The Cranberries "In the End" (2019)

In the End
release date: Apr. 26, 2019
format: vinyl (LTD. gatefold cranberry vinyl) / digital (11 x File, FLAC)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,06]
producer: Stephen Street
label: BMG - nationality: Ireland

Track highlights: 1. "All Over Now" - 2. "Lost" - 3. "Wake Me When It's Over" - 5. "Catch Me If You Can" - 9. "Summer Song" - 11. "In the End"

8th and final studio album by The Cranberries released more than one year after the accidental and most tragic death of lead vocalist and primary songwriter of the band, Dolores O'Riordan, Jan. 2018.
The album has been a long way in the making - partly because of O'Riordan's untimely departure, and for the remaining band members having to come to terms with the fact that what was to be a restart of the band with a ready-made promotion plan and a scheduled tour list, was all of a sudden something completely different - and final. Also, what had been recorded of Dolores' vocals were only demo takes, so what could easily have ended as a shelved half-finished last album had to be mixed and arranged to fit what had been laid down.
Stylistically, the band aims at the core of its own strengths: their special blend of soft alt. rock jangle pop and dream pop in a singer / songwriter outing, thanks to O'Riordan's talent for songwriting, which in a way takes the band back in time to its more successful releases of the '90s.
Stephen Street is credited as additional musician and he has mixed and produced the album so skilfully that you forget the circumstances that were at play. Without O'Riordan's sparkling demo vocals these songs could only have been shelved. Instead we are blessed with one final last chapter - all thanks to The Cranberries: Dolores O'Riordan, Noel & Mike Hogan, and Fergal Lawler.
The album has been met by positive reviews, and after only two days, I dare already say that it's truly a fine accomplishment. The album contains sincere ballads and uptempo rockers in a tone that puts the album at the very top of all the band's releases.
In the End may be one of the saddest ends to a great band, but at the same time it's a gem to have been handed to us all - despite devastating circumstances, and it's definitely highly recommended.
So far a certified top 3 album of the year!
[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5, 👍The Guardian, Clash, The Independent 4 / 5 stars ]

2019 Favorite releases: 1. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Ghosteen - 2. The Cranberries In the End - 3. Rammstein Rammstein

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 ]

Bob Mould "Sunshine Rock" (2019)

Sunshine Rock
release date: Feb. 8, 2019
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,54]
producer: Bob Mould
label: Merge Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Sunshine Rock" (studio session) - 2. "What Do You Want Me to Do" - 3. "Sunny Love Song" - 5. "The Final Years" - 7. "I Fought" - 9. "Lost Faith" - 11. "Send Me a Postcard"

12th studio solo album by Bob Mould is like all his solos produced by Mould and it's his fourth consecutive album to by released on Merge. It's the continued story of the old rock artist, who has found his niche on his older days. It takes off where he left us on Patch the Sky in 2016, which again took off from the two previous releases. The album is Mould's 4th since what many saw as his "comeback" album, Silver Age in 2012 - an album that followed several years with musical experiments and the then most recent "folk rock-ish" Life and Times (2009) - and his most welcomed 2012 rocker presented Mould's nice return to form - something he has proved to keep to ever since.
Sunshine Rock may not appear as alternative and heavy as his most recent studio album, but it still stays very true to the power pop label he is first and foremost associated with. Sometimes he turns up a bit on the alt. rock side of the style, at other times it's more harmonically composed, but it's always power pop with hints and bonds to the old punk rock soul and with a natural link to an American tradition of folk rock as personified by Neil Young, and the album is in my mind one of Mould's more bold releases to share a common ground in songwriting style with his time in Hüsker Dü. In this respect you may compare to Candy Apple Grey (1986) and Warehouse - Songs and Stories (1987). Track #11, "Send Me a Postcard" is a mighty fine cover - originally a blast of a [non-album] song by Dutch [Jefferson Airplane-ish] band Shocking Blue issued as a 7'' single in 1968 [ check the original here ].
The album has been met by positive reviews, although, it hasn't reached the favourable position on the albums chart list as his best charting album in recent years, Beauty & Ruin from 2014. Bob Mould keeps rockin' away - that's what he knows, and he does that better than most. What also comes to mind here, is his long legacy with power pop tunes and how he may find it increasingly difficult not to repeat himself if he doesn't add more to his new material. Having said that, the album is a prolific example of alt. rock craftsmanship and something essential in a collection of contemporary alt rock.
[ allmusic.com, Mojo, Rolling Stone 4 / 5, 👍Slant 3,5 / 5, Pitchfork 7,6 / 10, Uncut 4,5 / 5 stars ]

The Chemical Brothers "No Geography" (2019)

No Geography
release date: Apr. 12, 2019
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]
producer: The Chemical Brothers
label: Virgin EMI - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Eve of Destruction" - 3. "No Geography" - 4. "Got to Keep On" - 6. "The Universe Sent Me" - 7. "We've Got to Try" - 8. "Free Yourself" - 9. "MAH" - 10. "Catch Me I'm Falling"

