I Break Horses "Warnings" (2020)

Warnings

release date: May 20, 2020

format: digital (12 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,92]

producer: Maria Lindén

label: Bella Union - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 1. "Turn" (4 / 5) - 2. "Silence" - 4. "I'll Be the Death of You" - 6. "The Prophet" (4,5 / 5) - 7. "Neon Lights" - 8. "I Live at Night" - 9. "Baby You Have Travelled for Miles Without Love in Your Eyes" (4 / 5) - 10. "Death Engine"

3rd studio album by I Break Horses as a follow-up to the more than six year old Chiaroscuro (Jan. 2014) is much as usual produced by the band's dynamo, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and composer Maria Lindén, and it's like the duo's two previous albums released on British label Bella Union.

Six years is a long time between releases in modern popular music culture, but it's the pace of Lindén and percussionist Fredrik Balck who seem in complete control, although part of the explanation for the long wait may have to do with Lindén's perfectionism and the fact that some recordings were lost. The album consists of 12 tracks varying from 1 to 9 minutes and with a total running time of 54 minutes.

Musically, the album lands somewhere in between the first two albums - Hearts from 2011 with its guitar-driven shoegaze and My Bloody Valentine-esque wall of sound versus the more electronic synthpop release from 2014. You'll find energetic uptempo tracks with almost inaudible guitar as background instrumentation, but otherwise it's a more strict synthpop and electropop version of dreampop guided by keyboards, synths, and drum programming, the duo presents here. Lindén is undoubtedly the duo's leading figure - in addition to her vocal contributions, she handles guitar, bass, and keyboards, while Balck, in addition to his part of co-songwriter, apparently is content to contribute as the duo's rhythmic planner.

Warnings has been released to fine reviews, and it's an album that may leave you with a feeling of something ingenious and original pointing back to the best by The Knife, but which also borrows from Cocteau Twins and Radio Dept., but cleverly avoids imitation, because it appears thoroughly new. Lindén doesn't reveal an impressive vocal as some contemporary pop artists, but on Warnings the vocal side is more of a contribution to the tone of dreampop in line with the sound of a synthesiser or the keyboards, and the rhythmic contribution of percussion and drum programming varies from trance-like monotony over more traditional simple rhythm structures to something almost dynamic organic as you would find on albums by The Creatures.

With Warnings, I Break Horses has made a minor masterpiece by balancing the positive energy of their debut with the greater rhythmic complexity of the follow-up. It's a huge musical overview with ties to various styles, which creates rare dynamics, and it's an inviting and captivating sound that deserves all the great reviews. With Warnings the duo has made a most surprising leap to the front of bus.

Highly recommended.

[ allmusic.com, Under the Radar 4,5 / 5, NME, 👍The Line of Best Fit 4 / 5 stars ]

2020 Favourite releases: 1. Gorillaz Song Machine, Season One - Strange Timez - 2. Kesi BO4L - 3. I Break Horses Warnings

Robin Guthrie & Harold Budd "Another Flower" (2020)

Another Flower

release date: Dec. 4, 2020

format: digital (9 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,56]

producer: Robin Guthrie

label: Soleil Après Minuit - nationality: Skotland, UK / USA

Track highlights: 1. "Some Smoke" - 2. "Perfect Fire" - 4. "November Day" - 5. "After Dark" - 7. "Harlequin Delight" - 8. "Very Slender Homage"

Final collaborative project between Scottish dream pop master Robin Guthrie and American composer and minimalist Harold Budd. The album is not a bunch of brand new compositions but actually a collection of more than seven years old recordings, which now see the light of day. Possibly, they were intended as another joint work between the now 58-year-old Guthrie and 84-year-old Budd, but it now appears as their last joint work, as Budd was hit by COVID-19 before the album came out and eventually died from complications related to the decease on Dec. 8, 2020 - only 14 days before the album release. As noted in the accompanying liner notes, the album is "Written and performed by Robin Guthrie & Harold Budd during a rainy Summer in Brittany, 2013". It isn't directly mentioned that the album was recorded over a single day or over a matter of sessions, but most often they basically worked in the moment with the recorder running, and while the music was created and performed from start to finish. Perhaps this music wouldn't have been released had Budd not passed away so abruptly 'cause fact is: these compositions are seven-year-old recordings with which Guthrie now choose to pay tribute to his long-time musical playmate. And Harold Budd may not have heard the album in its entirety and with the tracks precisely ordered as they appear here - but Budd heard it all, because he was there himself.

As usual, it's the gentle atmospheric sounds that dominate Guthrie and Budd's music. Since these compositions they have released more than a handful of joint albums, either as musical scores for feature films or as their own releases. They are both listed here as performers and composers of all music, and as usual only Guthrie is credited as album producer. It's another chapter in a common ethereal ambient style that clearly touches on new age and doesn't walk on entirely new paths. The elder Budd is a classically-schooled pianist and composer, and he has early admitted to an improvisational and minimalist expression, which has proven to go quite well with Guthrie's preference for an airy guitar sound. Their final recordings together in terms of chronology was their collaborative works resulting in the 2014 soundtrack White Bird in a Blizzard for the film of the same name directed by Japanese-American Gregg Araki, who had also made "Mysterious Skin" in 2005, for which Guthrie and Budd introduced their collaborative work. In addition to these soundtracks, together they composed and made After the Night Falls and Before the Day Breaks released simultaneously in 2007 as two individual releases, and later they released Bordeaux in 2011. That same year, they also released Winter Garden as a joint project with Italian musician Eraldo Bernocchi.

