2023 - Short

 

In addition to my year-end list, here are a few songs that didn't appear on it but should not go unmentioned. The list does not contain a rating of the songs.

This Year In Music - Part V

 

Here comes the rest of the show of albums that impressed me very much this year. Slowdive is a band that was named together with other shoegaze bands but for me they were always Mogwai's little brother that could also play great ballads over extended guitar and synth patterns. everything is alive could be their breakthrough to a wider audience.

Konformer is a three piece band from Nuremberg, Germany that I got aware by recommendation by Adam from Bagging Area earlier this year. Five instrumentals on their self titled LP are all awesome, just because I don't know any band at this time making cosmic and dark inspired music like they do.

Kevin Rowland is back with another album I bought blind before I ever heard any song of it. Just because he can't make any worse record for me. And my high expectations were fulfilled. Northern soul inspired songs alternate with intimate ballads. Certainly a record that will be played often at my place.

 

David Holmes was very busy this year and while I prepared this list he released Blind On A Galloping Horse an album that is ahead of many others. Together with Raven Violet he showed his spectrum in electronic music. There was no filler on this record and probably a masterpiece.

From Edinburgh multi-instrumentalist John Brydon appeared as Eyes Of Other, a band many people could agree. It is impressive how many ideas he combined into a very unique sound. One of those albums you could play in a row without getting bored.

2023 - This Year In Music Part IV

 

Robyn Hitchcock surprised me in springtime with a new album. We know him well as one of the greatest singer/songwriter from the last decades but I never expected that he will release an instrumental album. It is a little masterpiece in quiet finger picked guitar and filled with really wonderful music.

I was introduced to the music and work by our dear friend JC and Heavy Elevators was a highlight in 2021. Now he released Angel Numbers this year and it shows again his ability of creating songs. This one is not accessible as his last one and you need time to see the beauty of his songs. But when you get into this music you won't be disappointed.

Another year, another output by Steve Mason. Brothers And Sisters is another example of how flexible he is. He's still able to make an album that will stand the test of time. Not his best one but another highlight in his discography.

Kerala Dust is a band featured at this pages for several times. It is a British band now living in Berlin and they released with Violet Drive on of the highlights of this year for me. Their sound could be described as European rock because it includes elements of blues, Americana and electronic beats as well but always with great guitars alongside.

Another band I followed for long times is Yo La Tengo. Torn between folk and guitar improvisations they released with This Stupid World an album that shows every facets of their sound. Lo-Fi guitars meets great voices is their simple trademark. Thank you for making music like this.

2023 - This Year In Music Part III

 

It was conceivable that Reset, the last year record by Sonic Boom and Panda Bear will be remixed. But I didn't expected that Adrian Sherwood will be at the controllers to create a dub version of this album. The original was a favorite of mine last year and this dub album was a steady companion to me during the summer.

No year without anything new by Andy Bell. Earlier this year he released Tidal Love Numbers, a good collaboration with Essex-based duo Masal to explore some ambient jazz roots to release Gateway Mechanics a live experiment by GLOK in September this year. This record shows everything I like from him: dubbed-out acid, psychedelica, a bit of Balearic and ambient. Wish I could see him live one day.

Since Craven Faults released their first album in 2020 I was fascinated by their music. Not only because you can classify them easily. I enjoy their hypnotic sound made only with a few drum snippets and putting an electronic coat over them. Of course it is another music to drift away but if it is made like on Severals, I will walk this road with them.

This Is The Kit is the alias of British singer/songwriter Kate Staples. Her latest album Careful Of Your Keepers was a surprise and a delight. I seldom heard a new great voice like her during the last years. One of the best new artists for me.

Another album that made fun for a while was Zuma 85 by California based Allah-Las. With songs between Velvets, glam and vocoder their songs work well. Not the big thing but a band you get from what you expect.