9th studio album by The Chemical Brothers issued after a near four year hiatus is like the most recent Born in the Echoes released on Virgin EMI and as always produced by the duo. It's a ten track collection on which Tom Rowlands and Ed Simmons take a stronger grip on acid house than usually - a style closely related to electro house and something I don't really spend much time listening to. Basically, it's a bit like returning to the early days of techno. There is also some progressive house parts here and there, but the best thing about the new album is the lust to also include big beat as they did on the 2015 album.
The album has been met by positive reviews, and it seems like the duo has re-found its potential.
The album is so fresh to me, but for the time being, I really enjoy it, and from my experience with The Chemical Brothers one simply has to digest their new material to let it unfold before judging too hard. For now; I rate it good above 3,5, but is it a 4 star album and bettering the 2015 release?
[ 👍allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, The Guardian, Mojo, Q Magazine, Uncut, NME 4 / 5, Rolling Stone 2,5 / 5 stars ]

Sinéad O'Connor "Faith and Courage" (2000)

Faith and Courage

release date: Jun. 13, 2000

format: cd

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,65]

producer: various

label: Atlantic - nationality: Ireland

Track highlights: 1. "The Healing Room" - 2. "No Man's Woman" - 3. "Jealous" - "Dancing Lessons" - 6. " 'Til I Whisper You Something" - 7. "Hold Back the Night" - 9. "The State I'm In" - 10. "The Lamb's Book of Life" - 11. "If U Ever" - 12. "Emma's Song"

5th full-length studio album by Sinéad O'Connor following six years after Universal Mother (Sep. 1994), and three years after the 6-track Gospel Oak ep (Jun. 1997). The album is her only to be released on Atlantic after ending a long series of album with Ensign / Chrysalis. The production of the album has been supervised ('coordinated') by John Reynolds, and the single tracks have a number of familiar producer names involved. Overall the idea and execution with several producers works really fine. Reynolds, having himself been producer on most other of O'Connor's releases has made sure the album comes out as something that basically challenges O'Connor's first two major albums - as the first and only in a long career. The album counts thirteen tracks of which Dave Stewart is credited as producer on four, Adrian Sherwood and Skip McDonald on four, Anne Preven and Scott Cutler on two, and then Jerry "Wonder" Duplessis & Wyclef Jean, Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs, and Brian Eno are all credited as producers on one track each. Overall, there's much reggae inspiration on this but there's also electronic bits and uptempo rock tunes making it a most varied release and overall it actually works fine as a quite coherent release.

I don't know anything about the causes but this one really comes close to what sounds like O'Connor's closest effort to make a follow-up to her great 1990 album. Given much of the personal struggles she experienced at the time of these recordings - giving birth to her second child, while almost simultaneously ending a relationship, which continued as a custody battle, and she has spoken frankly about herself attempted suicide in '99. This alone should make this album an impossible idea - and that's far from major concerns in her life during this periode. Alledgedly, O'Connor became the first priestess of the Latin Tridentine Church, a dissident Catholic group led by a self-styled Roman Catholic bishop and O'Connor took the name of Mother Bernadette Marie. In Apr. 2000, she was given the title as 'Archdeacon' for her work with Dublin’s homeless. Needless say, I think it would require united forces to make this kind of a release at a point like this in any artist's life. It seems there's a strong friendship and / or other united forces, who have made this album come together and to materialise this succesful. 'Cause it literally sounds like there's much of the same energy and vitality present on this one when comparing with her 1990 album, and then this is also crammed with really fine songs. Even looking at the inlay photos, O'Connor looks quite happy and laidback, as if in a good place in life. Of course images don't tell the truth - and in this case, there's definitely more at stake, but musically, everything goes really well hand in hand here. Thematically, it's her natural playground with personal stories, songs about love and motherhood, and more religious-orientated ones.

Generally, the album fared well but was also granted with mixed reviews. I regret not to have paid attention to it when it came out. Years before, I had given up on Sinéad and only got to know of this a near decade later and actually before listening to Universal Mother.

Faith and Courage is no less than O'Connor's third best album in all of her discography, which means it's really one to know of. Highly recommended.

[ allmusic.com 3 / 5, 👎NME 2,5 / 5, 👍Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5, Slant 4,5 / 5 stars ]

Little Simz "Grey Area" (2019)

Grey Area
release date: Mar. 1, 2019
format: digital (10 x File, MP3)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,72]
producer: Inflo [aka Dean "Inflo 1st" Josiah, aka Dean Cover]
label: Age 101 Music - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Offence" - 2. "Boss" - 3. "Selfish" (feat. Cleo Sol) - 5. "Venom" - 6. "101 FM" - 7. "Pressure" (feat. Little Dragon) - 8. "Therapy"

3rd studio album by Little Simz [aka Simbi Ajikawo] following 2 years after Stillness in Wonderland (Dec. 2016) on her own independent label Age 101 Music.

