The number records our music writers got so into in October that they got the whole of Five Hearts was 44. They're all here, I hope, from A-Z...
ANCIENT INFINITY ORCHESTRA - Equanimity (Gondwana records)
by Ancient Champion
Let's call Equanimity a single because I don't know what else to do with it. Of course the entire LP, River of Light, is divine and not even in a John Waters use of that talent, way. Ancient Infinity Orchestra make the sound of their coming down from their homebase in Leeds sound like Angels breezing on down from heaven. Let's begin on Equanimity with the probing insistent bass from double-bassist, composer and band leader, Ozzy Moysey, and then wait with me for eight more minutes of pure aural joy. A 14-member ensemble daring us to come along on one of jazz's more spiritual pathways. Astonishingly great. I'm lifted. Ever feel like you never want to come back down?
ANOHNI AND THE JOHNSONS - SCAPEGOAT (Secretly Canadian)
by Tim London
A remarkable song and performance. The video is neither but that’s the video, I’m just a bit annoyed that I watched it. Don’t watch it, just listen to Anohni inhabiting several clashing personas and wonder about the ability of a short-ish piece of pop to give you an incomplete Rimbaud novel in a blink or two.
ATARASHII GAKKO! - Tokyo Calling (JVCKENWOOD Victor Entertainment Corp)
by Tim London
Whatever it was that Devo were trying to do reaches its zenith in the form of a smart-ass J-pop group, minus scratchy guitars, disarming the nuclear pecs and abs of meaty rocknroll one co-ordinated dance routine at a time. And they have the best lyrics - what is a ‘never ending sorry’? Sounds a bit Greek to me…
AUGUSTUS MULLER - My Animal (Original Score) (Nude Club)
by Alan Rider
Augustus Muller certainly seems to be on a roll with his move into film soundtracks, as he revealed in his recent interview with Outsideleft. This time it's a score for a werewolf themed full length feature film, written by his Boy Harsher bandmate and partner Jae Matthews, which recently premiered at Sundance to rave reviews. In common with most film soundtracks, this is a mix of short atmospheric textures, and longer electronic tunes, all designed to enhance the visuals. Lighter and more melancholy in tone than his previous 'Cellulosed Bodies' soundtrack, this hasn't quite the immediacy of that or Boy Harsher, but is an extremely well executed and thoughtfully composed collection. I do like soundtracks as they are not bound by the restrictive constraints of song structures but focus instead on creating moods and textures and experimenting with sound in an open way. Muller grabs that opportunity and runs with it. I confidently predict Augustus Muller will become a name to look out for on film credits in future, in the same way as Graeme Revell transitioned from producing metal bashing industrial noise with SPK to crafting Hollywood blockbuster soundtracks. Now I'm just waiting impatiently for the next one!
BARRY CAN'T SWIM - 'Deadbeat Gospel feat. some deadbeat (Youtube)
by Tim London
More of a mini doc taking a deep dive into ironic nostalgia. Perfectly put together images with an instantly familiar instrumental, the club scenes of acid-era ravers just brings home the stasis of the past few decades of youth culture. And the freestyle that has been bent around the 4/4 is a reminder that some of the best performances take place in a small room in front of three people, in between getting a bus and a drink.
BEDLESS BONES - Dead Woman (Metropolis)
by Alan Rider
Kadri Sammel from Estonian electro-noir act Bedless Bones describes 'Dead Woman' as ‘incantations of nocturnal rapture’. It certainly is something like that, full and luscious, sounds weaving in and out, round and round, and keeping your interest pinned to its heart until the last note. Glorious.
BROTHER LEE - Super Capri Beat (Dime Records)
by LamontPaul
From the new Brother Lee collection, the LP, Casio City Rockers. Can it be done any better than this? Truly. The record is on Bandcamp right now and every track is the funkiest psych rock - eschewing the rock parts - that you will hear all week or all year. Sure, there's moments of Money Mark wimpey-bar whimsy but someone has got to do it. Right now Brother Lee is that man. I've gotta get someone who can write for this magazine to review the whole collection this week. Step up. It is so stellar, it is interstellar without even trying. Check the full length for yourself, right here. Rock around your room, however unsightly that might be wherever that may be, but do it for damn sure.
CALIBRO 35 - When the world is feeling blind (feat. Arya, Tahnee Rodriguez) (Universal Italy)
by Ancient Champion
A little less insanity reigns for sure from the band Rolling Stone recommends as retro maniacs. Controlled chaos. Everything is almost as it should be.
