Alice Boman "Dream On" (2020)

Dream On [debut]
release date: Jan. 17, 2020
format: digital (10 x File, MP3)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,62]
producer: Patrick Berger
label: PIAS - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 2. "Heart on Fire" (live) - 3. "The More I Cry" - 5. "Don't Forget About Me" - 6. "Everybody Hurts"

Studio album debut by Swedish singer / songwriter Alice (Maria) Boman primarily produced by Patrick Berger. Other producer credits: Fabian Prynn (tracks #4, 6, 9); Tom Malmros (#4, 6); Alice Boman (non-produced, self-recorded track #10).
The album has attracted my attention for its original qualities. Boman draws on some of the same strengths of introspectiveness that you'll find on albums with Chelsea Wolfe, Anna von Hausswolff, Sharon Van Etten, and Lana Del Rey - without further comparison, and completely without plagiarising any of them. The music on Dream On is in a subtler gear and with a delightful absence of pompous sensations, yet, it's still like a ceremonial breeze. There's a simplicity and a lightness, which goes hand in hand with Boman's delicate vocal.
Dream On is more than fine.
[ allmusic.com, Uncut 3,5 / 5, Gaffa.dk 4 / 5 stars ]

other: live on KEXP 2014

Kraftwerk "Ralf und Florian" (1973)

Ralf und Florian

release date: Oct. 1973

format: digital (1994 unofficial reissue)

[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,15]

producer: Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider

label: Germanofon - nationality: Germany

Track highlights: 1. "Elektrisches Roulette" - 3. "Kristallo" - 5. "Tanzmusik" (live) - 6. "Ananas Symphonie"

3rd studio album by Kraftwerk originally released on Philips and here in an unofficial version from Czech Germanofon released approximately 1½ years after Kraftwerk 2 (1972), and as on that, the band / music project here, as the title indicates, only consists of the two founders: Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Both are jointly credited a long range of instruments - and as something new: now also on vocals, which is, however, quite minimalistic with vocals as backing choir and a kind of secondary instrument - also without recognisable lyrics. Konrad 'Conny' Plank is not co-producer on the album, as he was credited on the first two albums, instead he is here credited as sound engineer. And just like the two previous albums, Ralf und Florian was reissued on Philips and Vertigo through the 70s, but releases after 1979 are all unofficial issues, and Kraftwerk has basically written off the albums from before Autobahn (1974).

The album is the first to be listed as having been recorded at the band's Klingklang studio in Düsseldorf, and it clearly bears the stamp of being somewhat more well-produced and reworked. Stylistically, Kraftwerk has moved towards the mastery of greater spaciousness and a more condensed simplicity, again taking a move further away from the rhythmic krautrock, although you'll find reminiscences of more traditional instrumentation with guitar and rhythm instruments such as bass and drums on some compositions. With the exception of the final track, 'songs' have generally become shorter and the music has been shaped as electronic ambient and less chaotic. The album has been hailed as essential for the ambient genre, and when listening to "Tanzmusik" it's hard not to think of more contemporary acts such as The Orb, Boards of Canada, Sigur Rós and Danish band Efterklang - to name just a few.

After the release, the band made several live performances, including on German TV, where Wolfgang Flür often participated on drums (see live version of "Tanzmusik") - from Autobahn and afterwards he was credited as permanent member of the band's new line-up.

[ 👍allmusic.com 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Icehouse "Icehouse" (1981)

Icehouse [debut]
release date: Jun. 1981
format: digital (1990 reissue)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,08]
producer: Cameron Allan
label: Chrysalis Records - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 1. "Icehouse" [same song by Flowers] - 2. "Can't Help Myself" [same song by Flowers] - 4. "Walls" [same song by Flowers] - 6. "We Can Get Together" [same song by Flowers] - 10. "Not My Kind" [same song by Flowers]

Studio album debut by Australian band Icehouse; or actually: the international debut 'cause fact is, in Oct. 1980 this band was called Flowers, and they released the debut album Icehouse exclusively for the Australian and New Zealand markets on Regular Records. Flowers was founded in '77, and the debut album provided some entries on the Australian charts and the band soon signed with Chrysalis, who wanted the album released worldwide. Songwriter, lead vocalist, guitarist, keyboardist and oboist Iva Davies was the band leader and together with bassist and backing vocalist Keith Welsh they founded the band, who were joined by keyboardist Michael Hoste - who is replaced during the recordings of the first album by Anthony Smith, and together with drummer John Lloyd they were Flowers. Now with a record contract with Chrysalis the quartet was sat out to re-record both music and vocals, and the company wanted Flowers to pick another band name for the release, since a Scottish band were already called Flowers, so they came up with the title of their first track for new band name. The two albums (Flowers' Icehouse and Icehouse by Icehouse) appear almost identical. The '80 album was released with eleven tracks - one more than the Icehouse album, and then the track order is different.

Stylistically, it's in the category of uptempo synthpop and pop / rock with influences from especially Ultravox, Gary Numan, David Bowie, early Roxy Music, and T. Rex.

I didn't listen to this until some point in the 90s, and by then found it of little interest but simply had to hear it 'cause Icehouse's sophomore album, Primitive Man (1982) was such a distinctive and originally strong release. Despite also being 'synthpop', it's still quite far from their more famous album(s), and what really strikes me - of course listening to it from a later point - is how little original it sounds. It is very much with Ultravox, Gary Numan, Roxy Music and Bowie in mind that you listen through (nearly) all of these songs.

