NEW.MUSIC.FRIDAY bringing you through the chill, heat and rain of this week
to present a slate of promising new artists and some old favorites to seen through fresh eyes
NINA SAVARY - Next Level Soap Opera [LP](Tin Angel UK)
The actress-now singer sets herself up to become a next-level chanteuse. “Les Regards” is dreamy Sixties French Pop with dancing synths and her sweet Laetitia Sadier-esque vocals guiding it along slowly like watching a balloon catch-then lose-the catch it again. The best thing about this “Soap Opera” is that Savary never really makes her songs that complicated. Her Carpenters-esque “How Was Your Day” flips around its chord changes but never feels showy. However, when she does want to show off a little (and who wouldn’t with all these musicians and ideas at your disposal) she turns “Contemplating Wells” into a bubbly yet bittersweet suite of retro Pop that never loses its initial Brazilian-esque classical guitar figure even as it ascends into a lengthy bridge that would make Jean-Jacques Perrey proud.
CHERYM - Hey Tori EP [LP](Alcopop UK)
If 2021 has a trend it has been the return of Nineties-ish Rock. These three Derry girls follow in the footsteps of Liz Phair and Veruca Salt on their EP. Bratty but bold, Cherym finds a different punch for every one of the five songs on their debut. “Kisses on My Cards” is all guitar thrust until the break where their layer high harmonies. “Listening To My Head” has a Pop/Punk pre-chorus/chorus combination that should be the envy of all those other bands and the moody “Gone Girl” is sincere and honest alternating between Juliana Hatfield-esque sweetness and a truly anthemic chorus that provides the EP’s greatest release. Very promising.
PORTO GEESE - Duck [LP](Sheep Chase UK)
When is a noise band not a noise band? This Oslo group brings that question to mind on their noise-based explorations of Shoegaze (the Nirvana-esque lumber-truck slam of “What A Day”) and Motorik (the hypnosis induced by the synth-tinged gallop of “Screens” is underpinned by the pulsating bass.) “Duck” is a vast palette of sound that continuously deceives you into thinking “oh, this will be the ‘calm’ song” and then the underbelly of what they play makes you want to pound something along with them. While some may say Porto Geese is “post-punk,” just take the streamlined gut punch of “Whale on a Horse” and see how it takes them through introducing so many synth noises and ideas, their only choice is to embrace the chaos of a total tempo change in the middle - then return to drill their groove even harder. Very promising.
MISTER T - Soul Shower [CS](Cold Busted/Fat Beats/AMPED)
Dimitri Tentinis from Athens, Greece clearly likes the funky beats. "Soul Shower" (his seventh album) is guided by those. Like classic Quannum or early DJ Shadow, Mister T interpolates samples ("Chain Reaction") and even native instruments ("Raw Freedom,) but that big beat dueling with clavinet on "Soul Shower" is everything you need.
THE dB’s - I Thought You Wanted To Know: 1978-1981 [LP/CD](Propeller Sound)
In that nexus between Southern Big Star-ish Power Pop and nervy New York revisionist Rock, Winston-Salem’s dB’s carved their own place and a niche for others who wanted to celebrate how transcendent good Pop could be. Still in his afterglow from playing with his idol Alex Chilton, Chris Stamey recorded the brilliant title track with Richard Lloyd of Television. If you had to purchase this album for that song alone - it would be well worth it. The dB’s were a celebration of the joy of turning up and just letting melody soar. “Black and White” is a bittersweet song that bathes in the harmonies of Stamey and Holsapple (still together today,) “Soul Kiss” looks ahead to where classics such as “Like This” are bound for. A brighter take on “Bad Reputation” brings out the jangle and the painful Big Star-ish beauty of “Nothing Is Wrong” sounds more live than ever from that same session. These early years of this fantastic band are a testament to the lasting power of Power Pop.
MIDNIGHT CONVERSATION - Midnight Conversation 2 [LP](Midnight Conversation ITA)
This Italian duo brings a new Jazzy attitude to Italo Dance music. With their spartan synth parts, warm chording, and giant-size beats, 'Midnight Conversation" is mostly House (the old-school bubble of "Galaxy 2829") meets Breakbeat jams. When kick the live drums in on "Midnight Strings," you want to hear them collaborate with Kaidi Tatham or the London Jazz Underground.
BULBOUS CREATION - You Won’t Remember Dying [LP](Numero/AMPED)
When Rock music took off for the bluesy boogie to dominate FM radio in the early 70s and Pop radio quickly fell into the escapism of Pop, there was Proto-Metal (Acid Rock as it was known then) to fulfill the needs of the most disenchanted within its followers. Numero Records has already bravely released “Acid Nightmares,” an essential opening chapter to better understanding the strum und drang of biker anthems, acidic uptempo guitar anthems and the point where Proto-Metal strangely sang about both heaven and hell in the same breath. One of the bands from that collection of previous privately pressed wax is Bulbous Creation from the Kansas suburbs. This 1971 album is haunting in its sheer simplicity and derring-do. “End of the Page” is almost like Black Sabbath turning down to play a Folk song. Paul Parkinson and Jim “Bugs” Wine set out to be the next Uriah Heep, but were confronted by using their heavy music for heavy subjects. The proto-jam that is “Satan” is bluesy enough for boogie fans, but its lyrical matter could be both Christian Rock and Doom Metal. “Dying” has a light touch for a Hard Rock album. However, Alan Lewis was a burning hot guitar player (check the outro solo on the Ten Years After cover of “Having A Good Time.”) Stripped down to standard Rock band format (there is organ on “Fever Machine Man” which may have some of the first neck tapping recorded,) Bulbous Creation still feels like an impassioned but tortured creation.
