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New Music Releases Thread

Arkle said:
Slightly late with my weekly brief review again but, on this occasion, that's because there's a lot to get through.

The Heavy Heavy: as mentioned above by @ned_werby, this is unashamedly retro, joyous psych pop. Summer/festival soundtrack type thing. I'd alomst say it was a mini-album rather than an EP. Very good, for the debut, they seem very fully formed.
TRAAMS: again, mentioned on the thread already, this time by @James. It's their first album in 7 years. A lot more psychedelic than I remember them being. Excellent!
Nimbus Sextet: jazz, quite pretty but not spectacular.
Jamie T: has his own thread here. It's a pretty good Jamie T album, possibly his best since the first two. If you like him, you'll enjoy this.
Simon Joyner: an old school singer-songwriter (also owner of a record store in wherever in the US he lives). Lyrically excellent. Reminds me of Loudon Wainwright III or, maybe, Violent Femmes, if they only did quiet songs. One of those names I've seen get good reviews but never investigated further and may now have to do so.
Pye Corner Audio: at the juncture of electronica and post-rock, entertaining instrumentals. Their first album on Sonic Cathedral, having previously been on the excellent Ghost Box Records. Enjoyable. Features thread hero Andy Bell guesting on guitar on some tracks (I think Pye Corner Audio have worked with him before).
Jack White: his second album of the year. Contains a fair bit of the psych/blues rock he usually records but also some more whimsical songs, akin to some White Stripes stuff.
Tumi Mugorosi: South African jazz. This is large scale instrumental stuff with kind of choral pieces. Reminds me of Kamasi Washington or the latest Sault album. Excellent!
Sean Nicholas Savage: he's a very prolific singer-songwriter who spans many genres. This is kind of easy listening synthy pop, almost verging on yacht rock. Stylish!
Nina Nastasia: the first album in over a decade from one of my favourite artists. This is heavy duty, moving stuff. The circumstances behind the writing and recording are detailed in a whole load of articles and reviews about it. Anyway, in spite of the circumstances (or maybe because of them), it's a triumph.
Mat Ball: instrumental guitar pieces from the guitarist of BIG|BRAVE. This reminds me a lot of some of Thurston Moore's more out there instrumental pieces.
Spiral Stairs: the one from Pavement who isn't Malkmus. This is his sixth solo album. It follows the pattern of fun, slacker indie-rock. Good, as always.
Nick Dittmeier & the Sawdusters: Americana/roots rock, new to me. Good fun, hooks a plenty.
Ty Segall: a compact album for Ty, as it's only 35 mins long. Quiet, whimsical psychedelia, rather than the noisier garage rock he often does. Exceptionally good.
John Moreland: the Americana/folk rock singer-songwriter continues to broaden his palate. There's a restfulness to this and a very high quality of songwriting.
The Sadies: potentially the final album from the Canadian veterans (founder member Dallas Good died unexpectedly early this year). This is uplifting 60s influenced power pop (they're normally a bit more country). Very good!
VERO: indie rock from Stockholm. I like this a lot TBH. File alongside Hater, whose recent album was also very good and ran along similar lines.
Sunday Driver: Cambridge/London based band who, according to the blurb, merge folk-rock with classical Indian influences. To me, they sound like Dengue Fever and other Cambodian psych rock bands. Not sure if that's the intention but enjoyable anyway.
Blue Orchids: they formed from an early line up of The Fall but have done much of their best recording in this millennium. Spiky, very British indie post-punk.
The Gabbard Brothers: bearded brothers from the US who do what bearded brothers do, making rocking country flecked records. Sound like they'll be good live. Were both members of Buffalo Killers previously.
Dawes: mellow Californian vibes aplenty, as they've reunited with Jonathan Wilson. Good songs and a good album.
Many Voices Speak: this has been out for a while. Quiet, esoteric, indiepop. Reminds me a bit of Stina Nordenstam.
Sam Prekop & John McEntire: two of the gods of Chicago post-rock. They've recorded together in The Sea & Cake but first time, I think, as a duo. Instrumental, gentle post-rock. Long tracks (4 of them lasting 56 minutes) but this never gets tiring. Really good!
Beach Bunny: also from Chicago but with a distinctly Californian sounds. Punkish, indie rock/pop with female vocals. A little Best Coast-esque, maybe? Teens can't get enough of them, according to Thrillist. It's fun anyway.

Album of the week: tricky this, as there are maybe 5 or 6 albums there which would be worthy of it most week but Nina Nastasia's album is going to be high on my end of year list so takes it. Ty Segall, Sam Prekop & John McEntire, TRAAMS, The Heavy Heavy, Tumi Mugorosi and others can consider themselves unlucky.
Click to expand...
Will take a listen to TRAAMS, Simon Joyner, Sean Nicholas Savage, Nina Nastasia, Nick Dittmeier, John Moreland, The Sadies, Sam Prekop & John McEntire & Beach Bunny from that list. Cheers @Arkle
 

chunkyshitehawk53 said:
Have gone back to the bdrmm album a lot in the last couple of weeks, had forgotten how good it is
Click to expand...
There's one track from that record that 9 times outta 10 will autoplay after I've finished listening to a record on Spotify. I hate it so much because of this but I'm too lazy to turn that feature off.

