, vocalist and guitarist Alex Turner with James Ford, who has been in the producer seat on all of the band's releases except the debut - just as Ford was on Turner's last project: The Last Shadow Puppets' second album from 2016 Everything You've Come to Expect. The cold monkeys have come a long way since the brilliant AM from 2013 and so has Mr. Turner. He has always been the undisputed leader of the band, but here he is not only part of the production-team, he has also written all songs and dare I say: turned Arctic Monkeys into a Turner-project. Stylistically and sound-wise, this has much in common with The Last Shadow Puppets most recent album. It sounds like over-polished lounge-like chamber pop and psychedelic pop with Turner crooning like a new-born American jet-setter in his modern aristocratically mumblings about right and wrong.
The album received positive to luke-warm reviews. I find it quite boring and even less interesting than Turner's Shadow project. To quote Alexis Petridis of The Guardian: "The problem is that a smart guy is sometimes all Turner seems to be. The songs can feel like less than the sum of their parts: a selection of one-liners, wry observations and knowing winks to camera that leave you struggling to work out what he’s driving at – and wondering if he knows, or cares – and to locate any real emotional connection or impact." It leaves me as indifferent as when listening to Bowie's last album Black Star from 2016, and Alex Turner has never sounded so much like Bowie as he does here.
Not recommended.
[ allmusic.com, Uncut 3,5 / 5, 👎NME 4 / 5, 👍The Guardian 3 / 5, Rolling Stone 2 / 5 stars ]

Young Marble Giants "Colossal Youth" (1980)

Colossal Youth [debut]

release date: Feb. 1980

format: cd (1994 reissue)

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

producer: Dave Anderson, Young Marble Giants

label: Les Disques du Crépuscule - nationality: Wales, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Searching for Mr. Right" - 2. "Include Me Out" - 4. "Eating Noddemix" (4 / 5) - 6. "N.I.T.A." - 8. "Music for Evenings" - 12. "Salad Days" - 13. "Credit in the Straight World" - *18. "The Clock"

*Bonus track on '94 reissue taken from Testcard E.P. (ep) (1981)

Studio debut and only album by Walesian post-punk trio, Young Marble Giants, originally released on Rough Trade Records. The band was founded by the Moxham brothers, bassist Philip and primary songwriter, composer, and guitarist, Stuart, together with vocalist Alison Statton. In the course of band's early lifetime also keyboardist Peter Joyce took part in the formation, but here they have been reduced to a trio, where Stuart is also credited organ.

Style-wise, this is something quite orginal at a time when punk rock was still alive and new styles emerged on the music scene while no one understood new potentials in indie pop and jazz pop, but Young Marble Giants were pioneers. Unfortunately, they dissolved as early as 1981 after which Stuart amd Philip Moxham continued briefly as another remarkable act called The Gist - a single album, Embrace the Herd made almost single-handedly by Stuart was released in '82.

Colossal Youth is truly an album to know of.

[ allmusic.com, Blender 4,5 / 5, The Guardian, Uncut 5 / 5, Pitchfork 9,3 / 10, Rolling Stone, Spin 4 / 5 stars ]

The Durutti Column "Short Stories for Pauline" (2012)

Short Stories for Pauline
release date: Jun. 18, 2012
format: cd (fbn 36)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]

Track highlights: 1. "At First Sight" - 2. "Duet" - 3. "College" - 4. "Invitations" - 5. "Destroy, She Said" - 6. "Model" - 7. "Journeys by Vespa" - 8. "Take Some Time Out" - 9. "A Silence" - 10. "Mirror A" - 11. "Cocktail" - 12. "Telephone Call" - 13. "Mirror B" - 14. "A Room in Southport"

23rd studio album release by The Durutti Column issued on Factory Benelux and produced by Vini Reilly. It's hard to fit in the category of new material as all tracks are from what was an abandoned album that Reilly worked on back in 1983, and which could/should have been his fourth studio album with the same title as here, and therefore it carries the original production number fbn36. Instead, Factory Records, or i.e. manager Tony Wilson, persuaded Reilly to work on what became the neo-classical Without Mercy (1984). That album only consists of two tracks but one will find that the tracks contain themes and pieces that has been incorporated from various tracks on this, the abandoned album. Some of the tracks have previously been released on a compilation album titled Lips That Would Kiss (1991), also by Factory Benelux.
[ official release info, see here ]
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

The Durutti Column "A Paean to Wilson" (2010)

A Paean to Wilson
release date: Jan. 24, 2010
format: digital (2-disc)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]

