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UMMA, the fourth album by Ecuador’s Don Bolo
New album: Striking, otherworldly, ghostly, evocatively cinematic and powerful experimental instrumentals by the band from Quito, Ecuador, this fourth LP is inspired by the work of Dune author George Herbert as well as the dark, dystopian events of modern times
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Black Country, New Road: Forever Howlong
New album: With a musical reset after the sudden departure of frontman Isaac Wood just at the release of their previous studio album, the Cambridge-formed sextet return with a rich, clever mix of whimsical folk, prog, baroque pop and musical theatre with lead vocals now shared between the three female band members
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DARKSIDE: Nothing
New album: Filled with infectious, mystifying oddball but at times brilliant grooves across a range of styles – krautrock, funk, Latin, indie, psyche, prog rock, warped pop, contemporary classical and jazz among others, this third LP by New York’s Nicolás Jaar and Dave Harrington sees an expansion of their eclectic experimentation now joined by drummer and instrument designer Tlacael Esparza
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Squid: Cowards
New album: Fabulously strange, inventive and and cleverly unsettling third album by the Brighton experimental post-punk, alt-rock quintet with a series of first-person narratives and inner monologues by fictional, disturbing characters - from cult leaders, serial killers, cannibals, sociopaths and arsonists
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Matt Berry: Heard Noises
New album: The British comic actor, known now for 20 years, from Garth Marenghi’s Dark Place to Toast of London to What We Do In The Shadows, returns with his other great indulgent passion, as eccentric multi-instrumentalist and singer of 60s and 70s-inspired psychedelic rock and pop on this impressive 11th studio album
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The second part of our favourite albums of 2024
Favourite albums of 2024: Welcome to The Song Bar’s favourite albums of 2024 Part 2. Part 1 can be found here. There’s no such thing as ‘best of’ and everything is subjective, but please dig into this rich seam of originality and quality, and even suggest more of your own
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This year’s selections include some returning veterans at the top of their game as well as some fabulous newcomers
Favourite albums of 2024: Welcome to The Song Bar’s favourite albums of 2024 Part 1. There’s no such thing as ‘best of’ and everything is subjective, but rich seams of originality and quality are certainly here to be enjoyed. Peruse away …
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White Denim: 12
New album: Austin, Texas’s brilliantly inventive proggy experimentalists James Petralli and co return with an appropriately named 12th LP, one which, created in the lockdown restrictions of 2020-21, needed a different, more DIY approach, but weaves a fabulous mix of rootsy swing, jazz and influences from Scritti Politti to Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, Nick Lowe to Jonathan Richman.
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Blood Incarnation: Absolute Elsewhere
New album: Appearances might partly deceive, as while this almighty release by the Denver, Colorado quartet of Paul Riedl, Isaac Faulk, Morris Kolontyrsky and Jeff Barrett has a grunting death metal tag, it also traverses a wondrously inventive landscape of dynamic prog, folk, rock, krautrock and beyond with an accompanying film
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Goat's latest album is titled ... Goat
New album: The mysterious masked Swedish collective return with their third LP in as many years with a heady new dose of primal prog, funk, folk and psychedelic rock sitrred in a pot of guitar pedals, flutes, drums and ritualistic-style vocals
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Public Service Broadcasting: The Last Flight
New album: Inspired by the same subject as Laurie Anderson’s Amelia album earlier this year, a the experimental news archive-digging British rock group formed by J Willgoose Esq return by paying tribute to the pioneering female American aviator Amelia Earhart
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Godspeed You! Black Emperor: No Title ...
New album: Explosive but also expressive innovation by the returning veteran Canadian post-rockers, with a title that explicitly references the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, but on a larger scale expresses an apocalyptic vision through some extraordinary, prog-rock experimental instrumentals
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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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The Smile: Cutouts
New album: Following January’s Wall of Eyes, the trio of Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood and Thom Yorke, alongside Sons of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner, return with a second LP this year, and third overall – of intricacy and invention – with dark, moody lyrics, and musical excellence
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Spirit of the Beehive: You'll Have To Lose Something
New album: Pennsylvania’s and Portugal’s Zack Schwartz, Corey Wichlin, and Rivka Ravede return with another bewildering collection of abstract, feverish dream weirdest deconstructionist experimental rock, with a collection of 12 songs that at times feel more like a hundred
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Wand: Vertigo
New album: Magic is waved indeed in this experimental psychedelic rock by the now Los Angeles quartet of Cory Hanson, Evan Burrows, Robert Cody and Evan Backer with great ghostly echoes of a British flavour, particularly Radiohead and Verve
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O.’s debut LP, WeirdOs
New album: A bold, high-octane experimental blast of viscous, growling, marvellous meaty textures and beats in this debut instrumental LP by the London-based duo of baritone saxophonist Joe Henwood and drummer Tash Keary, and produced by the ever innovative Dan Carey
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Beak: >>>
New album: A surprise sudden fourth LP by the Bristol trio of drummer Geoff Barrow (Portishead), bassist Billy Fuller, and Will Young (Moon Gangs) with that familiar chevron title and distinctly dark, strange but mesmeric post-rock-krautrock thrum
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English Teacher: This Could Be Texas
New album: An outstanding debut LP – subtle, original and experimental – by the Leeds quartet of Lily Fontaine, Douglas Frost, Nicholas Eden and Lewis Whiting, packed with intelligent, tender, rich, thoughtful, observational metaphor, and broad, inventive instrumentation
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Blue Whale: Last Immediate Images
New album: A brilliantly angular, experimental, partly instrumental prog-post-punk and jazz sophomore release by the Belfast quartet of riveting cross-rhythms, innovative guitar and bass work creating an oddball but ornate aural tapestry
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