ALBUM REVIEWS

THE ALARM ****

Equals (The Twenty First Century Recording Company)

After an eight-year wait, Alarm fans can rejoice, for not only is this record red-hot, frontman/composer Mike Peters and wife Jules (keyboards/backing vocals) are in remission from their cancers. Looking back and towards the future but in the present, Equals brims with hope and optimism, tackling big questions of love, death, separation, battles and peace. Joining them are drummer Smiley and guitarist James Stevenson, with a guest jam from The Cult’s Billy Duffy on this double guitar and percussion-driven thundering quest. RLR

ASYLUMS ***

Alien Human Emotions (Cool Thing)

The second album from this Southend-based quartet is a dense, noisy record that owes a debt to mid-90s British rock. Each of the songs comes with strong melodies and intriguing instrument hooks, but after a few tracks a sense of sameness starts to set in, and mid-album track Millennials provides a welcome change of pace. There are a lot of ideas here, but it seems that perhaps the band would benefit from a producer able to channel those ideas in different directions. DG

BINKER AND MOSES ****

Alive In The East? (Gearbox)

The follow up to last year’s Journey To The Mountain Of Forever, this recording finds the duo exploring the same fertile improvisational territory with the aid of guest musicians. Moses’ roiling drumming provides the bedrock over which the other instrumentalists sketch abstract ideas. On How Land Learnt To Be Still Binker and guest Evan Parker weave intricate saxophone lines, while on standout track Children Of The Ultra Blacks Tori Handlsey’s harp provides rhythmic and harmonic backing to the chaotic and beautiful improvisation above it. DG

BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE ****

Gravity (Search And Destroy)

Hot on the heels of a high-billed spot at this year’s Download Festival, the Welsh metallers are back with another facemelter. It’s proved the done thing in recent times, to change a proven style, and Bullet’s latest offering brings a subtle and surprising addition of electronica and synths, meshing in nicely with the already well known heavy rock guitar. Over It and the title track are hard-hitting, while Piece Of Me and Not Dead Yet add shine to an allround fiery collection. OS

DEVIN TOWNSEND *****

Ocean Machine – Live At The Ancient Roman Theatre Plovdiv (Century Media)

The existence of this epic live album is testament to Devin Townsend’s ambition. Not only is he performing his prog-metal opus Ocean Machine in an ancient Roman amphitheatre, he’s accompanied by the Orchestra Of Plovdiv State Opera. Additionally, a fan-requested set features back-catalogue classics ranging from Storm Bending to By Your Command. If you are buying the CD or DVD, you have probably heard these songs before, though never with such raucous audience participation, zealous excitement from the band or bombastic musical arrangement. AS

DIRTY PROJECTORS ****

Lamp Lit Prose (Domino)

Dirty Projectors frontman David Longstreth lends soulful subtlety to an album that finds the six-piece collective revisiting familiar genre-blurring turf. The brazen afrobeat fizz of lead single Break-Thru and That’s A Lifestyle’s anarchic zeal reaffirms trust in the band’s leftfield reputation, with the sobering acoustic input of Fleet Foxes’ Robin Pecknold off-setting kooky tonality with a ruminative afterglow. Straddling the divide between chaos and order, the outfit prove that they have not lost the knack for playful revelry and off-kilter eclecticism. CHP

FRESCHARD & STANLEY BRINKS ***

Midnight Tequila (Fika)

Brinks is supposed to be anti-folk, but this sure sounds like country/folk with some surprises thrown in – pretty, easy-going songs about hanging out with friends and lovers, drinking, thinking and travelling. Lovely harmonizing from the French duo, with Brinks handling strings (including steel guitar) and various brass/woodwinds with Clemence F. on drums. This record grows on you: not instantly grabbing, instead offering a relaxed arm around your shoulder, then a slap on the back with the country-rap I’m The Boss. RLR

JOHNNY JEWEL ***

Themes For Television (Italians Do It Better)

Following on from January’s Digital Rain LP, synthwave mastermind Johnny Jewel returns with Themes For Television, a collection of mostly instrumental tracks originally meant for last year’s revival of Twin Peaks. Alternative versions of tracks that did make the cut are also here, including a more stripped-down rendition of Shadow. But this is a worthwhile listen in its own right, and should tide you over before the new Chromatics album finally comes out. ML