Another Flower is, as the title suggests, another distinctive work from Guthrie and Budd - another flower. Perhaps, this was a metaphor Budd used about their compositions or works - we don't know for sure. Guthrie came up with the title after Budd's death - it could also be a reference to Budd himself, as a flower that was here, it was seen, admired, and is now gone. Musically speaking, it's not the large and complex compositional structures that characterise their compositions, but it's music created in a shared moment and in a warm, friendly common expression. You could object that they cling on to the same colours, the same airy timbres, which in way they do, but these are tones that contain something valuable by being created as common breaths expressed in music, and which show themselves as a unique and living organism.

Although new age as such is not really a favourite genre of mine, the album here expresses something quite unique. It's the evidence of both musicians' fondness for the instantaneous - the moment of creation, and they both allow / invite one another to contribute without one or the other dominate the soundscape, or you end up sensing one over the other, and that's a great strength and quality to be able to strike a common note when improvising. When one leads, the other follows suit, and they set out in a common unknown direction with equal vigor to a common end.

Another Flower may not be a work that indicates new paths or inspires new styles, but the music clearly has its merits, and occasionally I feel the music strikes an expression that reminds me of other big names of ethereal music, such as Palle Mikkelborg or Ryuichi Sakamoto, but always without giving impression of plagiarism. When I shut my eyes, I can easily conjure up internal images of underwater footage from Luc Besson's "Le Grand Bleu", which had music by Éric Serra. It's done sincerely and beautifully, and it's perhaps Guthrie and Budd's greatest swan song. At least I haven't heard them perform better than on this album.

Recommended.

Sigur Rós "Odin's Raven Magic" (2020)

Odin's Raven Magic (soundtrack)

release date: Dec. 4, 2020

format: digital (8 x File, FLAC)

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

producer: Sigur Rós [?]

label: Krúnk - nationality: Iceland

Track highlights: 2. "Alföður orkar" - 3. "Dvergmál" - 4. "Stendur æva" - 5. "Áss hinn hvíti" - 7. "Spár eða spakmál" - 8. "Dagrenning"

Soundtrack album, or so it has been described by the band on its bandcamp site. The music here is actually "an orchestral collaboration between Sigur Rós, Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, Steindór Andersen and Maria Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir which premiered 18 years ago at the Barbican Centre in London [...]" [written in 2020] - it premiered at the Barbican Centre in London, Apr. 21, 2002, which means the band had not yet released its third studio album as the collaboration falls between the second, Ágætus byrjun (Jun. 1999) and [ ] ('the brackets album') (Oct. 2002).

In hindsight, 'cause I didn't know about it until it was released in 2020, it's remarkable album. Near majestic. I understand the term soundtrack, although it's 'only' the music to an ancient Icelandic poem without a visual side to it. It's orchestrated, but nevertheless it also feels like a post-rock, or experimental transgressing piece of art. It's neo-classical and experimental rock - but it works unlike many other such attempts of a fusion between classical music and music from the pop culture.

Odin's Raven Magic is simply a truly wonderful album.

All tracks are credited Jón Þór Birgisson, Georg Hólm, Orri Páll Dýrason, Kjartan Sveinsson, Steindór Andersen, Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson and María Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir.

Toyah "Love Is the Law" (1983)

Love Is the Law
release date: Oct. 24, 1983
format: vinyl (HOTLP 83003) / digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,38]
producer: Nick Tauber
label: Safari Records / Hot Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 2. "I Explode" - 4. "Rebel Run" - 5. "Martian Cowboy" - 6. "Dreamscape" - 7. "Time Is Ours" - 10. "The Vow"

5th studio album by Toyah [band name] following Changeling (1982) originally released on Safari Records is the final album by the band Toyah. After this, Toyah Wilcox released her first solo album Minx (1985) under the same name. The majority of the songs here are written by Toyah and composed by guitarist Joel Bogen, just as they had shared credits on previous releases, and perhaps there is some kind of hidden sign of an imminent breakup of the band in the fact that the members had come and gone - bass players, keyboardists, and drummers were often different individuals on the band's first four albums. This is also the final album with one of the founding musicians of Toyah: guitarist and main composer Joel Bogen, with whom Wilcox wrote and composed the majority of the band's music. Bassist Phil Spalding (in the band from '81) appears on only three out of a total of ten tracks on the original album. On the remaining songs he has been replaced by Brad Lang, who here is one of three new members only appearing on this. The other two are: keyboardist Simon Darlow, and new drummer Andy Duncan. However, Darlow would later, from around 2007, again assist Wilcox.

In terms of style, it's clear that the band here has taken a significant step into the world of synthpop mixing that with a richly orchestrated art pop à la Kate Bush, and somewhat with the same inspiration as you may hear on the band's most recent two albums - just listen to "The Vow", and here it's most obvious how much synthesisers have come to fill the soundscape. The connection to the '70s is minimized, and the album introduces a new path, which is not quite pure neo-romantic but which may still be classified as synthpop. On Toyah's first two albums, the inspiration blatantly came from German Nina Hagen, and Toyah most of all sounded like an English clone of Nina Hagen Band. And with this new album, I can't quite shake the thought that a new German artist might have been a big inspiration. Nena, or perhaps you may think of Toyah Wilcox as the slightly outlandish image of Kate Bush trying to be Nena - or vice versa.

