MELOMANIA brings forth 11(!) releases to give you relief from the July heat
although, several of them will require cooling down afterwards.
KULA SHAKER - 1st Congregational Church of Eternal Love & Free Hugs [LP/CD](Strangefolk UK/The Orchard)
After BritPop's peak in the Nineties, a number of British bands followed suit with their own brand of Guitar-based Rock. Kula Shaker blended the Psychedelic swirl and mysticism of the Sixties with the Nineties driving Rock to drill out a few Top 10 singles in the period between the evolution of British Rock through Radiohead into Coldplay. While they had these hits, their albums were underrated, especially the Stone Roses-ian punch of their 1996 debut "K." Whether it was their sounding too familiar to other bands ("K" throws back by adding Charlatans-esque organ and harmonies) or the simple fact they were not trying to mirror British life (or simply embrace Indian culture - "Govinda" was entirely in Sanskrit), Kula Shaker shut down in 1999. After reforming in 2004 and putting together several albums since 2007, "1st Congregation Church" is the closest they have come yet to the sound and thrust of "K." Yet, it is a very "American" record kicking off with the bluesy rave-up "Whatever It Is (I'm Against It.)" Crispian Mills’ rasp has aged very well on the soulful shuffle of "Hometown." While the Folk textures of "Burning Down" build marvelously into a "K' style swelling Rock peak. "1st Congregational" is all about a restless switching between styles and the incorporation of musical ideas. The fanciful Magical Mystery Tour production on "Farewell Beautiful Dreamer" is a shimmering lament to cultures that have been appropriated, while the Dylanesque "Where Have All The Brave Knights Gone" cuts even farther in puncturing/paying tribute to the history of England. There is a lot of undoing in these songs (four mention "cages" in the lyrics,) but their frame of reference comes together neatly as blistering songs like "108 Ways To Leave You Narcissist" and the more homespun "Shattered Bones" align together to stretch Kula Shaker's music well beyond the patchouli-soaked haze of the other works.
OOG BOGO - Plastic [LP/CD](God?/Drag City/Redeye)
After defying the rules (whatever they are, we still don't know) of Garage with his primitive near-Beefheartian weirdness on his 12" EP debut ("Tower's Ladder” still astounds,) Meatbodies bassist Kevin Boog realigns himself to spartan Space Cadet Glam. "Goon" immediately blasts off in a completely different direction with monotone Howard Devoto-esque (circa Magazine) vocals and a simple but powerful central riff. With help from Ty Segall, every song on "Plastic" is slightly fleshed out. Choruses hum a little bit more with a lot of bass as their engine, and the hints of other instruments continuously renew these almost Bo Diddley-into-a-distortion-pedal licks. The real skill of "Plastic" is its ability to keep one robot arm in the past (the Devo-esque "Cuckoo") and one human appendage in the present (another successful variation on the Wire-ish "Three Girl Rhumba" on the title cut.) However, at its best Oog Bogo only needs the two chords of the verse (and three in the chorus) to dazzle on the standout "New State." "Plastic" is packed full of cool new guitar sounds and driving minimal riffs that make Boog (and Segall as producer) sound like they may just need another side project to keep this interstellar Glam Punk in orbit.
MUSH - Down Tools [LP](Memphis Industries/Redeye)
With their weird wavy-but-angular guitars and hiccupy bellowing vocals, Mush comes on like red-eyed Pavement/Parquet Courts slacker Rock. Underneath the wonky grooves, there is a beautifully designed chaos taking shape. “Get On Yer Soapbox” spits out Dylanesque lyrical shards (“it’s the spoken word Olympics”) but flaunts a flashy rager of a Television-like guitar solo. Three minutes of “Northern Safari” is as tense and dense as early XTC but with a Fall-like barking chorus. “Down Tools” will likely not be immediately catchy but once you give it time, their parts are really starting to come together. “Karoshi Karaoke” is unbelievably silly, but their commitment to making it keep you moving until its beautiful final descent bodes well for their future. While “Inkblot and the Wedge” rifles through 90’s guitar wail and an almost Madchester beat to establish that Mush will not always sound too much like their inspirations. “Down Tools” is definitely a guitar album where they regularly spin tunes out of tune but never lose your interest in how well they can conjoin weird chords with (some)conventional melodies.
MAESTRO ESPADA - “Murciana/Estrellica” [7”](La Castanya ESP)
European music is rarely averse to combine traditional musical ideas with more modern ideas. Maestro Espada has released an intoxicating single that regularly blurs the lines between Spanish polyrhythms and guitars with bold electronics (“Murciana.”) As they mix in the male and female vocals (especially on “Estrellica,”) they actually guide you away from the structure of the song itself leaving you continuously enthralled by this panoply of sounds.
AIR VOLTA [LP/CD](Numero)
Landlocked in the Upper Volta region, this Seventies recording from Air Volta manages to be an audio passport for this combo to travel with. You hear Cuban rhythms tied together with a scintillating call-and-response (“Air Volta,”) and then they slow down for the most intoxicating, Psychedelic blues which snakes in between guitar effects and incantational vocals (“Djouggou Toro".) In addition, both the saxophone and sometimes the singer incorporates that Eastern fast-vibrato (“Fitri Malawy”) that bends these Sixties and Seventies sides far beyond the confines of mother Africa.
