THIS WEEK’S NEW ALBUMS REVIEWED | FEATURE
AQUILES NAVARRO & TCHESER HOLMES
Heritage Of The Invisible II (International Anthem)
More deeply fly rearranging of your head by means of jazz from the Chicago label International Anthem, who I was moved to praise as recently as last month, reviewing Brooklyn duo Anteloper. Here’s another heater from the same location and with the same member count: trumpeter Aquiles Navarro was born in Toronto and studied in Boston, where he met percussionist and NYC native Tscheser Holmes [both pictured – photo credit Denis Batuev]. Their respective Panamanian and Pan-African identities informed the music they made together, including as two-fifths of Irreversible Entanglements, a hugely fiery free jazz unit also on this label, and Heritage Of The Invisible II – their first physical release as a duo – swans across the globe in radical, inspired style.
At times this album could be a recording from the creative height of New York’s 1970s jamming-in-a-loft jazz scene, a piece like Plantains pitting Navarro’s defiant brass against Holmes’ unmappable drum trickery. Pueblo exhibits its Latin influence loud and clear; a number of guests are dotted throughout the 10 tracks, each credited with “imagination” as well as their given instruments, and on M.O.N.K (Most Only Never Knew) the always-entertaining forced referential acronym hides a deft solo piano turn by Nick Sanders. To lend Heritage… a hypermodern angle, its closing track is a remix of Navarro and Holmes’ playing by Madam Data, an electronic composer from Philadelphia who turns them into something you definitely wouldn’t have encountered in the 70s.
words NOEL GARDNER
III (In The Red)
In a year when certainties have evaporated into the ether, at least you can be sure that any record featuring Ty Segall will be worth your time and your dime. As the stupendously prolific Californian’s solo material has generally and gradually reined in the riffage, Fuzz – the hard rock power trio ensemble also starring Charles Moothart and Chad Ubovich, for whom he’s on drum duties – appear to have functioned as a release valve.
Following their self-titled 2013 debut and 2015’s II, the Steve Albini-produced III is further evidence of a no messin’ attitude, not least to album names. Returning roars straight off the starting line, wasting no time in burning some serious rubber, and songs seemingly spawned by sweaty nights of passion between Sabbath and Stooges abound.
At just eight tracks, III is too short, and it doesn’t come close to touching Manipulator or Emotional Mugger – but let’s not hold it against Segall for having set such a high bar and instead just enjoy the ride.
words BEN WOOLHEAD
My Echo (Bella Union)
Laura Veirs keeps delivering elegant songcraft with remarkable consistency on her 11th album, which soundtracks her separation from husband – and album producer – Tucker Martine. Over a year, Laura converted her poems into songs, the words exposing the subconscious battle to keep the marriage from disintegrating. Despite the tensions, the studio was a creative space, with Tucker swaddling the songs in a warm blanket, texturing with subtle electronics weaving in and out while guitar, piano, brass and swooning strings add layers or drive the gold standard indie/country/folk melodies.
As ever, the songs are grounded in nature while gazing at the stars, as in Memaloose Island, but never from the gutter – even though the breakup is laid bare on several songs, such as Vapour Trail (“you’re here for a moment and then you’re gone” and Turquoise Walls (“Dr Jekyll, Mr Hyde / Oh I felt so crazy inside … brewing on the bed I felt the worst version of myself.”)
In Another Space And Time is a breezy bossa nova, adorned with super furry guitars and tasteful sax solo, about living in the present and how “the day that the internet died / We found peace of mind”. End Times makes the apocalypse a wonderful thing and I Sing To The Tall Man invites you to “come and rest a while in my song”. This is comforting music for dark times.
words CHRIS SEAL
Forgotten Days (Nuclear Blast)
The fourth studio album from this Arkansas four-piece is a mixture of discord and harmony. Brett Campbell’s vocals are easy on the ear and there are some wonderful melodic guitar riffs that are worth persevering for, but generally it seems as if something went amiss in the editing process that put the instruments out of synch.
Pallbearer have been likened to Black Sabbath and if you listen hard enough you can spot the latter’s influence. Silver Wings is a standout track, with its rousing instrumental interludes, while Caledonia is lyrically catchy. An especially dense, drum/bass-heavy album with infrequent moments of light, Forgotten Days isn’t quite the sum of its parts but if you’re a fan of doom metal it’s worth giving it a chance.
words LYNDA NASH
91 Days In Isolation (SRC)
This will be the second Slow Readers Club album to hit the racks during this troublesome year, The Joy Of The Return having gone top 10 in March; 91 Days In Isolation, meanwhile, was written remotely during lockdown, with each band member contributing ideas. Once there was some respite from lockdown, the album was recorded and finished in a recording studio in Bury.
It’s commendable that this group [pictured – photo credit Paul Husband] have remained in constant contact with their fans throughout this pandemic, by being endlessly creative. Life would be a hell of a lot worse now without new music, and should musicians be made to retrain and dump their instruments in the nearest canal? Hell no! The immediacy of 91 Days’ songs, entwined with a raucous postpunk guitar energy, seems like a continuation of its predecessor. Comparisons can be made to The Cure, Joy Division and Exit Calm, but The Slow Readers Club are no copyists, and this album pushes all the right buttons.
words DAVID NOBAKHT
