AMOR ***

Sinking Into A Miracle (Night School)

Ever wondered what Studio 54 would’ve sounded like if it was in the Glasgow School Of Art’s basement instead of Midtown Manhattan? Amor is odd-pop auteur Richard Youngs, avant-jazz double bassist Michael Francis Duch, Franz Ferdinand drummer Paul Thomson, and the Turner Prize nominated artist Luke Fowler. On their debut album they create avant-disco that leans and lurches towards Talking Heads rather than Chic. It’s interesting and oddly funky mutant disco, yet I’m left wishing Amor would drop the studied artfulness and truly lose themselves to the groove. SE

BEANS ON TOAST ****

A Bird In The Hand (Beans On Toast Music)

In traditional Beans on Toast fashion, A Bird In The Hand is essentially a 30-minute insight into the swirling expanses of his mind. What separates his 10th release from the rest of his discography however is the new-found sincerity: gone are the booze bangers, and in their place are tributes to both his father and daughter. Ultimately, it’s both endearing and intimate, although the social commentary peppered throughout can come across a little weak in comparison. APA

BLOOD RED SHOES ***

Get Tragic (Jazz Life)

Get Tragic is Laura-Mary Carter and Steven Ansell’s breakup record. Not that they were together together, but after a decade of incessant touring and recording the indie-punk duo were pretty sick of each other. Their comeback/reunion record is heavy on the electronics for a rock band: after guitarist Carter broke her arm, she took over more of the singing duties and gave the songs a synth makeover. The results are very St. Vincent, but without her trademark moments of flair these songs really need. JPD

CAST ****

Greatest Hits 1995-2017 (Demon)

Go on, see if that old parka fits, pull on those desert boots, get the Vespa out of the garage and go for a spin after listening to this exclusively-on-vinyl Best Of. A cracking introduction to those not familiar with this Liverpool Britpop band who echo the likes of The Who and The Kinks with powerpoppers and lovely sad ones. Yeah, the lyrics won’t strain your brain but just enjoy the anthemic choruses, brilliant melodies and guitars. RLR

CHRIS CARTER

Miscellany (Mute)

Over 40 years since he, as a member of UK industrial shock collective Throbbing Gristle, stuck a clove or two in the gammon of the day and got called a “wrecker of civilisation” for his trouble, Chris Carter has rarely ceased efforts to locate the musical cutting edge. In fact, he was even doing it before TG, as Archival Recordings 1973 To 1977, the last of the four LPs in this very welcome boxset, highlights. His first actually released solo vinyl, however, was Mondo Beat in 1985, some years after Throbbing Gristle had disbanded, and it runs with the tough, danceable proto-techno sound he’d already hit on, made with flashier gear. There’s a long gap before his next album, the stalkerish, brooding ambient electronics of 1998’s Disobedient, although it was recorded at live performances (not that you’d know) circa 1995. Last, chronologically, is 99’s Small Moon: more uptempo, swirly and tribal, parts could ably soundtrack a full moon Goa trance party, but it’s fine. NG

THE DELINES *****

The Imperial (Décor)

Oh, this is nice. Laidback, country, not in any hurry, the title track feeling like a night in a smoky bar. Amy Boone’s voice has been likened to Dusty Springfield and Bobby Gentry, but far more mellow, melancholic and listenable. These 10 songs, written by Willy Vlautin of Richmond Fontaine, tell the tales of wives and husbands, romance and lost love, loneliness and everyday life. Plenty of horns and violins but the music never overshadows the vocals: this is an album to be savoured. LN

FEATHERJAW *****

The Worst Career Move In The West (self-released)

With an album that was slowly becoming their Chinese Democracy, Cardiff’s Featherjaw have finally dropped the album that’s been two years in the making. But it was absolutely worth the wait. Rooted in country, the four-piece aren’t afraid to explore other influences, making this a superbly enjoyable outing; every listen seems to expose another previously unheard layer. The Worst Career Move In The West could soon be your go-to album for those gloriously lazy sunny days. CA

GUM TAKES TOOTH ****

Arrow (Rocket)