MAGIC DRUM ORCHESTRA ****

The DNA Of Rhythm (Tru Thoughts)

MDO’s Glyn ‘Bigga’ Bush has a history of off-kilter percussive dub going back to the 90s, while this project’s first album was a samba-influenced opus apparently released for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Fairly sure he hasn’t repeated that gambit here: if The DNA Of Rhythm evokes anywhere, it’s the African diaspora, with thumb pianos and fierce griot percussion utilised. In fact, this is like a friendlier version of Cut Hands, the post-Whitehouse project that links Afro-rhythms and industrial techno, which proves a worthwhile exercise. NG

MICK’S JAGUAR ****

Fame And Fortune (RidingEasy)

This New York sextet have an excruciating name (scarcely excused by their origins as a Stones cover band) and even worse album artwork, but know their way around a glam-punk strut-stomp. The selective musical timeline that forms the lyrics of Damnation includes Miles Davis, while Country & Punk seeks to highlight those genres’ common ground. Mick’s Jaguar aren’t actually that eclectic here, mind, yet in occasionally suggesting a bovver rock version of Guns N’ Roses, Fame And Fortune more than pays its dues. NG

NINE INCH NAILS ****

Bad Witch (Caroline International)

Bad Witch is the last in a trilogy of mini-albums that kicked off in 2016 with Not The Actual Events. By the time you read this NIN will have sonically demolished the Royal Festival Hall, especially if they choose to play this album’s Shit Mirror or God Break Down The Door – both as viciously innovative as anything from Broken or The Downward Spiral. NIN have gone back to their industrial roots to go forward, and still sound like no one else. DN

THE ORB ***

No Sounds Are Out Of Bounds (Cooking Vinyl)

This album may divide fans of the ambient kings – perhaps too commercial come the upbeat synthpop-dub of The End Of The End and Rush Hill Road, but they’re two of the best songs, along with the last five. Don’t worry, there’s enough atmospheric space-out sound and voice sampling to go around. Bassist Jah Wobble and Roger Eno (gorgeous piano) guest along with others like super vocalists Rianna (she also contributes some lovely poetry) Andy Caine, Hollie Cook, Emma Gillespie and Mary Pearce. RLR

PARADISE LOST ***

Believe In Nothing (Nuclear Blast)

Not satisfied with the production and overall presentation of the album on its initial release in 2000, Halifax doom lords Paradise Lost have remixed and remastered the tracks and now present them in the form that was originally intended. Representing a more gothic rock side to the band, this record owes as much to Sisters Of Mercy as it does to Saint Vitus. A brave move, they took the band in a new direction and it worked wonderfully. CA

ROSS FROM FRIENDS ****

Family Portrait (Brainfeeder)

After soundtracking the lo-fi house movement with Talk To Me, You’ll Understand, Ross From Friends aka Felix Weatherall is no longer the producer with the funny name. Fresh from revered performances at Berghain’s Panorama Bar and Maida Vale Studios, one of the pioneers of the trendy new electronic genre brings about an intimate and genuinely exciting sonic production in Family Portrait, that will sound as grippingly intoxicating at the afterparty as it does amongst the 1am smoke and lights. CC

SAVE FACE ****

Merci (Epitaph)

Both frantically energetic and pleasantly melodic, Merci perfects a punk/alternative hybrid. From Bad to Blues, the hooks are powerful, the performances are lively and the alterations between sung and screamed vocals from Tyler Povanda are impassioned. On another note, moments like Pour are reflective and mellow, proving that Save Face can be more than just loud production and fast riffs. I would recommend a listen for any fan of good pop-punk, especially if you are looking for a much-needed jolt of freshness and excitement from the genre. AS

SOOTHSAYERS ****

Tradition (Wah Wah 45s)

Tradition leans more towards groove-funk than reggae, which was a little disappointing and not the upbeat/uplifting sound I’d expected, but nonetheless by track seven I found my shoulders swaying to the beat. Lyrics are intelligent, with a political message; Watching The Stars is reggae with jazz vocals and Bob Marley’s Natural Mystic has been transformed into an instrument for horns and flutes which conjures up images of the Serengeti. This album deserves a listen because it may be a slow-burner. LN

STAGGA ***

Project 13 (Fat Fridge)