2023 - This Year In Music Part II

 

Let's start this small review with a new band to me. Brown Spirits are from Melbourne, Australia and celebrate a fusion of krautrock and a d-i-y punk attitude with drums, bass and guitar/keyboard. They have learned by many but make a sound of their own. 

Bristol's Blue Aeroplanes also appeared with a sing of life and gave us with Culture Guns this year's trademark in jangly guitar sound. Seems like the songs work well live as well.

Belle and Sebastian, one of Glasgow's pop-bands released Late Developers, another album by them that is very good and full of great songs with hooks. Seems like they are very close to a perfect pop/rock song 

It seems like Julian Cope has too many ideas in his mind to release them all on vinyl. This year he surprised us with Robin Hood another album full of weird ideas. But after all he made another great record (if only the ones which are huge fans). 

HiFi Sean and David McAlmont finished their long time collaboration this year with their first album Happy Endings. And the title is programm: they collect a lot of influences and create their own space. An album full of great songs often added with strings but never overproduced. An album I came back from time to time with joy.

2023 - This Year In Music Part I

 

Like every year I do the same as many other among us and take a look back on the musical year. I have to admit that this year was another good year for new music although older bands released some great albums. 

Let's start with a compilation that brought me back music from more than 30 years ago. In 1989 almost the same happened like 10 years ago when punk and new wave turned the music I listened upside down. Young people round Manchester detected the dancefloor with guitar based music and established remixes forever. Come Together: Adventures On The Indie Dancefloor is another excellent compilation by Cherry Red and shows how great music was made at this time. 

A few years ago Cologne's Kompakt label started a compilation series called Velvet Dessert Music. Two months ago they released Chapter 3 where relaxed guitar music meets western meets South American music elements. It's one of those records I used to listen to in the late evening.

After a longer hiatus Everything But The Girl came back with Fuse, an album showing the ability by Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt to write great songs. The songs are more focused on the dancefloor like before but Tracey's voice makes them extraordinary.

Monday's Long Song

 

During the last years I posted long songs but seldom really long songs. It took a long time until I was remembered that in 1994 a song was released who also deserves this predicate. Before there were Two Lone Swordsmen there were Andrew Weatherall with The Sabres Of Paradise who produced the epic first album by One Dove and remixed everything from Björk to New Order. One of them was James. Jam J was an improbable single from their underrated album Wah Wah. The Sabres remixed this album track in a wobble-esque style into a 33 minute long sprawling epic of a remix broken up into four movements. The beat never stops and it seems more a DJ-set than a remix. If you are into dubby techno or ambient dub you shouldn't miss this gem.

Marijuana

 

Nottingham's Dj's and producers are back with a new song, a one that I never expected in this way. They still riding the Balearic sound but now Rolo McGinty joined them. McGinty is well known for his work with The Woodentops in the 80's and probably one of the first ones that opened his sounds for electronic music. And this collaboration works well because Rolo McGinty's deep voice and acoustic framework fits perfect to Coyote's slo-mo beats. 

Phonox Nights

 

It is done. Yesterday was my last day of work for this year and in a few days I'll be boarding the plane at this time every year to spend the next few weeks in Sri Lanka. Until then I will finish some works that I should have done earlier, finishing my year-end list and preparing some posts. Last week I got the news that Woodleigh Research Facility released Phonox Nights, the final result of the long time collaboration between Nina Walsh and Andrew Weatherall. Beginning with the slick acid majesty of the piercing title track, where Andrew plays ethereal synth lines on Nina's coaxing, Phonox Nights crowns the pair's 30-year creative relationship with their masterpiece.

Jamcod

 

Yesterday the news arrived that The Jesus And Mary Chain will release a new album next year. JMAC were 40 years ago the band that had a massive influence in today's music with their combination of noise, feedback and sweet hooks. I was excited what they could offer after all those years. The album's first single, jamcod, combines dark electronic sounds with the huge guitar sound that can only come from William Reid, creating an instant Mary Chain classic that is also undeniably fresh and radical. Listening to them, I have an ambivalent feeling and I can't decide whether they are great or whether it's just another time for them to show how great they can be. In any case, it will be interesting to see what the rest of the album brings.

