God's Country

 Brighton's female three piece post-punk band released Lambrini Girls two new songs these days. Anyone who finds the new side of the Idles too soft and prefers to scream about the grievances in the UK should definitely keep these newcomers on their radar. The brutal bass is also strongly reminiscent of the noise band from Ireland but you can find ingredients of Bikini Kill and Savages in their sound as well. Their lyrics sounds like Sleaford Mods on speed. Too much name dropping - maybe but it's what comes to my mind when I listen to those short and fast songs. 

The Letting Go

 

A few days ago I rediscovered Ellis Island Sound while making a backup on an external drive. EIS were a mostly instrumental duo formed by Peter Astor and David Sheppard in the late 90's. I listened to their album Regions from 2014 once again after a long time and was surprised that their sound still works well for me. They created a soundscape with mostly instrumental songs somewhere between neo-Krautrock, folk, jangly guitars and some African influences. Nothing more or less than another sadly forgotten band.

Ellis Island Sound - The Letting Go

Ellis Island Sound - Nairobi / Köln

Indie-Rock At It's Best

 

In 1980 Ian McNabb, a Liverpool musician, appeared with his band The Icicle Works on the scene. Like many of those bands from this era he combined post-punk and new wave with a creative kind of songwriting. The early songs of this band were a highlight for me in the 80s. Their sound is similar to many others but McNabb had the ability to write on of the best songs from the beginning of the decade. Based on an steady rhythm section and short guitar licks he wrote hymns of the early 80s guitar pop sounds. Still a band that should have more credits in music history.

Monday's Long Song

 

Almost 50 years ago reggae music got more and more popular in our countries. The first wave of musicians from Jamaica to become widely recognized were Jimmy Cliff, Toots and the Maytals, Bob Marley and Burning Spear. Born as Winston Rodney he recorded with some of reggae's most renowned instrumentalists were involved as studio musicians his debut Marcus Garvey. Inspired by Garvey, a Jamaican politician and prophet of the Rastafari movement he made a classic roots reggae album. Chris Blackwell signed him for his Island label and released this album in Europe - but in an alternative mix to make it more compatible for the European market. As this mix was not agreed with the artist, Burning Spear was allowed to release a dub version of the album Garvey's Ghost in the same year, which became a classic of the dub-reggae.

Burning Spear - Marcus Garvey

(Not Really) New Song On Sunday

 

Yesterday our friend SWC over at No Badger Required featured in his superb series an album by Conner Bright Eyes. Listening to it again it made me want to listen to Phoebe Bridgerss debut from 2017 Stranger In The Alps because she worked and toured with him. Bridgers is a American singer/songwriter with a classic education as a jazz singer and her songs are much different to the songwriter genre because her songs are well arranged and non-typical instruments like strings, bells and some low guitars were included to her sound. Her debut got many critical acclaim but she never reached the top. Now she's active with Boygenius, another three-girl indie-folk band that was featured at this place several times. I thought it is fair to play this song in this series because I rediscovered it after years and it sounds new.

Not only that she writes great songs with intelligent lyrics, she is also able to create with her brother some outstanding videos that sometimes are far beyond the average viewing habits.

Sixty Five

 

Today I turn 65 and another year has passed far too quickly and I reflect on everything that has happened in these years. We are getting older and that is inevitable. And transience is a theme that crops up in every genre of music, from rock n' roll to country and blues. And songs that have dealt with getting older, the past and everything in between. It's impossible to pick a favourite, especially when you consider how much choice is out there. That's why I limited myself to the songs that came to me spontaneously and that have stayed with me over the years.

