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Tracklisting;

1. Space 1999 – Main Theme
2. Man or Astro-man? – U-Uranus
3. Beastie Boys – Intergalactic
4. Brakes – Don’t Take Me To Space – Man
5. God is an Astronaut – Suicide By Star
6. Monster Magnet – Space Lord
7. Muse – Space Dementia
8. The Sword – Warp Riders
9. Solar Bears – Twin Stars
10. Prodigy – Out of Space
11. Hawkwind – Master of the Universe
12. Amplifier – Interstellar
13. A Flock of Seagulls – Space Age Love Song
14. Lemon Jelly – Space Walk
15. Spiritualized – Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space
16. Slowdive – Souvlaki Space Station
17. Eat Static – Xenomorph
18. Clint Mansell – Welcome to Lunar Industries
19. Eluvium – Indoor Swimming at the Space Station

Another month nearly gone, and another month crammed with some rather fantastic music!

I am going to start off with a couple of records I need to say thank you to Jericho at Symbiotic Reviews for highlighting; Disappears and Doc Waffles. Two very different acts, both unknown to me at the time of discovery, but I am rather glad I found them.

Disappears – Pre Language (Kranky)

Hailing from Chicago, this is Disappears third album of Krautrock tinged garage rock. They have a love of Neu-esque repetition but flavoured with the sweaty post punk garage rock of bands such as Obits, Wire, The Stooges or Mission of Burma. At thirty five minutes (their longest so far, 2010′s Lux was 29 minutes and 2011′s Guider was 30!) it is over rather quickly leaving me wanting to put it back in again. In fact the brevity of their releases allowed me to catch up with their back catalogue pretty quickly! It is a paradox that music that uses repetition can be so rewarding and addictive.

Doc Waffles – How To Shoot Quail (self released)

Doc Waffles (aka Ben Ness) is a hip-hop artist from Detroit and How To Shoot Quail is his debut full length release (available for any amount you choose at his Bandcamp site, link above). Filled with samples, literary references and slightly surreal imagery, it reminds me a bit of Buck 65 in that although he raps and spits rhymes with the best of ‘em his original choices of subject matter make him stand out above your average hip-hop MC, to these usually guitar loving Brit ears anyway!

MAKE – Trephine (self released)

From hip-hop to heaviness! For this one I need to say thanks to The Quietus and their Columnus Metallicus. Mentioning post-metal and post-rock in a review these days can potentially drive people away from what is sometimes seen as a tired, overdone genre. But I am still a big fan and the column was quick to point out that Chapel Hill, North Carolina’s MAKE, er, make music that as well as the aforementioned post- stuff also has a strong flavour of Melvins style sludge, Kyuss style stoner rock, gravel vocals so low in the mix they are barely audible and so many powerful, head nodding riffs my horns were in the air and my neck was getting a work out before the album was half way through its 59 minutes! Whole album streaming below, the Bandcamp link is in the title if you want to go and purchase it, which of course, if you have any metal in your veins you should, post haste!

Orbital – Wonky (ACP)

The Hartnoll brothers’ last album, The Blue album was released in 2004 and was a bit of a lacklustre affair. So much so that their subsequent end/hiatus was seen as probably a good thing. But their return to the live arena in 2009 gained a rapturous response and in 2010 we heard the first new material in six years, single Don’t Stop Me/The Gun is Good. The sound was pure Orbital but after this it went quiet again. Then this month we saw the release of Wonky their first full album in eight years. I have to say, the title did not really endear me and was quite apprehensive on first listen, but there was no need, although sounding like Orbital, especially the opening track with its jumbled voice samples and twinkly synth notes, it had the urgency that was so painfully missing on the Blue album. It’s great to have you back lads!

I Like Trains – The Shallows (ILR)

As mentioned last month this is not physically released for a couple of weeks but for pre-orderers there was an immediate download available so I have been giving this regular listens over the last few weeks and it is fast becoming one of the best albums I have heard so far this year, it is definitely my favourite of theirs since the mini album Progress:Reform. First track Beacons made me realise this is the third record this year from established guitar based bands that has really embraced the synth in its sound, those other albums being The Twilight Sad’s latest and the fantastic Mark Lanegan album. Lead single Mnemosyne got played on BBC 6Music, so here’s hoping it opens up a much wider audience for these lovely, tea loving, Leeds lads!