Only a must for collectors.

[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

"Icehouse"

by Flowers (1980)

Dead Can Dance "Spleen and Ideal" (1985)

Spleen and Ideal
release date: Nov. 1985
format: vinyl (CAD 512) / cd (1986 reissue) / cd (2008 remaster)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,06]
producer: Dead Can Dance & John A. Rivers
label: 4AD Records - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 1. "De profundis (Out of the Depths of Sorrow)" - 2. "Ascension" - 4. "The Cardinal Sin" - 5. "Mesmerism" - 6. "Enigma of the Absolute" - 7. "Advent" - 8. "Avatar" - 9. "Indoctrination (A Design for Living)"

2nd studio album by Australian neo-classical darkwave band Dead Can Dance, who at this point have been reduced to a duo consisting of singer, drummer & percussionist Lisa Gerrard (who would later become an acclaimed film composer) and British multi-instrumentalist Brendan Perry. The album consists of nine compositions with varied durations from approx. 3 minutes to the album's longest track "The Cardinal Sin" of approx. 5½ minutes, and with a total running length of just 38 minutes.

In terms of style, the music here can only poorly be compared to other contemporary releases. In its time it fell under the category of post-punk, which it really never was. I think the closest critics could rightly describe the style as was gothic rock and experimental rock - perhaps with a touch of art rock, but seen from a music historical perspective it's nothing less than a modern cornerstone, which has only gained greater recognition over time. It's difficult, and perhaps impossible, to imagine contemporary works by artists such as Jocelyn Pook and Anna von Hausswolff, but also Chelsea Wolfe and Lingua Ignota, and basically: the whole wave of contemporary artists in neo-classical darkwave without pointing to the legacy of Dead Can Dance and perhaps this album in particular.

I purchased Spleen and Ideal on vinyl back in the mid-80s without having any knowledge of the band or of the music they played. All I knew was that 4AD Records put out music with super-interesting names and pretty original artists, and the band oozed that particular post-punk edge that (to me) connected them to bands like Bauhaus, Modern English, This Mortail Coil, and Joy Division (which admittedly came out on Factory Records). However, I also remember the first time I listened to the album and was really disappointed. It wasn't at all like the other bands I knew of. And it wasn't even close to some of the ones mentioned here. I tried repeatedly to listen to the album but always ended up putting something else on. Luckily, I kept the album, although in the late 80s and early 90s I got into a really bad habit of selling off early 80s albums that I didn't listen much to in order to finance newer music with a stronger appeal.

When I finally re-listened to Spleen and Ideal again in the 2010s it was like a sheer revelation. How could I have failed to understand the obvious qualities of this very album?! No, it doesn't sound like anything else from the early or late 80s - except subsequent albums by Dead Can Dance. It's enchanting and beautiful music sounding like timeless tones that call for a kind of ceremonial gathering. The beauty of it is that you can simultaneously let it fill you without thinking about cultural or religious boundaries. But above all, it's remarkable how little it shares with other music originating in the mid-80s.

Highly recommended.

[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]

[ collectors' item ]

Kraftwerk "Kraftwerk 2" (1972)

Kraftwerk 2

release date: Jan. 1972

format: digital (1994 uofficial reissue)

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

producer: Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider-Esleben, Konrad 'Conny' Plank

label: Germanofon - nationality: Germany

Track highlights: 1. "Klingklang" - 3. "Strom" - 5. "Wellenlänge"

2nd studio album by German band Kraftwerk, here only credited the two co-founders of the band, Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider, after the recently included drummer Klaus Dinger left the band and instead co-founded the band Neu! According to Hütter, it was hard to find drummers for Kraftwerk because no one would work with them when they chose to use non-typical (electric) instruments, so Hütter and Schneider themselves are credited percussion on the album here, just as they are on sucessorRalf und Florian (1973). The opening track "Klingklang" is almost 18 minutes long and in addition to being the album's longest composition, it has also given name to Kraftwerk's studio and record company Kling Klang, founded around '73.

Musically, a lot has actually happened since the debut Kraftwerk from 1970. The absence of actual drummers distances the album from other contemporary 'krautrock' releases and points to a purer electronic-founded style, where Hütter and Schneider - aided by the later legendary Konrad 'Conny' Plank sound - only stage their instrumental compositions using rhythms from percussion instruments such as xylophone, marimba and primitive programmable instruments, and on top of this basic substance they have added sounds from organ, electric piano, flute, violin, accordion, but also from more traditional instruments such as bass and guitar.

Still, it's a long way to the band's more iconic compositions with more traditional musical structures, but there is much pointing in the direction of ambient and progressive pop, and then the music has also taken a direction away from the initial improvisational and more abrupt compositions from the debut, which still had contained elements from psychedelic rock.

The album (just as its predecessor and the follow-up) has never officially been reissued, but only exists as a result of pirated copies - as here from the supposed Czech company Germanofon.