Cabretta

 

The first time I heard about a CBGB, a club in New York was in autumn 1976 in some music newspapers. I couldn't imagine what this club was and only Patti Smith was a household name to me. Bands like Talking Heads, The Ramones or Television were no names to me because I couldn't get any records of them and there were no radio station around playing them. Everything changed a year later when the first punk movement swept over the Atlantic ocean. One of the first so called punk albums I owned was Cabretta by Mink DeVille. It was one of the initial sparks for my future taste in music. Of course Mink DeVille was everything but not punk. But the were the link of classic rock, combined with some latin ingredients and the new music. Venus Of Avenue D was a song Bruce Springsteen would be proud to have written, Cadillac Walk was classic rock with much verve and Mixed Up Shook Up Girl is a song that could be appeared on every early album by Van Morrison. Cabretta was one of those albums I played to death when I first got it and still doesn't lose it's attraction almost 50 years later.

Mink DeVille - Venus On Avenue D

Mink DeVille - Cadillac Walk

Mink DeVille - Mixed Up Shook Up Girl

Monday's Long Song

 

Back in 1990 Bristol's The Aeroplanes released in my opinion their masterpiece Swagger, an album of jangly guitar sound with mostly spoken lyrics. I don't really know if they were in UK as big as in Germany these days but you could hear this music in almost every pub. Seldom before and after I listened to a guitar-rock album with pure joy (except Sugar's Copper Blue). Swagger is a guitar-led album somewhere between guitar-driven bands like Big Country and the upcoming shoe-gaze like Ride. The guitar carries catchy melodies and not the voice. Something unusual for the time. Sure an album that stood the test of times.

The Blue Aeroplanes - What It Is

New Songs On Sunday

After Bayern Munich lost yesterday, we finish second in the Bundesliga table. Unbelievable when you consider that Stuttgart have been relegated several times in recent years and the fans have only been presented with poor home cooking. Only against this background does this slogan make sense - after all this shit, we're going on a journey.

Last Friday Barry Adamson released Cut To Black his new album. When the storm of punk swept through the UK in the mid-70s, Adamson learnt bass to join Manchester new wave band Magazine. He also helped out briefly with the Buzzcocks and briefly with The Birthday Party in the 80s. When band leader Nick Cave founded The Bad Seeds after they broke up, Adamson stayed on board for three years. No longer just a bass player, he not only played various instruments but also contributed as a songwriter. In recent years, his records have been more orientated towards the film music of the 60s and less towards concise songs. With this record, he has left this path and created a small masterpiece. A mixture of gospel, soul, blues and rock and roll. Since Dexy's Midnight Runners debut I never heard a better homage to soul music.

Loophole

 

Later this week Liverpool's probably best songwriter Michael Head will release his new album. The songs I heard so far from this album shows another time the ability of him in writing and arranging timeless songs. Until the release of this album I listen to his last album Dear Scott from 2022 for several times during the last weekend. And I have to admit that it is one of those albums showing his class in songwriting once again. Hope his new album will fulfill my high expectations.

Michael Head and the Red Elastic Band - Kismet

Michael Head and the Red Elastic Band - Broken Beauty

Michael Head and the Red Elastic Band - The Next Day

Monday's Long Song

 

Almost three years ago Norway's three piece band Kanaan released their album Earthbound. It is an album that impressed me much at it's release because they reduced music what it should be sometimes. Massive fuzzy guitar, straight drums and a melange of stoner rock and psychedelic. Mudbound is the best example for their music. Although the riffs pile up as high as a house, a playful melody creeps into the sound again and again in between and sounds fragile.

Kanaan - Mudbound

New Song On Sunday

 

Today's song is from Nilüfer Yanya, a London based singer and guitarist. I think I heard something from her a few years ago that was good and interesting but I forgot her as quick as she appeared. Now she's back, signed with Ninja Tunes and released for me the pop-rock song of the week. Over a repetitive drum beat, the interaction of acoustic and distorted electric guitar creates a large musical space that deals with the transience and preciousness of time. Time is like a currency, every moment. You're never going to get it back. Wise words by a young girl.