Blacklisters – BLKLSTRS (Brew)

Starting off your debut album with a song titled “Clubfoot by Kasabian” is a master stroke! I would love to know how many hipster kids have listened to it thinking they are about to hear a Kasabian cover version getting their unexpecting face shredded by vocalist Billy Mason Wood’s indecipherable screaming! Blacklisters hail from Leeds and I have had the privilege of seeing their chaotic live show a couple of times, the first time I was immediately struck by the feeling that here were The Jesus Lizard’s natural successors, Mason Wood’s swaggering and leaping about the stage wrapping the mic cord around his head and neck, his distorted mumbled moaned/screamed vocals reminding me a lot of a certain David Yow. The insistant bass and choppy guitar also bring Albini’s Shellac or Big Black to mind. This is a record that is not trying to be acceptable to the common populace, it puts itself out there and dares you to come in and join in the noisy, messy party! This is conveyed better than words ever could by their new video for single “Trickfuck” (they’re clearly not aiming for radio play either!), it’s odd, disturbing, NSFW and not pretty, but I think it acts a great introduction to a band with more excitement and heart than a hell of a lot of more ‘successful’ bands out there. Open wide and say aaarrgghh!

Click here if you want to listen and/or subscribe!

Tracklisting;

1. Mouth Breather (from the 1991 album Goat)
2. Pastoral (from the 1990 album Head)
3. Block Buster (from the 1989 EP Pure)
4. Killer McHann (Head)
5. Puss (from the 1992 album Liar)
6. And Then The Rain (from the 1998 album Blue)
7. Nub (Goat)
8. Boilermaker (Liar)
9. Then Comes Dudley (Goat)
10. Destroy Before Reading (from the 1994 album Down)
11. Churl (from the 1996 album Shot)
12. Zachariah (Liar)
13. A Tale of Two Women (Blue)
14. Gladiator (Liar)
15. Countless Backs of Sad Losers (Down)
16. Cold Water (Blue)
17. Rope (Liar)
18. Monkey Trick (Goat)
19. Thumbscrews (Shot)
20. Happy Snakes (Blue)

So here is another playlist of the first 10 tracks spat out by my iTunes shuffle, click on the widget below to listen, track listing at the bottom the page;

1. Hüsker Dü – Visionary (from the album Candy Apple Grey)
2. Dawn of the Replicants – Hogwash Farm (from the album One Head, Two Arms, Two Legs)
3. Spiritualized – Anything More (from the album Let It Come Down)
4. Audioslave – Out Of Exile (from the album Out Of Exile)
5. The Go! Team – Keys To The City (from the album Proof Of Youth)
6. Leftfield – Melt (from the album Leftism)
7. Mogwai – Team Handed (from the album Mr. Beast)
8. The Delgados – The Past That Suits You Best (from the album The Great Eastern)
9. Kundalini Rising – Kayomani (from the album Gatecrasher Global Sound System)
10. Melvins – Hag Me (from the album Houdini Live – Endless Residency Box Set)

2012 ongoing

Thank you.

As you were.

Hawk Eyes – Ideas (Fierce Panda)

First up is an album I mentioned a couple of months ago as one I was looking forward to, and it has certainly not disappointed, the new one from Leeds rockers Hawk Eyes. Following a name change (from Chickenhawk) they have also taken a slight stylistic shift in direction. Following medical advice Paul Astick has reigned in his full on screaming vocals which has, aside from saving his vocal cords, opened them up to a wider audience. If this sounds like they’ve calmed down and produced a coffee table friendly album then don’t worry there are still two or three throat shredding numbers and the rest of the album contains nothing that could be considered a ballad! Containing no tracks from last year’s Mindhammers EP (which means you should buy this also!), Ideas is an album chock full of blistering tunes that is getting extremely positive reviews and comments from all corners of the music press.

Grimes – Visions (4AD)

Now we have the first of two albums I’ve been playing a lot this month that have been absolutely nothing like I had thought they were going to be. Such is the risk/joy of investigating acts you have no knowledge of, have read no reviews and therefore have no preconceptions. I had read the name Grimes in various places and seen the album in shops, and going on the old ‘judge a book by its cover‘ epithet I was expecting dirty hip-hop beats a la Death Grips, instead I was treated to electronica and the high pixie voice of Montreal’s Clare Boucher (seriously, at times, surely only dogs can hear that voice!). It reminds me a lot of a less sinister Fever Ray and for a couple of weeks I seemed incapable of listening to anything else! Her voice will certainly turn some people off (as Satomi’s voice from Deerhoof tends to do) but I love it.