[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Michael Kiwanuka "Kiwanuka" (2019)

Kiwanuka
release date: Nov. 1, 2019
format: 2 lp vinyl (gatefold)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,42]
producer: Danger Mouse, Inflo
label: Polydor Records - nationality: England, UK

3rd studio album by Michael Kiwanuka is a double gatefold vinyl album produced by Danger Mouse [aka Brian Joseph Burton] and Inflo [aka Dean Josiah].
His two previous albums more more traditionally crafted with a folk rock style, but here he has added a psychedelic touch, which is widely known as psychedelic soul and shows influences from Prince and Sly and the Family Stone. It's an even bolder introspective collection of songs than you'll find in his back catalogue.
The album was generally met by positive reviews and Kiwanuka has gained reputation as a modern singer / songwriter of contemporary soul.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5, The Guardian, NME, Q Magazine 5 / 5, 👍Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Kraftwerk "Kraftwerk" (1970)

Kraftwerk [debut]

release date: Dec. 1, 1970

format: digital (1994 unofficial reissue)

[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,84]

producer: Ralf Hüttel, Florian Schneider-Esleben, Konrad 'Conny' Plank

label: Germanofon - nationality: Germany

Track highlights: 1. "Ruckzuck" - 2. "Stratovarius"

Studio debut album by Kraftwerk consisting of the two founders Ralf Hüttel and Florian Schneider-Esleben after they had left the experimental German band Organisation, who had released the album Tone Float (Jun. '70). On this first outing, the drummers Andreas Hohmann and Klaus Dinger are also credited as members. Hohmann plays drums on the first two compositions, while Dinger is credited drums on the final cut.

The album consists of four tracks with varying playing time running from 7:50 to 12:10 minutes and with a total running time of just under 40 minutes. It's experimental instrumental music pointing to inspiration from another German band: Tangerine Dream, which had just released its debut Jun. '70, and then it's also music with influence from experimental releases by Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa, John Cage, and especially Karlheinz Stockhausen and musique concrete in general. Several tracks and parts of compositions sounds very much like the result of spontaneous sessions with Hüttel playing organ and a special instrument: electric 'tubon', while Schneider is credited playing violin, flute, and percussion. Besides a krautrock style, the individual compositions are made with some interesting twists pointing to ambient and progressive elements and rhythms you may find on early electronic music of the mid-70s by Brian Eno, Roxy Music, David Bowie, Jean-Michel Jarre, and in the early eighties by an artist like e.g. Laurie Anderson and among many synthpop bands, and then again in the early techno scene. You'll find sound bits hinting at this in the actual electronic explosion from the late 80s and early 90s with bands like The Orb, The Chemical Brothers, The Prodigy, Dust Brothers etc. and in much wider sub-styles. The album was originally released on Philips - reissued several times through the 70s and also on cassette from '77, but it has never been officially released on CD format, nor has it been reissued after 1980, and Germanofon releases (many from '94) of the band's three earliest albums are all unofficial or 'bootleg' releases, and the band themselves haven't found it fruitful to reissue the earliest albums. This may also be seen e.g. with the band's own 8-CD box set Der Katalog (2009), which doesn't include releases from before Autobahn (1974).

The album is a pure curiosity. There are many other and better experimental albums from the period, and it's only interesting that Hütter and Schneider already here named their music-project Kraftwerk, although, the electronic characteristics were only established with the band's fourth album. Still, it's a bit of shame how Hütter and Schneider somehow won't acknowledge their musical starting point. There are some fine parts pointing to both their own later progression, but also to much other music that flourished during the 70s.

[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]

Tindersticks "No Treasure but Hope" (2019)

die-cut vinyl cover

No Treasure but Hope
release date: Nov. 15, 2019
format: vinyl (LTD. die-cut clear vinyl) / digital (10 x File, FLAC)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,85]
producer: Stuart A. Staples
label: Lucky Dog / City Slang - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "For the Beauty" - 2. "The Amputees" (4 / 5) - 3. "Trees Fall" - 4. "Pinky in the Daylight" (4,5 / 5) - 6. "Take Care in Your Dreams" - 8. "The Old Mans Gait" - 9. "Tough Love"

12th studio album by Tindersticks released nearly four years following the fine The Waiting Room (Jan. 2016), and like that, this one is produced by lead vocalist and main composer Stuart A. Staples. Since 2016 the band has released the live-album Philharmonie de Paris (Feb. 2016) and the soundtrack Minute Bodies - The Intimate World of F. Percy Smith (2017) [a documentary by Staples] in collaboration with the two French musicians, percusionist Thomas Belhom, and pianist and composer Christine Ott. Apart from that, Staples also released his second solo album Arrhythmia (2018) and he also recorded another soundtrack for a Claire Denis' film, High Life (Apr. 2019) - which shows that neither band nor Staples has been on a long break.

The current Tindersticks-quintet, consisting of Stuart Staples, guitarist Neil Fraser, bassist Dan McKinna, multi-instrumentalist David Boulter, and percussionist Earl Harvin all continue where they left us in 2016 with a hardly noticeable change of style with compositions reflecting a bolder use of strings as well as being slightly less jazz-oriented. By doing so, the album places itself at the centre of the most recent four studio albums by Tindersticks - meaning albums released from 2010 to 2016. The single tracks on this could virtually have been handpicked and replaced on any of the arbitrary four albums without disturbing a sense of coherency. Instead of a recording applying state-of-the-art multi-layered production method, the band instead recorded these songs live in the studio. And keeping that information in mind, this collection only appear even stronger, perhaps more vivid. There's still a maintained variation from song to song, but the end result is that of a tight and quite narrrow expression. It may not be the band's most daring nor their most original album, but in a way you could argue it sort of sums up all the qualities they have come up with in recent years: by creating their very own aesthetic of beauty within a strong chamber pop soundscape with a noticeable influence and inspiration from the world of jazz - utilising old-fashioned recording methods - ultimately ensures they don't sound like any other band around.

