75 DOLLAR BILL ****
I Was Real (Tak:til/Thin Wrist)
Something about music that sounds wide-open and endless attracts me, horizons unfurling in front forever into the turning sky. 75 Dollar Bill provide that soundscape majestically, with {I Was Real} a collection of improvised compositions perpetually rolling and circling. Comprised principally of percussionist Rick Brown and guitarist Che Chen, with a revolving cabal of collaborators, the music has echoes of Tuareg desert rock bands like Tinariwen, so fluent, hypnotic and fluid is the playing.
words Fedor Tot
THE ALARM ****
Sigma (The Twenty First Century Recording Company)
Opener Blood Red Viral Black kicks in with a whole lotta heavy. The next 11 songs don’t quite follow suit, stylistically, but the whole album is performed with the same energy and dedication as the standout first track. On the more relaxed side of The Alarm’s soundworld, gospel rocker Psalm is brilliantly effective and Heroine sounds like Mike Scott at his best. What these better songs have in common is brave arrangements and dramatic shifts in texture that really work.
words John-Paul Davies
BABII ***
HiiDE (Deathwaltz Originals)
The debut album from Margate’s BABii is all icy holographic electropop yet kinda falls between two stools. Compared to the precision-tooled synthpop of your Sigrids and your Robyns, HiiDE lacks killer hooks; on the flipside it doesn’t quite have the sonic inventiveness of your Grimes and your FKA Twigs. What you’re left with is a pretty, sugary sweet, and well-made pop album (dub don Adrian Sherwood produces here) that’s just unsure where to sit.
words Sam Eeasterbrook
DMA’S **
MTV Unplugged Live (Infectious)
Previously setting a precedent for live albums, the MTV Unplugged name is now often misused to crowbar watered-down acoustic material into an artist’s discography. Prime case in point: Australian rockers DMA’s. Here, the ostensible Britpop revivalists gleefully rely on their chantalong choruses and layered harmonies, only breaking up the nostalgia drenched canon with a tepid cover of Madonna’s Beautiful Stranger. They just want us to know that they can offer more than lad rock catnip, you see. words Sophie Williams
FALSE ****
Portent (Gilead Media)
This sextet lurk in the American Midwest and play black metal, which is to say their name is a bit of preemptive irony. Anyone inclined to call them lowercase-f false for, say, their punk background and lack of cryptofascism isn’t someone you want on board anyway, so let us simply praise Portent, their second album, for its scorching blend of cold, murky riffs and gleaming keyboards, attuned to the Norwegian second wave of BM considerably more than that whole ‘blackened hardcore’ carry-on.
words Noel Gardner
THE FLAMING LIPS ***
King’s Mouth (Bella Union)
Thirty-six years into their career, nothing should surprise us any more about The Flaming Lips. A concept album about a benevolent monarch who sacrifices himself to save a city and its people, inspired by Wayne Coyne’s interactive art installation and featuring deadpan narration from Mick Jones of The Clash? Par for the course. If there is an element of the unexpected, it’s that King’s Mouth is focused and concise rather than gruesomely self-indulgent, its weightless psychedelia pierced by lucid moments of life-affirming profundity.
words Ben Woolhead
JADE JACKSON ***
Wilderness (Anti-)
The second album from the much-touted Californian country-rocker finds her visiting themes of addiction and recovery – opener Bottle Up is a bittersweet romp, drunken and defiant. When she’s not rocking it up for the weekend line dancers, she does a mean line in introspective balladry, notably on Dust. Jackson’s syrupy voice and ear for a catchy hook (especially on the aforementioned Bottle Up) makes this a solid effort.
words Paul Jenkins
JESCA HOOP ****
Stonechild (Memphis Industries)
Producer John Parish tempted Jesca down to Bristol to record her fifth album, paring her sound back to campfire basics (with wifi access) through sparing use of electronica and tough love. Opener Free Of The Feeling is her trademark frontier folk, with Lucius adding goosebump volume to the harmonies here and on Shoulder Charge, whose soft percussion and subtle circular guitar sounds like a hushed Bloc Party. Later on, Jesca channels Judee Sill on the lilting Death Row.