CAT POWER - Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man (Domino Records)
by LamontPaul
Another installment of this thing that Cat Power has done, recreating Dylan at the Royal Albert Hall in the 60s, dredging from my memory the sight of Kate Blanchett in the Todd Haynes-er, I'm Not There, and the distinctive richness that is the sound of Cat Power. There's something right, Baudrillardian about this, about Dylan now. What is more of a simulation. What is simply a signifier of something that was significant in some time before? Look, the Cat is on the roof trying to get back in and she has only just gone out of the door downstairs the moment before I came up here to write this. I wonder whether Cat Power has authentic Albert Hall hysteria/cheers and applause going on on this record if so what could be better?
DANNY BROWN - Tantor (Warp)
by Tim London
For a moment, as the telephone internet connection bibbles introduced this tune I was genuinely confused - they sounded so, somehow, currently appropriate, as if nothing much has changed since the 1990s… I wish I knew which jazzy prog band this break was nicked from - essentially this is just that break plus a deranged, hypnotic voice. Someone’s idea of genuine madness. Sort of brilliant.
DOVE ARMITAGE - Sex on Display (KRO)
by Toon Traveller
EVE EGOYAN AND MAURICIO PAULY - Height (No Hey Discos)
by Toon Traveller
FAN CLUB WALLET - Small Songs Vol.1 (AWAL)
by Toon Traveller
GAZELLE TWIN - Fear Keeps Us Alive (Invada Records)
by Alan Rider
Like a cracked fairy tale, this is both genuinely spooky and highly original in a way that we don't often see. Gazelle Twin is actually composer, producer, singer, and visual artist Elizabeth Bernholz, and on 'Fear Keeps Us Alive' she effectively conveys the constant fear all women feel of being attacked and the spectre of the aggressive predatory male that in some way haunts them each time they venture out. The upcoming album this is taken from, Black Dog, is actually all about fear in its many forms, personal, collective, or even supernatural. It is heavy stuff all right, but cleverly done without resorting to cliches. If 'like' is indeed the right word to use, I like the way Gazelle Twin has tackled a tricky subject here very much.
GENCAB - Signature Flaws (Metropolis)
by Alan Rider
Combining elements of synth-pop, electronic/alt rock and EBM, but with subject matter such as addiction, obsession, ego, and death and song titles like 'Bloom to decay', 'Black Mirror', and 'Cancer causes life', you'd be forgiven for thinking this was a bit of a gloomfest, but the truth is far from it. With nods to Skinny Puppy, Front Line Assembly, and Front 242, this has an impeccably designed sheen that others in the industrial/EBM field lack (and just in case you were wondering, genCAB stands for 'Generation cable'). This is the sound that Gary Numan is currently taking aim at, but sorry Gaz, genCAB got there first and does it far better. With three separate takes on the title track spaced across the album, each an evolution from the previous, there is even a hint of a concept album here, whereas other tracks like the single 'The Badge', are more straightforward industrial club floor fillers. There certainly is a strong club vein running through the whole album, but delivered with a 'signature' twist and the wealth of small details such as tempo and key switches and the way tracks morph into different sections reveal an intelligent and precise hand at work. GenCAB's David Dutton really knows his way around the studio for sure, and 'Signature Flaws' is a substantial cut above others you will find in this genre.
GERMA ADAN - Singing Queen/Renn Chantrèl (Binding Thread Records)
by Jay Lewis
We have been fans of Germa Adan for a long time! Back in 2020 she performed at our last Outsideleft Night Out, before the world closed down and all live music was shelved due to the pandemic. A remarkable musician and singer-songwriter, Germa’s music reflects her journey from Haiti to the United States and now to the UK. You can feel this musical odyssey in ‘Singing Queen/Renn Chantrèl’. It is a song that is imbued by her journeying, sung is her Haitian Creole, Germa also plays the lamenting classical guitar. A sad but hugely beautiful song – an immersive six minutes just doesn’t feel long enough. It is a fine taster for her ‘Borderlines and Bloodlines’ album – which will be released on 27 October.
