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Pulp’s More - their first studio LP in 24 years
New album: The beloved Sheffield Britpop band return triumphantly with their first LP in 24 years, bringing familiar themes – nostalgia, sex, life changes, chance encounters, time passing, also wrapped in metaphors of celestial astronomy, all now from a candid, middle-aged perspective, but still with some crowd-pleasing bangers as well as Jarvis Cocker’s whispery, witty intimacy
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Caroline 2
New album: The London eight-piece experimental group return three years after their self-titled debut, with a stop-start, meandering, sometimes challenging but also magical album of interweaving vocals and analogue instruments – guitars, trombone, violins and more, but also electronica – and a guest appearance from Caroline Polachek
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Amyl and The Sniffers: Cartoon Darkness
New album: The Australian punk band fronted by the electric personality of irrepressible singer Amy Taylor return with another set of fabulous songs, with some new musical dynamic variation, plenty of humour, swearing, exposed flesh, but also self-aware, kick-ass feminism driven by great riffs and melodies
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Geordie Greep: The New Sound
New album: The former Black Midi frontman’s debut LP is a brilliant swirl of guitar rock, jazz, prog, funk, pop and a big dash of Latin, channelling Frank Zappa, a dramatic Scott Walker delivery, Broadway musicals, cello, a punchy horn section, his distinctive voice, clever, humorous, soliloquy-style lyrics
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This Is The Kit: Live from the Minack Theatre
New album: Originally a limited release on Record Store Day, a gorgeous live LP capturing the fabulous folk songwriting and feelgood presence of Kate Stables and the rest band on that unique amphitheatre setting overlooking the Cornish coast in May 2023
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New album: A brilliantly bold, experimental, original third LP by the now south London indie-post-punk trio of Clottie Cream (Lottie Pendlebury), Rosy Bones and Holly Mullineaux, one that bubbles with unusual musical dynamics and lyrics
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Gruff Rhys: Sadness Sets Me Free, his 25th album overall
New album: The effortlessly talented Welshman, former Super Furry Animals frontman and all round nice guy returns with a gorgeously bittersweet album of wry humour and fabulous tunes inspired by the joys of writing about sad subjects
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Favourite LPs of 2023, Part 2.
Welcome once again to the annual tradition of Song Bar’s favourite album releases of 2023. This is Part 2, and Part 1 was yesterday. There’s no such thing as a chart rundown or ‘best of’ here, and these come in no particular order …
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Part 1 selection of 2023 favourite albums
Welcome once again to the annual tradition of Song Bar’s favourite album releases of 2023. This is Part 1, and Part 2 is also out here. There’s no such thing as a chart rundown or ‘best of’ here, and these come in no particular order. This is all about quality and innovation …
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ANOHNI: My Bridge Was A Bridge For You To Cross
New album: Taking a new direction the last LP, 2016’s Hopelessness, the artist formerly known as Antony Hegarty releases a gorgeously tender soul album inspired by the sound of Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On
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This Is The Kit: Careful Of Your Keepers
New album: Another peach of an LP from Kate Stables and band, whose voice especially with her acoustic alternative folk, effortlessly caresses the microphone with clarity, beauty, profundity and minimalism, and is produced by Gruff Rhys
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Sleaford Mods - UK Grim
New album: Nottingham’s Jason Williamson and Andrew Fearn return with another set of, angry, catchy, darkly humorous belters, pulling no punches when it comes to the shambolic state of Tory-led Brexit Britain
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Special Interest’s third album, Endure
New album: A third LP of unstoppably energetic fierce, camp, queer, intelligent glam and post-punk by the New Orleans band fronted by Alli Logout following 2018’s Spiralling and 2020’s The Passion Of, a hot potent cauldron of art, sex, drugs and politics
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Gilla Band’s (former Girl Band) ironically titled extraordinary new album
New album: Groundbreaking, and at times ear-splitting noise experimentation by the Dublin band formerly known as Girl Band with a new album with a deeply ironic title and work that truly challenges the senses via a post-punk, distorted guitar and electronic platform
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Jockstrap’s debut LP out on Rough Trade
Debut album: Wondrously wild, inventive experimental pop debut LP by the duo of Georgia Ellery and Taylor Skye, whose entrancing fusion of electronica, classical strings, dance music and witty, agile sonic combinations sometimes slip playfully into reverse
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Black Midi’s Hellfire
New album: With heatwaves and wildfires ablaze globally, there could hardly be a more prescient title or dystopian theme by the London prog-rock-jazz experimentalist, whose third LP is strangely among their most accessible among its lightning riffs and stop-start energy of King Crimson or even Buckethead proportions
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Sympathy For Life by Parquet Courts
New album: After 2018’s acclaimed LP Wide Awake!, the Brooklyn band return with a sharp collection of post-punk intermingled with dance music that mixes funk, electronica, psychedelia and krautrock with improvisational energy
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Amyl and The Sniffers - Comfort To Me
Fabulous new LP from Amy Taylor and the Melbourne punk band that again captures their incomparably energetic live shows, here with a mix of humour, anger and some very frank and fertile self-analysis
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Dean Blunt
New album: This follow-up to the 2014 album by the East Londoner frontman of the mischievous alt-pop duo Hype Williams (named after the video director) is a bizarre, offbeat collection of 10 short songs mixing droll, deep-voiced delivery with a range of almost cinematic instrumentation
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Black Midi’s Cavalcade album cover looks as it sounds
Album review: The British quartet’s second album after 2019’s Schlagenheim continues their boundary-pushing direction of frenetic, eclectic mix of the avant garde – jazz, funk, prog in a skilled delirium of wonderful compositions
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