Her sophomore 2016 release came out to fine reviews but failed to attract a bigger crowd - bassically like her debut A Curious Tale of Trials + Persons (2015), which had been hailed as the new big thing, but as much as these releases didn't attract a broader public attention, then all of a sudden with Grey Area everyone now knows about Little Simz.

I didn't know of her until I came across this one by chance, and my initial thought was "yet another artist of conscious hip hop", I must admit - 'cause it's a genre, I mostly consider obsolete. "Conscious"? I don't get the term. When is contemporary hip hop NOT about social engagement anyway?! More interestingly, this is UK hip hop with bonds to grime and warm neo-soul with a blunt use of drum and bass. And musically, this is normally not a preferred genre of mine, as I find a lot of so-called contemporary rap and hip hop too generic building on the same well-known formulas, but Simz just makes her own original blend. Securely, she sings soulfully, she raps with speed and a sneer that doesn't let any angry grime rapper have a say, and she skilfully drops her points.

Grey Area came out to critical acclaim, and the album topped the Official Hip Hop and R&B Albums Chart Top 40-list as well as on the Official Independent Albums-list in the UK. The album was also nominated the Mercury Prize in 2019.

She may not have as many believers as West, Drake, Ocean, or Lamar but imho, she links better with Lauryn Hill and ultimately has more to offer than most other and better known contemporary hip hop artists, and she rightfully deserves more recognition.

Recommended.

[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Q, The Observer, 👍The Guardian 4 / 5, NME 5 / 5 stars ]

Sun Kil Moon "April" (2008)

April
release date: Apr. 1, 2008
format: 2 cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,88]
producer: Mark Kozelek
label: Caldo Verde Records - nationality: USA

Tracklist: 1. "Lost Verses" - 2. "The Light" (4 / 5) - 3. "Lucky Man" - 4. "Unlit Hallway" - 5. "Heron Blue" - 6. "Moorestown" - 7. "Harper Road" - 8. "Tonight the Sky" - 9. "Like the River" - 10. "Tonight in Bilbao" - 11. "Blue Orchids" (4 / 5)

3rd studio album by Sun Kil Moon following the covers album Tiny Cities (Nov. 2005) is a 2-disc and 2 lp standard release issued on Caldo Verde. The CD issue contains a bonus disc containing four alternate versions (not included on the vinyl issue) of tracks #10, #2, #9 and #8 on the standard album.

Again, the style is intact and there's only small changes from Kozelek's "normal" alt. folk style. The compositions here are just a bit more orchestrated than was heard on its predecessor Tiny Cities and a few tracks are more folk rock-oriented, which suits their harmonies so fine, and they also point more directly back to the fine indie rock debut Ghosts of the Great Highway (2003). All tracks here are credited Kozelek and that's really when he shines the most. And therefore, this album also makes it to be the so far second best by this interesting artist, in my opinion.

[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Slant 4 / 5, Rolling Stone 3 / 5 stars ]

The B-52's "Wild Planet" (1980)

Wild Planet
release date: Aug. 27, 1980
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,86]
producer: Rhett Davies, B-52's; Chris Blackwell (exec. pro.)
label: Island Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Party Out of Bounds" - 2. "Dirty Back Road" - 3. "Runnin' Around" (live) - 4. "Give Me Back My Man" (4,5 / 5) - 5. "Private Idaho" - 6. "Devil in My Car" (live) - 9. "53 Miles West of Venus"

2nd studio album by The B-52's follows closely on the same path laid out on the debut from '79 with an uptempo new wave with strong bonds to the 1960s surf rock - especially thanks to the guitar-sound as played by Ricky Wilson. The strong musical and stylistic resemblance with the debut may be explained by the fact that the band already had "too many" songs in its repertoire when they began recording songs for the debut album, and instead of releasing an unlikely double album for its debut, the band just shelved these songs for a later release. This is a documented fact as The B-52's played most of these songs at concerts as early as 1978.
The album cover nearly duplicates the debut cover as it's held in the same style depicting the band members in what seems an early 1960s time bubble.
Wild Planet is a strong album without any fillers, and it's really an astonishing thought if they had actually pulled it off and released all songs on a double album in '79. They really could have, and it only makes it so much more reasonable to listen to these two albums at the same time.
Highly recommended.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Rolling Stone 5 / 5 stars ]

Robin Guthrie & Mark Gardener "Universal Road" (2015)

Universal Road

release date: Mar. 23, 2015

format: digital (10 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,04]

producer: Robin Guthrie & Mark Gardener

label: Soleil Après Minuit - nationality: UK

Track highlights: 1. "Universal Road" - 2. "Dice" - 7. "Sometime" - 10. "Blind"

Collaboration album by Robin Guthrie and Mark Gardener produced by the duo and released on Guthrie's label. Guthrie's most recent release was yet another collaboration work, the 2014 soundtrack album White Bird in a Blizzard, made with longtime collaborator Harold Budd for a movie by Gregg Araki, who also directed the film for which Guthrie and Budd made their collaboration debut Mysterious Skin: Music from the Film (2005). Guthrie's most recent solo album is Fortune from 2012.