GHOST TRAIN ORCHESTRA AND KRONOS QUARTET - Songs and Syphoniques - The Music of Moondog (Cantaloupe Music)
by Jay Lewis
A celebration of the music of Moondog has been long, long overdue. Sure, 'Bird's Lament' appeared in some adverts and was sampled by DJ Scruff in the late 90s, but as for an actual tribute, one where you gasp at the new musical world the artist had created, well, that's not happened. Until now. Brooklyn based Ghost Train Orchestra realised the importance of Louis Hardin, AKA Moondog and put together a project that would do justice to Moondog, the blind musician who best known for dressing in Viking costumes and playing songs on the streets of New York (he was frequently referred to as The Viking of 6th Avenue). But Moondog made albums that touched on jazz, folk and classical music, designed and played his own instruments, and was a major influence on the minimalism of Steve Reich and Philip Glass. Moondog, who died in 1999 needs to be remembered. By working with the esteemed Kronos Quartet and a cast of great guest vocalists (Rufus Wainwright, Joan As A Policewoman etc), Ghost Train Orchestra have created a record that does justice to the legacy of Moondog. It is a record that contains both 'realisations and reimaginings' of his work, that covers the complexity and simplicity of his arrangements. From his short canons (the joyous uptempo of 'Be A Hobo' to the austere 'All is Loneliness' and the playful jazz of 'Bumbo' this album is both an excellent introduction to and a reminder to the long term fans of of the genius of Moondog's work.
IAN WILLIAMS - Slow Motion Apocalypse (Slaughterback Records)
by Alan Rider
Ian Williams is a bit of a revelation, says Alan Rider, read Alan's review of Ian's LP Slow Motion Apocolypse which is released on 27th October on Slaughterback Records, here
IDLES - Dancer (Partisan)
by Tim London
Could cold butter run down a neck? I know lyrics can be tone poems but, really, let’s try to maintain some basic truth shall we? Bit less pub at 11.45PM than usual and all the better for the chief monster munch yeller being offset by LCD Soundsystem’s Nancy Whang accessing her inner B52. Shame the band’s been infected by the same bug that convinced the Radiohead singer he should do some interpretive movement on camera (shout out, Jimmy Pursey!) but it’s over quickly. * Just checked, it’s ‘cocoa’ butter. Makes a bit more sense. Smells good, too.
JAMILA WOODS - Practice ft. Saba (Jagjaguwar)
by Ancient Champion
After all this you wouldn't expect Jamila Woods to be anything other than wholly philosophical about it. Wonderful.
JEFF TWEEDY ALTERNATELY BILL FAY - Filled With Wonder Once Again (Dead Oceans)
by Ancient Champion
Recorded to record the milestone of the superb English folkie Bill Fay's 80th birthday, Jeff imbues an urgency that might suggest time is short when compared to the languidity of Bill's versions. Of course, it should be remarked on, Jeff is up to his super old tricks here, backwards guitars, vocally deft, acoustically sonic, drums - oh the drums sound just like a drum kit and despite the declaration that his protagonist here is filled with wonder once again, and who are we to doubt him? We are the circumspect who know moments after this moment of wondrous revelation we'll be filled with the sound of it all crashing down around us once again. Breathtakingly Brilliant. But check on Bill Fay's version too.
KASSA OVERALL - 2 Sentimental (Warp)
by Tim London
Wonder what Jack Kerouac would have made of rap? I mean, this Overall thing isn’t so far from old Jack freestyling over some jazz piano. ‘All I got is sweaty sheets and a dirty pillow’ - refreshingly poor. Is that something Mr Overall could use on his PR quotes? Sounds a lot more realistic than the never ending tales of Ps and presidents heads and fur and gold and all that. It works, even if it’s badly paid.
KATHERINE PRIDDY - First House on the Left (Cooking Vinyl)
by Jay Lewis
David Olusoga's excellent TV series 'A House Through Time' took viewers through the history of, often unspectacular, buildings that generation upon generation had called home. Often paying attention to how those former residents' responded to the ever-changing shifts in society. I think of Olusoga's series when listening to Katherine Priddy's startling new single - 'The First House on The Left' a contemplation on a place that she has called home, aware of the 'centuries (of people that) passed through this door' and how 'all of the voices still breathe in these walls.' Her lyrical precision, her ability to subtly convey an emotion, has never been finer. Then there are those vocals that feel (excuse the unintentional pun), timeless, the delicate acoustic arrangement, and the strings that rise but never overwhelm the song. A fabulous return.