Love Is the Law was the only release by Toyah that I purchased when it had only just come out and I've completely forgotten why I found it interesting in the first place. I wasn't a big fan but had listened to some of their hits, such as "I Want to Be Free" and "It's a Mystery" from the fine Anthem from 81, which I purchased much later, but I probably just came across the album in the local music store and noticed the cover and having the familiar songs in mind, and then upon listening through it, I may possibly have been impressed by the fine change in production sound. Also, I may have even listened to "Dreamscape" as the first track on the B-side, which is quite a magnificent cut when comparing to other new wave releases from that year. However, I do remember that I rather quickly tired of / was fed up with Wilcox's vocal and the pompous arrangements, which still reminded me of 1970s progressive pop / rock, although, Wilcox herself with her singing style appeared with the 'right profile' - i.e. a punk rock attitude, which on the one hand linked her with contemporary artists such as Hazel O'Connor and Nina Hagen, and on the other hand also with Debbie Harry and especially Kate Bush, who was actually a form of guarantee that it couldn't be all bad. And Love Is the Law is by no means a poor or mediocre album, even if time has not made it easier to listen to. Back then, I think, it was seen as something innovative and quite modern, but it's also an album that simply doesn't reach the same original quality as Anthem, which imho clearly is Toyah's all-time best.

[ Pop Rescue 3 / 5 stars ]

Cat Power "The Greatest" (2006)

The Greatest
release date: Jan. 9, 2006
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,65]
producer: Stuart Sikes
label: Matador / P-Vine Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "The Greatest" (4 / 5) (live on Later) - 2. "Living Proof" (live on Letterman) - 3. "Lived in Bars" (officiel video) (live on Later) - 5. "Empty Shell" - 6. "Willie" - 7. "Where Is My Love" (officiel video) - 12. "Love & Communication"

7th studio album by Cat Power (aka Chan Marshall) following a full three years after You Are Free (Feb. 2003). Like all Power's other albums, The Greatest is in the quieter end of folk rock and singer / songwriter genre with elements from alt. country and traditional blues. What's new here is especially a far more indie pop-tinged series of songs in larger-than-usual arrangements, which by that don't have 'the usual' clear lo-fi touch. The album therefore seems more airy, varied and lighter than most of her other albums, which have often carried an excessive heavy melancholic mood. The songs here appear brighter and lighter, even though Power's vocals are not that different and without ever displaying the big register, but which nevertheless has its own qualities, which are mainly rooted in a charismatic hoarse and occasionally almost whispering intonation, which can lead thoughts to Lana Del Rey and Hope Sandoval with a common starting point in Laura Nyro.

The Greatest is Cat Power's highest-charting album to date on the US Billboard 200 peaking at number #34, but it reached number #20 in Australia and at number #45 in the UK. The album won the Alternative Shortlist Music Prize (an award running from 2001 to 2007) ahead of names such as Band of Horses, Joanna Newsom, and Tom Waits - an award for which her 2003 album was also nominated without running with the award.

Imho, The Greatest is Powers best album to date and therefore also a recommended place to delve into the special universe of Cat Power.

[ allmusic.com, The Guardian, NME, Q 3 / 5, 👍Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5, Pitchfork 7,9 / 10 stars ]

Lingua Ignota "Wicked Game" (2018) (single)

Wicked Game, single

release date: Aug. 7, 2020

format: digital (1 x File, FLAC)

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

producer: Kristin Hayter

label: Sargent House - nationality: USA

Tracklist: 1. "Wicked Game"

Single release by Lingua Ignota issued via her new label Sargent House is one of several covers Kristin Hayter has recorded in the wake of the album's success with Caligula (2019). An all-covers album has been rumoured in the process but so far she has released singles in 2020 of "Jolene" (Dolly Parton), "Kim" (Eminem), and then this one by Chris Isaak as digital download singles only. Most recently in the series of covers, a 4-track ep, Agnus Dei, consisting of two covers of extreme black metal / grindcore and two compositions by Händel and J.S. Bach, respectively, was released in Feb. 2021.

"Wicked Game" has already been immortalised in its original version and through several fine covers, but Lingua Ignota's version is undoubtedly another that should be remembered. It's made with great respect of the original expression and tone, and still Hayter has nonetheless shaped it according to her own musical expression. She has managed to add another layer of desolation to the song without her regular use of black metal, throat singing, and metal noise. There is no doubt, however, who stands beind this version, and one can only guess that a great future could await Hayter if she would dare to throw off the brutal black-heavy noise in order to establish herself further as an artist. At least she shows a fine example of that right here.

[ bandcamp ]

Cat Power "The Covers Record" (2000)

The Covers Record

release date: Mar. 21, 2000

format: digital (12 x File, MP3)

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

producer: non-produced

label: Matador - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" - 7. "I Found a Reason" - 12. "Sea of Love"

5th studio album by Cat Power (aka Chan Marshall [pronounced 'shawn], aka Charlyn Marie Marshall) following 1½ years after the album Moon Pix (1998), which is cited by many as her first significant studio album.

The Covers Records is, to no surprise, a collection of covers by many diverse artists. You'll find tracks by famous artists such as the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, and the Velvet Underground, tracks made famous by Nina Simone and Mae West, and there are tracks by (to most) more unknown names such as Phil Phillips, Papa Charlie Jackson, and Michael Hurley. There's also room for a reinterpretation of Cat Power's own track "In This Hole", previously released on What Would the Community Think, Power's third album and Marshall's first on Matador released in '96 while Power was still associated with the name of Chan Marshall's band, although in practice she had already gone solo here.

The album is entirely acoustic and stripped down to a minimal of instrumentation and most probably also recorded on a single recording track with only Chan Marshall singing and playing guitar. On some tracks, it's her piano that is only accompaniment, and only on "Salty Dog" the participation of guitarist Matt Sweeney is heard. Typically, for Cat Power, no producer is indicated on the album, and in this case it's probably only sound engineers who have set up microphones and then started and finished the recording.