Together with Gardener the two artists share a common background in "classic" 1990's dream pop. Guthrie was one of the founders of the Scottish trio, The Cocteau Twins, who released eight full-length studio albums from 1982 to 1995, and Gardener is lead vocalist and guitarist in the English shoegazing quartet, Ride, who debuted with the acclaimed Nowhere back in 1990 - a band who originally released four studio albums from 1990 to their split in 1996. However, the band reformed in 2014 and they have released a fifth studio album in 2017 and have a sixth album have been announced for release later in 2019.

Musically, the album comes closest to the music by Ride as it's dream pop with Gardener's typical melancholic vocals and a strumming guitar sound, which doesn't really rhyme too strongly with Guthrie's discography. Guthrie's ethereal swirling and echo-fused guitar appears here and there as background fill but it doesn't really put a solid fingerprint on an album where Gardener seems to "steal the show".

It's all very nice and well-composed but it also sounds very much like music made at least two decades earlier. Sometimes you find Guthrie starting a song quite nicely after which Gardener's vocal and britpop harmonies turns it into something else. And it's not so much that Gardener destroys Guthrie's intro, but more that their mutual efforts backfires into something less original. I'm not impressed and feel they could have utilised their individual strengths better - instead it sounds like bits and pieces from their earlier works smashed together without obvious attempts in making new music.

A bit of a disappointment.

Mogwai "Rave Tapes" (2014)

Rave Tapes

release date: Jan. 21, 2014

format: digital (10 x File, MP3)

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

producer: Paul Savage

label: Rock Action Records - nationality: Scotland, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Heard About You Last Night" - 3. "Remurdered" - 5. "Repelish" - 6. "Master Card" - 10. "The Lord Is Out of Control"

8th studio album by Mogwai following only a little more than a week after the ep release of Music Industry 3. Fitness Industry 1. (Jan. 12, 2014) and 1 year after the soundtrack album Les Revenants, and more directly, following 3 full years after their most recent studio album: Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will (Feb. 2011). Although, almost released together with an ep, this full-length doesn't share much of the style from that. Three tracks (#3, #9, #10) share titles with tracks from the ep, but here they have been re-arranged and are not easily identifiable with the versions on the ep. This brand new album comes with ten new tracks and a total running time around 49 minutes that altogether reflects more confined and shorter compositions than what they used to throw in. Here, the tracks run from 2:35 to 6:25 minutes as the longest, but the relative narrow time span of tracks is not the most striking trait about this - instead the music has grown into more electronically-founded with what you may label as synthwave with less focus on their noise rock background centrered on guitar sound. In that respect, Rave Tapes sound more contemporary with its stronger electronic sound, although, the title doesn't give what it may suggest - but that's Mogwai, right! meaning: things don't necessarily mean what they suggest. "Rave" is diffinitely not to be taken literally. They incorporate electronics to a larger extent, but the irony is that it doesn't exactly blow off the roof of anything. I find that no specific tracks demand one's attention, which makes the album a bit of a bland experience, and in general, I wish the band would be more explicit - as they are on the fine Music Industry.. ep. Rave Tapes doesn't sound as a band wanting to demonstrate how far they have come but more like another score to a film, and the album is just not one of their most challenging works. Despite my feelings, this became Mogwai's first album to ever peak as high as number #10 on the UK albums chart list. Previously, Hardcore Will Never Die... had reached number #25 and Rock Action number #23.

Not recommended.

[ bandcamp ]

[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5, 👍Pitchfork 6 / 10 stars ]

Best of 2013:Stromae "Racine carrée" (2013)

Racine carrée

release date: Aug. 19, 2013

format: 2 lp (gatefold) (orange vinyl) / 2 lp vinyl (2026 reissue) (gatefold)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,16]

producer: Stromae with various others

label: Mosaert / Island France / Universal - nationality: Belgium

Track highlights: 1. "Ta fête" - 2. "Papaoutai" - 3. "Bâtard" - 4. "Ave Cesaria" - 5. "Tous les mêmes" (live) - 6. "Formidable" (live on KEXP) - 7. "Moules frites" - 8. "Carmen" - 9. "Humain à l'eau" - 10. "Quand c'est?" - 11. "Sommeil" - 12. "Merci" - 13. "AVF" (feat. Maître Gims & Orelsan) (live)

[ full album live ]

2nd studio album by Stromae following 3 years after the acclaimed Cheese (Jun. 2010) is like that produced by Stromae himself and released on his own label Mosaert via Universal Music France. And 'produced by himself' this time means co-producing with various others. Only Thomas Azier is co-producer on 3 tracks, Aron Ottignon co-producer on 2 tracks, and then follows 13 other artists as co-producers on individual tracks. I guess, Stromae perhaps wanted a more multi-facetted sound on this compared to the strict and more simplistic debut, although, he's still very much in charge of everything.