It was not able to embed the video in this post - so here is the link to the song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3_NOCiRbII

One Up From Five

 

Another great piece of music was released at the end of the week by London's tici taci label. A few songs by Sons Of Slough, a band featuring label owner Duncan Gray and Ian Weatherall. It is the result of a preparation for Convenanza festival this year. This one shows another time how great electronic music can be. A steady beat mixed with synth snippets for a short excursion in another sphere. Not to bad to start into the Sunday with a cup of good coffee.

Monday's Long Song

 

Last Friday Jesse Fahnestock released his latest output Other Skies a collaboration with singer Emilia Harmony. Regular visitors know that I like the music of Jesse Fahnestock and featured him at these pages several times. The whole year saw him busy with several releases but this one is ace and will surely appear in my year ends list. As he said he tried to be like Primal Scream on Higher Than The Sun or The Doves on Fallen. And yes he fulfilled everything you can expect. Other Skies is dominated by a pumping bass and a psychedelic mist. How to make a great song better is showed by Sean Johnson and Duncan Gray on their Hardway Bros Meet Monkton Uptown mix when they added a lot of dub to this song. The original and other version can be listened to here. A little masterpiece

Love In Constant Spectacles

Earlier this week Jane Weaver returned with Love In Constant Spectacles the first single from her new album that will be released next year. Her last album from 2021 Flock was one of the best ones that year and I played it often. I still like this album because because she never commits herself to a single style. From sweet, delicate dream-pop to a funky up-beat song with a krautrock synthesiser to a song clearly inspired by glam-rock, this album offers so much variety that others need several. Above all, her ethereal voice makes each track unique. My expectations were correspondingly high and they were not disappointed. And again, the sound cannot be clearly defined. Dream-pop, chamber-psych or something completely different? I don't want to commit myself here either, except that it is one of the most refreshing songs of the last few weeks. 

 

Forgotten Alternative Part II

 

Another few files I found from a compilation I made a few years ago. First one is a song from Siouxsie And The Banshees from their later period. They became famous in the first wave of punk and their debut is still a classic. On Peek-A-Boo they tried to combine their late post-punk sounds with samples like many others did. Not their best song but in the context of time a good one.

Siouxsie and the Banshees - Peek-A-Boo

From Athens, Georgia in 1979 The B-52's appeared on the scene and their self-titled debut was one of the records of the year. A new wave band that played just a retro sound with a Rickenbacker guitar, organs and harmonies was the big thing this year. And Planet Claire is probably one of the best opening tracks of a debut album.

The B-52's - Planet Claire 

In 1987 Andrew Eldritch and his band Sisters Of Mercy released Floodland their second album. The lead single was This Corrosion a melange of gothic meets Meat Loaf with a 50-piece choir. It is a song that worked at this time and was played in many places and brings back memories. Nothing more or less.

Sisters Of Mercy - This Corrosion

XTC were on of the finest new wave bands from their beginnings in the late 70's until the mid 80's. Always on the search for the perfect pop song and always very close to it. I don't know many other bands that made so many remarkable albums in this ear. Still a pleasure to listen to them after decades.

XTC - Senses Working Overtime

I entered the cosmos of Julian Cope with his third album Saint Julian and the lead single World Shut Your Mouth. This song was the beginning of a long lasting fondness to him and his music.

Julian Cope - World Shut Your Mouth

Prayer Remembered

 

During the last days I made thoughts about a year end list and listened to various albums I owned during the last months and I asked myself why Slowdive didn't appeared on this pages during the last months. Everything Is Alive is another album by them that is far over the average of other released records. Slowdive are filled under shoegaze but this is not all. For me they are one of the best in slow-motion rock. A reduced speed and space for guitar excursions are their trademarks. I was lucky enough to see them several times live and at every venue they fascinated me with their sound. Their last album shows less more than I expected on a high level but there was one song that grabbed me. The instrumental Prayer Remembered is a song that could appear on a late record by The Cure in the days of Seventeen Seconds or Pornography. What in and of itself would be great praise. If someone shouldn't be familiar with their sound, this song will be a perfect entrance into.