It's restrained to lo-fi regardless the original arrangements and therefore most tracks fall quite far from their original expression. It's Chan Marshall solo, and it's heartfelt, but maybe also a bit one-sided - at least for my liking. The album garnered some good reviews, but it's not among my favourites. Admittedly, Marshall has an insistent melodic vocal and sings with great emotion, making all the songs her own. For me, the problem is that the tracks slide (too much) into each other and end up sounding one-stringed, and she's just not an instrumentalist virtouso or (for that matter) a singer with a big register. If you're not familiar with Cat Power, I will recommend listening to her predecessor, Moon Pix or the successor You Are Free (2003), which may be regarded as her commercial breakthrough.

[ allmusic.com, NME, Spin 3,5 / 5, The Guardian 4 / 5, 👍Rolling Stone 3 / 5 stars ]

Blanck Mass "In Ferneaux" (2021)

In Ferneaux

release date: Feb. 26, 2021

format: digital (2 x File, FLAC - SBR267digital)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,56]

producer: Blanck Mass

label: Sacred Bones - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Phase I" - 2. "Phase II" - 3. "Starstuff (Single Edit)" (bonus track)

5th studio album by one-man project Blanck Mass follows 1½ years after Animated Violence Mild (Aug. 2019) (the album is released on bandcamp).

Compared to all other albums credited Blanck Mass this one is of another construct, so to say. All other previous albums contain various different compositions - most of which are of 'normal' running times going from 2 to 10 minutes, however, this contains two tracks only that basically are one composition split in two to fit traditional vinyl releases. "Phase I" has a running time just above 21 minutes and the "Phase II" a running time just below 20 minutes, but when played as digital files it's clear they appear seamless parts of the same composition - the digital album comes with a third 'bonus track': "Starstuff (Single edit)", which in essence is an edited outtake of the first part of "Phase I".

Musically, this has turned out as more complex, with greater variation, which implies both ambient moments, and bits of almost extreme white noise - and everything in between.

My initial verdict had me think of In Ferneaux ['Inferno'] as a step back and to what could sound like a minor work, but after having played it over several times, I kinda like the result, although, it's still a complex and somewhat experimental release that also bridges his more progressive work released under the moniker Fuck Buttons together with Andrew Hung and that of his solo music as Blanck Mass. In some ways because this is both more ambient and experimental in the way Fuck Buttons has styled their albums, and to some extent more upfront and 'hard', and yet, progressive bits, here and there, could point to inspiration in early techno days.

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

Robert Forster "The Evangelist" (2008)

The Evangelist

release date: Apr. 21, 2008

format: cd

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

producer: Mark Wallis & Dave Ruffy

label: Tuition - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 1. "If It Rains" - 2. "Demon Days" (solo live) - 3. "Pandanus" - 4. "Did She Overtake You" - 5. "The Evangelist" - 6. "Let Your Light in, Babe" - 9. "It Ain't Easy" - 10. "From Ghost Town"

5th studio album by Robert Forster is his follow-up to Warm Nights (Sep. 1996) and thus released a full 12 years after his most recent solo album - and there are a various reasons to that [see The Friends of Rachel Worth, album #7 by The Go-Betweens], which among others things involves the re-formation of The Go-Betweens in '99 and, in particular, the sudden death of Forster's musical friend, Grant McLennan, May 2006. The two songwriters had begun work on what should have been the band's tenth album together, and three of these are included here - as tracks #2, #6, and #9. One year following McLennan's death, Forster resumed his solo career with a series of concerts featuring Adele Pickvance and Glenn Thompson, and in the autumn of 2007 the trio returned to the same studio in London where they had recorded the band's final Oceans Apart (2005) in company of McLennan and producers Wallis and Ruffy, now to record this very album.

Musically, it doesn't fall far from the band's final outing, and in Forster's solo discography it's perhaps a little cleaner than most his other albums, although lyrically it naturally includes the grief over his painful loss. The album also stands a bit on its own in that it contains much of the soul and colours of The Go-Betweens and in that way positions itself somewhere in between Forster solo and the band, which also was put to rest with the passing of McLennan. And by containing tracks written for the band, it's bound to be very special. Nearly all Forster's solo albums have a certain unfinished quality to them, but The Evangelist appears quite elaborated as a whole, and together with his solo debut Danger in the Past (1990) this clearly stands as one of his best. Then is it even Forster's best solo? And yes, I think it is - and then it's probably his only solo album, which was partly made with the help of McLennan.

Highly recommended.

[ allmusic.com, Q Magazine, Slant 4 / 5, 👍Pitchfork 7,6 / 10, Uncut 5 / 5, The Guardian 3 / 5 stars ]

Toyah "The Changeling" (1982)

The Changeling
release date: Jun. 30, 1982
format: digital (1999 reissue)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,12]
producer: Steve Lillywhite
label: Connoisseur Collection - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Creepy Room" - 2. "Street Creature" (tv performance) - 5. "Angel and Me" - 7. "Life in the Trees" - 8. "Dawn Chorus" - 10. "Brave New World"

4th studio album by Toyah following the band's most successful album Anthem (May 1981) and now together with one of rock music's new star producers, Steve Lillywhite, who had only just worked with XTC, Peter Gabriel, Thompson Twins, and U2. Originally released on Safari Records, the album contains ten songs nearly all written and composed by Toyah Wilcox and Joel Bogen - with one track co-written with bassist Phil Spalding. The '99 Enhanced CD edition contains an additional six tracks. As an almost entirely natural development, the band's line-up has changed once more in two positions: keyboardist Adrian Lee and drummer Nigel Glockler, who both only appeared on the '81 album are here replaced by Andy Clark and Simon Phillips, respectively.