All songs and music are credited Stromae except three tracks: tracks #4, #8, and #13 are co-composed by Orelsan (aka French rapper Aurélien Cotentin), and track #13 also with Maître Gims (aka Congolese-French rapper Gandhi Alimasi Djuna). The title of the album is French for 'Square-root', which is underlined on the front cover with the symbol '√x' - something that suggests an exploration of his own roots, musically, and with regards to his identity - ultimately, pointing at circumstances and influences that has formed him as an artist and as a human being.

Cheese came out as an international monster hit debut selling Platinum and Gold in a number of countries and making it to number #1 in Belgium, number #6 in France, and Stromae went from quite anonymous to world famous with one single album. Racine carrée follows closely in the footsteps of the predecessor and it contains some of the same identifiable originality that he laid out three years earlier, and then it adds to his characteristica. Musically, it's a stunning accomplishment to par and even better the great debut with something that more than equals and proves his worth as composer, songwriter and arranger by showcasing new dimensions to his talent. The album is filled to the brim with dance-oriented tracks and hooks and then he continues his speciality by mixing chanson with club & dance. Lyrically, this appears to be filled with a critical perspective on modern life, racism, personal relationships, and more. It's all-encompassing in what appears as another exceptional album. He speaks about so many things here that makes it near extreme. He narrates about SoMe, about a poisonous relationsship, a note on cancer, a reminder about mixed races, a song about pretention, and a song about how the human race appears to have evolved beyond what's reasonable, there's a hommage to Cesária Évora, a song about his father... Every song matters and it works on so many levels that it leaves you almost speechless. What a gifted artist!

Strongest recommendation.

[ allmusic.com, Metro 4 / 5, Télérama 4 / 4 stars ]

Edit 2026:

The 2026 reissue is a double vinyl album with 3 tracks on each side but with the exclusion of the final track "AVF" for reasons unknown. The song appears in the original issue of the album. Nothing has been declared regarding the omission. Guesses are basically two-fold: 1) it's about credits as the song is co-composed by the two artists Maître Gims and Orelsan - the latter is also co-writer of track #4, and supposed conflict of interest is the presence of Maître Gims, who has been subject of several controversies, which releates to plagiarism, homophofia, and most recently: he has been subjected to investigations regarding money laundering. I think, Stromae simply wanted to cut the connection by leaving out a track involving Gims. 2) Perhaps the main reason is that the song doesn't represent what Stromae is all about. The title 'AVF' is short for 'Allez vous faire!', which means 'Go fuck yourself!' / 'Fuck you!" and alone that makes much sense sinse the lyrical content of the song doesn't coinside with the other songs on his album, or any other album by Stromae - this is simply not part of his artistic identity. The really bad thing is that it's musically one of the fine ones on the album.

2013 Favourite releases: 1. Stromae Racine carrée - 2. Arctic Monkeys AM - 3. Tindersticks Across Six Leap Years

Tex Ritter "Songs of the Golden West" (1961)

Songs of the Golden West

release date: 1961

format: vinyl (SREG 1001) (1966 reissue)

[album rate: 2 / 5] [2,18]

producer: Lee Gillette

label: Regal - nationality: USA

Studio album by Tex Ritter originally titled Hillbilly Heaven and released in 1961 by Capitol Records. Already in '61, the album was issued with the title Songs of the Golden West in New Zealand, also with the same cover as this UK reissue. This version was again reissued in '69 in Australia and in the UK, now with a new cover, and another issue with the title Deck of Cards was also reissued in the UK. All of these different issues, however, has the same tracklisting as the original album from 1961.

The album was part of my parents' record collection, and I only got this after my dad's passing in 2016. I don't recall this from my childhood, and I think my dad purchased this at some point during the 1990s at a time when he had begun listening to country music and especially the music by Willie Nelson and Jim Reeves.

Martha Wainwright "Goodnight City" (2016)

Goodnight City

release date: Nov. 11, 2016

format: cd

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

producer: Brad Albetta & Thomas Bartlett

label: Play It Again Sam - nationality: Canada

Track highlights: 1. "Around the Bend" - 2. "Franci" (4 / 5) (live in studio) - 3. "Traveller" (live in studio) - 4. "Look Into My Eyes" - 6. "Window" - 8. "Alexandria" - 10. "One of Us" - 12. "Francis"

4th studio album by Martha Wainwright following a full four years since her last studio album Come Home to Mama (Oct. 2012), but most recently it follows the duo-project The Wainwright Sisters and their debut Songs in the Dark from 2015, where Martha stars alongside half-sister Lucy Wainwright Roche.