EVERY TIME I DIE - Radical [LP/CD](Epitaph/AMPED)
Metalcore from Buffalo with a few facets no one else presents. “Post-Boredom” melds a Foo Fighters-ready verse with a blistering crazed chorus and several inspired stops. “Planet Shit” comes far closer to the Hardcore side of their music, but the combination between the winding individual riff and its neck-breaking chorus really match the barbaric screaming around it. “AWOL” is muscular and brutal as if Rage Against The Machine was reborn as a Hardcore band and threw in an atonal break. “Radical” is not afraid to stretch out into near-Progish chord patterns, yet always certain enough to return to that wham that makes you want to bang your head.
SLAYER - Show No Mercy/Haunting The Chapel [LP/CD](Metal Blade/The Orchard)
With their classic albums being out of print for far too long, Metal Blade has seen fit to reissue the mighty Slayer’s earliest years. Listening to them forge their molten metal out of Thrash is thrilling on its own. “Show No Mercy,” their 1983 musical ambush, triumphs above the technical limitations of the day. The leads sting, the pace is furious and Tom Araya literally sings as a man possessed. “Evil Has No Boundaries” sets this powderkeg off and they only slow down for hammering NWOBHM style breaks (“Die By The Sword”) or the grinding majesty of “Metal Storm/Face The Slayer.”
Their 1984 4-song EP “Haunting The Chapel” stands as the early breakthrough. Their tracks are more structured (the Venom-ous race through “Chemical Warfare”) and even show signs of (inadvertently) fitting into Rock. “Aggressive Perfector” is perhaps their very best early song as it fuses NWOBHM, classic Proto-Metal riffage, and the speed demon lust of Speed/Death Metal. “Chapel” is a real sign of things to come.
BEYOND TATTOO YOU: MORE VAULT DIVING WITH THE STONES
As "Tattoo You" continues its run as the most celebrated collection of Rock anomalies ever, we thought it was a good time to try to spin the extra tracks from "Tattoo You" and unearth what was around them on the tapes.
"Fiji Jim" (or "Fiji Gin" as it was demoed for "Some Girls") is an old-school Stones Exile-style rave-up. Its sped-up rockabilly jive was probably competing with the slam of "Neighbors" for a place on "Tattoo You." However, digging right next to it unveiled the piano-pop gem "I Need You." While it carries itself with that trademark Jaggeresque swagger, it is fun to hear Mick and Keith trade off singing together especially as Mick vaults from his guttural low to "Miss You"-esque falsetto.
The countrified harmonica-led (Sugar Blue perhaps) "It's a Lie" made it the new "Tattoo You." Next to that is a driving Chuck Berry-esque guitar slammer "It's All Wrong" with a great slashing chord change from Keith and Charlie drumming in the zone. While it sounds a little underdone vocally, Jagger pulls in some parts in the end that are riveting. "Misty Roads" or "The Way She Held Me Tight" is only a fragment (that was apparently recorded this one time) with some promise as well.
While the original "Tattoo You" reaches back to "Goats Head Soup," the anniversary version adds a 1974 cover of Dobie Gray's "Drift Away" that is almost as soulful as their amped-up version of "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" that made the album. The same session at Musicland Studios in Munich produced the lead single from the added cuts "Living In The Heart of Love" which sneaks in a little "Brown Sugar"-esque break but would fit perfectly on the underrated "It's Only Rock N' Roll" when it peters out around the middle of side two. That phased guitar gets a reggae run-through a few months later as the Stones try out the bubbling "I Got A Letter" with Keith on vocals.
Back in 1972, The Stones fled to Jamaica to record some tracks for "Goats Head Soup" where the new edition's "Fast Talking Slow Walking" is derived from. There is bluesy shouter called "You Should Have Seen Her Ass" from the same session that could be the initial beginnings of the "she's my little rock n' roll" riff that becomes "Little T&A." Still, in the Mick Taylor-on-lead period here, it fits right into the post-Exile Stones milieu.
Finally, in the studio to record "Emotional Rescue" in 1979, the Stones recorded twice as many songs as necessary. Three songs from the sessions would find their way on to "Tattoo You." Several other tracks are worth highlighting like the Motown-ish strut of "It's Won't Be Long" (with Brian Jones-esque vibraphone,) the Disco-meets-Reggae of "It's Cold Down There" (with Mick singing in a near patois), and the cover of "Troubles A-Comin'" that is part of the "Lost & Found" on the new "Tattoo You." However, if you excavate the Paris sessions you can find a muddy track called "Chain-Reaction-Groove (Break Away,)" that is their initial workout on it. Listening to the band plow through the chord changes as they are putting it together without Jagger's guide vocal (you can barely hear it) is a great way to hear the band actually putting a song together.
"Tattoo You" remains that classic middle period Stones album where they managed to pull the hat trick and have three hit records in a row in the middle of Disco, Punk, and the splitting of Rock music into many other genres. Fortunately, "Tattoo You" will be such a success, they won't head back into the studio until November 1982. By that time, MTV will make itself into a cultural battering ram and their experimental phase will simply not have the same impact.
Well, another week, another list of several different styles and pursuits in music for you. Enjoy. Listen again. Share as you wish.
NEW RELEASES lovingly compiled for you from this very week!
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