Stylistically, it's as if the band is trying hard to stay on the same musical path with its own mix of orchestrated new wave and art pop combo, which at the same time appears to lend from 1970s symphonic rock and progressive rock with a more contemporary uptempo smartness. With this, Toyah produced another top-10 album and the band's second-highest charting album, peaking at No. #6 on the national albums chart, and the only single from the album, "Brave New World" peaked at No. #21.

Although the artistic distance from the band's most recent album is quite small, The Changeling still sounds more like a collection of outtakes from the stronger album, and at the same time you may assume that the success of the '81 release also has had something to do with the good sales figures with which the album was met here, because The Changeling as such, didn't produce any notable hits. Both lyrics and music deal with the mysterious and a fantasy world, which is suggested by the front cover. On the songs, Wilcox narrates about "Gladiators", "War", "Warriors", "Breaking free", "New destinations", " Mysterious world", etc. - something that she should cling to on the successor - and she hangs on to topics related to the future and science - and not really about alienation (as contemporaries like Siouxsie & the Banshees or Nina Hagen), but more like a kind of welcoming towards the new and unknown, and in that way you could point out that in relation to the trends, Toyah went her own way.

The band tries hard to produce a worthy sequel to their fine Anthem but ultimately fails to repeat the success - perhaps because the attempt appears too obvious. The formula and the style are more or less from the same area but the songs are not, and it's reasonable to ask if this album really deserves a reissue edition with six bonus tracks.

Not recommended.

Icehouse "Primitive Man" (1982)

Primitive Man
release date: Sep. 20, 1982
format: cd (2002 remaster)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,88]
producer: Iva Davies and Keith Forsey
label: Warner / Diva Records - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 1. "Great Southern Land" - 2. "Uniform" - 3. "Hey, Little Girl" - 4. "Street Cafe" - 5. "Glam (instrumental)" - 7. "One by One" - 9. "Mysterious Thing" - 10. "Goodnight, Mr. Matthews"

2nd studio album by Australian synthpop and new wave band Icehouse following two years after the bands debut Icehouse (1980) - released under the name of Flowers. This album is quite extraordinary as it's basically a solo-project since lead vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and only songwriter of the band, Iva Davies, recorded all songs of the album all by himself and some help from co-producer Keith Forsey. The album is still released as a band effort, although, credits on the album leave no information about this. Apparently, Davies wrote all compositions, supplied vocals, guitars, keyboards, bass and drum programming, and Forsey added percussion to the recordings. The other band members then gathered up with Davies to promote the album on a following live tour. For this, the band presented a new line-up with Iva Davies on vocals, guitar & keyboard, Michael Hoste on keyboards, John Lloyd on drums, and three new members: Bob Kretschmar on guitar, Guy Pratt on bass, and Andy Qunta on keyboards & backing vocals.

Primitive Man was met by critical acclaim and peaked at #3 on the national charts list, topped the list in New Zealand, peaked at #5 in Germany and was a small hit in most Scandinavian countries. The single "Hey, Little Girl" remains the band's best-selling single. It was, however, surpassed by two positions in Australia by the release of the first single "Great Southern Land" peaking at #5, but it didn't make noteworthy entries except for in New Zealand.

The album was the first I came across by this great Australian band. As I recall, it was quite popular in the Fall of '82 / Spring of '83. Stylistically, it blends art pop, new wave, and sophisti-pop, which really wasn't a familiar style back then - but this album really was one of the first true 'sophisti-pop' albums leaning on Roxy Music, David Bowie, Japan, and probably influencing upcoming artists like Simple Minds, David Sylvian and The Church. At the time of the release I found it too mainstream sounding, although, in retrospect, it really is a strong and most vital album.

Highly recommended.

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

Rum 37 "Guldstol mod yderste kaj" (2017)

Guldstol mod yderste kaj

release date: Jan. 27, 2017

format: vinyl (TARGET1703LP) / digital (10 x File, FLAC)

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

producer: Rum 37?

label: Target - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "Caligula" - 3. "L.L.R." - 4. "Der går et smil gennem skovene i år" - 5. "Mestervaerk" - 6. "Kalifornien" - 8. "Brænder dæk" - 10. "Svanerne sang"

2nd full-length album by Rum 37 follows 4½ years after Mellem rum (Oct. 2012). Like the band's self-titled ep debut Rum 37 from 2011, no producer credits are listed on the album, only recording, mixing, and mastering personnel, and the album is recorded by Klaus Sandberg and Rum 37. The main reason to the long interval from their most recent release to this must be attributed the fact that during the recording sessions in 2014 - with intentions to release the album in late 2014 / early 2015 - drummer Mikkel Lumbye all of a sudden passed away, November 2014, 37 years old, leaving the band reduced to a trio of vocalist Kristian Helmuth, guitarist Camillo (Gino) Askjær, and bassist Søren Adolph. The release was naturally much delayed and has only been realised with the aid from friends and the support from former associates [source: targetgroup.dk].

All songs are credited Rum 37. The album contains ten tracks - tracks #2 and #9 are short instrumentals - with a total time running just below 37 minutes. The end track "Svanerne sang" is the longest composition with a playing time of 7 minutes.

Guldstol mod yderste kaj [translates to strangely sounding 'Sedan Chair on the Last Pier'] (the title is a line from "Caligula") is with lyrics entirely in Danish and when comparing with the 2011 and 2012 albums, it's evident that the band here has transformed to something of more substance. The music is still in the light-end of alt. rock and indie pop with a strong influence from other Danish acts, such as Love Shop, Minds of 99, and Mellemblond, and with a strong musical influence from Swedish band Kent, however, whether the band takes notes from this or that, they here appear in their most original shape so far, which ultimately makes Guldstol mod yderste kaj a more than well-made album. The album was met by positive reviews and following the album release, the band was expanded to a quartet as drummer Rasmus Holmboe was included as official band member. Rum 37 played a few concerts in 2017 and now appears to be on a hiatus. There are no further info to be found regarding touring dates or other news, and the band's Facebook-profile hasn't been updated since 2017, so Guldstol mod yderste kaj remains the most recent release from the band and it could very likely be the final album by this promising quartet.