Monday's Long Song

 

A Mountain Of One is a long going collaboration between London based musicians and producers Zeben Jameson and Mo Morris. Now they handed over a few songs from their fantastic album Stars Planets Dust Me over to Chile born DJ Ricardo Villalobos to give their psychedelic/prog rock a new techno-influenced outfit. I liked their album very much and I skeptical if their songs will work in the remixed versions. But I have to admit - it works more than well. Black Apple Pink Apple appears with a early 70's West Coast inspired song. A groovy, hypnotic and relaxed great piece of music.

With The Other Hand

 

It is difficult to make a perfect pop song but Norway's Lost Girls comes very close to it. A great pop song is for one that you can listen several times and still love it. This is what chanteuse Jenny Hval and her husband-guitarist Havard Volden did very well. With The Other Hand, the second song from their new album shows flashes of brilliance among experimental/avantgarde sounds. Sometimes you don't need more than a pumping rhythm, a few guitar chords and a fantastic voice to create something beautiful.

Forgotten Alternative

 

A few days ago I found in the deepest corner of my hard-drive a compilation of songs from the early 80's and I couldn't resist to give them a listen. Some of the artists were just a small chapter of history, others were well known and some are just obscure. But well worth to take a sentimental journey back to those days. 

Theater of Hate was a post-punk band formed by Kirk Brandon and their first album Westworld from 1982 was produced by Clash's Mick Jones. The lead single is typical for this era, were bands searched for new sounds. Based on a phenomenal bass-line and a tribal rhythm Do You Believe In The Westworld is still a song you can listen to with fun.

Theater of Hate - Do You Believe In The Westworld

Split Enz were formed in the 70's by Tim Finn and Phil Judd in New Zealand. The started as a good progressive/art-rock band to switch at the beginning of the next decade into power-pop and new wave. I Got You was their only remarkable song before they disbanded a few years later

Split Enz - I Got You

Stan Ridgway formed Wall Of Voodoo in 1980 after he tried to express himself in electronic sounds. Mexican Radio is probably their best known song and is the trademark of the band. Sharp guitars, steady rhythms and synths combined with surrealistic lyrics was the next big thing back then.

Wall Of Voodoo - Mexican Radio

One of Iceland's finest exports appeared in the late 80's. Influenced by the guitar and drum work of Siouxsie and the Banshees and  Cocteau Twins The Sugarcubes made it great with Birthday, one of their early singles. The difference to others was Björk with her mighty voice that could turn every song into another sphere. That this concept worked live as well I can testify when I saw them live at an open air festival in 1989.

The Sugarcubes - Birthday

Blind On A Galloping Horse

 

It's November and, like every year, I'm thinking about a year-end list and, as always, there's another album that shouldn't be missing from such a list. David Holmes, an Irish DJ and producer who has managed to gain respect in the DJ camp as well as in the alternative scene over the past few years, recently released Blind on a Gallopping Horse. Together with Raven Violent, who already left her unmistakable mark with her voice on his side product Unloved, an album of positive songs in a negative time was created. Blind On A Galloping Horse is a multi-faceted record with a lot to discover and an absolutely positive example of how the gloom of the world can be addressed without letting despair win out. On Necessary Genius he pays tribute to 'dreamer, misfits, radicals, outcasts' who are no longer with us and includes shout-outs to Weatherall, Terry Hall, Sinéad O'Conner, Serge Gainbourgh & Jane Birkin and more. Still underlaid with a dancable beats.

