ALBUMS
ANDREW WK *****
You’re Not Alone (Music For Nations)
From his early days in noise experimentalists Wolf Eyes, to his current role as the most positive man on the planet, Andrew WK is someone who uniquely treads his own path. This 16-song collection of upbeat and powerful songs, interspersed with motivational speeches, is a call to arms to pull yourself out of whatever funk you’re in, and to run headfirst at life. Andrew WK is one the greatest examples of what it is to be a human making music and is a true inspiration. GM
The fourth LP by the Swedish experimentalist sees her move further into darker and less accessible material, away from her more art-pop leanings. The church organ is still the bedrock of her sound, but instead of three-minute bursts of off-kilter melodies, we have something denser, closer to a Swans vibe (no surprise given that she’s toured with them as support). It’s hard work at times, but brilliantly effective and thunderously evocative, Von Hausswolff’s expressive, gushing fountain of a voice spraying colour over a monochrome metallic crunch. FT
CASEY ***
Where I Go When I Am Sleeping (Hassle)
Don’t let {Making Weight}, the melodic opening song on Casey’s second album, fool you. What follows is a shock of screamo punk – then, after a short instrumental, it’s back to melody and soft vocals, but just as you think you know where the album is going, it doesn’t. Unpredictability can be an asset but this combination of styles is unsettling: the lyrics are personal and the punk rock jarring, which is a shame because when it’s nice, it’s very, very nice. LN
CAVERN OF ANTI-MATTER ****
Any electronica album which is built upon modular synths, 70s drum machines, and home-built rhythm machines with the splendid names of Taktron Z2 and Z3 is an automatic winner, but this one really is the bee’s artificial knees. Opener {Malfunction} is an ever-evolving motorik groove over 15 minutes, with a repeating 70s synth motif and spangly arpeggios. {Phase Modulation Shuffle} is a warp speed version of Stereolab’s {Miss Modular} and {Automatic Morning} starts off all Roy Ayers blaxploitation and mutates into early Tangerine Dream. CS
COURTNEY MARIE ANDREWS ****
May Your Kindness Remain (Loose)
The 27-year-old Arizona native – with outstanding, down-to-earth songwriting and singing putting a in lump in your throat and an ache in your belly – tells of struggling US times when cash poor but having hope with good people around. Taking inspiration from Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt, Andrews is a little bit country, rock, folk, gospel and soul. Awake-in-the-pew organ and guitar throughout, especially on hard-driving {Border} and ole-time {This House}. She belts out the title track and more but can be sultry-sweet, too. RLR
Mr Dynamite (Bella Union)
Far from a horror compendium, Creep Show is John Grant having synthesised fun with Wrangler. The titular track is a sinister cousin of Grant’s {Pale Green Ghosts}; the robotic intonations of {Tokyo Metro} over LCD Soundsystem synth and 8-bit pitter-patter shows the chromosomes of Cabaret Voltaire, as does the dystopian dislocated digitalia of {K Mart Johnny} and the Kraftwerkian {Fall}. Daft fun arrives in the electro-rap of {Modern Parenting}, with Grant coming across all Jermaine from the Conchords. CS
EDITORS ****
Violence (PIAS)
Editors have tweaked their post-punk influenced sound since unleashing 2015’s rather successful {In Dream} album. {Violence} does not overstay its welcome: the dark, industrial-pop edge of its nine tracks are really quite sparse and, at the same time, extremely grand. A bleak celebration, with Benjamin John Power (aka Blanck Mass) helping Leo Abrahams out with production, seems to have paid off. What {Violator} is to Depeche Mode, {Violence} could become for Editors: their best album yet. DN
EMBRACE *****
Love Is A Basic Need (Cooking Vinyl)
{Love Is A Basic Need} takes Embrace back to basics. Songs are tight and many – such as Where You Sleeping and Horseshoe In My Glove – have an anthemic feel. Stand-out track is {Never}, a duet with Danny Mac and Kerri Watt. Comparing Embrace to Hozier is a compliment, though unfair because the Yorkshire lads were around first, but this new album has the same gospel edge and rugged vocals. Instantly likeable. LN
World Beyond (Mute)