Goodnight City is, as usual, produced by husband Brad Albetta, who, however, is involved for the last time as the couple should divorce in 2018. Here, Albetta shares producer credit with Thomas Bartlett, who previously participated as keyboardist on all of Wainwright's albums since the Edit Piaf album Sans Fusils, ni souliers, a Paris..." (2009). The album offers 12 tracks with a total running time at just over 45 minutes. In the past, Wainwright has been songwriter and composer on the majority of her songs, but here she's alone credited half of the tracks and as co-writer on two. Four tracks are written and composed by others, respectively by Michael Ondaatje & Thomas Bartlett ("Piano Music"), Beth Orton ("Alexandria"), Merrill Garbus ("Take the Reins"), and brother Rufus Wainwright ("Francis").

Stylistically, there is a small change to trace since her 2012 album on a collection of songs mostly native to mainstream pop / rock - and most clearly, this is more subdued in a modern singer / songwriter style with ties to folk pop. In the main, 'cause you'll find detours with more tempo and energy, such as on the slightly out of place rock-wrenching and Iggy Pop-inspired "So Down", but also on the glitch pop-arranged "Take the Reins" - both of which fall somewhat outside the big picture. On "Around the Bend" Martha imitates the role model Joni Mitchell quite a bit, although the song is actually very fine, but I guess that's just how things are with Martha Wainwright: she's fully capable of lots of good stuff and she has a great vocal, but too often she tend to over-dramatise a bit. Best track here is Wainwright's own "Franci" - not to be confused with Rufus' "Francis," which rounds out the album - but both songs were written for Martha and producer Albetta's 2014 son, Francis Valentine Albetta.

The album is a welcome return to Wainwright in her more usual style, despite resulting in a record low on album charts worldwide.

[ The Guardian, Gaffa.dk 4 / 5, 👍Under the Radar 3,5 / 5, The Independent 3 / 5 stars ]

Sharon Van Etten "Remind Me Tomorrow" (2019)

Remind Me Tomorrow
release date: Jan. 18, 2019
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,76]
producer: John Congleton
label: Jagjaguwar - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "I Told You Everything" - 2. "No One's Easy to Love" - 4. "Comeback Kid" - 5. "Jupiter 4" - 6. "Seventeen" - 7. "Malibu" - 10. "Stay"

5th studio album by Sharon Van Etten follows nearly 5 years after the 2014 predecessor and is produced by star-producer John Congleton who has worked with Erykah Badu, David Byrne, Lana Del Rey, Jens Lekman, Modest Mouse, Sigur Rós and St. Vincent - to mention but a few. Stylistically, Van Etten doesn't generally release a new album like the former, it seems. Here, she has moved away from the alt.country codes and instead moved into the crowded territory of indie pop and synthpop. It's still also a singer / songwriter release, which also makes it unmistakably Van Etten. Her fine mellow (singing) tone overshadows stylistic changes, which dwells on slow repetitive rhythms but also more vibrant quirkiness that in some ways have her share DNA with St. Vincent - though just slightly enough to make the comparison and at the same time, too little to call it similar. Van Etten is still one of a kind, and although it may not be up there with her great Are We There from 2014, this is another fine album from her warm hands.
Remind Me Tomorrow showcases Van Ettens great potential as someone to pay attention to. It has been lauded as one of the best album releases of the year, and she doesn't hesitate out new angles and styles on an album that puts her closer to St. Vincent than ever before. I find it refreshing 'though I don't find it up there alongside her great 2014 album, which is her clearly so far best album.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, 👍NME, Rolling Stone, The Guardian 4 / 5 stars ]

Heligoland "Heligoland" (2000)

Heligoland [debut]

release date: Jan. 1, 2000

format: digital (9 x File, FLAC)

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

producer: Tim Friese-Greene

label: Calcium Chloride - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Lost and Lethal" (4 / 5) - 2."Shrug" - 3. "Bluebird" - 5. "Shock Treatment" - 6. "Isn't It Sad" (4 / 5) - 7. "Loaded Gun" - 9. "The Kiss-Off" (contains a cover of Hendrix' "Purple Haze" after 2 mins. pause)

Full-length album debut by Heligoland - not to be confused with the Australian band led by Karen Vogt and Steve Wheeler, nor the mere album release by Massive Attack. Instead, this is a one-man project led by Tim Friese-Greene and his first full-length follow-up to the four-track ep Creosote & Tar (1997) released on his own label Calcium Chloride via his bandcamp profile.

This is much like finding a hidden gem everyone ought to know of but only few, I guess, have ever come across, which is really sad. Everyone knows what a fundamental part Friese-Greene played in co-creating the music in one of Britain's most influential bands of the late 80s and early 90s: Talk Talk and his and Mark Hollis' experimental musical approach, which led to albums like Spirit of Eden (Sep. 1988) and Laughing Stock (Nov. 1991), but Friese-Greene also stood behind much of the music by the band as early as It's My Life (Feb. 1984).

