Electric Retro Spectrum – Sub-Urban. Forgive them the name, for they are French, but this is a fearsome slab of Sonic Youth-esque noise rock: https://electricretrospectrum.bandcamp.com/album/sub-urban-pre-order-now
All Them Witches – ATW. Looks like they’ve gone down to being a trio on this album, which perhaps explains the dominance of a more blues rock sound – or perhaps not. Not as immediate as their last one (Sleeping Through The War), but they’re still capable of casually dropping brilliants tracks like this: https://allthemwitches.bandcamp.com/track/robs-dream
XXL – Puff O’Gigio. Erm, ‘modern’ psych I guess in that it sounds like the people who made it – this is a collaboration between experimental types Xiu Xiu and Larsen – have an inkling as to what’s happened in music since 1975. But it’s still ‘psych’… No, I don’t know what I’m talking about either, but pretty good: https://soundcloud.com/badpaintings/10-queen-of-koalas
Mikael Tariverdiev – Seventeen Moments Of Spring. Russian composer and film soundtrack guy who in my ignorance I shall refer to as a Soviet John Barry. Anyway, this is the first British issue of his music for a Russian 70s spy drama that everybody got very excited about at the time apparently… The kind of record that Broadcast would have loved and maybe even managed to get their mitts on… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kW5EUwBbJPM
Hedvig Mollestad Trio – Smells Funny
Paula Rae Gibson & Kit Downes – Emotion Machine
Vinnum Sabbathi / Cegvera – The Good Earth Is Dying
Keto – Blackened Pool
Flaming Youth – Ark 2. Never heard this before, Phil Collins’ band before Genesis. It’s a psych/orch concept album about leaving the dying earth to find a new life among the stars… which sounds great on paper, but is actually pretty awful. Still, check the break at the start of this track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTnB1pIHyCQ
Julian’s Treatment – A Time Before This. Quite similar to the above, though not quite as bad. The main guy behind the band was actually a sci-fi writer. Lots of portentous organ and some Spinal Tap-ish vocals.
The Vinyl Countdown – K is for…
Kitchens Of Distinction – Love Is Hell. Somewhere between angsty indie and shoegazey dream pop, this is one of those albums I’m slightly surprised is in my collection, as I think even at the time it wasn’t completely my thing. However, I did really love the single, and it still sounds tremendous: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_9DXMREQVE
L is for…
Robert Fripp – The League Of Gentlemen. Err, misfiled under ‘L’ I now realise, though TLOG were an actual band, rather than just Fripp back-up players. He wanted to make a ‘dance’ record, and this is the result, basically a premonition of the King Crimson of Discipline, but with a 4/4 beat. Never re-released (why??), it is quite wonderful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPQWHEu_rqQ&t=2202s
Live:
Hawkwind, London Palladium. With the Mike Batt orchestra… I went out of curiosity more than anything, and was for the most part pleasantly surprised (particularly after the damp squib of the Road To Utopia album). ‘The Golden Void’ was a highlight, as was a completely unhinged version of ‘Sonic Attack’ courtesy of mad bloke Arthur Brown.
Jane Weaver, Hackney Arts Club. Blimey, two gigs in two nights, unheard of these days. Anyway, this was Ms. Weaver flying solo with just a few tape loops, some vintage keys and her computer for company. Pretty trippy man, if a little samey over the entire length of a gig, you definitely miss the subtleties and production of the albums.
|
