NEW.MUSIC.FRIDAY. for you. No winding down here..
still bringing out the titles you need to hear (and share) As always, something for everyone.
SPENCER CULLUM’S COIN COLLECTION [LP/CD](Full Time Hobby/Believe)
Slide player Cullum (from Steelism) creates an imaginative almost Chamber Pop experience on his solo outing. Adorned with flutes and orchestral sounds, Cullum’s guitar glides through several breezy songs. “Tombre En Morceaux” is luminous ornate Pop with horns. “To Be Blinkered” flirts with whispered English Folk (and birds.) “Jack of Fools” features Cullum and Caroline Rose as Lee and Nancy over a lovely syncopated rhythm and plucked classical guitar. Cullum’s songs are best when they sound like he is making it easy. Where his Steve Gunn-ish vocal delivery stays front and center, Cullum adjusts everything to accentuate the wealth of sounds around him. Even with a variety of guests (Erin Rae, Skyway Man, Luke Reynolds,) Cullum’s Coin Collection never feels rushed or out of sync. Every track ascends to pastoral beauty and takes you with it.
SGT PAPERS - SGTP [LP](Devil In The Woods)
This pair of brothers from the desert of Sonoro, MEX kick the dust off of revved-up Rock N’Roll filtered through Garage mechanisms as Punk-ish light speed. “SGTP” is one of those albums that keeps you feeling like you are traveling uphill. “Ya Levantate” would dust most other album openers with its mastery of synapse-clearing Psychedelic riffage. However, the brothers instrumental “SGTP” tops it on melodic flourishes with an almost Stoner Rock-esque grind. “No Es Para Todos” is a bit like a sunnier Damned at Osees velocity. When they finally get to their “Punk” (“Sobaco Punk” to be precise) song, it is a distorted thunderous chugging rush with a searing Power Pop-esque chorus that you might even hear on AOR radio circa 1978. Sgt. Papers race off with the week’s best new release.
ABBREVIATIONS - ABBV [LP/CD](Red Zeppelin/AMPED)
This Dallas supergroup of musicians gels quickly and beautifully blends the primary skills of their players. “ABBV” is a tough, gritty album that is smoothed out by the vocals of Ashley Leer. Abbreviations vault from a driving Post-Punk push (“Tower”) to the masterful build on the jangle epic (“Leavin’”) without a change in tone or shift in sound. Clearly, their years in a host of other bands made it obvious to simply intermesh their sound and make certain each song has a varied emotional pull. “Turn On You” is moody, but lightened by a fantastic guitar solo, while “Trick” places Power Pop chording above near Fleetwood-ish/Alt. Pop shimmer. Abbreviations quickly prove themselves to possibly become a more Southern New Pornographers.
FRUIT JUICE - Mirke Vs. The Dreamy LLC [CD/CS](Swoon)
For all their silliness and vocal invention, Seattle’s Fruit Juice has a dark streak where they reach for the dramatic with great success. “Black Car” is a buoyant little wonder that on its surface allows Quillian Fennessey to twirl around different voicings and sounds. However, beneath it, the band steadily keeps painting the cloud back culminating in a wild guitar solo. The more Synth Pop single of “I Don’t Know” is definitely fun tinged with a little circus-like menace (and nice rising Pop pre-chorus.) However, the band again rides a reggae-ish lilt to make what could be lumbering and heavy -feel feather-light. Fruit Juice and their ongoing study of contrasts are steadily approaching some very original Pop.
NATALIE JANE HILL - Solely [LP/CD](Dear Life)
The Central Texas native branches out on her second album with atmospheric production and additions that lend to her quivering voice and carefully picked guitar. “Solely” sounds more like a Nick Drake album than most modern American fare. Hill sings in an understated manner that lends a certain softness and intimacy to her observations. The title cut rides a wave of steel guitar and carefully rolled cymbals. “Plants and Flowers That Do Not Grow” is a slow roller that packs a serious punch and really showcases her unique phrasing. While the meditative “To Feel Alone” is possibly most indicative of Hill enjoying her freedom to sing and write as she wishes.
