My summary of the weekend's listening (although three of the albums were listened to on catch up and two of them were amongst
@chunkylover53's albums of the week last week. Quite a big week for singer songwriters, as it goes:
Beachy Head: they're kind of a supergroup, as they include members of both Slowdive and The Flaming Lips. Very much of the dream pop genre given that much of it consists of shimmering shards of sepulchral sheep shearers. Sounds like you imagine Ride sound like, only they don't. I like it.
Carter Tanton: singer songwriter. He's been around for a good while, making good almost, but not quite, great albums. This is another. Quite low key and always interesting.
Will Stratton: I like this a lot. Quite early Sufjanesque at times and quietly angry. Very good!
Squid: they're good. Punk/funk/jazz/krautrock hybrid with Byrnesque vocals.
Dorothea Paas: singer songwriter number 3. She has a very pure voice and is a little bit Joanie Mitchell. Highly promising
Indigo Sparke: this came out about 3 months back. Another singer songwriter. Mixes up slightly rockier songs (think Jesus and Marychain in their quieter moments) with some that are more introspective. Pretty good.
Tony Allen: final (posthumous) album from the legendary percussionist. Lots of guests, bit of an Afrobeat-hiphop mash up. Enjoyable.
New Order: or Noo Oider, as Max from Hart to Hart would call them. Live album. Very good. You could pick holes and wonder why there's only one song from Technique on there but that's not the point. The soundtrack of a Blu-Ray/DVD they have out.
Daniel Bachman: ambient guitar pieces alongside drones and found sound. Therapeutic.
Natalie Bergman: an uplifting exploration of grief from one half of Wild Belle. It's very gospel tinged at times and extremely, extremely good.
Tony Joe White: posthumous release, put together from songs TJW was recording when he died. Produced by his son and Dan Auerbach. His voice sounds exceptional and the songs are great. Top stuff!
Iceage: intense stuff as always. A bit Bad Seeds, a bit more danceable. All in all very good.
Rosali: singer songwriter number 834. She's more along the lines of Angel Olsen or Sharon Van Etten than the rest. High quality indie rock basically.
Iron & WIne: unreleased archival material. Very good. Not as lo-fi as I thought it might be but not full band material either.
Veik: French three piece. Analogue synths, a little post-punk, a little krautrock. This starts exceptionally but, for me, fades a little as it goes on.
Sophia Kennedy: well, this is interesting in a good way. A weird mix of showtune style songs with synths and odd instrumentation. Kind of deadpan vocals. Really very interesting and very good.
Album of the week: there's a lot that's good this week but it comes down to Natalie Bergman and Sophia Kennedy. Probably just about edged by Natalie Bergman.