Yeah x 3 is proofs that he's able to make a softer pop song that should appear in every top 40 this year,

Garonne Express

It has now been almost a month since the Palestinian terrorist attack on Israel took place. As a German, it is difficult for me to articulate a critical stance on Israel at the moment. Knowing full well that for decades the legitimate demands for a separate state have not been fulfilled in any way. If I express understanding for the rights of the Palestinians, I am labelled a Nazi. If I relativise the whole development in the Middle East, I am not listened to because of our past. I have no idea how this ongoing conflict can be brought to an end that both parties could live with and how I can escape from this dilemma.

I remembered a song I heard a few years ago by Arabian Panther, a French/Lebanese DJ and producer from Toulouse, France. He's an artist that is very close to the Palestine scene and oscillate between downtempo, italo disco, techno and Drum n' Bass. Not knowing if it is political correct to feature this song at these days but it is a good one if you leave all politics behind.

Babble

 

After the fabulous The Undertones separated the Derry's O'Neill brothers formed with lead vocalist Steve Mack That Patrol Emotion. Following their post-punk hymns they created a new style in indie-rock and included elements of Television and CCR to their sound. When their debut was a very good one, Babble their second one from 1987 was one of the albums that was played at my place often decades ago. Sharp guitars and great hooks were a trademark of TPE and there were so many classic tunes on this album. Not to forget that many of their songs had political statements in their lyrics. For me another underrated album of this era.

Monday's Long Song

 

Last Thursday Khayem from the fabulous blog Dubhed featured Stinky Jim, a main figure in New Zealand's DJ-scene and dub artists. I think both of us were inspired in his music by the recommendation by Adam over at Bagging Area. Sand Gustures is the final track of Stinky Jim's remix album Social Awareness from July this year. The remixes by fantastic acts like Rude Audio and The Long Champs are one of the best songs this year and highly recommended. 

Lovesong Industrial Complex

 

South London's Meatraffle appeared after a couple of years with a new album and a new single that I got aware earlier this year and I couldn't get this out of my head. I like them since they released their first album Hi Fi Classics back in 2015. As far as I know they are the spearhead of a new music scene in South London. Certainly because they always on the search of a perfect pop song combining their socio-politcal attitude. Lovesong Industrial Complex is the perfect example. Starting as a classic slice of bleak, mesmerising disco when later guitars joining the song when the singer philosophise about the vast numbers of meaningless, futile and emotionally hollow love songs. Seldom heard wiser word in a great song.

People pay for love songs or download them illegally 

Kids as young as 3 sing about them, incredibly 

There is nothing wrong with a song about love 

But they are rarely ever platonic Lots of full bloodied lust and crying in your gin and tonic

Cut

 

A working men's club is an association of the working class in parts of Great Britain, Ireland and Australia. The clubs originated in the 19th century and are still regarded today as social gatherings for leisure activities. However, many of the former clubs are now used as cultural and event venues. The Working Men's Club is also a pretty cool synth-pop band from Yorkshire in the UK. With punk influences, the four-piece band moves on open genre definitions. With electronic synthesizers and indie guitars, Working Men's Club deliver a track that creates a mixture of post-punk and synthpop, but also fascinates in the dub mix with bleeps and a great bass line. 

The Wicker Man

 

50 years ago The Wicker Man, a British movie was released. A crime movie that combined elements of folk-horror and musical. The main actors were Christopher Lee, Britt Ekland and Edward Woodward. I saw them first in the mid 80's by a VHS-copy and has to admit that I was a bit confused about the story and the way the movie was produced. But after all I could enjoy this movie because it was so much different to many other horror movies in this era. During the last weeks I read various features about the 50th anniversary of the movies. The last days I got aware that Bristol's singer/songwriter Katie J. Pearson re-recorded songs from the soundtrack of the movie. I really enjoyed Richard Norris remix of Willow's Song a small dubbed highlight for the rest of the year.

