.NEW.MUSIC.FRIDAY with fresh new releases and cool reissues from the vault
t h i s o n e h a s e v e r y t h i n g
LIZ LAWRENCE - The Avalanche [CD](Second Breakfast UK)
With her beautiful low voice (and highs normally on chorus,) Liz Lawrence should have no trouble finding a place in this world as an emotive k.d.lang-ish singer. So, she runs it through distortion, multi-tracking, pitch-shifting and makes it her instrument. With drum machines, guitars, and synths, "The Avalanche" is a reconstruction of her world. Sometimes romantic ("Saturated,") sometimes more human than most ("Babies,") and mostly clever as can be, "The Avalanche" is fun and funky but always individual.
HOLY HIVE [CD](Big Crown/Daptone/Redeye)
One of the highlights of 2020 was the LP from this trio “Float Back to You.” With its simplicity and Paul Spring’s lovely falsetto, then found a way to make Folk song structured tracks into straight-up Soul songs. While everyone else was busy trying to write and record with that authentic feeling, Holy Hive just used its spartan sound and the space around it to mesmerize. Their follow-up explores the same space but (obviously) explores sadness. “I Don’t Envy Yesterdays,” their quarantine single, still rings true even if it needs a slow beat to float downstream. This time out “Golden Crown” steers its moody verse into a short, breathy chorus. “Ain’t That The Way” bobs up and down with the beat but in a stripped-down Folk-meets-60’s Pop manner. They even transform the Charlotte Gainsbourg JAM “Deadly Valentine” with a beatnik bounce thanks to classical guitar and bongos. The whole album is shimmering with light Sixties influence, but the output still stays right in their hive.
PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING - Bright Music [LP/CD](PIAS America)
The Kraftwerk-ian duo always do wonders with a central concept. “Bright Music” quickly explores its extremes (the motorik “Der Rhythmus der Maschinen” with Blixa Bargeld and thematic “Lichtspiel” pieces.) What is different is that PBS has really never sounded this German. So, it is fun to hear them reveling in their culture on the danceable “People, Let’s Dance” and even revving it up to Can-like Pop on “Blue Heaven” with Andreya Casablanca.
Various Artists - AN ECLECTIC SELECTION OF MUSIC FROM THE ARAB WORLD Vol.2 [LP](Habibi Funk)
In need of some bumping funk? The second compilation in the “Arab World” has many songs that are as gritty (“Ahl Jedba” from Fadoul) and bottom-lip biting (“Music De Carneval” from Magdy El Hussainy) as American Funk. What is most enriching about this series is how it borrows from the drive of our music but never really apes it or sounds like a pale imitation. Who knew Libya had a Reggae band? Ouiness’ “Zina” even takes Disco for a spin, while Najib Al Housh teases a true Disco standard. Truthfully, we could all use more of that hypnotic Egyptian organ. This selection makes you feel like the other side of the world is truly not so far away.
MOLECULE - Music For Containment [LP](Diggers Factory FR)
Over four LPs, Molecule reassembles Ambient music in its many forms. There is the glitchy/synthy side of Malik Djoudi's "Glitz," but then it falls into the soothing vocal sample of "it's so peaceful now/so peaceful" as the waves of Radiomentale overtake you. Arranged to play in order (or your own,) these 33 tracks are so meditative and serene that you do not feel too many switches. Wabi Sabi leaves you feeling like you traveled on a spaceship. Automat throws it back to the Tangerine Dream/Klaus Schulze sequencer/synth compositions of the early '70s. However, again when Molecule programs their music to be "large" and fill all available space, they pull back with lilting piano pieces that work within the "empty space." "Music For Containment" is a huge investment in both vinyl and time, but once you bring back the width and breadth of Ambient music listening to it - you may never see Ambient the same way again.
NEW JAZZ ORCHESTRA - Le Dejeuner Sur L'Herbe [LP](Uni Classics Jazz UK)
With a big enough band to try out Mingus' "Black Saint" or Miles' "Sketches of Spain," this British collective ventured into Jazz in 1966. Along for the ride, Jack Bruce, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Ian Carr, and more great British musicians. Under the watchful (Gil Evans-ish) eye of Neil Ardley, the orchestra gently rolls out the most evocative Jazz pieces including "Naima" and "Nardis," but really shines on the mysterious "Study." When they get uptempo on "Rebirth," they settle into a subtle groove thanks to a flugelhorn solo from Carr, great vibe work from Frank Ricotti (might be the album's true MVP,) and snares-off driving from drummer Jon Hiseman. New Jazz Orchestra is one of those albums that has been part of the British Jazz canon for years, but should really be given some attention on our shores.