Cover and artwork are here credited Staples and his wife Suzanne Osborne.

No Treasure but Hope is yet another quality release by Tindersticks.

Highly recommended.

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

digital cover

Veronica Maggio "Fiender är tråkigt" (2019)

Fiender är tråkigt
release date: Oct. 25, 2019
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,77]
producer: Simon Hassle; Agrin Rahmani
label: Universal Music - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 1. "Kurt Cobain" - 3. "Tillfälligheter" (live - akustisk live) - 4. "Jag kastar bort mitt liv" (4 / 5) - 6. "Fiender är tråkigt" - 9. "5 minuter"

6th studio album release by Swedish Veronica Maggio following nearly 3½ years after the fine Den första är alltid gratis (May 2016). The first five tracks from the album saw an early pre-release in the form of an ep in Jun. 2019 and four months later the full album was released adding the five final tracks to a release with same title and cover as the ep. This time, Maggio has written nine of the album's ten tracks in colaboration with former Kent lead vocalist Joakim Berg and producer Simon Hassle, and it has definitely rubbed off on the songs. Agrin Rahmani contributes as co-composer on four songs.

Stylistically, the album doesn't offer the huge changes to Maggio's musical universe. As usual, the songs revolve around relationships and the entanglements in what appears as her own social life. Perhaps you'll notice a touch more lightness in the songs compared to earlier ones, but otherwise the album sounds much like the continuation of Den första är alltid gratis. Musically, there is now room for tracks with a simpler synthpop sound that suits the lyrical aspect.

The album is her fourth consecutive since Satan i gatan from 2011 going all the way to the top of the chart in Sweden. As on her 2016 album, some tracks have a slightly uptempo dance pop feel, but otherwise, the impression is that it's now more clean pop-founded than outright electropop à la Robyn.

Three singles have been released from the album - the first single "Kurt Kobain" and later "Tillfälligheter", both of which peaked as number #4 on the national singles chart. The third and final single is "5 minuter" peaking at No. #7 on the same list. In this way, all of Maggio's singles from the same album have found their way into the top-10 singles list, but she has not had a top-1 single hit since "Jag kommer" from 2011. Despite three excellent tracks as singles, it's nevertheless my impression that the clearly best song is track #4, "Jag kastar bort mitt liv", which has a clear uptempo and simple synthpop quality, which with clear persuasion tells us that Joakim Berg, from the (unfortunately) defunct band Kent, is present as songwriter and perhaps also co-composer, as he is credited on several other of the album's songs - the most apparent link to the music and sound by Kent is probably heard on "Jag kaster bort mitt liv".

Overall, this new collection is once again among Maggio's better albums. It sits somewhere in between absolutely banging with something keeping it from full blossom; but this IS also the story of Maggio, who just seems to be almost there in making that truly exceptional album that really hits the mark - that great coherent release without fillers. That said, the album is well above average and compared to her previous releases, it's more than on par with the predecessor, and it's still only her 2011 album that performed better. Maggio has her very own melancholic and fragile vocal that both signals energetic rebellion in small dozes and gentle dewy-eyed sweetness, and when you realise she hasn't made the album of the decade, once again, it's still a pleasant experience listening once more to Swedish-Italian pop of high standard. Imho, this is Maggio's second best album to date.

Recommended.

[ Aftonbladet 3 / 5, Expressen.se (ep review) 4 / 5 stars ] - both in Swedish

Hans Philip "Forevigt" (2019)

Forevigt [debut]
release date: Mar. 17, 2019
format: vinyl / digital (9 x File, FLAC)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,76]
producer: Hans Philip
label: Copenhagen Records - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "Siger ingenting" - 2. "Saa blaa" - 3. "Drenge & piger" - 4. "Dagdrøm [1]" - 7. "Stjerneklarenætterrr" - 9. "Tilbage"

Solo studio album debut by Hans Philip, former vocalist and songwriter of Ukendt Kunstner. Hans Philip has composed all lyrics - and composed the songs with various musical collaborators, including Tais Stausholm (also credited for guitar, bass and piano on several songs), Andreas Murga (also credited as bassist and guitarist on two tracks), and a bunch of others. Musically, it's both far and close to what Ukendt Kunstner stood for. The production sound follows closely the sound of McCoy, but this is much slower and way more introvert and emotional, and instead of rap this is inner-felt singing.

Hans Philip wasn't quite ready to end the duo-project, but as everyone knows, it takes two to tango, and Jens Ole McCoy wanted out, which then put an end to their common project. McCoy is not part of this, although, his musical legacy lives on in the compositions. It's the wide spacious ranges of the compositions that may leave you with the idea that they have McCoy's fingerprints all over.