Katherine Priddy's new album 'The Pendulum Swing', is set to be released on 16 February 2024, followed by a UK and Ireland tour in May. Full details at katherinepriddy.co.uk.
MAGIC IN THREES - One on One (G.E.D. Records)
by Ancient Champion
This is a double A side instrumental and is admirably. One on One is resplendent in fullsome wah and flute so that is your map and territory. That other side... I can't Go For That should need no introduction, here, reinvented as a perfectly synthetic paean to the thrilling synthetic soul sounds of yore. Five hearts for each.
MASSIMO SILVERIO - Nijo (Okum)
by Toon Traveller
MEATRAFFLE - Base & Superstructure (Blang Records)
by Toon Traveller
MICHAEL NAU - Shiftshaping (Airloom)
by LamontPaul
Despite an early protestation, "I've been asleep on the job..." Michael Nau is demonstrably anything but. There's a massive 1970s Majesty to Shiftshaping that is so admirable and so for this listener, wholly rewarding. Can't put a finger on that precisely without a Trouser Press Guide to hand but, I wanna say he's got the Gordon Lightfoot records going on, but it's also way more Jimmy Webb. You can imagine Michael cooking this up, I'll take a twist here Glen Campbell here and a little splash of Tony Joe there mix it up with James Leo Herlihy... Altogether wonderfully ambitious and lovely.
MILLICENT CHAPANDA - Samatenga Ringirai (Bandcamp)
by Ancient Champion
Technically part of a wide ranging mbira EP, Samatenga Ringirai by the simply marvelous Millicent Chapanda... (No one has word the Marvelous mantle so well since Marvelous Marvin I'd say. Wouldn't you?) If this isn't the most joyous beautiful thing you hear today, let me know and you can have your money back tonight when Millicent appears at the Outsideleft Studio67 Night Out in Corks... Oh wow!
MUSEUMGOER - Musemgoer 22 (Bandcamp)
by Ancient Champion
Anything less than five hearts for 22 would be disheartening. Read the Musemgoer Track by Track here
NADINE SHAH - Topless Mother (EMI North)
by Tim London
Bo Diddley drama with a hint of Curved Air. There’s really nowhere further for sensible guitars to go, for wizened old blues runs and technical proficiency to explore, so let the feedback fly, if you’re lucky it will be in tune. Our Naddy-Addy-Addy-O is lucky and this small blast of perplexed anger brings righteous winter winds from the north like Viking beer boys on the Diamond Strip invading a bar, led by a woman who could knock them all out.
PINK PANTHERESS - Mosquito (Parlophone)
by Tim London
How do people with really long nails text so quick? That is the deep mystery that unfolds as I watch a video about shopping promoting a song about owning a person but also shopping and which is so perfectly poised to tickle that pastel shaded, ice cream buzz of anticipated purchase that it is quite simply perfect. Not a wrinkle or a bad smell, eyebrows frozen in place and spots squished and zapped. Much more radical than any of your old man electro radical noise stuff.
PROBLEM PATTERNS - Lesbo 3000 (Alcopop! Records)
by Ancient Champion
Lesbo 3000 is an earlier, furious feminist punk rock polemic from Belfast's really brilliant, Problem Patterns, it'll be included on the debut LP Blouse Club out on Alcopops on October 27th. Fabulous is not just a word here. Lesbo 3000 is an arsonist at work loving their day job, wisecracking while world they lit up burns, here's the fractious punk rock poetry you've been waiting for since Noname wrote of how her pussy wrote a thesis on colonialism. 'Call me a dyke, it's a badge of honour...' It's the way the tell it, urgent and important, Irish writers mesmerising with their eloquence. Can a band still be dangerous? If there's danger in an unvarnished and unambiguous telling of the truth, Problem Patterns make me think so.
QUINSIN NACHOFF - Stars and Constellations (Adyhâropa Records)
by Toon Traveller
Pinky, twinkles, and my favourite jazz sounds, and loaded with ideas, imagination and innovation. It's got bows dragged over cello strings, huge slabs of bass and drums, hints of classical and sax swirls disjointed the joint and splashes of melodic harmony. So that sounds unstructured? Stars and Constellations is full of the spaces, paces and changes that make live music, truly alive. Saxes breath and soar, violins sweetly swoop and swoon, one minute a lover's intimate touch, the next, a switchblade street light flashing and the resplendent sounds and aggression. A horn skips in and out, adding playfulness to the piece, but it's the strings bowed, plucked, or scraped that's at the centre of the performance, There's flirtation, romance, scurry and flurry, rest and reconsider, plead and celebrate. The sounds evoke flashes of light, shades of darkness, ideas, fizzle, this is Jazz, here is an audio palette of ideas, it's invention, it's laser bright, it's molten hot, it's glacier cool, it is contemporary music not bound by genre and Quinsin Nachoff displays a true PUNK ETHOS.