Heavy dystopian city vibes on the London duo’s third album, in which their pulverising drums/processed vocals/mangled electronics workouts (highly recommended live by the way) are buffeted by interludes of creeping noise and gusts of static. There are also total bangers: No Walls, No Air looses siren wails over bleeps and mouthbreather vocals; Fights Physiology is a terrific knob-twister in miniature, while there’s great release in The Arrow’s eventual roar of serrated harshness. The desolation party 2019 deserves. WS

LOCO DICE ***

Serán Bendecidos (Desolat)

Loco Dice, co-owner of the Desolat record label, presents this 11-track compilation featuring artists who have performed and partied at his Serán Bendecidos events. Serán Bendecidos, meaning ‘will be blessed’ has been running for well over a year in cities all over the world and the album is a celebration of this. With melodic basslines throughout and funky numbers courtesy of the likes of wAFF and Guti, you do get a real sense of what the parties are all about. EJ

MANIC STREET PREACHERS ***

This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours: 20 Year Collectors’ Edition (Sony)

The 12 original songs – including If You Tolerate This… and You Stole The Sun… – on disc 1 sound as fresh and relevant today as when they were first released. Disc 2 is comprised of demos while disc 3 has several remixes of the same tracks plus B-sides. This is definitely one for the collector or the Manics fanatic, but for the casual listener the remixes may seem irrelevant and messy. LN

MARK STEWART & THE MAFFIA ****

Learning To Cope With Cowardice (Mute)

Whilst Julio Iglesias albums played merrily in a few dream kitchens across Britain in 1983, social injustice and misery raged elsewhere. Originally released in the same year was Learning To Cope With Cowardice. After the demise of The Pop Group, Mark Stewart returned with a bassbin-busting, New York hip-hop-inspired, industrial dub monster of a record. Learning To Cope With Cowardice has not dated at all; sadly, neither have some of the problems of 1983. DN

MOONLIGHT BENJAMIN ****

Siltane (Ma Case)

Taking inspiration from Haitian poet Frankétienne, Moonlight Benjamin chooses her words carefully. Whether singing in French or Creole, the magnificence of her voice takes no prisoners. Although Benjamin now resides in France, it is clearly evident from listening to her music that her homeland, Haiti, is still very much on her mind. Siltane is a hypnotic, hi-octane clash of voodoo rhythms and blues-rock riffs; hopefully, we will be hearing a lot more of Moonlight Benjamin in 2019. DN

REFREE ****

La Otra Mitad (Tak:til)

This fella, from Barcelona and named Raül, has followed a familiar musical pattern from punk bands to tinkly instrumental folk, which forms the backbone of much of this album. There’s more to it than that, though: tasked to soundtrack a Spanish movie, La Otra Mitad uses audio from the movie itself rather than simply scoring scenes. The result splices toasty ambient drift with jolts of weirder guitar wrangling and flamenco, a style Refree often encounters in his day job as a record producer. NG

R. SEILIOG ****

Megadoze (Turnstile)

Megadoze might be dance music, but if it’s bangers you’re after, you’re looking in the wrong place. Basslines are largely absent; beats are muffled electronic pulses; the songs are delicate and carefully constructed studies in ambient drift rather than brutish forward propulsion, infused with warmth and the gentle rhythms of the natural world. DC Offset shimmers and twinkles especially brightly, while Portals and Zemlya transport the listener to a sunset rave at a Tibetan mountaintop temple. An escapist delight. BW

THE STEEL WOODS *****

Old News (Thirty Tigers)

Holy moly! Whoa, these guys are the real deal. No pretending here. This Southern rock band blends blues, bluegrass, folk, good ol’country, heavy metal and R&B into the stew of past and present. Their sophomore album deals with facing down death, loss and cheatin’ but offers hope and recovery. Catch the guitars on Blind Lover and Whipping Post. All the haters need to listen to Old News which preaches unity not divisiveness. A future classic. RLR

SUBJECTIVE ***

Act One – Music For Inanimate Objects (Sony Music Masterworks)

Subjective is legendary junglist (and slightly less legendary Eastenders hardman) Goldie plus James Davidson, one half of the Metalheadz-signed Ulterior Motive. If you’re expecting some straight-up drum’n’bass then you should clock the label: Masterworks is Sony’s classical imprint and Act One is instead an album of luscious strings, shimmering electronics and epic soundscapes. It sounds very expensive and is exquisitely constructed, but all a little bit safe, a little bit dinner party background music. SE

