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Soundtracks of Our Lives week ending 13 May 2017 CE
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Fatalist
Fatalist
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Edited May 14, 2017, 23:32
Re: Soundtracks of Our Lives week ending 13 May 2017 CE
May 14, 2017, 23:30
Hawkwind – Into The Woods. For a band approaching their 50th anniversary, this ain’t half bad. The title track in particular is a grinding delight and there’s a few other decent tunes. Much more of a ‘live’ feel than The Machine Stops, which for the most part is a good thing. And new bassist Haz Wheaton really does sound like Lemmy in places. However, there’s the usual caveats – just about every song is too long, the vocals are often muffled, and the production is a bit wayward. Be great if on the next album Brock handed the production and engineering duties over to somebody else eg. Steven Wilson, but I realise that’s unlikely to happen… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVZ_kzjqr6o

Noveller – A Pink Sunset For No One. This is good, ambient guitar soundscapes from arty New York lady, sometimes very Fripp & Eno, quite a dark edge to the material: https://noveller.bandcamp.com/album/a-pink-sunset-for-no-one

Walrus – Family Hangover. American slacker psych. I really liked the single: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMcV9a5tYoo but overall it’s a bit meh.

Stephan Meidell – Metrics. One of the guys from Cakewalk. Glitchy, avant garde systems music, The Wire would love it, me less so.

Bardo Pond – Under The Pines. Pretty mystified by the enduring popularity of these guys, as they’ve always sounded distinctly second tier to me, and so it is again here. Everything’s played at that sludgy mid-tempo, chord changes are laboriously telegraphed, vocals aren’t quite in tune. Oh, and they’ve discovered Americana, one of my least favourite genres…

All Them Witches – Sleeping Through The War. And then to completely contradict myself, here’s another album that has an Americana aspect, but is easily one of the year’s best. The fact they chuck in post-hardcore, shoegaze, desert rock and prog, and write some great songs, is what makes the difference: https://allthemwitches.bandcamp.com/album/sleeping-through-the-war

ToiToiToi – Im Hag. Tried to like this, but it’s not Ghost Box’s finest hour. Like a German version of Belbury Poly, but without the charm or sinister portent.

Bob Mould – Workbook. His first album after Husker Du, has a slightly over-polished, Serious Adult Artist sound, but some good songs. Though it’s the angry/sad ones that work best: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75VNKc8Aduk

Listen With Father:

Laika – Sounds Of The Satellites. Great album from 1997, experimental indie trip hop, but with a wonderfully spacey atmosphere. Some lovely synth and flute work too. The eldest has been a fan for a while: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcollsIir80

H is for…

High Tide – Sea Shanties. So, in the days before the internet, when finding out about older music involved trying to piece together clues from the press, record fairs and word-of-mouth, I had heard of this band/album because Simon House of Hawkwind had been in them. However, apart from the fact it was so rare that you never saw a copy, I had figured that, judging by the name and House having also played violin for the Third Ear Band (which again I’d only heard about via Neil’s Book Of The Dead), that this was probably some negligible folk rock oddity. When I finally got to hear it, in fact from the first 10 seconds on, I realised just how wrong I’d been. Without doubt, it’s one of the heaviest, most-evil sounding records of 1969, and is bloody great. Imagine a caustic mix of The Doors, Hendrix and Sabbath, or easier, just take a listen to this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHIQkfp0s68
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