NEW.MUSIC.FRIDAY back with a plethora of music
that we know you are going to like (something in here.)
FAZER - Plex (City Slang/Redeye)
Fresh from the fertile new Jazz ground of Munich (and Squama Records,) the five piece Fazer’s (reviewed here 10.16.20) latest album “Plex” is that perfect mix of retro feel and futuristic sound. Their melodies remain crisp and memorable (“Grenadine”) and their songs mostly remain bite size in length. This compact writing means that bassist/founder Martin Brugger and his two awesome drummers Simon Popp and Sebastian Wolfgruber find their Afrobeat-meets-Jaki Liebezeit groove quickly.
FILM SCHOOL - We Weren’t Here [LP](Sonic Ritual/Eternal)
Lineup changes and a pandemic could not stop the underrated Film School from making this remote album that feels like it literally drew all of its members together in the process. Too soft (mostly) for Shoegaze, Film School’s ethereal Post-Punk now sounds like if Galaxie 500 played Musik Kosmiche. Outside of the obvious singles (the spirited “Superperfection”,) Film School’s best new tracks are those that develop slowly and organically. “The More I Know” rides its driving beat with waves of guitar bliss and the meditative “Drone 2” actually sneaks into your view like clouds leaving the sky.
SPECTRES - Hindsight [LP](Artoffact CAN)
A very varied album from Vancouver’s Spectres. They definitely show their range moving from the early Killing Joke-esque screaming of “Pattern Recognition” to the sublime Church-like unfolding of “Provincial Wake.” While they are totally Eighties Alternative inspired, Spectres have a smart Nineties-esque sensibility and process of hook derivation. The later songs “To The Victor” and the SynthPop gem “Tell Me” show even more depth.
NAMESAKE - Redeeming Features [LP] (Get Better/Redeye)
After kicking around NYC for a decade, Namesake drills out some promising second-wave Post-Punk. Their mixture of Interpol-ish haze and Parquet Courts-esque drive. “The Taste” is propulsive, yet they also find ways to be tense and sweeping on the standout “Operational.” Post-Punk, Power Pop and touch of Surf make Namesake their own band on their first release under the new name.
BILL FAY - Still Some Light : Part 1 [2LP/CD](Dead Oceans/Secretly/AMPED)
If you do not know the story of Bill Fay, you should and this collection of pre-album demos and recordings from 1970-71 can help. Like so many “cult classics” (not a fan of that moniker,) Fay still sounds like he is a singer/songwriter whose place in time still has not arrived. The production is all as you would expect a 1970 Prog/Folk album to be: burning guitar solos, stately piano, and songs that slowly rise from hushed but metered playing. The self-titled album failed, although it should not have. While Bill sings about all those aspects of life everyone cherishes, his tender and yet moribund delivery makes you feel like he is truly singing from confusion and loss. The version of “The Sun is Bored” is a bluesy wake where you hear him sing and strain with the Astral Weeks-like chaos of the band. For his second album, Fay contended with the Bible, Vietnam and the tearing of social fabric in America. “Time of the Last Persecution” was never released here and quickly deleted from the Deram catalog. Today, it stands as his classic. A personal testament toward pushing through the disenchantment of the world to both never lose yourself and find hope in the hidden places. The demos for the album are more stark and raw. “Dust Filled Room” rings out more like a song from The Band. The more serious cuts like “Pictures of Adolph Again” and the moving title track move along more on his emotion. Finally, the previously unreleased cuts are excellent additions to the canon and again proof that Fay remains a singer/songwriter who writes outside of time.
DOPE PURPLE - Grateful End [LP](Riot Season UK)
Sweltering Taiwanese Noise guitar RAWK. Dope Purple explores the space around the noise. They can easily find the peaks and raise your hair like Acid Mothers Temple (“Cosmic Rock is Not Dead.”) However they also manage to discover their meditative side (think Kikagaku Moyo) on the opener, drill out freakout-laced Space Rock on their magnum opus (the 10 minute swirl of “The Last Day of Humanity/Good Night and Good Death) while even going into several overdriven “motorcycle”- esque rumbles reminiscent of High Rise (the Hawkwind-ish shred closer “New Man”.)
CEPTIC FROG [LP](Lion Productions UK/Light in the Attic)
JERUSALEM [LP](Lion Productions UK/Light in the Attic)
So much of the Rock that emerged from the Blues/Psychedelic synthetic blend into Acid (and Biker for that matter) is purposely raw and slightly undefined. Ceptic Frog is a South African band from 1969 whose demos (while extremely bass-heavy and jam-laden) were on to something. The Bluesy wash of these tape recordings was indicative of what can only be described as a “dirty heaviness.” Like Stack Waddy or those early lumbering Brit Proto-Metal bands, their goal seems to be steamrolling everyone. However, these glimpses make you realize they were actually building a beast more serpentine and trying not to score that direct hit.
Also on the formative end is the UK’s Jerusalem. Produced by Ian Gillan on a day off from classic Deep Purple Mk.II, this 1972 sounds like their club show. Their Budgie-esque bounce has some very over-the-top vocals but marks the discovery of that Seventies Metal beat. If given the chance to find their way around their tug-of-war with the Blues, Jerusalem would be one of those pre-NWOBHM records to make reference to.
NICK ROBINSON - Lost Garden [LP](Discus UK)
With his atmospheric guitar work, Nick Robinson likes to start with the most familiar sound and then bend it toward its most foreign and artificial sound. “A Hushful Point” is a great example of just how one can use striking the guitar and undoing the shape do the notes to create. Much of “Lost Garden” moves into and out of a cacophonous swell toward long stretches of melody. “Toccata Apologetica” is his best composition.
Well, another week, another list of several different styles and pursuits in music for you. Enjoy. Listen again. Share as you wish.
NEW RELEASES lovingly compiled for you from this very week!
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