Tracklist: 1. "Or Are You Just a Technician" - 2. "Chant" - 3. "Quatro" - 4. "Requiem" - 5. "Stuki" - 6. "Along Came Poppy" (4 / 5) - 7. "Brother" - 8. "Duet With Piano" - 9. "Darkness Here" - 10. "Catos Revisited" (4 / 5) - 11. "The Truth" - 12. "How Unbelievable"

21st studio album by The Durutti Column issued on Kooky Records produced by Keir Stewart and Bruce Mitchell. Before this, The DC released the 19th studio album Treatise on the Steppenwolf Soundtrack, a soundtrack album released on LTM Recordings (August 2008), and his 20th studio album Love in the Time of Recession (2009) issued on Artful Records.
A Paen... is dedicated to Tony Wilson (Anthony Wilson) co-founder of Factory Records, and Reilly's friend and manager who died in 2007. Here, Reilly covers almost all of his vast stylistic repertoire, playing post-punk, art rock, experimental, acoustic rock, dream pop, ambient, electronic, jazz, modern classical, electronic, shoegaze... and without making it a mishmash of styles. It's so incorporated in Reilly's expressiveness that it works even for this, an instrumental dedication. The album is released with a bonus disc Heaven Sent (It Was Called Digital. It Was Heaven Sent), originally released as digital download ep album only in 2005, thus making it a mere gift than an integral part of the actual album.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

The Durutti Column "Sunlight to Blue... Blue to Blackness" (2008)

Sunlight to Blue... Blue to Blackness
release date: Jun. 23, 2008
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]

Track highlights: 1. "Glimpse" - 3. "Messages" - 4. "Ged" - 5. "Ananda" (feat. Poppy Morgan) - 6. "Never Known Version" - 8. "Head Glue" (feat. Poppy Morgan) (4 / 5) - 10. "Cup a Soup Romance" - 11. "Grief"

18th studio album by The Durutti Column issued on Kooky Records produced by ? [Vini Reilly?]. Feb. 2008 he had released a live album, Live in Bruxelles 13.8.1981, and still of 2008 he released the soundtrack album Treatise on the Steppenwolf (OST) both issued on LTM Recordings. This is like Tempus fugit (2004) a collection of quietness and soulful ballads with Reilly primarily picking his guitar strings, acoustically or electrified, but often with little additional instrumentation. The album is dedicated to Reilly's girlfriend Poppy Morgan (aka Poppy Roberts). It's quiet, nice and very fine.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Sort Sol "Stor langsom stjerne" (2017)

Stor langsom stjerne
release date: May 19, 2017
format: 2 lp vinyl (gatefold) / digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,62]
producer: Randall Dunn
label: Columbia Records - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "The Weightless" - 2. "...Like a Trance Like..." (4 / 5) - 3. "Nocturnal Creature" (feat. Emily Cripe) - 5. "Stor, langsom stjerne" - 7. "Life Took You for a Freq." (feat. Chelsea Wolfe) - 8. "K-141 Kursk"

8th studio album by Sort Sol released 16 years after the band's last studio album Snakecharmer from 2001 - an album that had come to represent the end of the band.

The vinyl edition contains a bonus track ("Forever Present" on the D-side played at 45rpm). Founding member, as well as one of the band's essential songwriters, Knud Odde left the band in the aftermath of the last studio album, which left the band to a trio for another three years during which they managed to release a soundtrack to the movie "Baby" (2003). Guitarist Lars Top-Galia then left the band in 2004; however, both vocalist Steen Jørgensen and drummer Tomas Ortved determinately refrained from putting an end to the band and they managed to shelve it for the following years, and then in 2010 Top-Galia returned and the trio began performing for live concerts and they have stayed together since then. Rumours about a forthcoming new studio album began circulating after the new reformation, but then as most people had written that idea off this album was released.

Naturally, the musical output has changed, but perhaps to a degree where old fans will find it hard to associate this newfound style with that of Sort Sol. Apparently, the band had followed the incident of the Russian submarine K-141 Kursk and its tragic end with all 118 crew members being killing, as the band was finishing the album Snakecharmer. Jørgensen and Top-Galia had both wanted to compose a song based on the last notes by the submarine's captain, Dmitri Kolesnikov, but they never found the surplus artistic energy at a time when the band members had seen its own end approaching. The composition "K-141 Kursk" lasts 10:29 mins and is an orchestrated ambient hymn and it appears as the central composition of the album.

The album consists of 8 tracks and has a running time exceeding 51 mins. with the end-track lasting more than 10 mins. All songs except two are credited Jørgensen and Top-Galia. "Nocturnal Creature" has lyrics by Emily Cripe, who also sings on the track and "Life Took You for a Freq." has lyrics and vocals by Chelsea Wolfe. The album is credited Jørgensen, Top-Galia and Ortved as only band members but it's recorded and produced using a bunch of additional musicians where producer Randall Dunn plays synths and electronics on all tracks, and Timm Mason handles keyboards, synths and programming on five compositions, and both seems vital to the end-product.