Recommended.

[ Gaffa.dk 4 / 6, GFRock.dk 5 / 6 stars ]

Gróa "Gróa" (2018)

Gróa [debut]

release date: Apr. 26, 2018

format: digital (7 x File, FLAC)

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

producer: ?

label: Post-dreifing - nationality: Iceland

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

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

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

Recommended.

Toyah "Anthem" (1981)

Anthem

release date: May 22, 1981
format: vinyl (VOOR 1) / cd (1999 enhanced reissue)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,82]
producer: Nick Tauber
label: Safari Records / Connoisseur Collection - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: A) 1. "I Want to Be Free" (4 / 5) (live) - 2. "Obsolete" - 3. "Pop Star" - 5. "Jungles of Jupiter" - - B) 1. "It's a Mystery" (4,5 / 5) - 2. "Masai Boy" - 3. "Marionette"

3rd studio album by Toyah [the band] following The Blue Meaning (Jun. 1980) originally released on Safari Records. Here the band again showcases one of its ever-changing line-ups as only lead vocalist and songwriter Toyah Wilcox and main musical composer Joel Bogen on guitar took part in the making of the predecessor, and here they constitute Toyah together with three new members: Phil Spalding on bass, Adrian Lee on keyboards and Nigel Glockler on drums.
Musically, the album is not only Toyah's best charting album (and only album to reach 'Gold' status) but also the band's most famous studio release. Despite only following The Blue Meaning (1980) by some 11 months, this is quite a different tonal experience. The '80 album was made with other band members, and although, the songs were also primarily by Wilcox and Bogen, the songs on Anthem introduce a completely new approach and style, but more importantly: the songs are simply better on every level. The Nina Hagen / Siouxsie Sioux influences are gone, and instead some would argue that Wilcox here instead loans (too) much from songs and the singing style of Kate Bush.
The album spawned Toyah's biggest hit song, the non-single cover song "It's a Mystery" (released on the Four From Toyah ep) - written and composed by Keith Hale (originally for his band Blood Donor), who also co-wrote two songs for Toyah on the debut album, Sheep Farming in Barnet (1979), and the album itself peaked at #2 on the albums chart list only surpassed by Kings of the Wild Frontier by Adam & The Ants [which is a bit of a paradox as that was released in Nov. 1980, hence only featured on the successive year's list]. Also the single "I Want to Be Free" was a commercial success peaking at #8 on the singles chart list.
Anthem may owe much to Kate Bush, David Bowie, Blondie and Patti Smith, but it's still an original mix and a most coherent whole that belongs to the list of truly fine and important albums of the early 1980s, and imho, it should be included in any list compiling the best of new wave.
The 1999 'enhanced' cd issue contains an additional six bonus tracks.
Recommended.

1999 enhanced CD issue

Out of the Woods "Birds and Beasts" (2020)

Birds and Beasts [debut]

release date: Jun. 12, 2020

format: vinyl (gatefold - OOTWLP1)

[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,48]

producer: Ditte Grube Barild

label: self-released - nationality:

Studio album debut by Out of the Woods aka Ditte Grube Barild who has written, arranged, recorded, and produced all songs.

I purchased this on the evening of a concert with Nanna Bech and Out of the Woods in my hometown back in 2020. I must confess that I found the performance and the music by Bech superior to this but still wanted to support two performing artists by purchasing their music. However, I do find this lacking an original tone and frankly think of it as non-inspiring. That said, Ditte Grube has produced everything on her own, which calls for much respect, but as a an original work of art, as a musical statement, I think the album suffers on several parameters. The songs and the albums as such are quite a coherent whole but also lacking colours that enables you to distinguish the single tracks from one another., and then the arrangements of it all simply call for supporting instrumentation. Not all music needs melody lines and musical hooks in a traditional sense, but if you aim to construct music in other ways, you need something else to grab the listener's attention - and this is where Birds and Beasts fail, 'cause the narratives are not strong enough, the music is too anonymous, and I guess you could say the same about the vocal performance by Ditte Grube.

Not recommended.

Bob Mould "Blue Hearts" (2020)

Blue Hearts

release date: Sep. 25, 2020

format: digital (14 x File, FLAC)

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

producer: Bob Mould

label: Merge Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 2. "Next Generation" - 3. "American Crisis" - 5. "Forecast of Rain" - 7. "Siberian Butterfly" - 8. "Everyth!ng to You" - 10. "Baby Needs a Cookie" - 12. "Leather Dreams"

13th studio album by Bob Mould as usual released on Merge follows 1½ years after Sunshine Rock (2019), and it's as usual with Mould as producer and songwriter and composer on all tracks.