DRY ICE [LP](Morgan Blue Town UK)
Before his time in King Crimson (and the equally important McDonald & Giles,) Ian McDonald stepped in to play flute with these upstart post-Psychedelic/post-Freakbeat rockers. Dry Ice work with searing hot guitar leads and a Cream-ish mixture of Blues-based Rock. While parts of it feel Prog (“Chinese House”) and even Blues (“Fake It” is illuminated by a blinding lead,) Dry Ice is best when it just runs at timely music with a little more recklessness than most. Their cover of Dylan’s “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” works in a variety of flourishes and stops to sound muscular. However, opener “Clear White Light” is the best indication of what could have been: lysergic guitar, weird harmonies working through the very Velvet-ish chorus, and all played at lightning speed. No wonder Jimmy Page was a fan.
ESSIEBONS SPECIAL 1973-1984: GHANA MUSIC POWER HOUSE [LP](Analog Africa)
This was supposed the year of an anniversary and celebration of this longtime mixture of Highlife, Afro Beat, and Funk from Essiebons founder Dick Essilfie-Bondzie. Given the circumstances we are all living with, at least you can bring this joyous music to your turntable. If you have ever sifted through the volumes of Essiebon singles out there, you typically discover that Essilfie-Bondzie was mostly after capturing the energy of performance. This collection finds some of the best danceable and most representative cuts to make the case for more of this music to be released. Seaboy’s “Africa” is a spiraling song where instruments are added to the mix leaving you dizzier by the minute. C.K.Mann rips the funk out of “Yeaba” to ride its locomotive groove. Ernest Honny’s “Kofi Psych” is a little pre-William Onyeabor funk (with more syncopation.) Essiebons concocted a compilation that gives you enough to comprehend this African union of music and still dance until you are sore.
STRAW MAN ARMY - Age of Exile [LP](La Vida Es Un Mus UK)
With their SST-circa 1986 sound and attitude, Straw Man Army channel Minutemen polemics through bass-heavy early Sonic Youth grooves. Straw Man Army songs trade skronk for tension. “The Silver Bridge” dares to both escalate and not abandon its weirdly chiming guitar. “An Offering” is a bashing Camper Van Beethoven-esque Blues. “Slow Violence” swings and swells beneath double-tracked poetry. Even the most uptempo of their songs only are hair-raising because of their lyrics. “Age of Exile” is a very smart record with history in its sights with dense music that never screeches or drowns out its message.
UNIDAD IDEOLOGICA [LP](La Vida Es Un Mus UK)
Blistering new Punk from Bogota. Unidad Ideologica uses just 15 minutes to demonstrate how it needs to be done. Opener “Metadata” gallops through all the tenets (slam-worthy riffage and unholy howling.) Then without a loss of momentum, they steamroll into “Tercer Hito Del Desarrollo” and its swirl of chugging guitars. “Tiempo Salvaje” is so manic, the crash of cymbals washes out into searing noise. However, the real money should be on the bass-heavy ka-BOOM of “Vidas Controladas” which reformulates the giant drum/airplane-engine riffing of ancient Punk into a blood-boiling maelstrom that inhales you. What a debut.
NEKROMANT - Temple of Haal [LP/CD](Despotz Music SWE)
This new Swedish Metal trio neatly goes after the Doom-y yet driving side of Metal (think Sabbath and Pentagram) with power trio-ish aplomb and some fantastic guitar soloing. “Behind The Veil of Eyes” is almost Prog-ish in its arrangement, but the switching of riffs mainly between their chromatic climb and its Stoner Rock main riff makes this epic immediately repeatable. While “The Woods” storms the gates like driving Black Metal with an anthemic chorus and a beautifully NWOBHM solo and break. Nekromant is definitely reaching for that classic sound but is unafraid to temper their alloy with hints of the newer elements.
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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