Feb 12, 2024

 

Best of the Week

The Pineapple Thief - It Leads to This

2024   8 tracks   (40:50)

Another terrific album by The Pineapple Thief with Bruce Soord and Gavin Harrison driving the writing bus and sound production. Ever since TPT became a collaborative effort between Soord and Harrison, the band has a distinct focused sound that is no longer just a Bruce Soord album with a bunch of guys. It’s helped them deliver a quality progressive rock album while Soord gets to stretch his solo work into a separate vehicle. This roars a little more as demonstrated by the songs “Rubicon” and “All That’s Left”. “Now It’s Yours” sounds like something out of the Steve Wilson school of alternative rock. I can already see that this album is going to be on my top ten list for 2024.  A+

Jane Weaver - The Silver Globe

2014   10 tracks   (47:02)

Though she has been recording since the mid-90’s, Jane Weaver is a new name to me. She has been described as psychedelic folk, electronica, alternative rock, acoustic artist, and probably others, there is a reason for this - she is all of those categories. A great soaring voice with the backdrop of an unfathomable array of music sources, she uses simple melodies with complicated arrangements that is breathtaking. No, you don’t know what she will throw at you next which is both exhilarating and refreshing.  A

Ghost - 13 Commandments

2023   13 tracks   (1:02:13)

Normally, a heavy metal gothic rock band from Sweden would sound like any other Swedish band of similar ilk, but Ghost is different. Some of their songs have the same captivating catchiness of a band like Toto. The song “Spillways” should be an all time hit. Not far from the mark are the songs “Square Hammer”, “Mary on a Cross”, and “Rats”. There is heaviness with power guitar chords and pounding rhythms, but there is also quality songwriting effort. A big and welcome surprise. A-

Squirrel Flower - Tomorrow’s Fire

2023  10 tracks  (34:18)

Squirrel Flower is the artist name of Ella Williams who plays a dense fuzz guitar laden form of folk music. A capable writer and singer, she has created a number of solid tunes that are compelling and impactful. It is a total wonderment that her soft delicate vocals pairs so well with the near hard-core garage rock instruments. It is hard to pick a standout cut because they are all solid in their own right. What a problem to have. A

Interesting Finds

New Model Army - Unbroken

2024  11 tracks  (45:15)

A strong album by the Irish rockers. They stick to the formula that has worked well over the years; strong drumming, passionate singing, straight forward rock. The songs still cover topics that are important to them, from “I Did Nothing Wrong” (rallying against UK oppression), “Legend” (family), and “Do You Really Want to Go There?” (corporate monitoring). Justin Sullivan never had the prettiest singing voice, but nobody listens to NMA for their robust singing anyway.  B

Palehound - Eye on the Bat

2023   10 tracks   (29:11)

Palehound is fronted by singer songwriter and guitarist El Kempner who knows how to write smart insightful songs and bang them out with gritty effect. It is a form of indie alternative rock she calls journal rock that takes simple subjects without any tricks, just straight forward guitar based rock. Her voice may not be the most beautiful, but it has character. A decent release that may not have the killer hit, just a set of nice tunes. B-

Bachelor - Doomin’ Sun

2021   10 tracks   (33:30)

Bachelor is made up of El Kempner (Palehound) and Melina Duterte (Jay Som). The album has the same feel as Palehound’s Eye on the Bat mentioned earlier making comparisons easier. This album is more expansive in using studio tricks to bring out more of the song. The duets are terrific. The songs are a little spottier, lower lows and higher highs. “Stay in the Car” is a great tune, probably the most Pixie sounding song since the early Pixies. “Sand Angel” just kind of made me scratch my head.  B

Japanese Breakfast - Jubilee

2021   10 tracks   (37:03)

I picked this album because of the fascination in Michelle Zauner’s story and growing reputation in the art rock landscape. It turns out the synthesizer and brass horn emphasis plus the soft pop timbre of the music is not appealing to me at all. I can recognize the musical skill and intricate pop melody nature of the work, but it just isn’t for me. I think I will pass on all future releases.  D

Mercury Rev - Strange Attractor

2008   11 tracks   (40:23)

Mercury Rev stands in a unique place in the ambient space rock arena. Oh sure, there are copious amounts of synthesizer sourced soundscapes. But throw in some bass and electric guitar and outworldly percussion and you have a totally different musical experience. Most of it is very good, even with its mixture of melody heavy songs such as “In My Heart, A Strange Attractor” and not so melodic songs like “Love Is Pure”. B

Lau - The Bell That Never Rang

2015   6 tracks   (44:00)

This has some lovely moments to savor, starting with “First Homecoming” and the last track, “Ghosts”. Described as a Celtic Folk band, it is more than that. The bass drum beats, soaring fiddle notes, and Irish vocals all scream folk, but some of the driving moments allows for wandering into other realms. However, the title track is mystifying, a seventeen minute meandering instrumental without a focused point could have well been left off. Everything else is good to great, so just skip it.  B

Various Artists - Tell Everybody!