RED PAINTED RED - That Was The Reason Why (Zoharum)
by Alan Rider
'That Was The Reason Why' gets the Alan Rider once over over here
RICHARD HAWLEY - Now Then: The Very Best of Richard Hawley (BMG)
by Ogglypoogly
Over 20 Years of Steely Songwriting from Sheffield's best. Read Ogglypoogly's verdict here
SUDAN ARCHIVES - Freakalizer (Egyptian Lover Remix) (Stones Throw)
by Ancient Champion
Now remixed for even Purer Joy.
SUN JUNE - Sage (Run For Cover)
by Ancient Champion
Sun June are immense, slight and momentous all at once. Lyrically their insouciant off the charts profundity will get you everytime and all the time, "It's dark, it's late and I'm tired." Wow! That's Willy Vlautin clarity. The guitars here twinkle like stereo stars in my ears as I listen 5.55am Bearwood Standard Time, it's nearly midnight in Texas where the band are from. I feel a direct connection across the continents. And I think this is one of the few bands that make me wish I still lived in America. From the just released LP to seek out, Bad Dream Jaguar, they are soon to be a Big Thief best band in the world and you don't even know it. This is REM stranded in Athens Georgia. Sun June make the unashamedly introspective personally involved/evolved America where I use to live sound great.
SUN JUNE - Ambitions (Jagjaguwar)
by LamontPaul
These aren't really singles as such are they they're just new tracks highlighted each week. Whatever I am sucker for this hesitant heist of my listening heart. I think only Sun June can do it so right now. Fab. I think we gotta get someone to hear the whole LP, yes?
THE MARY WALLOPERS - The Idler (BC Records)
by Toon Traveller
THE MIND IS COMPLEX - I Closed the Windows and Left (I dont know)
by Ancient Champion
This is what you get when Berlin meets Athens. The Mind is Complex. Challenging, dippy, eccentric, wildly unencumbered, but stylized and knowing. I Closed the Windows and Left is the brief fifth Ep in a series of works from composers Lorina Speder (German lyricist and vocalist,) and Swedish producer Jari Haapalainen who is based in Athens. People who know not to do too much. What cosmopolitan lives I think they must have as I ponder going to bed at 8.30pm just to keep warm.
THE STREETS - Each Day Gives (Don't Know)
by Tim London
Mike Skinner - stand up, boy - now, I’d like you to recite these lines from this poem by Lord Byron. No, don’t sing, boy, no-one wants to hear that. Try it again with some feeling. Try to find the rhythm. Right, thank you. Just sit back down. This… is how people from the UK should do rap. Like a chip butty on Ramsgate sea front. With a cup of tea.
TRICKY, LUCIA - Ponderosa (reincarnated) (Universal-Island)
by Lee Paul
Does anyone does this better than Tricky? Stretching out a thread of surface tension, a highwire without a visible supporting structure - that's how the music sounds. Less is More. Still astonishing.
WE OWE - Time Suck (Mothland)
by Alan Rider
Taken from the upcoming album 'Major Inconvenience ', 'Time Suck' is an excellent example of the sort of thing I am forever banging on about, namely offering a new twist and providing something fresh in a world that is weary and lazy and all too often falls back on the predictable and lame. It comes as no surprise that sole-member Christopher Pravdica has previously done time in Swans and Xiu Xiu and driven along by a throbbing distorted bass pump of a rhythm that rises and fall like a dark sea, 'Time Suck' bodes well for the album to follow. I'll be keeping an eye out for that.
YUNG SHAM - Hope Is In The Stars (peaceandlove)
by Lee Paul
Good Gods Almighty. This is the giant number one record all over the world. In the parallel universe. Where i would prefer to live. "Oooh Girl I'm just a fool without you now..." afore the unspeakably sublime organ break. Lyrically dexterous which makes this wholly likeable and listenable all at once. Can he come to Bearwood to be our special guest. This young man has that thing...