Stylistically, this is an electronic ambient, synthpop, and art rock album, which doesn't sound like any other album by Sort Sol. You may recognise Top-Galia's distorted guitar-picking, but other than that, you will probably only associate this with Sort Sol by the characteristic dark vocal of Steen Jørgensen.

The single "...Like a Trance Like..." was released a month prior to the album release, and it became a bit of a national radio hit. The album was met by positive reviews and the band was nominated "Best Release" at the 2017 Grammy Awards, where the band was handed an "Honorary Prize".

The album is a big positive surprise, which I find quite fine and easily bettering most of the band's earlier releases and basically placing it close to top 3 of all their studio albums.

[ Gaffa.dk 5 / 6, Undertoner, Soundvenue 6 / 6 stars ]

[ collectors' item 'near mint' - from ~ €45,- ]

<  all albums rated >

~ ~ ~
"Albums by Sods / Sort Sol rated top to bottom"

1. "Glamourpuss" (1993)
2. "Flow My Firetear" (1991)
3. "Minutes to Go" (1979)

4. "Stor langsom stjerne" (2017)
5. "Under en sort sol" (1980)
6. "Everything That Rises..." (1987)
7. "Dagger & Guitar" (1983)
8. "Snakecharmer" (2001)
9. "Unspoiled Monsters" (1996)

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The Durutti Column "Heaven Sent (It Was Called Digital. It Was Heaven Sent)" (2005), ep

Heaven Sent (It Was Called Digital. It Was Heaven Sent) (ep)
release date: Mar. 2005
format: digital (6 x File, MP3)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]

Tracklist: 1. "Bruce" - 2. "Keir" - 3. "Neil" - 4. "Mike" - 5. "Alan" - 6. "Anthony"

A digital ep (download album only) by The Durutti Column released through F4 Records [4th incarnation of Factory Records] produced by Vini Reilly. The release consists of 6 tracks distributed by F4 Records for download only. The ep was later included as a bonus disc on the album A Paen to Wilson (2010), which is where I got it.

The Durutti Column "Rebellion" (2001)

Rebellion
release date: Aug. 14, 2001
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]

Tracklist: 1. "4 Sophia" (4 / 5) - 2. "Longsight Romance" (3 / 5) - 3. "Geh Cak Af En Yam" - 4. "The Feilds of Athenry" - 5. "Overlord Part One" - 6. "Falling" (3,5 / 5) - 7. "Voluntary Arrangement" (3,5 / 5) - 8. "Mello Part One" (3,5 / 5) - 9. "Mello Part Two" (3 / 5) - 10. "Protest Song" - 11. "Meschugana"

12th studio album by The Durutti Column released on Artful Records and the major classical label Decca Records, and is produced by Keir Stewart. Percussionist Bruce Mitchell appears on the release, almost as usual, only this time he has contributed as composer with Reilly on two tracks (#3, #11). The album shows a return to his trademark of ambient experimental art rock with both a classical and jazz feel, and gone is the new found indie pop style and the many years of experiments with house and electronic is put in the background. This is one of Reilly's better releases almost touching his finest hours of the 1980s.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

The The "Naked Self" (2000)

Naked Self
release date: Feb. 29, 2000
format: cd (LTD.)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,68]
producer: Matt Johnson & Bruce Lampcov
label: Nothing Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Boiling Point" - 2. "Shrunken Man" - 3. "The Whisperers" (live) - 5. "Global Eyes" (live) - 6. "December Sunlight" - 7. "Swine Fever" - 9. "Weather Belle" - 10. "Voidy Numbness" - 11. "Phantom Walls"

