This latest confection, all proceeds for which go toward Worldwide Cancer Research, possibly defines the term short but sweet. Actually, maybe sweet isn't quite the right word, because the amount of emotion and atmosphere that is generated in a little over seven minutes on Page Of Pentacles is quite simply extraordinary.
Mr Olivetti
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Always searching for intriguing collaborators, Stein has hooked up with electronic legend Ikue Mori as well as Hans Jorstad on violin, Siv Øyunn Kjenstad on percussion and Sam Gendel on sax and more electronics for a suite of tracks that take loose guitar meanderings and merge them with percussive textures and electronic elements for something pretty out of the ordinary.
Bleakness And Beauty In North Wales ... evokes the solitude and temporality of life in a series of beautifully rendered yet distant pieces. Travelling all the way to North Wales to enable this musical experience is part of his journey and it feeds into the chilly grandeur of the seven drone-based selections.
The Etienne Manchon Trio has been pushing its progressive take on jazz since 2018. This is their third album with the settled line-up of Etienne on piano and synths, Clement Daldosso on bass and Théo Moutou on percussion. On Weird Life, they take this opportunity to fully exploit their delightful interplay on ten Etienne originals and a run through Wayne Shorter's "Iris". Although they are nominally a jazz trio, a lot of other influences filter their way into the sound and it makes for an album that never settles, as it constantly searches for some fresh way of musically describing their relationship.
Saxophonist James Mainwaring has teamed up with bassist Dave Kane and drummer Emil Karlsen, and as The Exu they have laid down twelve short shots in the arm that find the trio raking through their record collections and coming up with a suite that defies logic and sees them chasing whichever muse might briefly appear.
JP Hasson's Hasco Enjoyments is a curious affair; an evocative desert-minded one-man operation that draws on friends and fellow travellers to flesh out his solitary vignettes. JP's main instruments are baritone guitar, synth and Wurlitzer, and their sparse, measured sound seems at odds with some of the titles; opener "It's OK To Put Ketchup On A Hot Dog, If That's What You Like To Eat" is a pastoral guitar strum accompanied by fluttering flute.
Bristol 10 January 2025 Support for The Jesus Lizard‘s eagerly awaited trip to The Fleece in Bristol came from that city’s own purveyors of mutant post-punk hip hop, Lice. Having not seen them since their extraordinary set at the Bristol Psych Fest back in the summer of 2017 where it was like The Beastie Boys fronting The Birthday Party. Since then, they seem to have picked up a […]
Split into six sections, Recording Rites starts as a progressive, surreptitious unfurling, the instruments gradually awakening into a half-light of squeals, brushes and percussive hints. You can sense the players swapping glances, offering opportunities, little tasters of what is to come.
Once again there is an impromptu group consisting of Yonathan Avishai on piano, Itay Sher on guitar and Yoed Nir on cello to colour in the compositions, but it is the interplay between Peter and Yosef that makes the album such an intriguing listen. Peter has clearly done a lot of travelling (he is an American who lived in Denmark but is now based in Ireland), but easily merges into new environments which makes this album a surprisingly comfortable fit for him.
For her latest adventure, the title pretty much says it all, dialling down the wilder proclivities for something more subdued; an album that allows the four players, Elin on saxes, Tobias Wiklund on cornet and trumpet, David Stackenäs on guitar and Mats Dimming on bass, plenty of low-key interaction that embraces the listener, warming the fireplace for a battened-down experience.
Barbican Estate are a Japanese trio now based in London and this release for Feral Child compiles four previously available tracks that were either downloads or pressed on limited cassette runs. Because of this, there is pretty good variety in the selection and with a running time of a little under half an hour, there is plenty of opportunity for them to spread their magic.
Considering each of the six members plays at least two instruments, this is a surprisingly light affair; the bass sways and the guitar licks are textural delights and the slow, steady drums allow everything to slowly unfold. Vocals are dreamy in a Spacemen 3 kind of way; but sort of buried, as if frazzled by the bright lights.
Wanu is the solo nom de plume of Swiss bassist and composer Sébastien Pittet, but for this Magma project, he is assisted by Sébastien Guenot, who provides live drawings, and Mathias Durand who deals with multicasting and sound processing. Seb Pittet's background is in jazz, but this latest project moves far away from any kind of structure and into the realms of shadowy soundscape
Main man David Christian has been releasing bits and pieces since 2019's Fireraisers Forever, but now the admirable but shambolic London punk'n'soul, rock'n'roll band have not only had their BBC sessions reissued as part of Tapete's ongoing campaign, but have also had their 1999 album 'Tigertown Pictures' re-released for good measure and what entertaining listens both these albums are.
Considering that Niton's line-up consists of electric cello, synths and amplified objects, their sparse soundscapes leave plenty of space to accommodate poetry, percussion, saxophone, guitar and more and the guests range from solo performers to bands and hail from all parts of the globe. This truly is the most expansive and inclusive album and one that ranges like a giant across all styles and emotions.
As a group, they share some aesthetics with the likes of Dinosaur Jr and Shellac: trios with a powerful post-hardcore sound; but where Daydream Three diverges from those groups is in Enzo's diverse vocal stylings, coming on at times like an Italian Ian Curtis, his doomy baritone outlining tales of loss and heartache and at others in a more forlorn manner, almost as if there were two vocalists.
It seems to be a sweet period for those lovers of '90s American dark guitar rock for not only have we had a new Jesus Lizard album after a twenty-six-year hiatus, but their near neighbours and Steve Albini collaborators Big'n have released their first long player in nearly three decades, and boy what a cracker it is.
...this album, possibly their last, has taken ten years to compile as files were sent between the UK and Australia, two guys tinkering in bedrooms as if the last forty years had never happened. Finally sitting together to finish things off and settling on a track-list, the ultimate Icarus album in many ways is a masterclass in magpie electronica, with not a single second of opportunity to draw breath.