The album has been anticipated for quite some time after what seemed like the most surprising and untimely end to one of the most successful Danish acts. Ukendt Kunstner ended their short-lived career in 2016 after two acclaimed albums and what appeared to be an endless series of nominations, awards and sold-out concerts on a national scale. Apparently, the overwhelming success had been more than the two had set out for, and the other side of the coin was too scary to hold on to - for McCoy, and here Philip cleverly has put some of his frustrations into words - whether it's "simple" confusion regarding what was wrong about a highly successful career, or whether it's his general frustrations about other things in life. Overall there are attempts in making that dreamy soundscape of McCoy - it doesn't quite match but you can almost taste how it's drafted to match the former composer's qualities as initial sketchings to what he should finish. That said, it's with a stronger focus on lyrics, and here, Philip is more poetic than he was in Ukendt Kunstner. It's all extremely smooth and quality-minded, and despite being an almost minimalist type of expression, it's really one of the better Danish albums of 2019.

Highly recommended.

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

Mark Kozelek & Desertshore "Mark Kozelek & Desertshore" (2013)

Mark Kozelek & Desertshore
release date: Aug. 20, 2013
format: digital (10 x File, FLAC)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,88]
producer: Desertshore, Mark Kozelek
label: Caldo Verde Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Mariette" - 2. "Livingstone Bramble" - 4. "Katowice or Cologne" - 5. "Seal Rock Hotel" - 6. "Tavoris Cloud" - 7. "You Are Not of My Blood" - 8. "Sometimes I Can't Stop" - 9. "Don't Ask About My Husband"

Collaboration album by Mark Kozelek and instrumental duo Desertshore consisting of guitarist Phil Carney (also of Sun Kil Moon and former guitarist of Red House Painters) and pianist Chris Connolly. Here the three are assisted by drummer Mike Stevens, who also played drums on Among the Leaves (2012) by Sun Kil Moon. Kozelek previously produced Desertshore's debut album Drifting Your Majesty (2010) and the follower Drawing of Threes (2011) on which he also contributes with lyrics and vocals on six songs, but this is their first official collaboration release. The album release follows another collaboration release Perils From the Sea, (Apr. 2013) by Kozelek and Jimmy LaValle, which again follows Kozelek's solo covers album Like Rats (Feb. 2013).

Musically, it doesn't fall far from Kozelek's regular repertoire. It's primarily alt. folk, indie folk with hints of americana, but the music here is composed by Desertshore and Kozelek "only" contributes with lyrics, vocals, bass and additional guitar... It is however, a more uplifting musical journey by these three friends. On solo albums, Kozelek sometimes indulges himself in extremely scarce arrangements but here there's a fine ever-present accompanying melody running along and even electric guitar, which to my regret seems almost abandoned by Kozelek. In my mind this is one of Kozelek's finest albums in years and it bonds nicely with albums by Red House Painters and the first albums by Sun Kil Moon.

It's a fine and most welcome addition to the expansive Kozelek collection.

[ 👍allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

James Blake "Assume Form" (2019)

Assume Form
release date: Jan. 18, 2019
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,65]
producer: James Blake, Dominic Maker
label: Polydor Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Assume Form" (4 / 5) - 2. "Mile High" (feat. Metro Boomin & Travis Scott) - 5. "Barefoot in the Park" (feat. Rosalía) - 6. "Can't Believe the Way We Flow" - 8. "Where's the Catch?" (feat. André 3000) - 9. "I'll Come Too" (4 / 5)

4th studio album by British electronic artist James Blake takes on a new style by incorporating rap on top of his explorations into alt. r&b, art pop and ambient pop. The album consists of 12 tracks with an average playing time from 3-5 minutes and a total running time at just over 48 mins.
The album has [already] been met by critical acclaim, and I do think of it as his easily far best album. Normally, rap is not a genre I turn to, and frankly, most often simply avoid, however, this offers a different approach [than 'the Drake, the West, the Wayne and the-what-have-we-that-sounds-the-same-kind-of-boring-contemporary-rap-thing'] with an obvious more trap rap style but also in a liquid combination with Blake's usual electronic approach makes it something other than "just" [contemporary] rap. It's also alt. r&b and neo-soul taken into a mild ambient synthpop kind of sound that just works altogether as something quite extraordinary. It's such a warm and pleasant soundscape.
Assume Form is not only Blake's best effort, it's also one of the best albums of 2019 and as such highly recommendable.
EDIT Dec. 2019:
The album started out as my absolute favourite of the year back in Jan. '19, and passing through Spring and Summer it remained at the top. Then a couple of things happened: the album began to wear, and a couple of other releases kept pushing on. Assume Form is a mighty fine and mostly coherent album - what I discovered though, is a sensation of it being too polished - 'over-produced' is a word that keeps popping up. It still remains one of the albums I have played the most throughout the year, but others keep it from the absolute top, and over time, it just doesn't feel that impressive.
Recommended.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, 👍The Guardian 4 / 5, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, NME 5 / 5 stars ]

Trentemøller "Obverse" (2019)

Obverse

release date: Sep. 27, 2019

format: digital (10 x File, FLAC)

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

producer: Anders Trentemøller

label: In My Room - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 2. "Church of Trees" - 3. "In the Garden" (feat. Lina Tullgren) - 4. "Foggy Figures" - 5. "Blue September" (feat. Lisbet Fritze) - 7. "One Last Kiss to Remember" (feat. Lisbet Fritze) - 9. "Try a Little" (feat. JennyLee)

5th studio album by Trentemøller as follow-up to Fixion (Sep. 2016) follows the near usual three years interval in between releases, and Obverse both stays somewhat on the same track and yet is its very own displaying a newfound inspiration in shoegaze and indietronica with pure instrumental compositions pointing back to ambient and minimal house and with vocal-based songs with lyrics by the featuring guest artists, and which embrace a more danceable touch in a courtship with alt. rock and darkwave without the lighter pop tones and the darker rock-influences become opposites.