6th studio album release by The The stylised as NakedSelf follows five full years after Hanky Panky, which for many stands as a bit of the odd one out by being entirely dedicated to Hank Williams covers for which Matt Johnson selected a handful of session musicians instead of working with the established backing band.
NakedSelf is quite naturally a much awaited album and he's back with the old formula working alone, handpicking people to work with, and he's back with twelve new compositions. I purchased the album without giving it a single listen, and I must admit that I'm not certain to have made the same decision having given it an ear test first. I never played this one that many times - for many years I tried, though, but it just never caught me. Also, I've always been a bit bewildered about how to label it in terms of style and genre, which of course isn't important at all. Undoubtedly, it will go as experimental, and art rock, but pop / rock? Most evidently, no! Out of 12 tracks only 2-3 felt like worth the lot, and I soon regreted my purchase. Now, that was my thoughts back in 2000 and for the first decade or so, but after having returned to it in recent years, I really don't find it all that bad after all. My initial verdict would most likely have been 2,5 / 5, max, but nowadays, I'm sure it's 3,5 / 5, and even above that, a rather solid album. Some of the tracks have a Radiohead tone whereas others seem to belong to a different dimension, where Johnson explores his own influences but perhaps most apparently: expands his own soundscape by revisiting some of the sources to his first solo album Burning Blue Soul (1981) with its will to experiment and to explore what should become known as neo-psychedelic.
NakedSelf isn't a bad album, it may not provide us with great pop songs of the like one will find on his previous releases, although, three to four come close. At bottom line, it's much more introspective and basically an album for the keen listener.
Following this, Matt Johnson appears to have withdrawn from the public eye. People may think he left the business but he has continued to compose and write music, only more exclusively as soundtrack composer, and primarily for younger brother Gerard Johnson films, the first being the short Mug (2004), followed by full-length films: Tony (2009) and Hyena (2014) - also for the documentary Moonbug (2010) by Nichola Bruce, all of which have been released as soundtracks via the Matt Johnson founded label and podcast host Radio Cinéola. And speaking of brothers, in 2016 Matt's brother Andrew, known as Andy Dog, the artist behind several covers by The The, died from a brain tumor. Allegedly, the loss of brother Eugene in '99 was one of the reasons to why Matt Johnson felt trapped and ultimately stepped out of the music business - now it appears another brother's untimely death could be one of the reasons to why Johnson may be getting a band back together to perform the back catalogue of The The.
[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone 3 / 5, 👍NME 3,5 / 5, 👉Pitchfork 7,1 / 10 stars ]

Robbie Robertson "Contact From the Underworld of Redboy" (1998)

Contact From the Underworld of Redboy
release date: Mar. 10, 1998
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,86]
producer: Howard Bernstein
label: Capitol Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "The Sound Is Fading" - 3. "Making a Noise" - 4. "Unbound" (4 / 5) - 5. "Sacrifice" - 6. "Rattlebone" (4 / 5) - 9 "Stomp Dance (Unity)"

4th studio album by Robbie Robertson when also including his soundtrack album Music for the Native Americans (1994). The sound of his former colleagues of The Band and its great and vast musical legacy still lives on a bunch of albums, and if you don't really know The Band, you should at least check out one of the most legendary live albums, The Last Waltz (1978), either on DVD or as a music album.

Robbie released his solo debut Robbie Robertson (1987) and once again fascinated the world of popular music. Everyone wanted to work with him after that and "we" all yearned for a follow-up that never seemed to come. Storyville (1991) proved to be a bit of the difficult sophomore album. After creating a fine blend of styles he fell for the music of too many others and was so inspired by the sound and music of the Scottish band, The Blue Nile that he simply had to copy and paste on his second album and basically just forgot to make his own music. After that he then made the album of his heart and blood: Music for the Native Americans (1994), which was very well-received in the US but quite frankly is to say it politely: a difficult listen. Not that it's bad, it's just very 'native American' and with little sign of traditional popular music to it... And then - BOOM - he releases this fantastic inspiring album on which he (again) makes his own brew of all his music influences and reveals at least a new one: 'electronica'. 

Had it not been for its inconsistency, I'd rate it higher - it really contains some great tunes that stay with you. This has become one of my favourite albums by this great Indian blooded everlasting old-timer who needs to make more music, or: release more often.

1998 Favorite releases: 1. Grant Lee Buffalo Jubilee - 2. Mark Hollis Mark Hollis - 3. Robbie Robertson Contact From the Underworld of Redboy

The Durutti Column "Sex and Death" (1994)

Sex and Death
release date: Nov. 1994
format: digital (facd2.01)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,18]
producer: Stephen Street, Vini Reilly
label: Factory Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Anthony" - 2. "The Rest of My Life" - 3. "For Colette" - 6. "My Irascible Friend" - 7. "Believe in Me" - 11. "Madre Mio"

9th "real" studio album by The Durutti Column released on Factor Too and co-produced by Stephen Street and Vini Reilly. As on Obey the Time (1990) and the successor Fidelity (1996) Reilly has really picked up electronic as his new musical playground. It's still music created for guitar but in an ambient electronic soundscape with the addition of traditional strings (violin and cello), and this release is much more interesting. The album was released on the new-founded label Factory Too, founded by Tony Wilson (co-founder of Factory Records) in the ashes of Factory Records, however, this new label didn't survive long as it was closed in 1996.
Without being one of of his best, the album offers some fine compositions where the overall impression is that Reilly is still searching for his style.
[ allmusic.com 2 / 5 stars ]