It's not really difficult at all to hear the weight of the legacy throughout these nine compositions. There's a strong experimental and a wildness jumping out of the music, and there's a natural denial of making mainstream pop-tunes on the basis of known formulas. Instead, energy and playfulness makes everything come to life and it thrives remarkably well.

Much recommended.

The B-52's "The B-52's" (1979)

The B-52's [debut]
release date: Jul. 6, 1979
format: cd (1988 reissue)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,98]
producer: Robert Ash [uncredited]; Chris Blackwell
label: Island Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Planet Claire" - 2. "52 Girls" - 3. "Dance This Mess Around" - 4. "Rock Lobster" (5 / 5) (official live recording) - 8. "60608-842" - 9. "Downtown"

Studio album debut by The B-52's, a quintet formed in Athens, Georgia, 1976 by vocalist Cindy Wilson, (Cindy's older brother) guitarist Ricky Wilson, vocalist and keyboardist Kate Pierson, drummer Keith Strickland, and lead vocalist and cowbell player Fred Schneider. The producer credits is handed to Island Records' founder Chris Blackwell, but according to Schneider, Robert Ash actually produced the album "and Chris oversaw the whole project".
Stylistically, the B-52's sticks to its own new wave style, which is influenced and incorporates funk and surf rock in a dance-pop-oriented way, and they also quite bluntly reflected a music and style that was observed as "pop kitsch". Lyrically, this was underlined in obscure or silly lyrics, which was seen as contrary to an American songwriter tradition, but which only resonated the late '70s - the punk rock era's stand against conformity. The majority of the tracks are composed by the band, or by Schneider and Wilson - except the end-track, "Downtown", a Petula Clark cover (1964 single) written by Tony Hatch but here in a new wave version arranged by Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson.
The album fared reasonably well making it to #59 on the US Billboard 200, but it wasn't regarded a great album until some decades later. It seems the music of B-52's was so much on its own that it took time to really digest - however, over the years the band and their debut album has only been subject of critical acclaim. The album is enlisted in many best of lists including Rolling Stone Magazine's "500 greatest Albums of All Time" and in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
I've have always regarded the album as one of the fine original new wave releases and, imho, The B-52's are simply a better and much more fun act to listen to than e.g. the more acclaimed Talking Heads. Also, listening to the album today - some four decades later, it's really music that still contains so many great tunes full of joy and instant positive energy that it's a thrill.
Highly recommended.
[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone 5 / 5, Slant, Select 4 /5 stars ]

The Gun Club "Pastoral Hide & Seek" (1990)

Pastoral Hide & Seek
release date: Oct. 1990
format: vinyl / cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,88]
producer: Jeffrey Lee Pierce
label: New Rose Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Humanesque" - 2. "The Straights of Love and Hate" - 3. "Emily's Changed" - 4. "I Hear Your Heart Singing" (4,5 / 5) - 5. "St. John's Divine" - 7. "Another Country's Young" - 8. "Flowing"
[ full album ]

5th studio album by The Gun Club follows three years after Mother Juno (Oct. 1987), and what's quite interesting is that the line-up is the exact same quartet as on the '87 album with songwriter, guitarist and lead vocalist Jeffrey Lee Pierce, guitarist Kid Congo Powers, bassist Romi Mori (girlfriend of Pierce), and drummer & percussionist Nick Sanderson. That said, Kid Congo had left the band to play with Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds after Mother Juno, but after his return in the Spring of '90, Pierce soon made arrangements for the recordings ofwhat was to be this album. It's the second in the new formation of the band after Pierce had put an end to the band and initiated a solo career. Also, by the end of the year, Sanderson left to concentrate on another music project - all of this showing how this band never was in a stable period without members leaving, returning, or with someone being sacked. The album is the second recorded and released exclusively in Europe alone. At this point, the band, or at least Pierce and Mori appear to have being relocated to Amsterdam. As usual, Pierce is only songwriter and composer of all tracks, and this time he has also put himself in the producer seat. The resulting soundscape may not be that impressive but the style is certified The Gun Club - a style connected so much to Jeffrey Lee Pierce, his poignant vocal, his characteristic guitar-sound that no matter who he invites to play with him sounds crystallised as The Gun Club, and that is more than just sufficient. I've all ways linked The Gun Club with the music of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds and all days found The Gun Club that little bit more interesting - or perhaps: showcasing something with  greater potential. In a contemporary perspective I didn't put this band among my favourites - I liked it, though, but may have neglected its qualities because of the lo-fi production, and the ever-present component of country and blues. I think, I might have put the band alongside artists like Adrian Borland, Bob Mould, R.E.M. etc. [without comparison whatsoever!] had I acknowledged it as much as I did later on. Fact is, I just listened to much else back then and The Gun Club was somewhere in the periphery: interesting and fine but never really 'it'. After this, Powers returned to the US - reputedly to get clean but stayed a member until '92 when he left to focus on a solo project of his; however, Mori and Pierce remained in Amsterdam with Pierce increasingly affected from heavy substance-addiction, also when heading into a studio in Belgium to record the band's final album, Lucky Jim (Sep. 1993).
In retrospect, there's no doubt that Jeffrey Lee Pierce definitely had 'it', and that he proved it over and over again. Better late than never, but fact is, I have come to understand why he became an artists' favourite and also a music critics' icon. This album doesn't contain obvious fillers, and in my mind, and in a close race with The Las Vegas Story (Jun. 1984), I find this to be one of the band's finest.
Highly recommended.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