words Chris Seal
KHRUANGBIN ***
Hasta El Cielo (Night Time Stories)
This album has a subtitle which you very much need to be aware of! Con Todo El Mundo In Dub reveals it’s actually a rework of Khruangbin’s previous album doctored with dub mixes courtesy of renowned Jamacian producer Scientist. After careful consideration, the results fit rather nicely. Leaning heavily on bass and space as you might expect, it allows the group’s arrangements even more breathing room. Still, approach with caution if you’re not a dub fan.
words Charlie Piercey
LADY NADE ****
Safe Place (Mintlime)
Easy on the ear and consistently charming, this new album from Lady Nade is impossible not to enjoy. Her jazzy alto could sound a little dated in the wrong hands, but the arrangements and production that surround her provide a timeless haze that the quality of her delivery deserves. There are folky turns and indie pop hits amongst these 15 songs, but extended closer Heart Beats Strong pushes the sonic envelope on an album that is professional without being over-polished.
words John-Paul Davies
MORT GARSON ****
Mother Earth’s Plantasia (Sacred Bones)
There’s been a resurgence of interest in old synth music, with a cottage industry competing to see who can reissue the most obscure lost gem. Garson’s Plantasia makes the bold claim of being the first Moog-based album targeted at house plants. Listening today, what must once have sounded challenging, unearthly and futuristic now feels nostalgic, and slightly twee. Undoubtedly charming, it’s an enjoyable snapshot of how people in the past imagined the future would sound. Your plants probably listen to Skrillex.
words Andrew Paul Regan
MUNGO’S HI FI X EVA LAZARUS ***
More Fyah (Scotch Bonnet)
Glasgow’s soundsystem crew Mungo’s Hi Fi mix reggae, roots, dub, dancehall and other genres to shake out this effort that centres on livin’ your dreams, partyin’ and smokin’ weed while tryin’ to rid yourself of material and police hassles. They rework some tunes, including one by S.O.S. Band. The gorgeous, soulful pipes of guest vocalist Eva Lazarus come to the fore when she splits her man for Amsterdam and fires up Gasoline (rapping with a jazz-age retro vibe) and the title track. She’s a star in the making.
words Rhonda Lee Reali
NIGHT MOVES ****
Can You Really Find Me (Domino)
If I hadn’t known better, I’d swear these Minneapolis-based boys were channelling late 70s Fleetwood Mac – there’s a definite Stevie Nicks vibe to the vocals – and it’s this familiar sound that makes the band’s third album easy listening. But that’s not to say they’re entirely without originality – there are more psychedelic elements and synths here. Ribboned Skies is full of echo and powerful riffs but overall the album is sweet pop-rock.
words Lynda Nash
OLYMPIA ***
Flamingo (Opposite Number)
Burke Reid, who twiddled the knobs on Courtney Barnett’s Sometimes I Sit…, pushes Olivia Bartley, aka Olympia, deeper into powerpop territory on album two, with Star City a standout three-minute spritz of stardust. The bouncy synth-glam of Two Hands deserves a longer stay, and the glitterbeat of Hounds has them “chasing after me for fleeting moments of bliss” – apt for an album half gold, half pyrite, which is a worthwhile addition to Australia’s aural amber nectar.
words Chris Seal
THE QUIET TEMPLE *****
The Quiet Temple (Point Of Departure)
It is easy to imagine this record as being a rare obscurity that was found in a record store in Los Angeles in 1969. In reality, The Quiet Temple are a group of maverick musicians brought together by Duke Garwood and Soulsavers’ Rich Machin. Amongst their ranks are members of Stereolab and Spiritualized, and their sound is something like The Doors being fronted by John Coltrane instead of Jim Morrison. This album is incredible cosmic jazz with a hypnotic groove.
words David Nobakht
ROSALIE CUNNINGHAM *****
Rosalie Cunningham (Cherry Red)
Eyebrows may have been raised when Purson, a band both critically acclaimed and barely out of their infancy, announced their breakup at the height of their success, but frontwoman Rosalie Cunningham is back, and stronger than ever. While her solo foray retains the same camp and vaudeville charm that made Purson brilliant, it tames the instrumentation slightly to allow her beautifully opulent vocals to shine brighter. Cunningham’s self-titled debut is a cohesive masterpiece that’s not to be missed.