ZULU [LP](Vampisoul)
On one of his two Seventies albums, Peruvian Folk/Rocker Zulu expands his palette well beyond well-written Pop songs like "Como una escalera." What seems so simple and so accessible, quickly grows into experiments with synths and oblique songwriting. Zulu's voice is so rich and smooth that he can raise anything to the realm of translating to his listeners. When "Si en el cielo yo viviera" bursts out with loud ELP style synth work and its Rock attack on the acoustic, Zulu sings high with a choir and a drummer that is literally all over the kit. The effect is to make an absolutely driving song that is so relentless in its attack, they back out of it into chaos and bring it back for a big finish. On the more Folk based solo material like "Laberintos," Zulu sounds more comfortable in his bellowing lower range, but you really always go back to him breaking out of his shell with the added synth touches and wild additions.
MORGEN [2LP](Now-Again Reserve)
ARKHAM [LP](Sub Rosa)
On this pair of lost Psychedelic/Prog albums from the late Sixties/early Seventies, you can hear two bands actually finding their identity at its goes to tape. Where Morgen expands Folk song storytelling to include acidic, overdriven guitar and thunderous drums, the neat effects are only part of their appeal. "Welcome To The Void" is a dramatic, wavering tale whose high point is reached when vocalist Steve Morgen actually matching the squeal of his guitar with his voice. "Of Dreams" (which apparently dates from their earlier incarnation "Morgen's Dream Spectrum") basks in the post-Love Psychedelic including a sped-up voice and wobbly wah-wahs that come in when Steve Morgen sings about colors. "Beggin' Your Pardon (Miss Joan)" is a breathy Blues freakout with wailing lead guitar in the background and well-placed stops. The harmonies intersect beautifully on the near Beatlesque "la-la-la-la-la-la-la's" on "Eternity In Between" and then it finds a "teenage wasteland" chord pattern - perhaps before the Who did. By side two, the insistent drums of Bob Maiman are countered by a woozy, druggy crooning from Morgen on the journey into the mind of "Purple," "She's The Nitetime" is a mid-66-ish Rock gallop that is bound to the ten minutes of the 'Da Capo" style freakout (with Morrison-esque vocal break) of "Love." The Now-Again edition adds instrumentals and rough versions to the foray, but the 1969 album is just unstoppable especially if you are searching for more of those Brown Acid-style releases.
The early 1970's proto-prog of Arkham is quite the find as well. Their debut lets you hear them shape themselves from distant organ and electronics with a Soft Machine-style sax squelch. Many of the tracks sound like Egg and even King Crimson before you get to hear Daniel Denis and future Magma member Jean-Luc Manderlier tighten up to the level you could imagine Christian Vander pursuing them. At the time of writing, these eight songs were listed only as numbers. All the songs were very impressive especially the contrapuntal exploration of "5" and Crimson-esque run through "6." (There is a YouTube file with more music, definitely look for "Monolithic Progression With Anticipated Rupture.")
https://www.soundohm.com/product/arkham-lp
A brutal blast of Black Metal…
CRAFT - White Noise and Black Metal [LP](Season of Mist)
Out of Sweden rages Craft with a battering ram of Black Metal. Guitars shred chromatic melodies, drums pound out blast beats, and stops with gut-wrenching intensity. “White Noise and Black Metal” would be a good enough review for some. However, Craft likes to mix up their tempo shifts (“The Cosmic Sphere Falls” even throws in a half-bar triplet hit that turns on a dime) and some Fripp-ish mathematical progressions (“Crimson” is accurately titled.) “Again” thrashes and gets sludgy at the same time (with a killer Mastodon-ish break) but never loses one ounce of their brooding intensity. Here’s hoping another album is coming soon.
and its beginnings.