The album appears as a more coherent whole than its predecessor, which seemed more divided into pure instrumental parts and, on the other hand, compositions with supporting vocals, as two opposing expressions with progressively minimal house and parts of pumping indietronica. In a way, Obverse stands as a fine extension to his second album from 2010: Into the Great Wide Yonder. Unlike Lost (Sep. 2013) and Fixion, this new outing as a whole, is a more of a muted kind with all songs in better harmony without sounding as counterpoints to other motions on the same album. The vocal-based tracks are not pure indietronica where song and melody dominate, but these are more of an unfolding-in-graceful union of instrumental ideas mixed with something reminiscent of Mazzy Star (Hope Sandoval) inspiration, e.g. on the two Lisbet Fritze tracks: "Blue September" and "One Last Kiss to Remember" - which is the album's darkwave uptempo track (I'm instantly thinking Pornography by The Cure ) - and perhaps the most obvious dream pop / shoegaze feature is "In the Garden" with Lina Tullgren. The album doesn't contain obvious hits like "River in Me" or "Complicated" - here it's the mood of the album itself that steers the direction, and in that way Obverse ultimately stands as one of Trentemøller's better ones.

[ bandcamp ]

[ 👍allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, Gaffa.dk 5 / 6 stars ]

Mark Kozelek & Jimmy LaValle "Perils From the Sea" (2013)

Perils From the Sea
release date: Apr. 20, 2013
format: digital (11 x File, MP3)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]
producer: Jimmy LaValle & Mark Kozelek
label: Caldo Verde Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "What Happened to My Brother" - 3. "Gustavo" - 4. "Baby in Death Can I Rest Next to Your Grave" - 5. "Ceiling Gazing" - 6. "You Missed My Heart" - 9. "By the Time That I Awoke"

Collaboration project by Mark Kozelek and electronic multi-instrumentalist Jimmy LaValle (aka The Album Leaf) with music exclusively by LaValle and lyrics and vocals by Kozelek. It's quite lengthy with its eleven compositions running for nearly 78 mins. The album follows only two months after Kozelek's solo covers album Like Rats.

Stylistically, it's probably the album with Mark Kozelek that has come the farthest away from any of his other releases - be it with Red House Painters, as Sun Kil Moon or as soloist always in the neighbourhood of alt. folk and indie rock. This is electronic but with a clear alt. indie feel or a dimension of singer / songwriter to it. Kozelek's vocal is certainly not the most varied nor the sonic representation with the widest register. In fact, that's perhaps exactly what LaVille likes about Kozelek's expressive vocal: a narrow outcome - like the register of a specific instrument - controllable tones, on which you can add layers of instruments. It's not strongly electronic but LaValle builds soft synthpop layers of spacious melody to a narrating Kozelek, and the result is by no means a generic album. It's a nice and subtle collection of uplifting gentleness.

[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Best of 2019:Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds "Ghosteen" (2019)

Ghosteen

release date: Oct. 3, 2019

format: digital (11 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,08]

producer: Nick Cave & Warren Ellis

label: Ghosteen Ltd. - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 1. "Spinning Song" - 2. "Bright Horses" - 3. "Waiting for You" (4 / 5) - 6. "Galleon Ship" - 7. "Ghosteen Speaks" (4 / 5) - 9. "Ghosteen" - 11. "Hollywood"

17th studio album by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds as the follow-up to the 3-year-old emotional Skeleton Tree (Sep. 2016). The album is the first to be solely credited exclusively Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, and the album has been released in all formats on the band-owned label at the time, Ghosteen Ltd. As a vinyl and CD release, the album comes as a double album consisting of eleven tracks with a total playing time of more than 68 minutes, and the album's first eight tracks - occupying the vinyl sides A+B / CD 1 - are collectively named "The Children" while the last three have been given the designation "The Parents".

Stylistically, it's much like the sequel to the 2016 album, which was seen by most as Cave's response to the recent loss of his 15-year-old son, but as Cave himself later explained, the majority of the songs had already been written when the tragedy struck, and the album's depressed mood can only be attributed to the personal tragedy and grief he and the band found themselves in during the recording sessions. On Ghosteen, the starting point of the songs is on the other hand deeply rooted in the emotions the loss gave rise to, and the album is designed as a universal reaction to the experience of grief and loss, with the poetic expression perhaps taking up more room - asking for more attention - than the music itself. It's not a collection of songs with traditional rhythm structures, but an album that via its style without percussion and drums and instead soaked in string harmonies, spheric piano and keyboard in many ways approaches a pure ambient release.