2023   12 tracks   (44:22)

A collection of modern blues songs by a number of blues and rock artists from the small record label Easy Eye Sound. Co-ordinated by Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys, he has assembled some artists that are well known (Black Keys, Gabe Carter, Glenn Schwartz) and a number of lesser known but should be known (R.L. Boyce, Robert Finley, Leo Welch). These are well recorded (though a couple in mono for some reason) and worth a listen. Not exactly playlist material, just good drinkin’ music. B-

Forgettable

Night Beats - Rajan (Cold remote recording of psychedelic pop featuring squeaky vocals)

Crooked Still - Some Strange Country (Allison Krauss lite)

Genghis Tron - Dead Mountain Mouth (Unfortunate scream fest)

Jan 29, 2024

 

Best of the Week

Lindstrom - Everyone Else is a Stranger

2023  4 tracks  (37:000

Most of the time electronic nu-disco dance music is innocuously similar because it's all about the beat, not the melody. Here, the beat takes a back seat to the melody yielding a better listening experience. These songs are much longer, thus allowing time to shift and adjust musical lines. The first song is “Syreen” and it’s a good basic rhythmic song that sets the tone of the whole album. “Nightswim” has a hook that sounds a lot like Joe Jackson’s “Steppin’ Out”. “The Rind” adds a little spaciness to the bouncing rhythms. The last, “Everybody Else is a Stranger” brings it all together with choral vocals, symphonic sounds, and various solos. Excellent source material for the player.  A-

Allah-Las - Zuma 85

2023  13 tracks  (47:32)

This is Allah-Las fifth album after a four year absence from the last. The intentional sound of the band is mid-fi, not quite lo-fi. Stylistically, they are part surf rock, jangle pop, and moody psychedelic rock with the songs landing somewhere on one of those descriptors. “Jelly” is pop, “Hadal Zone” more psych rock, and the solid “Right on Time” more surf rock. I like “Fontaine” too for its shoegaze and terrific harmonies to the backdrop of fuzz guitars. It’s a fun enjoyable album.  A-

KT Tunstall - Wax

2018  11 tracks  (41:42)

When a performer shoots out of the gate with great success, such as KT Tunstall did, you wonder how much is left in the tank for future releases. It appears KT has an infinite reservoir of pop creativity. The songs are catchy, her voice still rocks, and the producers know how to make the most of her work. The first four tracks, “Little Red Thread”, “Human Being”, “The River”, and “The Mountain”, are all killers. The rest of the album ranges from decent to really good. Everything except a couple are all up tempo rockers. Maybe she hasn’t “progressed” to a new level of music, but so what? What was once good is still good.  A-

Interesting Finds

King Creosote - I DES

2023  10 tracks  (1:22:48)

It is reported that King Creosote has released around a hundred albums though mostly through his small recording company. Once in a while, we get trinkets, the last trinket being Astronaut Meets Appleman some six years ago. But, they are great trinkets. The new album has ten tracks which I would say are eight songs, a long lament that rings in at thirteen minutes, and a 36-minute drone. The eight songs are what we all expect from KC, rich flowing melodies about life, love, and friendship, with the occasional oddity (“Love is a Curse”) thrown in. “Blue Marbled Elm Trees” is a great tune that seems to be his overall life lesson statement. On the other end of the spectrum is “Burial Bleak” that focuses on death and how useless it is to think we can cheat it. Gee, where does Kenny go on the next album after those heady topics? The lament (“Please Come Back I Will Listen, I Will Behave, I Will Toe The Line”) sounds like a person who lost someone close. The final cut, “Drone in B#”, is the lengthy series of chord progressions subtly staggered. Background music? If this is the last we see of King Creosote, it is an odd ending.  B

Kordhell - A Million Ways to Murder

2023  15 tracks  (31:44)

At first listen, I thought any comment was destined for the Forgettable list. The pounding DJ hip-hop treated vocals with overly distorted bass designed to use car amplifiers in order to turn them into dust is prevalent and usually without much originality. But I caught myself moving to the music and even tagging music destined for my player. It ain’t all bad and I’ve definitely heard worse. The 15 tracks breezes by in a tidy sub-32 minute set. Nothing overstays its welcome. I’m not a fan of titles like “A Million Ways to Murder” and “Shoot to Kill”, we have too much violence culture without adding to it, but I’m not the morality police. C-

Wolf Alice - Blue Weekend

2021  11 tracks  (40:11)

This English rock group, often labeled as alternative indie, won much acclaim for this album. The music is not overly dense and the tempo tends to be at shoegaze level. More often than not, the songs are worthwhile and enjoyable. My first run through generated a combination of interested and perplexed. More reflection is needed on this album and maybe the newer release that is available.  B?

