MELOMANIA delivers the late summer six-pack to your door
Crack one open, share with friends, enjoy the variety we bring forth (this week and every week.)
JACK FRANCIS [LP/CD](Good Deeds Ltd UK)
Southampton's Jack Francis shows that his easygoing Folk/Americana is ready for our shores. Like the modern Seventies-style revamp of Americana, Francis expertly laces his songs with horns, bubbling Hammond organs, and hints of Dylan and Van Morrison. Francis' high register has just the right touch of grittiness and sweetness ("A Little Love.") even though he does get dangerously close to Springsteen ("Helena") and The Band ("Wild Eyes") at times. Francis more than makes up for it on the somber "Holiday" and the Allman-esque Blues/Soul of "Silver Lining."
KAL MARKS - My Name Is Hell [LP/CD](Exploding In Sound)
Taking their second chance at Post-Hardcore anthemic rock, Boston's Kal Marks create a powerful, emotional album that is heavy and heavy on melodic invention. "Everybody Hertz" is a blaring jam. With John Russell's winding AMREP-style rumbling bass part (and that Helmet-esque stop,) it would be far too easy for Kal Marks to push it into more aggressive territory. Instead, it juxtaposes a near Jawbreaker-ish verse before finding its way into dissonance (not just flipping the switch.) By the time you reach guitarist/singer Carl Shane's shredding cries of "Remember me!, " and "Everybody Hertz" still have not peaked. The title cut evolves from distortion into an almost militant Fugazi/Unwound style grinder into lovely lilting phrases that signal the calm before the storm. "Ovation" is thunderous and beautifully matches drummer Dylan Teggart's natural driving part against the twin guitars of Shane and Christina Puerto. The spacey verses echo Russell's sludgy bass hits, allowing the entire band to pool all their urgency together for the howling chorus. "My Name Is Hell" sidesteps most of the cliched ideas in post-HC (and the dreaded E) for a record that delivers emotion with vision.
TOMATO FLOWER - Construction EP [CD/CS](Ramp Local)
Baltimore's Tomato Flower makes tough, almost-Progian Indie Pop. The songs on "Construction" generally scoop you up into their King Crimson/Zappa-esque instrumentation fairly quickly. The title cut opens like bass and guitar talking to each other in Morse Code until their vocalists decide to add some lovely, languid parts. As the track slinks along, it builds consistently adding Eighties synth lines and eventually going all out both rhythmically and melodically for its big ending. "Blue" is more Wendy Eisenberg-esque playing with its angular verses and legato, dreamy choruses. This continued blending of striated parts with a dreamy release reveals Tomato Flower's promising experimentation with the control and release of tension.
AVALANCHE KAITO [LP/CD](Glitterbeat UK)
The minimal sonic exploration on this Brussels band’s debut album almost defies description. Minimal and muscular, the feral drumming of Benjamin Chaval is a bit like a member of the London Jazz Underground playing Post-Punk. The way Chaval bashes out the central This Heat-ish rhythms on the mesmerizing “Lebere” is thrilling. Kaito Winse brings fury and heat to almost every syllable that erupts from him. Your best introduction to his leading this band is the flute madness of “Douaga” where he alone sets the fire for bassist/guitarist Nico Gitto and Chaval to keep burning. The bass lines here are lither than you would expect. However, they give both Winse and Chaval wild rhythms to weave around. Early favorite “Goomde” is the stuff dream mixes are made with. Its dense dubby flame is held aloft by a staggering, lumbering beat creating a mood much like Public Image’s bracing religion (which strangely plays well next to Metal, Dub, and Emo ). Current fave “Toulele” sounds like a blistering spontaneous invention that the group added electronics to after the fact. That ongoing union of recorded magic and post-production ideas is certain to inspire some more riveting music from this promising new artist.
FUCHS [LP](Alien Transistor GER)
Who is Fuchs? This mysterious collective of artists from the Notwist multiverse either wants to replace Electronic music with a spine-tingling new strain of Avant-Garde or find new textures to incorporate into future Notwist projects. The tracks bear no meaningful titles. They might as well be computer file names. “Fuchs 1” is like if Chet Baker’s ghost played with LaMonte Young. Fuchs is fond of musical ideas that work against each other. On “Fuchs 2” a distant dulcimer taps gently only to be joined by drums and a single bass note playing in slightly contorted rhythms. Then analog “ducks” start quacking and brushes on a snare rattle quietly like a snake’s tail. “Fuchs 3” is the closest the group gets to a song. Its mixture of foreboding Jazz and Post-Rock builds tension beautifully as even the most dissonant parts only appear as an undercurrent in the mix. Any way you wish to examine it (personally, we would like to see them create an alternate score to 1971’s “Get Carter,”) these improvised sessions from 2005 (lost for 17 years) are one fantastic find.
DESOLATE SHRINE - Fires of the Dying World [LP/CD](Dark Descent)
Starting to think about Metal albums like editing a movie down to its best clips for a trailer. As always, Nordic Metal bands deliver the darkest, most abrasive Metal. However, there is a moment on “The Silent God” (much like Erdve or Amenra) that will chill you to the bone. After “Echoes in Halls of Vanity” pummels you, and “The Dying World” frightens you with its lumbering crawl, it would be so easy to finally get comfortable with Desolate Shrine’s dual-shred vocal attack. “The Silent God” finds its counterpoint in heavily chorused guitars and a sludgy backdrop only to disappear into a dissonant, quiet acoustic guitar/bass figure. They tantalize you with a slow, deliberate build in their disconcerting hush - then traumatize you in the hurricane-strength return to existential Black Metal thunder. The condition is now irreversible. You will listen to the remainder of this excellent album in shock and perhaps never take comfort in the quiet moments again.
T-BONES Records and Cafe rolls heavy into NEW MUSIC FRIDAY with new releases, reissues, and more - all the best highlights fit into a great way to spend a couple of hours with us - like you were here in the store.
We will return next week with more! IS there a release you want to share with us?
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The artist is the creator of beautiful things.
To reveal art and conceal the artist is art’s aim.
The critic is he who can translate into another manner or a new material his impression of beautiful things.
Oscar Wilde - “The Portrait of Dorian Gray”
Please support all the critics and reviewers you can. Please support the artists who make music to share with us in hopes of making our lives a few degrees brighter.
This week, Wren Graves at Consequence Of Sound wrote a truly brilliant summary of the whirl of activity both on and off stage at Lollapalooza in Chicago.
In 1965, Duke Ellington was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his contributions to the Arts. Namely 3000 songs in his lifetime. This would mark the first time that both an African-American and a Jazz musician received this honor. The Pulitzer board instead decided to simply not give an award for that year. Two of three board members even resigned. The slot remains empty - and you can help fill it thanks to Ted Gioia.
Let's Give Duke Ellington the Pulitzer Prize
Only had time for the Jack Francis track... but WOW. Followed on Spotify