VARIOUS *

A Very Monotreme Christmas (Monotreme)

Formerly reputable label Monotreme, incubator for post-rock-leaning types like 65Daysofstatic and This Will Destroy You, have pumped pure catnip into your inner Grinch here, in the form of a madly sugary festive selection. Mostly covers, they’re lining up for kickings: Oliver Spalding turns Mud’s Lonely This Christmas into a moist-eyed John Lewis ad; 2000 Miles, in Stumbleine’s hands, becomes glittered treacle, and actual good band Thee More Shallows deserve defenestration for their cutesy, bouncy, shitey Santa Baby. A very noxious eggnog. WS

VENOM ***

Storm The Gates (Spinefarm)

With Cronos, the only original member left in the band, now overseeing proceedings, extreme metal forefathers Venom are back with album number 15. Storm The Gates has its moments. I Dark Lord is classic Venom and Bring Out Your Dead is a great little headbanger. Probably a victim of their own early success, it’s ot a bad album by anybody else’s standards, but this is Venom we are talking about. CA

XXL ***

Puff O’Gigio (Bad Paintings)

Probably not the agonizing darkfest you might imagine from a collaboration between US intensity merchants Xiu Xiu and deliberately mysterious, Swans-affiliated Italian rock band Larsen, Puff O’Gigio’s brief sketches still disquiet as they entertain. Bar one oddly breezy number, claustrophobic and unnerving moods are conjured via guitar scrapes, field recordings, nervy drums and snatches of accordion. The highlight? Jamie Stewart’s sole vocal, a macabre tale in almost Slint-style spoken word, as eruptions of noise threaten to burst around him. Funny stuff. WS

SINGLES

BIG CHARACTER *****

English Girls (self-released)

Big Character emerge from Cardiff wielding an inimitable lyrical talent and a marked aptitude in producing guitar music that gets inside your ears. The two-piece of Ryan March and Oliver Blackford-Jones, formerly of Wasters, release this first single with the impressive addition of Joey Armstrong (of Californian band SWMRS) on drum duties.  A roll call for the heartbreakers and the heartbroken, English Girls captures sentimentality and revolution amidst sharp lyricism and a huge chorus, all combining to create a fitting introduction for a band you’ll no doubt be hearing more from in 2019. CC

JUNIOR BILL ***

EP (self-released)

Either by accident or design, this is a concept record – the concept being Cardiff, and the intersection of its (self-)mythology and modern reality. So there’s a song about something called the ‘Grangetown Wolf’, but also broadsides against gentrification and anti-Romany prejudice. It sounds like ska and 2-tone, as Junior Bill tend to, but is kind of a 2010s equivalent of The Hennesseys’ Cardiff After Dark. NG

MARIE DAVIDSON ****

So Right EP (Ninja Tune)

We don’t do albums of the year in here, but just so you know it’s {Working Class Woman} by Montreal’s electro asskicker Marie Davidson. Here’s a 12” EP off the back of it, with album cut So Right appearing in extended and remixed-by-John Talabot form, followed by the non-album La Ecstase and a surprisingly non-hardnut Silent Servant refix of the same. NG

PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING ***

White Star Liner (PIAS)

Had high hopes as a Titanic enthusiast for this latest historical outing. Four tracks tell of the construction, launch, sinking and discovery of the ship. Expected majesty and awe in the first half, but got their standard fare: only after do they come close to achieving a sense of finality and sombreness. A missed chance. RLR

ULVER ***
Sic Transit Gloria Mundi (House Of Mythology)

The Norwegian experimental rockers have abandoned black metal and folk metal and are now into synth-rock. There are three tracks on the download – including a Frankie Goes To Hollywood cover – but vinyl lovers get four live tracks that are far more atmospheric and slightly less poppy, which is a bonus.  LN

WARS ***

As Within /// So Without EP (A Wolf At Your Door)

From emo to screamo, Wars’ two singers have it covered. The band are tight on these four songs, and On Being More hint at some welcome sonic variety. Unfortunately, Sam Barnard’s more subtle singing gets routinely blown out of the water by Rob Vicars’ limited range of screams. After a while, the effect is lost. JPD