It may not be the strongest progression that we are witnessing here - in fact, it's as if in his older days Mould seems to have sought back towards the starting point of his musical career in the harder-hitting punk rock. Where Sunshine Rock was more upbeat, Blue Hearts is its unpolished counterpart. It's a mixture of energetic and raw guitar-driven melodies with an angry and wronged older man, and on the other hand the few more harmony-driven and melodious compositions. Taken together, you are easily led to believe that you are back in the late eighties and are about to listen to music that was to shape the foundation for the grunge rock wave of the early 90s, but this is Bob Mold in 2020. And strangely it's not the experience of old music sounding as something he has already made several times before. It's a collection of solid rockers exuding sheer energy fronted by an artist who appears as someone with a desire to play, and you may think it's a lie when this guy three decades ago explained his withdrawal from music because of acquired tinnitus as he nearly hasn't been this loud before. Bob Mould has always been a kind of valve for the political climate and the living condition of Americans, and you could say he has rarely faced so much to open up about. He comments on the infected political climate, on our collective global climate as well as the handling of a worldwide pandemic. And by that, it's like gasoline on Mould's eternal fount of inner lyrics just waiting to be ignited. As good as anyone, he can compose a 2-3 minute hard-hitting song with three verses, a bridge, and a rich chorus - 'Bang-bang-bang! On to the next one!!'. In fact, three tracks are under two minutes long, and at the other end, only one track plays for more than three minutes, and the entire album of fourteen tracks is over in under 36 minutes.

Never has he released a solo album that bears so many similarities to the music he helped create in Hüsker Dü, and the album emerges as a beautiful essence and a bit of a late journeyman work of art showing us what Bob Mould is capable of as a songwriter: that commenting with a rare directness and precision on social conditions that affect most people - and done with finesse, with and without noise! Some might argue that the album comes 30 years late, but the messages are contemporary and the music is just universal.

Blue Hearts is quite simply one of Bob Mould's very best solo albums and therefore highly recommended.

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

Grant-Lee Phillips "Lightning, Show Us Your Stuff" (2020)

Lightning, Show Us Your Stuff

release date: Sep. 4, 2020

format: digital (10 x File, FLAC)

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

producer: Grant-Lee Phillips

label: Yep Roc Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Ain't Done Yet" - 2. "Drawing the Head" - 3. "Lowest Low" (live acoustic) - 4. "Leave a Light On" (live acoustic) - 5. "Mourning Dove" - 6. "Sometimes You Wake Up in Charleston" - 7. "Gather Up" - 8. "Straight to the Ground" - 10. "Walking in My Sleep"

10th studio album by Grant-Lee Phillips follows 2½ years after Widdershins (Mar. 2018), which showed us an upset Phillips on behalf of his fellow Americans regarding the election of the 45th president. Since then, COVID-19 happened, and here Phillips is back in his more introspective corner with ten songs about the fragility of life and the small things in everyday routines. It's alt. country and singer / songwriter folk songs more than anything else - and a bit of contrast to his 2018 album and follows more directly on the path laid on with The Narrows (2016).

No matter how he constructs a new album, he always makes sure to include a varied songlist, and here you'll also find more uptempo tracks, which only makes more appetising. A song like "Gather Up" is almost a Tom Waits kind of thing that lights up when it tends to darken, and I really like his approach as it doesn't appear inconsistent but only varied.

With this, Phillips almost proves he's unable to make a poor album. It's always highly original and something you need to pay attention to. The songs are fluid, in essense straight-forward and purposeful.

It's... nice and fine, and recommended!

[ allmusic.com, Uncut 3,5 / 5, Mojo 4 / 5, American Songwriter 4,5 / 5 stars ]

The Streets "None of Us Are Getting Out of This Life Alive" (2020)

None of Us Are Getting Out of This Life Alive (mixtape)

release date: July 10, 2020

format: digital (12 x File, FLAC)

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

producer: Mike Skinner

label: Island Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Call My Phone Thinking I'm Doing Nothing Better (ft. Tame Impala)" - 2. "None of Us Are Getting Out of This Life Alive (ft. Idles)" - 3. "I Wish You Loved You as Much as You Love Him (ft. Greentea Peng & Donae'o)" - 5. "I Know Something You Did (ft. Jesse James Solomon & Eliza)" - 8. "The Poison I Take Hoping You Will Suffer (ft. Oscar #Worldpeace)" - 10. "Falling Down (ft. Hak Baker)"

Mixtape album by The Streets, aka Mike Skinner, following nine years after Computers and Blues (Feb. 2011), and then also following the 2017 rebirth of his most distinct music project, which saw him on a world tour performing the best of The Streets after years away from the brightest spotlight. The album is not described as a new studio album but merely a mixtape - perhaps to avoid too strong expectations and then again: every song on the album has been made with a featuring artist, which in a way, and only on a surface, makes the songs highly individual, though they all have Skinner's characteristic beats putting them quite close to one another.

First impression was that of a bland experience, which had me thinking of his 2011 mixtape Cyberspace and Reds, but then after some time, I think this is bettering that, although, it's clearly not one of his best albums with a bunch of great tunes sticking out. The biggest issue here is a clear connection to his earlier rhymes and beats, where you end up thinking 'Ah, that's close to the rhyming on...', or beats reminding you of former songs - bits and pieces, here and there, making it a bit of a strange listen. Best thing about it is that Skinner is back making music as The Streets, and hopefully he will soon be releasing an actual follow-up to his 2011 studio album.

[ allmusic.com, Exclaim! 3,5 / 5, 👍Clash 3 / 5, Pitchfork 5,5 / 10, Soundvenue 2 / 6 stars ]

The Go-Betweens "Oceans Apart" (2005)

Oceans Apart
release date: May 3, 2005
format: 2 cd (Deluxe)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,88]
producer: Mark Wallis and David Ruffy
label: Lo-Max Records - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 1. "Here Comes a City" - 2. "Finding You" - 3. "Born to a Family" - 4. "No Reason to Cry" - 6. "Darlinghurst Nights" - 7. "Lavender" - 8. "The Statue" - 9. "This Night's for You" - 10. "The Mountains Near Dellray"

9th and the irrevocably final studio album by The Go-Betweens following just over two years after Bright Yellow Bright Orange (Feb. 2003) sees a reunion with producer Mark Wallis, who stood behind the acclaimed 16 Lovers Lane (1988). The 2 CD Deluxe edition comes with the addition of a live recording from The Barbican Concert Hall, London, Jun. 27, 2004.