Steve Albini

 

Yesterday the sad news arrived that Steve Albini passed away during a heart attack at the age of 61. Albini was a producer (even he didn't like this word) for many bands during the last decades no matter which country they come from or what kind of music they play. To list up all the albums he sat on the controllers would go beyond the scope of this article. Yesterday JC and Khayem wrote excellent tributes to him and his work. What should not be forgotten, however, is that he was also an excellent musician and kept punk and what it could mean high to this day. In the late 80's he was part of Big Black a band that combined a drum-computer to their punky bass and guitar. An overlooked gem of this era.

Shellac was the band he played with and sadly he passed away shortly before the release of their new album.

Priestess

 

Sometimes it takes a new remix of a song to remind you of the original. This happened the last time when I got aware that Pumarosa's debut single from 2015 was re-released in a new mix. Pumarosa is a five-piece electro-post-punk band from London. Their sound is hard to describe and roams the shores of art-pop and post-wave in a hypnotic mixture of sermon-like spoken word and synth beats. 

Pumarosa - Priestess

Some Psyche Funk From Texas

A few days ago Khurangbin, a three piece mostly instrumental trio from Houston, Texas, released their fourth album A La Sala. Again an album that you could hear almost every time - if you are working or if you want to relax. Their sound is relaxed and dominated by a spaced psychedelic guitar, great bass-lines and reduced drums. Influenced by desert music and music from South East Asia and other obscure sounds they create their own melange of psychedelic rock, surf, soul and funk. I introduced them to several friends during the last years and most of them could agree with them. It seems like they make music not for masses but for many people if they are interested in new relaxed sounds. 

 

Cosmic Cascade

 

Mark Cooper and Bob Miles, both DJ's and masterminds and founders of Solid Gold/Agent Cooper are Bedford Falls Players a new but innovative project in electronic music. During the last months they released a couple of new songs in an electronic style and all of them were above the average. Cosmic Cascade is their latest release and a highlight of new electronic music. A steady rhythm with bleebs, electronic improvisations and a bit of hypnotic sounds, leading into a brighter future.

Monday's Long Song

 

Bristol Archive Records is a record label dealing with Bristol post-punk, rock and reggae from 1977 onward. During the last years they released several superb compilations featuring local bands. What all the albums have in common is that they offer a good overview of the local music scene and that there are hidden treasures to be discovered. I have to admit that many of the bands are unknown to me and I'm all the more pleased that there has always been a scene in Bristol that wasn't dominated by trip hop and drum 'n' base. For the last Record Store Day the label re-released again their compilation Bristol Roots Explosion featuring British reggae from the 40 years ago. Mostly in the tradition of bands like Black Uhuru but this was the kind of reggae we used to hear and made me dive deeper into this kind of music. Talisman's Dole Age is one of the highlights on this compilation for me. 

New Song On Sunday

Scottish indie veterans Belle And Sebastian released their twelfth studio album Late Developers just last year. Shortly before the release, however, the band decided to remove one song from the tracklist because the album felt too long for the song: What Happened To You, Son?. Belle And Sebastian released this as a a few days instead. The driving track is reminiscent of jangle pop and features a playful bass line, a nostalgic guitar riff and concise keyboard sounds. Stuart Murdoch explained that the song is about his youth and the difficult phase he went through in his late teens. He had failures at university and in almost everything he tried at the time. During this time he was obsessed with certain bands from the 80s. Presumably, as for many self-doubters, this was Morrissey because many of the ingredients of this song are reminiscent of him. Anyway, another superb song from a band that seldom do it wrong.

Space Surf

On the first of May, contrary to the actual reason for this workers' holiday, we have a tradition of meeting up at various parties organised by local clubs, drinking a few beers and chatting to people we haven't seen for a long time. When I came home yesterday after a nice day at work and checked my mailbox, I came across the release of a new record by Japanese Television. It is instrumental psyched space surf music in the tradition of Huevos Rancheros or others. Twangy guitars rule their sound and sometimes a keyboard comes round the corner. Simply fresh and authentic and a joy to listen.