words Alex Payne
SENDELICA **
Cromlech Chronicles IV: The Door Into Summer (Fruits De Mer)
The fourth instalment of the Cromlech Chronicles — a series of albums by Krautrock-influenced group Sendelica, from west Wales — feels less like a focused concept album and more like an improvised set, meandering off into alternate worlds and wildernesses. Sendelica stay loyal to their classic psych-rock roots, with album closer Lightstar (Reprise) a riproaring highlight. But they lack the conviction and focus to be distinguished from their influences, succumbing too often to a dated brand of prog indulgence.
words Sam Pryce
SENDELICA / SECRET KNOWLEDGE / THE ORB ***
Windmill EP (Fruits De Mer)
Welsh psych-rockers Sendelica collaborate with The Orb’s Alex Paterson and duo Secret Knowledge (comprised of punk journalist Kris Needs and vocalist Wonder Schneider) on four versions of the track Windmill, inspired by the death of Needs’ soulmate, author and literary agent Helen Donlon. On the original mixes, Schneider’s soulful, expressive vocals overlay an otherworldly, oceanic backdrop, while Paterson’s chilled-out remixes give them a much-needed update. Nevertheless, a moving musical tribute to the loss of a companion.
words Sam Pryce
TRASH KIT *****
Horizon (Upset The Rhythm)
Comprising members of Sacred Paws, Bamboo, Shopping and Bas Jan, and pretty much forming an epic confluence of all these bands, Trash Kit, on album number three here, have landed a joyous, exploratory career-best bomb. There’s plenty of Rachel Aggs’ superbly anti-macho guitar rippling of course, just locked tightly into an incredibly strong mesh of improvisation and interplay, skittering drums and lunges of melody, piano chimes and saxophone skronk. Giddy and pure, it’s a thrilling new language.
words Will Steen
TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB ***
False Alarm (Prolifica Inc)
Blipping on an oversaturated indie-pop landscape in the late-00s, the Northern Irish band have since persisted with a trend-mirroring sound, with jaunty guitar melodies recently switched for smooth synthpop. This fourth album fully commits to the latter but with an increasingly transparent tinge of identikit vapidity. The funk-flecked Talk and Human League-esque Nice To See You represent relative grace-saving fare, alongside kitschy lead single Satellite, where technicolour charm is boasted, but False Alarm ultimately proves lacking in any firm standouts.
words Chris Hamilton-Peach
WILL YOUNG ***
Lexicon (Cooking Vinyl)
Young, the first Pop Idol winner and latterly an LGBTQ campaigner, sings his heart out with faultless vocals on this his seventh album that swooning gals, guys, Kylie drama queens and their mothers will gush over. He tries to break free of MOR but doesn’t fully succeed, because of mostly cliched songwriting concerning looking for love and making and breaking up. Part dance and ballad electropop, everything is catchy, especially My Love. Forever and Faithless Love show more maturity and range.
words Rhonda Lee Reali
DEMOS
SIENNA
Proclaiming influences from Foals, Peace and Palace, indeed describing themselves as “a must listen for fans of” those three acts, Cardiff’s Sienna seem content in a hyperspecific neo-indie niche, and on four-song EP Handshakes And Formal Attire present themselves ably enough to justify their blunt market-targeting. Swelling guitars with faint echoes of post-rock, basslines comparably suggestive of funk, crashing choruses and a bit of weepy get-yer-phone-torches-out balladry titled Waxwork.
words Noel Gardner
NEWS FROM NOWHERE
Unsure to what extent this new song by Swansea whimsy-drinkers News From Nowhere is intended as a ‘demo’, given they released an album as far back as 2013, but this is their first review in Buzz so let’s smuggle ‘em through that door. Beaujolais Day – referencing, and concerning, the inexplicable popularity of this wine industry tradition in Swansea city centre – sits at an odd but agreeable midpoint between early, bookish Britpop and rickety Pavement-type Americindie.
words Noel Gardner
RAYCHI BRYANT
Raychi Bryant is the bass player for Al Moses, a south Wales indie band who just released a new single and who sound nothing like this whatsoever. Despite the jokey Bandcamp URL, Bryant’s latest music – a four-part EP titled Cows In Tornadoes – is serious, meditative and low-key ambience sculpted from guitar feedback, field recordings (I think, in both cases) and unaccompanied, doleful piano. PS: found this via Ash Cooke’s Experimental Wales booklet/zine, which is strongly recommended if you’re interested in weird Welsh DIY music.
words Noel Gardner