PRINCESS DIANA OF WALES [LP](A Colourful Storm UK)
Laila Sakini provides a very diaphanous yet feminine texture to her (mostly) Electronic music. Many of these cuts have no destination and instead want you to envelope yourself in layer-after-layer of heavily-reverberated whispers, psychedelic guitar (the dreamscape of “Still Beach,”) and primitive synths. On the twin adventures “Exhaust” and “Fragments of Blue,” Sakini is continuously blurring the lines between what belongs to the song (the hesitant drum-machine pauses) and what does not (an almost audible rumble on “Fragments of Blue.”) Princess Diana of Wales is introducing herself as a less-is-more Lustmord who already knows the space between is what truly keeps us listening and guessing what is next.
HENNING CHRISTIANSEN - Op. 163 Penthesilea [2LP](Henning Christiansen DEN)
The Fluxus movement in art stresses process over product. While seeing Fluxus installations was mostly meant to elicit a reaction, listening to one is a bit more like hearing familiar sounds in a very unfamiliar setting. This 1984 set of four lengthy pieces may be the single most challenging listen of the year (Merzbow included.) While they are separate, there is an indescribable rush as to listening to them either all together or in two halves. Christiansen’s field recordings of winds are both beautiful and ghostlike (his intention clearly.) However, when he actually messes with the microphones in the most random way it is disconcerting. Dragging them through the snow leaves you feeling like a body in tow by a boat or cart. This repetition of an undefinable sound and how his later choices “hide” under the now uncomfortable veil of silence is both hard to fathom and pull away from. When the actual maelstrom of nature enters his “process,” what was once familiar is intense and frightening. All remaining sounds, even when layered in with the pleasantry of birds or nature leave you almost completely unaware of where you are - if you close your eyes and really indulge. Finally, when Christiansen then treats the sounds you just heard and intercuts them with conversation and singing it leaves you thinking that perhaps all of nature is more operatic than we think it is. Boundaries are crossed here and eliminated, like the best Fluxus works - you could leave this installation - altered.
PARTY DOZEN - Real Work [CD](Temporary Residence)
The sound of saxophonist Kirsty Tickle and percussionist/sampler Jonathan Boulet is HUGE. There are a lot of bands that work in this realm of bass/drums, and guitar/drums (looking at you John from the UK) but Party Dozen makes their forceful groove-oriented songs work without blaring out like a Metal band. Their SubPop single "Fat Hans Goes Mad" (here's a reason to join their Singles Club) is a raucous almost Lo-Fi hornet's nest. Tickle competes with pounding bass and riffy guitar, but never lets it get the best of her. For "Real Work," they use their new sonic power to create a record that never lets up. "Fruits of Labour" is the closest they get to quiet, but its machine-like groove is dropped for a near funky chorus. "Macca The Mutt" brings along one of their biggest fans - Nick Cave to close it out. However, Cave is smart enough to know while his bellow fits right in, he is the icing on the cake. Tickle's effects on her vocals (sang into her saxophone) in the verses are the main attraction. However, it is her high-frequency work against Boulet's low-frequency work that best illustrates how "Real Work" comes together at its best. Few songs are as anthemic and rousing this year as the thunderous "The Worker" - a song that could easily power NFL promos, Alternative and Rock charts, and countless action trailers. Party Dozen are the "Real" deal.
Time enough to wrap it up with METAL!!
WARTHOG - Warthog EP [LP](Static Shock UK)
For a New York Hardcore band, Warthog needs only five songs to prove how well they can leap around from sludgy darkness (“Coward” and its brilliant distorted/clean guitar doubling) to an absolute ripper (“Terrestial Progress” with serious growling and a monster bass line.) Best of all is “Four Walls” which is a thunderous Metal/Hardcore/old-school Punk shredder with a blistering guitar solo. “Warthog” do not just get angry, they bottle it up and hurl it at you.
HOLD ME DOWN - Powerless [LP](Sentient Ruin Laboratories)
A lot of Industrial/Metal kind of announces itself as fitting within that realm. Hold Me Down wants only to obliterate you with noise. “A Serpent” burns like a flame lighting the long-running fuse of “Formation.” This Richmond, VA band clearly has Skinny Puppy in mind for their Industrial dreams, but they manage to include the sweltering tempos of Punk and even swirling Black Metal into the fray. “Cradled at Gunpoint” is punishing already, then you hear the air-raid sirens in the background. “Powerless” is ten songs of sonic annihilation whose most discomforting moment is the slow-motion pulse of “Forced Into Life” - the only time it lets you up for air.
SCORN - Winds of Torrent [LP](Great Dane FRA)
Not to be confused with the Mick Harris Electronic/Noise project, this fearsome French foursome is out with some of the most blistering old-style Thrash Metal you can find. The drums here are brutal and so precise (check out the fills on “Deathstroke and Agony.”) Like an Exodus record from the Eighties with more gargly vocals and snakey-guitar lines, the best Scorn songs leap out. “Resilient” with its double-tracked guitars and snare fills is the standout as it interweaves numerous time changes and stops into one searing riff after another. This is a band that generates energy. The guitar slashes and burns between both wicked slides and chainsaw chunk on “Dripping Veins.” “The Urge To Kill” kicks open the door like a classic Slayer song but really shows how well Scorn can change their shredding riffage without you even finding the seams. Scorn is one of 2022’s new Metal bands to look out for.
We leave you with the complete weekly 25-song playlist of new releases (and reissues) from T-BONE'S Records and Cafe. Enjoy the width and breadth of all the physical media that labels and distributors worldwide have to offer.
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