 

Mr. November

 

Now it is November, the leaves are changing colors and windy and rainy weather will appear. Time to reduce and focus on different things. When I was thinking about a song with November in it's title or lyrics my first thought was November Rain, a song by the much overrated Guns 'N Roses and only another boring mainstream rock song. So I go to a song by The National from their third album. A song that shows how good they are - in their arrangement and lyrics. At this time The National were many's favorite and not wrongly. 

The National - Mr. November

Drop Out

 

While I was saving some files on an external drive I found in the deepest corner a record that I almost forgot. Drop Out is the only album by East Village, a band from Buckinghamshire (the only one I know). The first time I got aware of them was in the late 90's when I traveled through Thailand and stopped for a late afternoon drink in a small bar in Kho Chang. From the first tunes I loved their songs and had to ask the bartender, a bloke from Leeds what's the name of this band. Back in Germany I tried to get a copy of their record but all were sold out. Because the main figure of the band, Martin Kelly, is now a leading person in Heavenly Records from time to time there will be a re-release of this album. The next one is planed for January next year and I have to subscribe for this. The music is another step to make the perfect pop album and finally they are very close with their mixture of Byrds/Buffalo Springfield inspired songs. Great harmonies and a voice that reminds me of Michael Head makes this album to another underrated gem. Worth to check out.

East Village - Circles

East Village - Silver Train

East Village - Everybody Knows

Monday's Long Song

 

Last year Polish duo Jazxing released their debut album Pearls of the Baltic Sea, a homage to 80s electronic classic with massive influences by Saint Etienne and Air but also fragments of New Wave and Dub. I liked what I heard and put it on my list. And to be honest I can't tell they reason why I didn't bought this little beauty and forgot them until I got the news that they released a remix album. Formed by musicians, producers and DJs Jakub Sautycz and Mateusz Filipiuk in their hometown Gdansk they were able to combine all the influences into a full concept that still works. On Vijnana Nottinghams Coyote adds some acoustic instruments to the song and the result is a laid back construct.

, 

Karaoke

 

At the end of this week, I overcame all the bureaucratic hurdles and submitted my application for a pension, which was also accepted by the competent authority for further processing. This means that my professional life will be over by the middle of the year and I can now start thinking about how I can make good use of all the free time I have. Knowing that it will be a hard break to leave behind habits acquired over more than 40 years, I am looking forward to this day. I'll probably spend a lot of time working more intensively on music and keeping this blog alive. Until then, I will enjoy the new freedom and take a more relaxed approach to the work that lies ahead. 

Today's song is by an artist I didn't know until I heard her song. Viji is a young musician with Austrian and Brazilian roots currently living in London. With Karaoke, which came about at the end of a session when she more or less uninspired tried out some bass lines, she hangs on to a trend that puts guitar-heavy sounds in the foreground. In the beginning there is a pumping, distorted bass which is successively joined by clear guitar riffs and drums to accompany Viji's lascivious voice. Definitely a song that should be heard.

Trash

 

Can't believe that it is 50 years ago when a band appeared on the scene that visual and with it sound was groundbreaking. The music scene in these days was filled with dinosaurs of the rock age playing the same thing over and over again. But the New York Dolls changed everything with the release of their debut. Filled with short guitar driven songs and a cover version of a song by Bo Diddley. Not only that they brought a very fresh wind into music their outfit was extraordinary. Dressed in glam outfits with platform shoes and all done up they was the sensational thing in this year. I remember a lot of people hating them for their outfit and music but very soon you could see all the glam bands in Great Britain doing the same. And that they were punk before punk started was an another story.

