The Advisory Circle – Ways Of Seeing. 2018 is shaping up to be a year of some very good releases already if this and the following are anything to go by. It’s tempting to suppose that Jon Brook could probably do this stuff in his sleep by now, but he is the undisputed king of all things radiophonic/hauntological, and this is another great album of that BoC meets 80s synth pop meets BBC science doc sound: https://soundcloud.com/ghost-box/sets/waysofseeing
A Hawk And A Hacksaw – Forest Bathing. Knew the name, but had never knowingly heard anything by them before, which is odd, because this album is right up my strasse. It’s full of Turkish/eastern-leaning rhythms and sounds, but also has a lush psych/prog feel, and lashings of Mellotron, which is always a good thing. This one really reminds me of Hawkwind’s ‘Wind Of Change’ (and not the Scorpions’ song of the same name – bit of a faux pas when I made this comparison on Twitter…): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrgopv2fNxg
The Star Pillow – Symphony For An Intergalactic Brotherhood. I can take or leave most drone music, but this is rather wonderful: https://boringmachines.bandcamp.com/album/the-star-pillow-symphony-for-an-intergalactic-brotherhood
Christina Vantzou – No. 4. Experimental ambient lady from Belgium – this album is a lot better/listenable/accessible than that short description implies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63IjNzbSFTM
The Nightcrawlers – The Biophonic Boombox Recordings
The Vinyl Countdown – D:
Diamond Head – Living On… Borrowed Time. Fallen a bit behind with this project due to lack of time in the evenings, but am now confidently back on track… Goodness, I realise I could write reams about this album, despite not having played it in decades. Suffice to say, Diamond Head were the NWOBHM band that I decided to back out of Iron Maiden, Def Leppard etc, which perhaps displays a love of the underdog or more likely an inability to pick a winner. Anyway, this was DH’s ‘official’ debut, coming out in the same year as IM’s The Number Of The Beast, which was the scene’s first (only?) serious breakthrough album (though I’m guessing Saxon might have something to say about that). Anyway, Borrowed Time is a curious collection from a band that, looking back, didn’t know whether they wanted to be Led Zeppelin or Bon Jovi. Or AC/DC. Or Sabbath. Shocking production too. And yet, there are some great songs (or at least parts of songs) here, and it’s surprisingly restrained/mature given its vintage. I seem to recall it was pretty well-received at the time – and they had a massive influence on the subsequent American metal/thrash scene, particularly Metallica – but DH were not a lucky band… Anyway, there is no better illustration of the fine line between clever and stupid than this slice of devil-signing genius: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMvSSLZPC9w
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