My verdict of Visions festival at the weekend.

The good: Dana Gavanski, Tonstartssband, For Those I Love, Jessica Winter were great.

The bad: the sound at Hackney Church was atrocious. It was knocking on impossible to hear the vocals for most acts, and the reverb in there is terrible. I will not be going there again if I can avoid it. The new restoration is quite impressive though, just not the acoustics.

Also, why they picked Paper Dress Vintage as a venue was beyond me. Far, far too small which meant loads of queuing and a lot of disappointed people. Chats Palace is also too far to walk between sets.

The meh: Fat Dog - they don't have any good songs. They sound like a poor imitation of HMLTD with added saxophone.

BC, NR were okay. Not helped in the slightest by the sound in the venue. Few great new tracks, a few filler. Headlining doesn't feel right when you've not got any songs out. I ended up sacking it off towards the end.

That said, great day out and I've just bought a super early bird 20 quid ticket for next year.
 
James said:
There's one track from that record that 9 times outta 10 will autoplay after I've finished listening to a record on Spotify. I hate it so much because of this but I'm too lazy to turn that feature off.

My verdict of Visions festival at the weekend.

The good: Dana Gavanski, Tonstartssband, For Those I Love, Jessica Winter were great.

The bad: the sound at Hackney Church was atrocious. It was knocking on impossible to hear the vocals for most acts, and the reverb in there is terrible. I will not be going there again if I can avoid it. The new restoration is quite impressive though, just not the acoustics.

Also, why they picked Paper Dress Vintage as a venue was beyond me. Far, far too small which meant loads of queuing and a lot of disappointed people. Chats Palace is also too far to walk between sets.

The meh: Fat Dog - they don't have any good songs. They sound like a poor imitation of HMLTD with added saxophone.

BC, NR were okay. Not helped in the slightest by the sound in the venue. Few great new tracks, a few filler. Headlining doesn't feel right when you've not got any songs out. I ended up sacking it off towards the end.

That said, great day out and I've just bought a super early bird 20 quid ticket for next year.
Click to expand...
May have to grab a ticket for that

How was Fender at Finsbury Park?
 
Arkle said:
Slightly late with my weekly brief review again but, on this occasion, that's because there's a lot to get through.

The Heavy Heavy: as mentioned above by @ned_werby, this is unashamedly retro, joyous psych pop. Summer/festival soundtrack type thing. I'd alomst say it was a mini-album rather than an EP. Very good, for the debut, they seem very fully formed.
TRAAMS: again, mentioned on the thread already, this time by @James. It's their first album in 7 years. A lot more psychedelic than I remember them being. Excellent!
Nimbus Sextet: jazz, quite pretty but not spectacular.
Jamie T: has his own thread here. It's a pretty good Jamie T album, possibly his best since the first two. If you like him, you'll enjoy this.
Simon Joyner: an old school singer-songwriter (also owner of a record store in wherever in the US he lives). Lyrically excellent. Reminds me of Loudon Wainwright III or, maybe, Violent Femmes, if they only did quiet songs. One of those names I've seen get good reviews but never investigated further and may now have to do so.
Pye Corner Audio: at the juncture of electronica and post-rock, entertaining instrumentals. Their first album on Sonic Cathedral, having previously been on the excellent Ghost Box Records. Enjoyable. Features thread hero Andy Bell guesting on guitar on some tracks (I think Pye Corner Audio have worked with him before).
Jack White: his second album of the year. Contains a fair bit of the psych/blues rock he usually records but also some more whimsical songs, akin to some White Stripes stuff.
Tumi Mugorosi: South African jazz. This is large scale instrumental stuff with kind of choral pieces. Reminds me of Kamasi Washington or the latest Sault album. Excellent!
Sean Nicholas Savage: he's a very prolific singer-songwriter who spans many genres. This is kind of easy listening synthy pop, almost verging on yacht rock. Stylish!
Nina Nastasia: the first album in over a decade from one of my favourite artists. This is heavy duty, moving stuff. The circumstances behind the writing and recording are detailed in a whole load of articles and reviews about it. Anyway, in spite of the circumstances (or maybe because of them), it's a triumph.
Mat Ball: instrumental guitar pieces from the guitarist of BIG|BRAVE. This reminds me a lot of some of Thurston Moore's more out there instrumental pieces.
Spiral Stairs: the one from Pavement who isn't Malkmus. This is his sixth solo album. It follows the pattern of fun, slacker indie-rock. Good, as always.
Nick Dittmeier & the Sawdusters: Americana/roots rock, new to me. Good fun, hooks a plenty.
Ty Segall: a compact album for Ty, as it's only 35 mins long. Quiet, whimsical psychedelia, rather than the noisier garage rock he often does. Exceptionally good.
John Moreland: the Americana/folk rock singer-songwriter continues to broaden his palate. There's a restfulness to this and a very high quality of songwriting.
The Sadies: potentially the final album from the Canadian veterans (founder member Dallas Good died unexpectedly early this year). This is uplifting 60s influenced power pop (they're normally a bit more country). Very good!
VERO: indie rock from Stockholm. I like this a lot TBH. File alongside Hater, whose recent album was also very good and ran along similar lines.
Sunday Driver: Cambridge/London based band who, according to the blurb, merge folk-rock with classical Indian influences. To me, they sound like Dengue Fever and other Cambodian psych rock bands. Not sure if that's the intention but enjoyable anyway.
Blue Orchids: they formed from an early line up of The Fall but have done much of their best recording in this millennium. Spiky, very British indie post-punk.
The Gabbard Brothers: bearded brothers from the US who do what bearded brothers do, making rocking country flecked records. Sound like they'll be good live. Were both members of Buffalo Killers previously.
Dawes: mellow Californian vibes aplenty, as they've reunited with Jonathan Wilson. Good songs and a good album.
Many Voices Speak: this has been out for a while. Quiet, esoteric, indiepop. Reminds me a bit of Stina Nordenstam.
Sam Prekop & John McEntire: two of the gods of Chicago post-rock. They've recorded together in The Sea & Cake but first time, I think, as a duo. Instrumental, gentle post-rock. Long tracks (4 of them lasting 56 minutes) but this never gets tiring. Really good!
Beach Bunny: also from Chicago but with a distinctly Californian sounds. Punkish, indie rock/pop with female vocals. A little Best Coast-esque, maybe? Teens can't get enough of them, according to Thrillist. It's fun anyway.