BULLDOZER - Ride Hard Die Fast [LP BOX](FOAD ITA)
VENOM - Welcome To Hell [LP](BMG Rights Management)
The Eighties were great for NWOBHM style bands to speed their Thrash-based Metal up to redline speeds and invent Black Metal. With artists like Darkthrone still latching on to that primitive production feel to make their bashing and crunching feel more like their roots, here are two bands worth further examination. Italy's Bulldozer sounds like they OD'ed on Giallo movies and compression, but their blinding fast metal cannot be denied. The chorused-out guitar parts on "The Day of Wrath" blend well with the pounding bass and drums. Above it all draped in a cloak of reverb is Alberto Contini's guttural yowl as your Charon-like guide. "Cut-Throat" from "Wrath" displays Thrash madness with eye-opening prowess, and the wild guitar solo on "Insurrection of the Living Damned" is amazing. Their next album "The Final Separation" ups the recording quality with some good results especially on the awesome "Ride Hard-Die Fast." The set also adds "IX" and "Neurodeliri," plus their demos and an expanded "Live in Poland."
For a floor-stomping, neck-breaking good time, Venom's debut from 1981 has been reissued. In the middle of the NWOBHM groundswell, "Welcome To Hell" came along with the right amount of Sabbath-esque grind to fill into the void where Metal and Punk were amalgamating to form Thrash. By jacking up the intensity with Satanism (the title “Black Metal” will come from a track and title of their follow-up) and a mixture of blinding speed and blunt force, "Welcome To Hell" has riffs for days. The locomotive title track, the pairing of "Mayhem With Mercy/Poison" remains blistering, those guitar breaks on "Live Like An Angel (Die Like The Devil)" and the pre-sludge madness of "100 Days of Sodom" are all predictors of just Metal is going.
And..the deep dive
DJ SHADOW - Endtroducing….. [DLX 2CD](Mo' Wax/Island/UME UK)
In the mid-2000's the Universal UK label group made a habit of turning your favorite single CD into a double CD that was packed with bonus material that actually added dimension to the albums they deemed 'classic.' Pulp's misunderstood "This Is Hardcore" always felt like a little too big of a step for the band to take following the smash success of "Different Class." However, the myriad of extra tracks took away from the super-seriousness of it and added the stunning "Cocaine Socialism" to the mix. Eric B. and Rakim's "Paid in Full" took an already airtight album and gave it a sense of experimentalism with Dub renditions and a Coldcut remix of "Paid In Full" that was a 12" favorite lost in the move from vinyl to CD. Countless albums from Lucinda Williams and Sonic Youth added entire live concerts from that period that gave them more range (and would go on to become everyone's favorite add-on to reissues in the new vinyl era.) However, no Deluxe Edition was more power-packed, more necessary, and more salient.
The alternate versions of "Best Foot Forward/Building Steam With A Grain of Salt" are enlightening. While they are a little tougher than the album versions, you can hear the levels of construction Davis put into them. “The Number Song (Cut Chemist Remix)” has long been a party blazer. It has a drop in it to a fatback-style beat (with cowbells swinging in syncopation) that one could spin all night long. (The remix and another Shadow song are available on an import 7” that is out in limited quantities to accompany this re-release.) Maybe that is what is so cool about the bonus cuts, you can actually hear the pieces and parts in these more muscular surroundings. The way that Shadow works with and against the rhythm on his MPC has long been spellbinding (2012’s “Total Breakdown: Hidden Transmissions from the MPC Era 1992-1996” is another great collection of Shadow’s beat work.) “Changeling” as a demo is more immediate, the album cut hits the skip beat first while the demo punches the whole beat before the jazzy Rhodes weighs in.
The magnum opus of “Entroducing…..,” “Stem/Long Stem/Transmission 2” is broken down into a different hybrid. “Stem/Cops N’Robbers” has more dialogue samples layered into it and the ending is so overdriven that it sounds like a videogame in the not-too-distant future. Later, there is a sizzling nine-minute mix from Peshay of “What Does Your Soul Look Like?” with some exemplary breakbeat work. While the late Gift of Gab contributes vocals to “Midnight.” “Soup” and “Red Bus Needs To Leave!” serve as sketches - but they hint at how Shadow could take something small and expand its scope through both recorded and live performance. Speaking of live, the closer is a raging 12-minute mix that basically proves that “Endtroducing…..” is no studio fluke. Over his militant beats, the Giorgio Moroder sample rolls hard and is then twisted and spun by Shadow. Then, in a surprise, he uses a showy Blues ending and slowly brings in a beautiful ambient sort of “hold” where the synth samples from the middle of “Stem/Long Stem” just wash out. Boom! It’s the deep Rhodes sound of Pekka Pohjola and the David Axelrod piano line! Suddenly it is “Midnight In A Perfect World.” The second disc was originally known as “Excessive Ephemera,” but honestly - it is just as essential to this classic.
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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