The synth-pop stalwarts’ 18th studio release sees the enlistment of post-classical cohort Echo Collective to reinterpret 2017 album {World Be Gone}, lending Andy Bell’s sweeping vocals a suitably grandiose dimension that accentuates the outfit’s lyrical bite. Firmly engaged with current affairs on tracks such as {Oh What A World}, the duo’s tenacious wit remains intact, providing commentary on dogma and the legitimacy of information in an ostensibly post-truth society. {World Beyond} showcases the electronic outfit’s versatility and zeal to transcend predictability. CHP
GINGER WILDHEART ***
Ghost In The Tanglewood (Graphite)
A solo offering without The Wildhearts in tow, this country folk offering brings out the much mellower, chilled side of Ginger. Having suffered with depression, the Northern rocker deals mostly with the sensitive subject of mental health; while the singer finds a relief in this release, the confessional nature of the lyrics and storytelling is poignant. A rollercoaster of highs and lows from what must have been a pretty daunting journey makes for an interesting listen. OS
JOAN AS POLICE WOMAN ****
Damned Devotion (Play It Again Sam)
Over sparse 70s and 80s vibes, mostly percussion and keyboards, Joan Wasser uses her sensuous, smokey voice on intimate confessions, not afraid to show vulnerability along with toughness. She’s been burnt but still wants trust and is open to the possibility. Incorporating r’n’b, soul and electro, songs about love and all that, including the fab single {Tell Me}, {Valid Jagger}, {Silly Me} and the lovely father tribute {What Was It Like}, show an LP that’s very personal but never mawkish. RLR
You Never Know Who’s Listening (AntiFragile)
In stark contrast to his earlier days busking on the streets, 2017 proved a productive year, and this full release seems like a step in the right direction for Aberdare local John Adams. A personal, musical journey is evident here, as the Welshman and his piano knock out an individual, defining style of singer-songwriting. Citing influences from Jameses Blunt and Morrison, as well as David Gray and Sam Smith, songs like {Coming Home} show a great combination of various musical skills. OS
THE MEN ***
Drift (Sacred Bones)
Ah, The Men. The Cardiff City Football Club of Brooklyn-based rock bands; predictably unpredictable. Back on the estimable Sacred Bones label after the pedestrian {Devil Music}, this record sits – rating-wise – in between one of the best albums to come out on said label (2011’s {Leave Home}) and the most truly, astonishingly bad (2014’s {Tomorrow’s Hits}). {Killed Someone} harks back to those heady days of raw, distortional power but aside from the interesting dirge of {Final Prayer}, it’s mediocre at best. BG
RICHARD YOUNGS ****
Belief (O Genesis)
Richard Youngs welcomes listeners via a dirge dripping with dread, followed by humble, hesitant vocals singing of existential anguish – like Robert Wyatt stuck in a lift with Scott Walker. This combination of charmingly unaffected singing drifting spectrally over an anxious sound-bed continues over 11 gnomic songs, the highlight being {Caledonia Running Out Of My Mind} whose titular mantra reaches the harmonically beautiful highs of Low. Recorded in a studio flat in Glasgow, this album feels far more expansive than those confines suggest. AJ
TABLE SCRAPS **
Autonomy (Zen Ten)
Hey, I thought drummers were supposed to ruin bands! It would be very unfair to blame the addition of a bassist to Table Scraps’ drums/guitar/shouting two-piece setup for spoiling their brew but {something} has happened – while earlier tunes showed a pleasingly creepy Cramps-y, Stooges-y racket, this second album finds the Birmingham band very much treading water in the garage-pop shallow end. {Autonomy} struts, snarls, raises your hopes with one slightly glam-tinged song, but mostly rushes past, unmemorably. I dunno, add a trombonist. WS
Record (Unmade Road)
Last year’s diabolical and worrying world events made Tracey Thorn put down her pen for a while and get back to making music. Ewan Pearson provides the synths and electro beats, and the end result is pretty damn special. Liberation and identity are the recurring themes that crop up on Record. Warpaint’s rhythm section and Corinne Bailey Rae guest on the extremely apt and mighty Women’s March-inspired song {Sister}. Don’t let this album pass you by. DN