The album was released almost exclusively to overwhelmingly positive reviews and good rankings on albums charts worldwide, e.g. a No. #2 in Australia, No. #4 in the UK (No. #1 on the independent charts) and No. #12 on the US Top Rock Albums chart. It's a near impossible task to point out the best tracks on an album that is such an overall experience. Ghosteen should be listened to from start to finish, and in the listening process you may try to absorb the musical sensation in approximately the same way as you breathe. It's a very emotional release that contains both touching beauty and deep pain, which is made for meditative moments more than popular-musical entertainment. It does what it's meant to do, to facilitate emotions and support deep sadness, and it most probably works magnificently as spiritual background music. It contains lots of beauty but it's nevertheless also enormously heavy and one-dimensionally sad and as such not made for much else. But then, art itself doesn't need to be multi-purposeful.

My biggest recommendation for grief processing and just overall a big recommendation of Cave's perhaps finest and most delicate output.

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

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

Efterklang "Altid sammen" (2019)

Altid sammen
release date: Sep. 20, 2019
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,52]
producer: Efterklang
label: Rumraket / 4AD Records - nationality: Danmark

Track highlights: 1. "Vi er uendelig" - 2. "Supertanker" - 4. "I dine øjne" - 5. "Hænder der åbner sig" - 6. "Verden forsvinder" - 8. "Havet løfter sig" - 9. "Hold mine hænder"

5th studio album by Danish band Efterklang follows seven whole years after Piramida (2012). In the meantime the band released the live-album The Piramida Concert (2013), made with Copenhagen Phil [The Philharmonic Orchestra of Copenhagen] - much to the same formula they previously did with Performing Parades (2009) in company by The Danish National Chamber Orchestra. Additionally, they have as 'Efterklang / Fundal' released The Colour of Falling (2016) as a collaborative project with Danish composer Kasper Fundal. Also of 2016, Efterklang founded the side-project Liima in collaboration with Finish drummer Tatu Rönkkö, and shortly after they released their debut ii (2016). The following year saw Liima's follow-up 1982. So, to speak of a hiatus is not really the issue, although, seven years may seem like a long period in between studio releases from Efterklang.

The trio remains intact on Altid sammen, which is the band's first with a Danish title and also with lyrics in Danish. Musically, they explore new terrain - much as usual. It appears to be a premise they feel comfortable with, and it's something they have applied to all releases throughout their career in what seems like an attempt to investigate new ways to create 'natural music'. On this, they have tuned down on the more orchestral arrangements thus creating their so far boldest ambient dream pop release. Actually, it's quite fulfilling listening to Casper Clausen singing in Danish, and if he on Piramida sounded a wee bit too much as Matt Berninger (The National), then you might get the idea that someone else has taken over as lead vocalist on this one, as he now sings with a higher pitch. Compared to previous albums, Altid sammen isn't an album following a formula with contenders to compositions like "Mirador", "Hollow Mountain", or "Monument" which almost came with a label saying: 'single'. On the other hand the album here appears, in my mind, as their most coherent studio album where several compositions just overflow with lusciousness.

[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, Exclaim! 4 / 5 stars ]

Latin Quarter "Swimming Against the Stream" (1989)

Swimming Against the Stream

release date: Apr. 1989

format: digital (11 x File, MP3)

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

producer: David Kershenbaum, Paul McKenna

label: RCA - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Swimming Against the Stream" - 2. "Blameless" - 4. "Model Son" - 5. "After Maralinga" - 6. "Dominion" - 10. "It Makes My Heart Stop Speaking"

3rd studio album by Latin Quarter following a little more than two years after Mick and Caroline (Jan. '87). Since then, the band has been reduced to a quartet consisting of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Steve Skaith, lead guitarist Richard Wright, bassist Greg Harewood and keyboardist & vocalist Yona Dunsford, while songwriter Mike Jones still 'only' delivers the lyrics to the music, which is all credited Skaith. On this, we notice the contributions by David Lindley on guitar, banjo and mandolin, Denny Fongheiser on drums, Tony Waerea on didgeridoo, Judy Gameral on dulcimer, and Paulinho Da Costa as percussionist. James Swinson is responsibe for the cover art, just as he has been on the band's former albums.

Musically, not much has happened since the debut Modern Times from '85. Latin Quarter narrates about the usual subjects and the style is held tight in melodic pop / rock with bits and inspiration from pop reggae and folk. In that way you don't really notice a progression, where the small variations may lie in the fact that Jones writes the lyrics - and they do tend to touch on naiivity - be it deliberate or not. To summarise, this isn't entirely bad - it does contain good tracks but also songs that echo some sort of recycling. Even though it appears as quite coherent, it isn't exactly great. It's good craftsmanship and then perhaps not much more.

The band's debut arguably raised some recognition, the second album was positively notised especially in Germany, Sweden and in Switzerland, whereas this doesn't seem to have been welcomed that well. I haven't been able to find any registered positions from Britain, and in Germany and Sweden the album reached positions as number 38 and 50 respectively on the album chart lists. This progression has continued the following years, where none of the band's releases have led to positions, anywhere. Latin Quarter where inactive from '97 until 2010, but since then and onwards to 2021, they have released another seven albums.

