The OOZ is Archy Marshall’s, AKA King Krule’s, third album which recently has been put out on the True Panther Sounds label. On The OOZ King Krule again finds a nice balance between the elements of punk, jazz, darkwave and trip hop. Continue reading
Time flies when you’re having fun so let’s saw 2017 into half…
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Amy Macdonald – Under Stars
The year started out with what might be Amy Macdonald’s best and most mature album so far. Under Stars shows the Scottish singer/songwriter has all grown up and is relevant far beyond This Is The Life. (RP – SftDS review).
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Ryan Adams – Prisoner
(WRM).
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Avatarium – Hurricanes and Halos
With Hurricanes and Halos, Avatarium moves further away still from Leif Edling’s Candlemass-infused doom roots and sounds tighter and more convinced than ever (RP). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Necks – Unfold
Balancing on the verges of jazz, avant-garde rock and classical The Necks take you down a very deep rabbit hole. Unfold is a perfect album to get lost in, and only ends when you feel that the end is there. (WRM – SftDS review).
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Ex Deo – The Immortal Wars
Early this year Ex Deo returned to the fray to deliver a concept album about the exploits of Hannibal. Not the one from The A-Team or the beloved cannibal, but the Elephant Man. Or something. An unbelievably tight death metal record straight out of Ancient Rome. (RP – SftDS review).
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Scott H. Biram – The Bad Testament
The Bad Testament is a songbook made of a lifetime of bad decisions. Outlaw blues and brutally honest lyrics FTW, so you better believe it Roger Waters! (WRM – SftDS review).
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Roger Waters – Is This The Life We Really Want?
I’ve no idea if this is the life I really want, but Roger Waters’ new album has been a long time in the making and does not disappoint yet. A very strong contender to top the list at the end of this year. (RP – SftDS review).
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Thundercat – Drunk
Goofy R&B fusion that comes in pints. Thats enough reason to get one right? It’s nice enough to put on as background music but is far more enjoyable when you’re able to understand Bruner’s honesty and heartache as dark humor (WRM – SftDS review).
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Deep Purple – Infinite
Deep Purple is saying goodbye with a presumably last tour and album, and there are far worse ways to close off a career than with an album as strong as Infinite. A fine classic rock album and one of the better ones from latter day Purple (RP – SftDS review).
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Arca – Arca
Arca’s search for some form of identity is intriguing. At times it is bombastic but it also comes to a standstill at the right moments. It’s punishing, yet beautiful. (WRM – SftDS review).
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That’s it for now boys and girls. Be sure to check in every now and then and enjoy your summer holidays.
Wander Meulemans & Ralph Plug – 300617
Further surfing:
“Begin at the beginning,” the King said, very gravely, “and go on till you come to the end: then stop.” Oh right…, I am not really referring to the court of justice from Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland here. The quote stands for how to approach the latest work of The Necks which sooner or later will take to Wonderland. Are you ready to jump into the rabbit hole? Continue reading
Earlier this year I briefly mentioned Jameszoo’s naive, computer jazz record Fool but never got to opportunity to give it a proper review. Nicely enough you’re in luck today, so get ready for a treat. Continue reading
As you might have guessed last solstice was reason enough for us to draw up a list with our best albums of 2016 until this day. Here goes!
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Hinds – Leave Me Alone
Hinds delivers a stable fundament, a catchy upbeatness and a strong no-nonsense sentiment on their first studio album. A splendid achievement of a group of young friends who again prove that the future belongs to the young (WRM – SftDS review).
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Iron Savior – Titancraft
After an excellent, old school comeback, German metal machine Iron Savior shows that lightning can indeed strike twice. An excellent power metal album, with a host of varied and pumping tunes (RP).
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Channel the Spirits – The Comet Is Coming
Channel the Spirits breaks through the traditional jazz swing and brings very danceable jazz funk. The ensemble taps into the work of free jazz pioneers such John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders and Sun Ra. Highly recommended (WRM). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Blood Ceremony – Lord of Misrule
Getting slightly less dark and more retro rocking with each new release, this American band is still a standout in the barrage of retro bands kicking about at the moment. Less heavy, but a little more mature than before (RP).
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The Heliocentrics – From The Deep
Finally The Heliocentrics definitely found their niche by bringing together all experience they have gathered around them in recent years. From The Deep is raw and conceptually challenging but moreover. It’s a piece of work to turn inside out over and over again (WRM – SftDS review).
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Rotting Christ – Rituals
The brothers Tolis return with another collection of their own particular brand of ethnic-upped black-ish metal. Which is something you’d not read on the back of the box very soon. Ethnic-upped probably isn’t even a thing. Still, a great album (RP – SftDS review).
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Jameszoo – Fool
Dutch musician Jameszoo combines Hip hop, jazz, dubstep, R&B and Brazilian music and also is inspired by the medieval painter Hieronymus Bosch. Jameszoo himself calls his debut album Fool a collection of “naive, computer jazz”. I fully agree, so I pitty the fool who doesn’t pick up on this album soon… (WRM – SftDS review).
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Fleshgod Apocalypse – King
King is the culmination of years of work for this Italian band, finally marrying classical music and black metal like a Rhapsody of Fire steroids. A triumph for Fleshgod Apocalypse, and an album to keep coming back to (RP).
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Thao & The Get Down Stay Down – A Man Alive
A Man Alive is an adventurous album and offers listeners a record that is simply full of plain old fun and at the same time is interesting enough to keep playing throughout 2016. Outstanding job Thao (WRM – SftDS review)!
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David Bowie – Blackstar
Almost half a year in, Blackstar is still the most intruiging, mysterious and downright fascinating record out there. Bowie’s last album is a masterpiece of jazz fusion and its dark as night itself, both musically as well as lyrically. Unsettling and brilliant (RP – SftDS review).
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Indeed, jazz fusion, free jazz and jazz funk are gaining terrain. How about that!? Perhaps it has something to do with age, who knows. Anyway, have a nice summer and see you on the other side.
Ralph Plug & Wander Meulemans – 290616
Further surfing:
Remember when you were totally pissed off when I didn’t review Deerhunter’s marvellous Monomania in 2013? Well, It’s looks like history is going to repeat itself because I am not reviewing the band’s latest release, Fading Frontier, either. Yes, again it’s a great indie rocker but there is more music around that deserves some attention right? Nadine Shah sophomore album, for example. So take a good look at the femme fatale artwork, count to ten or whatever and read on.
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The tree of life of jazz grew strong from blues, swing, bebop to cool and branched out into various directions like funk, fusion and free jazz. Today it still stands tall. Adding something fresh to this one-hundred-year-plus history isn’t quite an easy task. However what is fresh? Something truly new and innovating or finding your place within this history by means of your own creative terms? Kamasi Washington chose the latter path and released a three-hour sprawl called The Epic which takes you deep into the heart of jazz.
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