TURBOWOLF ****
The Free Life (So)
“We tried to go back to how we used to write songs at the start. But also, we tried to make it the strangest album we’ve ever made. The only attitude was to embrace the strange,” says Andy Ghosh, guitarist of high-energy Bristol rockers Turbowolf. And strange it is… but in a very good way. Standout track {Domino} is a belter, featuring Royal Blood bassist Mike Kerr, while various other guest spots are taken up by members of Idles and Death From Above. OS
TY *****
A Work Of Heart (Jazz Re:freshed)
Returning for his first long player since 2010, Ty, a consummate pioneer of British hip-hop, continues to breathe new life into a classic formula. Entirely self-produced, these tracks are an insightful reflection of his journey as an artist, together with finger-on-the-pulse musings on society. Soulful, jazzy refrains are plentiful, not to mention guest spots from the likes of Tall Black Guy, Rootz Wayne Francis and Umar Bin Hassan, making this album a delight from start to finish. CPI
UB40 FEATURING ALI, ASTRO & MICKEY ***
A Real Labour Of Love (UMC)
Undoubtedly, this album is rooted in nostalgia, yet lacks the variety and experimentation that made their debut album {Signing Off} such a pleasure. A few tracks, like {In The Rain} and {How Can I Leave}, provide longing vocal melodies and a unique storytelling ability; amidst this, a jarring cover of Barrington Levy’s {Here I Come} appears and then settling with anti-cocaine track {Under Me} with its Daft Punk-esque bass riff. A seemingly halfhearted attempt that ends up closer to pop than UB40’s prime product. CP
THE VACCINES ****
Combat Sports (Columbia)
Justin Young and co are set to release their fourth studio album after a three-year hiatus; its predecessor, {English Graffiti}, signalled a more experimental avenue for The Vaccines, and had chart and critical success yet left many fans underwhelmed. {Combat Sports}’ lead single {I Can’t Quit}, is vintage Vaccines, hook-happy and melodic, but skip to {Take It Easy} and {Nightclub} to hear these guys back to their best. The band also have a nine-day UK tour in April. DC
SINGLES
Rock ’n’ Roll Music (Rise Above)
Equally remindful of a {Blue Peter} time capsule and a {Blue Peter} vandalised garden, Italy’s glam-punk hooligan genii Giuda’s new single slaps as hard as the handclaps which serve as half its rhythm. {Rock ’n’ Roll Music} has T. Rex under one arm, Cock Sparrer the other, and is treating both to wicked noogies. NG
HOTEL DEL SALTO ****
Yellow Rose (Libertino)
Hotel Del Salto is the pseudonym of Carmarthen’s premier experimentalist J Francis. He’s been pumping out the odd (quite literally) single here and there for the past couple of years and this is easily the most accessible thus far, bringing J’s voice to the fore. Libertino onto yet another winner. BG
LILY BEAU ***
Treiddia’r Mur (Newsoundwales)
Translating as ‘Tear Me Down’, this is an earnest, piano-driven ballad from someone who is no doubt still to produce their best work. Whilst the structure and instrumentation is somewhat predictable, I get the sneaking suspicion that Lily Beau’s voice will lend itself to something much more challenging in the future. BG
Brain EP (Castle Face)
American musos with a rager for the 1970s double down on this priapism with a four-song EP which is both prog rock and yacht rock. It’s got twinkly mellotron and cooingly laidback vocals and the sort of production that would have cost several times more 40 years ago, even before adjusting for inflation. You might hate it but that’s your problem. NG
OWAIN GWILYM ****
Terminal Flow EP (Owlet)
On this brief but interesting record, producer Owain Gwilym plays a piano in sync with data captured from the movement of Norwegian glaciers. More than a fascinating concept, the music created by Gwilym’s idiosyncratic method is eminently enjoyable and certainly livelier than the idea suggests it might be. An oddity worth seeking out. HR
STEREORIPE ***
Sun Med (self-released)
Notes I made when listening to this go as follows; “Catchy as fuck but sounds so cheap. Kind of like when they started charging for polyphonic ringtones. Casio PSS-470? No, Yamaha.” Conclusion: hugely enjoyable if just for the fact it sounds like the theme music for every Commodore Amiga game I ever owned. BG