[ collectors' item ]

Pearl Jam "Lightning Bolt" (2013)

Lightning Bolt
release date: Oct. 15, 2013
format: digital (12 x File, MP3)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,06]

producer: Brendan O'Brien

label: Monkeywrench Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Getaway" - 2. "Mind Your Manners" - 3. "My Father's Son" - 4. "Sirens" - 8. "Swallowed Whole"

10th studio album release by Pearl Jam and the second on Peral Jam's own label, Monkeywrench is once again produced with O'Brien.
Well, the band continues in its usual style. There's nothing new, hardly even the tracks seem new. I think, they just repeat themselves indefinitely, and with this you get some new Pearl Jam songs that sound like a Pearl Jam remix. I'm not impressed and don't find it a recommended album.
[ 👎allmusic.com, PopMatters 4 / 5, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5, Slant, Spin, 👍The Guardian 3 / 5 stars ]

Lisa Ekdahl "More of the Good" (2018)

More of the Good
release date: Nov. 9, 2018
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,38]
producer: Mathias Blomdahl
label: Sony Music - nationality: Sweden

10th studio album by Lisa Ekdahl released a 1½ years following När alla vägar leder hem. All songs are written and composed entirely by Ekdahl herself and all songs are with English lyrics. Perhaps the has released this new album also to satisfy her relatively broad international fans coming from English-speaking countries and also more traditional latin jazz-associated countries (Portugal, Spain, France, Italy).
You may prefer her native Swedish songs, but you can't reject that she's a fine vocalist and interpreter of contemporary easy listening and latin jazz, which is what this album contains most of all. I'm not a huge fan of her English lyrics but it really is one of her better attempts with English songs. It does, however, sound much like a huge conglomerate of previously released material and there are no new surprises under the hood. But if you like what works, this is a solid release of well-established themes.

Mogwai "Music Industry 3. Fitness Industry 1" (2014) (ep)

Music Industry 3. Fitness Industry 1., ep

release date: Jan. 12, 2014

format: digital (6 x File, FLAC)

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

producer: Paul Savage

label: Rock Action Records - nationality: Scotland, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Teenage Exorcists" - 3. "HMP Shaun William Ryder" - 4. "Re-Remurdered (Blanck Mass Remix)" - 6. "The Lord Is Out of Control (Nils Frahm Remix)"

Ep by Mogwai following one year after the soundtrack album Les Revenants (for a French TV-series) and preceeding the album Rave Tapes (Jan. 2014). According to the band's bandcamp profile and to Discogs the album was issued in download formats one week before the release of the band's eighth full-length studio album, although, you may also find it to be filed as issued in Nov./Dec. 2014 in cd, vinyl and other digital formats. Now, ep releases by Mogwai always offer something else - it's never just some tracks from recent album releases with the addition of one or two other tracks or an extended version like many other artist usually do. Mogwai always want any release to be unique in its own right, which is rare these days. Anyway, the album is also something special because it's the band's final studio release featuring original member John Cummings, who decided it was now time to go on his own in pursuit of a solo career. With a running time just above 31 minutes, this ep contains six tracks of which three were recorded during the Rave Tapes sessions but without any of them were included on the album, and the remaining three are remixes of tracks taken from the album but featuring other artists, and both the excluded "normal" Mogwai compositions and the new remixes are quite interesting, especially "Teenage Exorcists" - possibly excluded from the album for being too indie rock-oriented touching much on darkwave (with hints of Bloc Party) but mainly for falling a bit far from the tracks that were selected for the softer album release, and also the brilliantly titled "HMP Shaun Ryder" - is it "His Majesty's Prison...", "Help Me Please...", "Hit My Phone...", "Home-Made Pizza..", "Hold My Potatoes", "Hug Me Please", or something else, they refer to?!, which again is the whole point of the pun! And the song itself is great but again focuses more on complexity and uptempo beats, whereas the album is more laid-back, but the Blanck Mass (originally just titled "Remurdered" on Rave Tapes) and the Nils Frahm remixes are simply worth the lot!

And as usual, it's bound nicely together despite pointing in various directions.

This is simply a great Mogwai ep!

[ bandcamp ]