New York Dolls - Trash

New York Dolls - Pills

New York Dolls - Personality Chrisis

Observatoriet

 

Like every year at this time, the last few weeks were marked by a lot of work and the eternal availability for external examiners. There is hardly a day on which I left the office before nine hours and I was correspondingly tired and hardly had the energy to write regular posts for my blog. I was content to come home, drink a glass of red wine and browse through my music collection to relax. In the process, I came across another band that I haven't heard in a while and that I wanted to feature here. Datasal are a Swedish group who have been releasing their songs for several years on the great label Höga Nord Records. The datasal (a classroom for computers) was an ordinary classroom with few changes to fit the school’s 10 newly leased computers. The room represented the change of times in Sweden during this period: the fixed institutions and the awaiting digital flood wave. The sound is built around repetitive sequencer loops and programmed beats where electric bass, electric guitar and flute improvise around a theme, creating a sound that is best described as cosmic flute house. Obsivatoriet was released as an EP exactly one year ago and an overlooked highlight in electronic music and worth to be featured at this little place in internet.

Run Run Run

 

Run, run, run, run, run, take a drag or two says the drug anthem of Velvet Underground. This was my first thought when I heard that the lead single of The Libertines new album share the same title.  I thought that they were just a part of history but it seems that they are still alive and able to record a whole album. To be honest I was never a fan of The Libertines and the extroverted self-portrayal of Peter Doherty got on my nerves. Of course they made a couple of very good songs at that time but I can't remember playing them during the last years. Nevertheless, I was curious if they were more relevant than before. I only know this song and they recorded a traditional/poppy indie song, still with elements of punk and rock with punchy guitar riffs and an energetic rhythm section and remarkable hooks. The song is more than okay and I think this will be a hit for them and a big hype will be started. For me not the road in music I go right now.

Drone Logic

 

It is autumn and the time before Christmas. Many record companies release anniversary editions of classic albums to make their business. Many of them are useless if you have copies of the originals but it is good that they remember you to releases you might have forgotten. So it happened these days when I read about that Daniel Avery is going to release his debut album from 2013 in a remastered version. He was the shooting star of the London club scene of 2012. Within twelve months, he made the rise from unknown provincial DJ to resident in the London cult club Fabric, published restlessly and on a high level, so that he also gets a standing as a producer. From a local DJ in Bournemouth he went to London to find his own way supported by Andrew Weatherall who opened several doors for him and he recorded his debut in Weatherall's studio. Drone Logic was groundbreaking because he combined techno with implied noise and a whole series of driving, crisp beats infiltrated and also playing with acid. For me this record was one of those my musical taste changed and opened my ears for new electronic sounds. A classic record.

Daniel Avery - Drone Logic

Amazing Grace

 

20 years ago Jason Pierce aka Spiritualized released their fifth album Amazing Grace probably one of his most underrated albums in his career. I came back to this album when he announced a remastered version to release early next year. You can find variations of his space-rock in tradition of Spacemen 3 as well as soul and gospel influenced songs. A perfect balance of spaced out rock in combination of traditional ballads were new and great decades ago. It is great to hear these songs again after a long time and I have to say that this album should have more credits than it had. Not only a sentimental trip back to the old days - more an experience of how much time he was ahead.

Monday's Long Song

 

Back in 2017 I got in contact to AMOR a four piece music collective from Glasgow introducing a new way of electronic music. They fused acoustic instruments with electronic precision and are since then well known for long bassy songs with piano improvisations. Their sound seems in the first time homogeneous but the longer you listen to their songs you can join a short trip different spheres. Higher Moment is a good example for what I tried to explain. One of a band I come back regular.

AMOR - Higher Moment

Zuma 85

It's not often that a group that impressed you quite a bit live a few years ago comes back with an album that is barely off your plate. It was eight years ago when Allah-Las performed at the Maifeld Derby in Mannheim on a late sunny afternoon and surprised the audience with a set, quoting the music of the last 40 years and yet making everything seem like it was from them. Now they are back with Zuma 85 and celebrate the past again in their songs, with other influences added. Now they also incorporate elements from krautrock and Soft Machine into their semi-instrumentals, dare to approach relaxed and partly dreamy melodies, but do not forget to strike hard tones from time to time. This little band from Los Angeles is great today and worth to give them a listen.

