black midi – Schlagenheim
The young London band's debut album is a crash, bang, wallop of fascinating experimentation and improvisation, their lower case name taken from the term Black MIDI, a sub-genre of music created from multiple digital MIDI files resulting in thousands or even millions of notes. Appropriately then the result here, though with live instruments, and constantly shifting rhythms, is complex, songs not at all following the usual verse-chorus structures, with a style that echoes King Crimson, krautrock's Can, leftfield XTC or Battles, right from the opening number – 953. Lead singer and guitarist Geordie Greep's vocals are a crazed mish-mash of different voices, especially on ‘bmbmbm’. Indulgent or brilliant? Certainly a bit of both, and certainly the most interesting bunch to ever emerge from the Brit School. Out on Rough Trade.
black midi - ducter
Hot Chip – Bath Full Of Ecstasy
A mischievous title by the British pop geek band with their seventh studio album sees nine songs mixing party bangers with something more akin to Daft Punk pop later on. This is either brilliant or wafer thin, depending on your chemical state, because it is all about the house pulse, often tongue in cheek with a bit of auto tune thrown in. To usher in a new era, they have brought in outside producers fro the first time – Philippe Zdar (Cat Power, Beastie Boys, Phoenix, Cassius) and Rodaidh McDonald (The XX, Sampha, David Byrne), bringing a variety of soft focus into play. Out on Domino.
Hot Chip – Melody Of Love
Georgia Anne Muldrow – Vweto II
Full-on funky and psychedelic jazz of 16 tracks from the LA singer and instrumentalist with her 18th album, right the first dark, squelchy opening track Almost Trendy, before getting even phatter with the bassy Bass Attack Rap or scratchy CV Jam No 2. This feels like a deep-textured adventure into the 1970s, from minimal sci-fi experimentalism (Big Mama Africa Jam) to the airy funk of Brokenfolk, or the arhythmic Bronx Skates. The sun is out, put on your big shades and flares. She got the funk, alright. Out on Mello Music Group.
Georgia Anne Muldrow – Brokenfolks
Black Pumas – Black Pumas
Rich-sounding, top-notch, sophisticated soul-funk comes in this debut by the Texas-based duo of producer Adrian Quesada and singer Eric Burton, the latter's fabulous voice is very much reminiscent of Cee-Lo Green. Out on ATO.
Black Pumas – Colors
Luedji Luna – Um Corpo No Mundo
Wonderfully crisp, smooth debut album by the Brazilian singer who is huge in her home country, whose songs make highlight social issues and rights around the African heritage, especially in the north, and her parents' home town of hometown of Salvador de Bahia. That legacy is most apparent on Banho de Folhas (Bathed in Leaves), a beach sound and with soukous guitar and conga-led Bahian rhythms. The title track, Um Corpo no Mundo (A Body In The World) meanwhile is a slower, more mournful, with jazz overtones. A sophisticated, engaging, mature debut. Out on Stems.
Luedji Luna – Banho de Folhas
Merz/Laraaji/Ismaily – Dreams of Sleep and Wakes of Sound
The British singer and instrumentalist from Dorset, Conrad Lambert has released five LPs and multiple EPs since his debut in 1999, and this latest is a transatlantic collaboration in what is described as a combination of the industrial and spiritual on the back of being artist in residence at the Dampfzentrale arts centre in Bern, Switzerland. He joins forces with Pakistani-American musician Shahzad Ismaily, and New York's Laraaji, a laughter therapist and pioneer of ambient music. The result is rather beautiful, with Merz's emotional delivery, alongside stretches variously droney, cosmic and cinematic, with plenty of gongs and autoharp. Out on Dampfzentrale.
Merz/Laraaji/Ismaily – Dreams of Sleep and Wakes of Sound
The Raconteurs – Help Us Stranger
Well over a decade since the quartet's 2006 debut and follow-up in 2008, a band that was an alternative to the White Stripes fronted by Jack White finally returns after his many other brilliant adventures, again with songwriting partner Brendan Benson. This doesn't quite have the rattle, hum and energy of other work, and sits back on 1960s and 70s rock, including a cover of Donovan’s Hey Gyp (Dig the Slowness). Perhaps there's also too much Blind Faith here that it'll work. Out on Third Man Records.
The Raconteurs – Help Me Stranger
Bedouine – Bird Songs Of A Killjoy
New album by Azniv Korkejian is another thing of beauty, melancholy – echoing the folk of Joan Baez, with clever lyrics to match. Her background underpins the maturity in her music – born in Aleppo, Syria to Armenian parents, Korkejian spent her childhood in Saudi Arabia, and then moved to America. Out on Spacebomb Records.
Bedouine – Bird
Hatchie – Keepsake
Debut album by the Brisbane musician also known as Harriette Pilbeam is lush, breathy pop that has an 80s and early 90s feel, harking back to Everything But The Girl and Saint Etienne, with a dash of New Order bass lines. On on Heavenly Recordings.
Hatchie – Obsessed
Titus Andronicus – An Obelisk!
Exclamation indeed. The new album by New Jersey's Patrick Stickles and co completely channels '77 punk, glam, pub and classic rock, combining anger and humour with remorseless energy. Out on Merge Records.
Titus Andronicus – I Blame Society
Mark Ronson – Late Night Feelings
Old-fashioned, big production sound from Ronson, and something of a commercial behemoth include big-hit collaborations with Yebba and Miley Cyrus, particularly with the latter on Nothing Breaks Likes A Heart, with is a strong pop single, but in between this a few others, such as the title track, with a Scandi-disco shuffle and guest Lykke Li, there's also plenty of filler. Out on Columbia.
Mark Ronson (ft Miley Cyrus) - Nothing Breaks Like A Heart
Divino Niño – Foam
A heady mixture of Spanish and English in this romantic album of 10 tracks featuring songwriters guitarist Camilo Medina and bassist Javier Forero, who met as kids in Bogotá, Colombia. The music is a highly infectious, easy listening funky jazz pop, something delightful to order a cocktail to. Out on Winspear.
Divino Niño – Foam
Bad Breeding - Exiled
Punchy Crass-inspired punk and metal fuelled by anger over the state of British politics, this is an electrifying 33 minutes of noise, grit and taking no shit. Cathartic, powerful and furious. Out on One Little Indian.
Bad Breeding - Exiled
Prince – Originals
The latest release from rights owners Universal, delving into the Purple One's famous vaults, following the excellent stripped back Piano and Microphone 1983, comes this selection of demos given to other artists from the mid-80s to hear what Prince made of them before for example, Sinéad O'Connor sang Nothing Compares 2 U, or the original of Manic Monday before The Bangles took it, or Holly Rock for Sheila E. A collector's item rather than anything revelatory, but it's always worth checking out the genius at work. Out on Warner Bros/Tidal.
Prince – Holly Rock
This week's selection is by The Landlord.
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