Nine Inch Nails - Add Violence

2017  5 tracks  (27:13)

Nine Inch Nails deserves its own category rather than call it industrial rock, nu metal, alternative metal, electro rock, whatever. Nobody copies or does anything close to Trent Reznor. The music always has an edge and this edition is no different. Sometimes sounding like the tense soundtrack from the Batman movies, he screams and plays angst with heart-throbbing visceral machine noise. I don’t know if any acoustic instruments are used (maybe drums?) certainly doesn’t seem like it. This, being an EP, gives us four regulation length tracks and the finale (“The Background World”) runs almost twelve minutes. The problem is the last track that starts in a good groove but gradually deteriorates (intentionally) into random noise, making the last half nearly unlistenable. Why? Well, enjoy the first four tunes and call it a day. B-

Cass McCombs - Mangy Love

2016  12 tracks  (59:17)

This middle of the road mid-tempo pop with Cass providing the basic guitar and sultry vocals. Yawn! The songs are soft and pretty, except for “Rancid Girl” which is just pointless. I understand McCombs made an impact in the early 2000’s with his first releases, but this is better than Sominex. D

Jon Durant, Stephan Thelen - Crossings

2021  7 tracks  (1:05:42)

Both Durant and Thelen are guitarists and play a contemporary style of music similar to Terje Rypdal played for ECM. The music is minimalist, airy, with a light jazz component. Though primarily guitarists, they add in many sound treatments and basic electric keyboards to enrichen the numbers that are typically 7-10 minutes long. More relaxing than energizing, it’s great for an evening of light listening.  B

White Moth Black Butterfly - Atone

2017  11 tracks  (37:48)

Usually KScope records acts are interesting and dynamic. This is the rare exception. The brand of alternative pop is built on deep production and simple pop melodies. Lots of it is beautifully done but filled with empty calories. It just doesn’t stir the senses. C-

Storm Corrosion - Storm Corrosion

2012  6 tracks  (47:52)

A collaboration by Steven Wilson and Mikael Akerfedt (Opeth) would seem to be a sure fire winner. Got to say, it’s a bit of a disappointment. Part of the disappointment is knowing these two put out great prog rock. There are some good moments, but it seems like they are often working to build up a moment and then just let it go down the drain. The production is as good as anything Wilson has done. The three pieces running about ten minutes lead to nowhere and lay there like dead ducks. What can you say? It was a bad day at the office for Wilson and Akerfedt.  C-

Tesseract - Polaris

2015  9 tracks  (46:40)

Tesseract was one of the early influencers of djent progressive metal, the abrupt and varied changes in tempo of the music. They often sound a lot like Haken in these moments of rhythm changes. It puts a lot more of the onus on the bass and drum players to deliver the right sound. This is a solid effort without much in the way of lulls. The band had gone through a number of changes by this point, including the main vocalists, but you can’t tell it based on the delivery of very polished material. B+

Being Dead - When Horses Would Run

2023  13 tracks  (35:58)

Cute and quirky, Being Dead brings the surf music vibe along with a humorous bent. What they do right is harmonize the three vocalists and match it up with the ratatatat guitar strums in a highly echoed space. Nothing serious unless you’re worried about buffalos (“Last Living Buffalo”, whether God reads his own Bible (“God vs. Bible”), and if a trip to Payless is important (“Muriel’s Big Day Off”). The only thing is that cute wears off eventually. Keep that in mind. Meanwhile, just enjoy the knockout harmonies which are the star of the show. B

Paul Gilbert - Werewolves of Portland

2021  10 tracks  (47:46)

Guitar virtuoso Paul Gilbert wrote, arranged, recorded, and played all the instruments on this album as a project to do during Covid shutdown. His musicianship is definitely not in question. The only question is whether he can make a compelling work ala Joe Satriani or other great guitar master. I found many of his songs sounding similar, a lot of the riffs done and redone, and many songs main theme meanders in tempo and melody. He can sure play, no doubt. I just not really much on his work as a composer. C-

Suzi Quatro, KT Tunstall - Face to Face

2023  10 tracks  (32:06)

The meeting between two forces in rock should produce exceptional results. Quatro and Tunstall are a generation apart but are of the same cloth. All the songs are credited to both artists, but it is possible to figure out who wrote what. This is a good album, not great. There isn’t a bad song on the record and they sing together well, however it does lack a great tune. I liked “Shine a Light”, “Scars”, “Truth as My Weapon”, and “The Ladies’ Room” the best. It seems like the music doesn’t have Tunstall’s fire which is why her songs work. B

Forgettable

Illenium - Fallen Embers (The DJ genre is overrun by mediocre songwriting talent - case in point)

CHVRCHES - Love is Dead (Very generic unoriginal synth-pop dance and disco music)

The Pineapple Thief - The Soord Sessions 1-4 (Bruce Soord unplugged, not TPT)

Oxbow - Fuckfest (Too experimental for musical enjoyment)

Geese - 3D Country (Country-fied rock/pop/soul with lounge singer vocals)

Claud - Supermodels (Standard pop, average songs)