Kaolin

 

Kombynat Robotron were featured at this little place in the internet several times during the last years. The four-piece band from Kiel, Northern Germany, is on duty since five years releasing several albums and EP's since. Now they released Frohe Zukunft another EP. Recorded live last year they celebrate once again their interpretation of krautrock meets psychedelic jams. Still guitar based sounds that floats into space. For me a band I would like to see live if they ever will come to Southern Germany once. If you are into this kind of music - give them a small chance and you will agree. 

Monday's Long Song

 

To Rococo Rot were a German electronic band. Formed in the mid 90's by Robert and Ronald Lippok and Stefan Schneider they released in 1999 The Amateur View one of the most underrated albums of this era. Filled with small sound patterns full of melancholic moments and excursions in electronic fields. It marked the leave of classic krautrock and the start into new electronic fields. No wonder that John Peel invited them to three sessions. This version of Cars by Daniel Miller and Gareth Jones from 2012 shows the potential of their songs according the sound of Andrew Weatherall.

To Rococo Rot - Cars (Sunroof Remix

Fontana Di Luna

 

It is time to feature one of the best composer and musician once again at these pages. I think Michael Rother is well known for his works with NEU!, Kraftwerk and La Düsseldorf. He was one of those who created krautrock and his influence to new sounds in the 70's was immense. Together with Jaki Liebezeit on drums he recorded three albums under his own name and every one is worth to be listened. If I have to describe his music I would call it relaxed psychedelia with a get out of hand guitar over a steady beat. This one is from his second album Sterntaler and a great start into another sunny Sunday.

Michael Rother - Fontana Di Luna

AR Kane

 

Last week I grabbed AR Kane's debut album 69 from 1988 out of my rack to listen to it once again. While listening to this record I thought it will be a good idea to write about this underrated band. A few days ago Adam made a superb piece of writing about them and with his 40 Minutes Of AR Kane the most is said. I discovered this record in our local record shop and and was fascinated by the cover. The plate cover is emerging as also on white background a dark circle in the middle of which we can faintly make out the number 69, which is shaped like two dark, undulating spirals. Inner-case's intricate shading shows the blue background and more clearly six-figure as a pregnant woman and nine-figure as a man, both swimming, in harmonious movements. After a few minutes watching the cover I bought this record without listening to any sons because I thought artist, that are able to create a cover like this couldn't make a bad record. When I came home I put the record on the turntable and started to listen. It seldom happened that I was so confused about what I heard. Not that I didn't liked what I heard but I was unprepared about the facets of their music. It started with a jazzy scat intro on Crazy Blue to turn into one the best pop songs of this era (they described it as dreampop later). Rudy Tambala once joked years later that AR Kane sound like a band with a bit of Velvet Underground and a bit of Cocteau Twins, Miles Davis and Joni Mitchel. And this describes their sound very good. A lot of everything good and always the ability to combine their influences with a massive pop attitude. An outstanding band and an outstanding album and the blueprint for a new generation in music.

AR Kane - Crazy Blue

AR Kane - Suicide Kiss

AR Kane - Baby Milk Snatcher

Their roots are certainly on bands like JAMC and noisy feedbacked guitar sounds. Best shown on their debut single.

AR Kane - When You're Sad (Long Version) 

Borderland

 

I have to admit that I love the pictures and footage of erupting volcanoes and hot magma running down the hills. It one of the wonders of our earth bringing us back to the days when the earth was a very young planet and of course I know that an eruption like this could destroy everything and bring death to many people. Scientists suppose that the next big volcano eruption will take place at Mount Etna, Naples because of the shift of the tectonic plates along the coastline. 

Two days ago Woodleigh Research Facility a video filmed by Iceland's Jon Arason during the last years. This video was accompanied by Andrew Weatherall's remix of a song by Nina Walsh. It seldom happens that the music and video seem to be one. The remix with strings, keyboards and a little touch of early New Order makes this 8 minutes a perfect harmony. Look, listen and enjoy