Cardiff producer Stagga rewinds to the days of FWD>> and is all about the wobbly sub-bass, sine waves and ragga vocals on Project 13. And there’s some interesting ideas amongst the early dubstep workouts, such as the footwork-like Get Down, the braggadocio rap of Drama and the squelchy Moves. But ultimately, it’s a bit like a Billy bookcase from IKEA – it feels constructed rather than created. Still, it does the job and could easily fall apart in less-skilled hands. SE

TONY MOLINA ****

Kill The Lights (Slumberland)

Drawing on influences from the Beatles to the Byrds, Molina flaunts his influences proudly. While that can be seen to be a bad thing, nothing feels stale or uninspired. Each of the 10 songs barely run over a minute in length, yet make every second a delight. From the joyously upbeat Nothing I Can Say to the mournful Now That She’s Gone, precise guitar work, relatable lyricism and an acute sense of melody make Kill The Lights a charming listening experience. AS

WARP TRANSMISSION ***

The Process Ultra (Creepy Crawl)

Heavy psych bands are hardly in short supply – which is, essentially, Warp Transmission’s problem. While it’s certainly hard for those of us of this particular musical persuasion to dislike the Finnish crew’s second LP, it’s also hard to discern any distinctive or unique qualities. The Process Ultra comes with a seal of approval from ex-Monster Magnet man John McBain (he mastered it) and Wipeout is a high-octane headrush, but other tracks drift by, too short and sketchy to make much of an impression. BW

THE WAVE PICTURES ****

Brushes With Happiness (Moshi Moshi)

Releasing a collection of songs recorded on first take, on one night, with only the lyrics written beforehand, and with all three band members drunk or high or both? It sounds like a guaranteed recipe for an unlistenable abomination – and in less talented hands it would be. But The Wave Pictures have honed their craft over countless albums and are so attuned to each other that the results of the improvisation feel impressively natural: downbeat, brooding, bluesy meanders illuminated by David Tattersall’s distinctive vocals. BW

SINGLES REVIEWS

LOS BLANCOS ****

Clarach / Cadi (Libertino)

For Carmarthen’s Los Blancos, college rock is not a relic of the 90s overshadowed by grunge but a continual source of sustenance and inspiration. Both tracks on this double A-side single strike a perfect balance between scuzz and melody. Fuzz-pop gem Cadi fizzes along like Guided By Voices, while Clarach has the languid lope of an early Pavement song left out to melt in the sun. BW

INAYA DAY ***

Special Love (Guy Scheiman Music)

The “miracle of technology” enabled NYC dance and progressive house icon Inaya Day to collaborate with Tel Aviv-based DJ/producer Guy Scheiman on this new single from all the way across the Atlantic Ocean. Pure feelgood 90s vibes here, with a tune and beat that’s sure to fill dancefloors and festival tents across the globe this summer. OS

MADISON WASHINGTON ****

Baytrified / Djedet (Def Pressé)

This double single release is full of one-liners that will send you reeling. Djedet could, lyrically, come straight from Janelle Monáe with its continual riffing on Afrofuturism themes. Baytrified’s P-Funk groove sits beneath scathing lyrics that document the history the Bay Area from its immigrant beginnings to its current gentrification. JPD

 

THE REVENGE **

Roar Groove Meets Dirt Crew Vol. 3 (Dirt Crew)

This largely uninspired disco/house set only really shows any originality on track two. Subconscious is a genuinely inventive mix of vocal loops, beat shifts and slow burn, perfect for the long dance jam. The rest might be good field fodder for midnight summer madness but doesn’t stand up to repeat listening when sober. JPD

RICK ASTLEY ***

Beautiful Life (BMG)

His voice is smooth, the music is jaunty but at two minutes and 53 seconds Beautiful Life is over before it has time to get going. It’s impressive that Rick wrote, produced and played every instrument on the track, nonetheless; the lyrics lack substance but it’s a sunny song that will probably be rolled out all summer. LN

ZABRINSKI ****

Unreleased And Unheard EP (International Waters)

Back at the turn of the millennium, Zabrinski were a promising Welsh band making psychedelic music in the vein of Gorky’s and SFA. They released four albums, before splitting in 2007. This EP of unreleased music from 2006 precedes their new album and serves as an excellent introduction to their music. Recommended. DG