For once, the quartet is intact compared to their most recent album but what makes the biggest difference here is concerning the actual production of the album. Forster and McLennan themselves were in complete control when producing the band's last two outings, and these are both quite good, but when listening to Oceans Apart, you clearly sense the bond to 16 Lovers Lane. It's not just similar, as it doesn't merely copy what was successful on the '88 album but the new collection of songs has a presence of the same 'multi-layering' without obvious attempts in reproducing the instrumental contributions by Amanda Brown and John Willstead of yesterday.

Another significant positive quality is that it feels and sounds like a band effort, whereas the two previous albums had an unmistakable imprint of the Forster / McLennan guitar duo weaving on all tracks. Here, it's as if bass, keyboards, additional guitars, and drums all contribute to colour the whole picture and, overall, create a sonic complexity that fits together ever so nicely. That said, the songs demonstrate the two songwriters' abilities as skilled storytellers and the end product is no less than the band's second best studio album - ever.

Oceans Apart won the prize for best Adult Contemporary Album at the Australian Grammy Awards in 2005 - first time happing for Forster and McLennan - and as a new experience, the album made its mark on the albums chartc in a number of countries besides Australia. Two tracks were released as singles: tracks #1 and #2, which didn't garner significant chart entries. And that's maybe not too strange, because it's the album itself that appears as a coherent strong album, basically without fillers. It's just extraordinary well-made from start to finish.

Unfortunately, just as the band was finally experiencing growing international recognition - again, the project was brutally interrupted when Grant McLennan suddenly died of a cardiac arrest around the anniversary of the album's release on May 6, 2006. With McLennan's passing, The Go-Betweens ended for good and Robert Forster returned to his solo career and subsequently released the album The Evangelist (Apr. 2008). In 2007, two recurring awards were founded: an annual prestigious Australian honour award "Grant McLennan Lifetime Achievement Award", as well as the annual 1-year music scholarship "Grant McLennan Fellowship" awarded emerging talents in Queensland.

Highly recommended.

[ 👍allmusic.com, Blender, Uncut 4 / 5, 👎Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5, The Guardian, Mojo 5 / 5 stars ]

Lisa Gerrard "The Silver Tree" (2006)

The Silver Tree

release date: Dec. 5, 2006

format: digital (14 x File, FLAC - 2007 reissue)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,88]

producer: David Badrick & Lisa Gerrard

label: Rubber Records - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 1. "In Exile" - 2. "Shadow Hunter" - 4. "The Sea Whisperer" - 6. "Space Weaver" - 8. "Serenity" - 10. "Towards the Tower" - 12. "Devotion"

2nd solo album by Australian artist Lisa Gerrard follows more than a decade after her solo debut The Mirror Pool (Aug. 1995). This doesn't by any means suggest that Gerrard isn't a highly productive artist. She often releases music with collaborating artists, and she has made a golden career from her engagements as soundtrack composer. In '96 she released a so far final studio album, Spiritchaser with the duo-project Dead Can Dance (together with Brendan Perry). In '98 she released the collaboration album Duality with Pieter Bourke, and also with Bourke, she made the soundtrack to Michael Mann's The Insider (1999), the soundtrack to Ridley Scott's The Gladiator (2000) composed with Hans Zimmer - an accomplishment that sky-rocketed her composer value - and again with Bourke she composed the soundtrack to the biographical sports drama Ali (2001), the soundtrack to Whalerider (2003), the collaboration album Immortal Memory together with Patrick Cassidy (2004), and the soundtrack Salem's Lot (2004) with Christopher Gordon to a TV-series. And it doesn't stop with this, as Gerrard has also delivered compositions and vocals to songs appearing on various other releases including TV-series, movies, documentaries and as performing guest on other artists' releases.

Lisa Gerrard works on a classical arena with trained classical intrumentalists and composers, but she also works with artists from a "popular" music culture, the experimental electronic music scene and often on music labeled as neo-classical. On top of this, Gerrard has made it her trademark to blend national folklore from various parts of the world, and not seldom you will find traces of music inspired by traditional folk from the Balkan area - sometimes incorporating tones from an Arabian / Middle East tradition - all brought together in an original colourful blend with her timeless ethereal signature. She has become an acclaimed vocalist with a vocal range of three octaves, and when performing her own songs, she often sings in her own made-up language, sometimes referred to as 'glossolalia'.

The Silver Tree was nominated the Best Album Prize at the Australian Music Awards in 2006, and it may be an album that brings many of her former releases to mind, but it's not a matter of picking bits and pieces from her past and mixing it all together anew. It's more the result of a skilled artist's inspiration overflown with her quality trademarks that makes it a highly original album. It's both electronic, ambient and neo-classical, and not necessarily styles that are present in all 14 compositions. As in styles, the songs vary in tempo, in cadence, in mood but it's all cleverly woven together with Gerrard's delicate touch - be it in the arrangements of the single composition or in the tone of her singing voice. The tracks also vary in running times with the shortest playing for only 1½ minute and the longest for more than 10 minutes. In between there's nearly everything. It may be based on electronic rhythm beats, on hymn-like ambience, or progressive darkwave, but still it remarkably works as a coherent release.

I've always fancied the music with Gerrard's partecipation and it never ceases to amase me, and it always reminds me, what an absolute great artist she is! She has been awarded many prizes for her work, but in my mind, she is way to overlooked an artist and deserves much more recognition - as composer, as vocalist, and as performing artist.

Highly recommended!