Album of the week: tricky this, as there are maybe 5 or 6 albums there which would be worthy of it most week but Nina Nastasia's album is going to be high on my end of year list so takes it. Ty Segall, Sam Prekop & John McEntire, TRAAMS, The Heavy Heavy, Tumi Mugorosi and others can consider themselves unlucky.
Click to expand...

Really enjoyed the Heavy Heavy mini album. Cheers to you and @ned_werby for pointing it out.
 
Last edited:
James said:
There's one track from that record that 9 times outta 10 will autoplay after I've finished listening to a record on Spotify. I hate it so much because of this but I'm too lazy to turn that feature off.

My verdict of Visions festival at the weekend.

The good: Dana Gavanski, Tonstartssband, For Those I Love, Jessica Winter were great.

The bad: the sound at Hackney Church was atrocious. It was knocking on impossible to hear the vocals for most acts, and the reverb in there is terrible. I will not be going there again if I can avoid it. The new restoration is quite impressive though, just not the acoustics.

Also, why they picked Paper Dress Vintage as a venue was beyond me. Far, far too small which meant loads of queuing and a lot of disappointed people. Chats Palace is also too far to walk between sets.

The meh: Fat Dog - they don't have any good songs. They sound like a poor imitation of HMLTD with added saxophone.

BC, NR were okay. Not helped in the slightest by the sound in the venue. Few great new tracks, a few filler. Headlining doesn't feel right when you've not got any songs out. I ended up sacking it off towards the end.

That said, great day out and I've just bought a super early bird 20 quid ticket for next year.
Click to expand...

Good review

I'll never understand why any promoter uses Paper Dress like.

Who sings the BC,NR lead vocals now?

Also, interested to see Fat Dog live myself now you say that. Wasn't that keen on HMLTD and they were very much the industry's Next Big Thing at one point, too.
 
Bukowski said:
Good review

I'll never understand why any promoter uses Paper Dress like.

Who sings the BC,NR lead vocals now?

Also, interested to see Fat Dog live myself now you say that. Wasn't that keen on HMLTD and they were very much the industry's Next Big Thing at one point, too.
Click to expand...
Paper Dress was actually canny once you were in, but was a terrible pick for the festival. I can only assume Moth Club was tied up with another booking or something as that would have made far more sense.

BCNR are sharing the vocals now. Lewis (sax), Tyler Hyde (bass) and Maya (strings) take turns. I think it has the potential to be excellent actually. I'm not sure Lewis can sing though which feels like a problem.

I saw Fat Dog purely to see what the hype was about. They had a group of about ten oddballs moshing about at the front, almost in choreographed style. I found it a bit odd, I didn't think any of the songs warranted that reaction, never mind a set of it. I loved their enthusiasm though, it was a great change of pace. Worth seeing, but I don't think it's for me, it felt a bit too Windmill in 2019. :-)
 
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