Cloud Nothings – Attack on Memory (Wichita)

This was the other one! Their name immediately made me think their music would be in the chill wave, hypnagogic pop genre such as Wild Nothing or Washed Out. Er, no, Cloud Nothings inhabit the realms of bands such as Built To Spill, Jay Reatard or The Strokes, the slow build of opener No Future/No Past reminds me a lot of some of Built To Spill’s best tunes and the almost punk thrash of Wasted Days brings to mind Jay Reatard (although about four times as long as any of his tracks!). This is their third album but I have yet to investigate their earlier two records, but from what I have gleaned they are a more gentle indie affair lacking the bite of Attack on Memory.

Meshuggah – Koloss (Nuclear Blast)

Uurrghh, aagghh, *strain*, *grunt*! If an album had to be as large and weighty as the music it contained, the new aptly titled album by Swedish metallers Meshuggah would be the size and mass of a small asteroid! Now imagine said asteroid landing on your house, that’s a fair approximation of what this new album feels like to listen to! Although perhaps more accessible (slightly) than their previous output, Koloss still manages to pummel you into the ground. Opener I Am Colossus (download for free here) is slow and almost sludgy, their trademark djent and ludicrously complex drum patterns do not make an entrance until track two, it’s like a lava flow inching its way toward you, like it or not it will catch you up and set fire to your shoes!

School of Seven Bells – Ghostory (Full Time Hobby)

Third album from the New York duo (twin sister Claudia Deheza left in 2010) and despite the praise that came with their debut I never really got into them even though the electronic shoegaze arena they inhabit is one that normally floats my boat so to speak. So after reading the praise heaped upon this album by DrownedInSound.com helmer Sean Adams (9/10 review here) I checked it out on Spotify. It takes the electronic pop of Ladytron and injects a bit of shoegaze via ex-Secret Machines man Benjamin Curtis to produce a rather beautiful, exhilarating listen.

Killing Joke – MMXII (Spinefarm)

This is a bit of a cheat/tease as this album is not officially released until Monday (2nd April) but it has been up on Spotify for a week and I have been listening to it a LOT! I will try and do this justice with a proper review later but for now let me just say this could be an early contender for record of the year! Back with the original line up (minus the late Paul Raven of course) this album spans their entire ouvre for influences, the heaviness of more recent albums combined with the more gentle aspects of albums such as Brighter Than A Thousand Suns. Thirty four years in existence and still producing albums of this ferocity, excitement and quality!

Before I end I need to mention two more Leeds acts that have got good stuff coming up. I Like Trains (or iLiKETRAiNS if you are a traditionalist!) release their new album The Shallows at the start of May, but as a treat for people who pre-order it they will get an immediate download of the whole album. I got my download two days ago and I have been giving the album more than daily rotation (if you can ‘rotate’ mp3s!), and I think I can say it may be their best full length album yet! I will be talking more about this album in the weeks to come, looking forward to my pre-ordered vinyl!

Finally, the debut album from Lone Wolf (aka Paul Marshall), The Devil And I made it to number 11 in my top 50 of 2010 and he has recently released a new track on Soundcloud called The Swan of Meander that is rather lovely and has me keen to hear his new record;

I’ll start with a couple of albums that I predicted last month would be worth writing about (Spotify album links in the titles);

Crippled Black Phoenix – (Mankind) The Crafty Ape

In 2010 the prog/post-rock collective Crippled Black Phoenix produced I, Vigilante which ended up at number 5 in my end of year Top 50 which is a not too shabby result and their new, two disc, 85 minute album (Mankind) The Crafty Ape is likely to perform a similar feat! This is unashamed progressive rock and has definite hints of Pink Floyd about it. If this has you reaching for the off button then that’s your loss because this album has had me entranced since I got hold of it a few weeks ago. One of those rare releases that demands daily listens for a while just to satisfy my craving.

The Twilight Sad – No One Can Ever Know

Third album proper from none-more Scottish indie kids The Twilight Sad, and it shows a huge stylistic shift away from the guitars to a much more electronic, krautrock inspired sound. As a big fan of their impressive wall of sound approach (especially live) I was initially sceptical but one listen to No One Can Ever Know has convinced me that this new direction is a very positive thing. They’ve not cheered up though, the songs here do not paint happy pictures!

Mark Lanegan Band – Blues Funeral

Oh my word, this is a bit special! Owner of one of my favourite singing voices in music, Mark Lanegan has not been idle in the years since 2004′s Bubblegum, The Twilight Singers, Soulsavers, The Gutter Twins, Isobel Campbell and others have all benefitted from his gravel laced rumble and has made it feel less than eight years since we had a Mark Lanegan album proper, but Blues Funeral is a fantastic welcome back! Literally cannot wait to see him do this stuff live in a couple of weeks!