Dead Can Dance "Dead Can Dance" (1984)

Dead Can Dance [debut]
release date: Feb. 27, 1984
format: cd (2008 remaster)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,54]

producer: Dead Can Dance
label: 4AD / Warner Music Japan - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 1. "The Fatal Impact" - 2. "The Trial" - 5. "Ocean" - 6. "East of Eden" - 10. "Musica Eternal"

Studio album debut by Australian, Melbourne-founded, band Dead Can Dance, who at this early point after having relocated to London, UK, consists of Lisa Gerrard, Brendan Perry, James Pinker, Scott Roger, and Peter (Lawrence) Ulrich. Already from the band's successor Spleen and Ideal (1985) and onwards, the band is constituted only by Gerrard and Perry.
Musically, it's quite difficult to narrow in as the style reflects a mix from many sources. The front cover alone - depicting the ancient artwork originating from Papua New Guinea sided by Greek letters tell us bits of their influences. There are dream pop-hauling electric guitars and likewise vocal performances with bold use of echo or delay effects, and then there's 'world'-like use of strong bass lines and percussion, which altogether makes it highly original by adding a gothic rock / ethereal darkwave sensation, although, that term wasn't even thought of at this point.
There are no credit-list available, only a back cover note stating: "A special thank-you to Ivo, Robin and Vaughan for all the interest they have shown." Ivo being Ivo Watts-Russell, one of the founders of 4AD Records, Robin being Robin Guthrie of Cocteau Twins (also associated with 4AD) - both Ivo and Guthrie were involved in the musical project, This Mortail Coil, which included Cocteau Twins and Dead Can Dance; and Vaughan being Vaughan Oliver, graphic designer at 4AD.
The album was released without much recognition in '84, but by passing the new Millenium and a bunch of artists engaged in neo-classical and / or darkwave-styles, Dead Can Dance and this album have attracted much more recognition, although, the band's style here is more linked with contemporary early '80s music - putting the band aside acts like Bauhaus, The Cure, Cocteau Twins and This Mortail Coil. With later (and more original) releases, Dead Can Dance would prove to make highly innovative and influential music.
Later in '84, both Gerrard and Perry represented the band on the debut album It'll End in Tears by the music collective, This Mortal Coil, led by 4AD founder, Ivo Watts-Russell.

Gregory Porter "One Night Only - Live at the Royal Albert Hall" (2018) (live)

One Night Only - Live at the Royal Albert Hall (live)
release date: Dec. 21, 2018
format: digital (19 x File, FLAC)
[album rate: 4 / 5]
producer: non-produced / Jeremy Azis (video-producer)
label: Blue Note - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Mona Lisa" (other concert) - 6. "Miss Otis Regrets" - 8. "In Heaven" - 9. "When Love Was King" (other concert) - 12. "No Love Dying" (live at Polarprisen 2017) - 13. "I Wonder Who My Daddy Is" - 16. "The Christmas Song" - 17. "Smile" (Irish concert) - 18. "Hey Laura"

Live album by Gregory Porter recorded Apr. 2, 2018 at Royal Albert Hall, London. The album contains 19 tracks and is also issued in a cd + dvd combo-edition with the same material on both cd and dvd, also featuring an additional interview with Porter. The majority of the songs here are taken from the most recent studio album Nat King Cole & Me from 2017 as all twelve songs from that album are represented with the addition of seven songs from various studio releases. The band musicians supporting Porter are Chip Crawford on piano, Jahmal Nichols on bass, Emanuel Harrold on drums, and with Tivon Pennicott on saxophone - his usual backing band. Aside from these great jazz instrumentalists they're all supported by The London Studio Orchestra conducted by Vince Mendoza.
It's not an easy task to select highlights from this album where all compositions are fine examples of Porter's capacity as a vocal jazz and jazz standards crooner. He is in no need of modernised auto-tune equipment, nor a producers golden post-production touch - it's recorded as is, and it's the second best when you missed being there.
Basically, this is the best album release in 2018 - I just don't want to include live releases in my top-3 end-list, which is why it isn't there. But asked to choose between this year's studio releases by Robyn, Nils Frahm, Gorillaz and Porter's live album, I'd go with Porter anytime, as it's absolutely wonderful.
Highly recommendable.
[ 👍allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Carpenters "The Singles 1969-1973" (1973)

The Singles 1969-1973 (compilation)
release date: Nov. 9, 1973
format: vinyl (1991 reissue) / cd (2014 remaster)
[album rate: 4 / 5]
producer: Richard Carpenter
label: A&M Records - nationality: USA

Compilation of 12 singles by the brother-sister duo The Carpenters - older sister Karen (1950-83) and Richard (born 1946) - over a four year period is an amazing quality collection of baroque pop hit songs.
I vividly recall listening to The Carpenters in my pre-teen years. They were among the most frequently played international artists on national radio alongside Sinatra, The Beatles, and Elvis Presley. I didn't know of any of their full albums but many of these songs were part of a preferred musical selection from very early on, and I just listening to Karen's singing voice makes me remember the house of my childhood.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Not this particular album as such, but the Carpenters plays a big part of my earliest music memories that wasn't purely children's songs.

👉 Another one from that earliest stage.

~ ~ ~

This post is part of MyMusicJourney, which enlists key releases that have shaped my musical taste when growing up and until age 14. Most of these releases come from my parents' and / or my older brother's collection.