Django Django – s/t

Onto a more poppier aspect now with Dalston’s Django Django. Currently all over BBC 6Music like a rash they’re in danger of over exposure but as I barely listen to the radio that’s not an issue for me. It’s been mentioned elsewhere and is plain to anyone with ears but they do strike a large resemblance to The Beta Band in places (none more so than the song below), but that’s not really a bad thing, plus they have an ex member of the band in their ranks. Psychedelic, fuzzed up but with pop’s restraining hand they stay on the radio-friendly side of things, they also sound a bit like a toned down Archie Bronson Outfit.

Field Music – Plumb

Another band that are enjoying heavy coverage on radio, they also seem to get a lot of gushing praise elsewhere so I decided to investigate the new album and on first listen I was a bit “meh, nothing special, what’s all the fuss about?” but I have persevered and I can start to see what people are banging on about. There is more to this album than meets the ears on first listen, it’s not edgy but it’s very nice.

Burial – Kindred EP

An artist that if you’d told me a few years ago I would love and would play his latest EP again and again I would have vocally questioned your parentage and told you where I thought you should go, but love him I do! Normally I would have little time for grime, garage or dub-step but his last album Untrue was a bit of a revelation, its dark, rainy night in the city atmospherics seeping in alongside the beats making me sit up and think, actually I really like this! It became a bit of a soundtrack to my holiday to Borneo in 2008 as I referred to in one of the 30 Days of Music posts I did last year. Well, Will Bevan’s new EP just about tops everything he’s done up to now, 3 tracks clocking in at almost 30 minutes, it’s a bit of a bargain at £2.50! Pop over to the Hyperdub website and download it now!

Tindersticks – The Something Rain

Stuart Staples and co return with album number nine and it’s a real cracker, with some reviews saying it is their best in many a year! 2010′s Falling Down A Mountain never fully grabbed me all the way through and predecessor, 2008′s The Hungry Saw had a lot of good tracks but it felt a bit “light”, The Something Rain however feels like a complete experience with the nine minute spoken word opener Chocolate leading us into the songs proper. A rather beautiful album.

Sharon Van Etten – Tramp

Finally for this month’s highlights is an album by Brooklyn singer songwriter Sharon Van Etten. Now I’m not usually a big fan of the folky stuff, I tend to not dislike it but it doesn’t usually have me racing to listen more than once, and on first listen this album had the same effect. It was very nice but no more than that, but yet again, repeated listens have made me think it may be more than that. You can keep your Lana Del Rey’s I’ll stick with Sharon!

Click on the widget or go here to listen to the playlist.

Tracklisting;

1. The Twilight Sad – Modern Romance (from the mini album …Killed My Parents and Hit The Road)
2. The Smiths – What Difference Does It Make? (from the album The Smiths)
3. Eels – What Is This Note? (from the album Souljacker)
4. Ever Since The Lake Caught Fire – Disaster! Disaster! (from the Big Scary Monsters Sampler 50 Not Out)
5. Melvins – Lizzy (from the album Houdini)
6. Foo Fighters – Everlong (from the album The Colour and the Shape)
7. Black Box Recorder – The Facts of Life (from the album The Facts of Life)
8. Mudhoney – Let’s Drop In (from the album Under A Billion Suns)
9. God is an Astronaut – In The Distance Fading (from the album Age of the Fifth Sun)
10. Gifts From Enola – Benthos (from the album From Fathoms)

Click on the widget below to listen or go to Mixcloud to listen to it here.

Tracklisting;
1. Whipping Boy – We Don’t Need Nobody Else
2. Clutch – Escape From The Prison Planet
3. Baby Chaos – Hello
4. Senser – Eject
5. China Drum – Wuthering Heights
6. Ned’s Atomic Dustbin – What Gives My Son?
7. The Afghan Whigs – Crime Scene Pt.1
8. Heather Nova – Maybe An Angel
9. Helmet – Wilma’s Rainbow
10. Les Thugs – I Love You So
11. Cud – One Giant Love
12. Monster Magnet – Dopes To Infinity
13. Girls Against Boys – Super-Fire
14. Skyscraper – Never Again
15. Faith No More – Midlife Crisis
16. Screaming Trees – Shadow of the Season
17. Sebadoh – On Fire

Ploughing a more gentle, electronic furrow than his Deftones day job, despite the logo’s similarity to a lot of “witch house” acts, the music is not in the same ballpark, almost as Jules in Pulp Fiction put it, it’s not even the same fucking sport! More like; ††† are to Deftones like A Perfect Circle are to Tool if I can put it like that.

You can buy buy the EP and/or listen to a free download of the single “Prurien†” here: crossesmusic.com (you can download the first EP for free here too!)