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New Music Releases Thread


Beak> released their 4th album >>>> yesterday. It's very good.

Listening now. Absolute corker of an album. Portishead alumni liable to have two albums very high in my end of year list as it stands.
Listening now. Absolute corker of an album. Portishead alumni liable to have two albums very high in my end of year list as it stands.

In addition to the excellent Beak> album, there are new releases this week from Arooj Aftab, Bat For Lashes, Ben Platt, Crowded House, Idaho, Keaton Henson, Maya Hawke, Richard Hawley, Richard Thompson, Sam Jr, Unessential Oils, Jimi Tenor & Cold Diamond & Mink, Masal, Dana Gillespie, Can (Live In Aston 1977), Swamp Dogg, Poppycock, Anastasia Coope, Bernard Butler and Willie Nelson.
 
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Listening now. Absolute corker of an album. Portishead alumni liable to have two albums very high in my end of year list as it stands.


In addition to the excellent Beak> album, there are new releases this week from Arooj Aftab, Bat For Lashes, Ben Platt, Crowded House, Idaho, Keaton Henson, Maya Hawke, Richard Hawley, Richard Thompson, Sam Jr, Unessential Oils, Jimi Tenor & Cold Diamond & Mink, Masal, Dana Gillespie, Can (Live In Aston 1977), Swamp Dogg, Poppycock, Anastasia Coope, Bernard Butler and Willie Nelson.
I’m assuming there should be a comma between Bernard Butler and Willie Nelson, as opposed to this being a really interesting collaboration album!
 
My weekly review...

Beak>: already mentioned but it's an excellent album, as always. They continue to improve.
Girl and Girl: Aussie band signed to Sub Pop. Terrific album of left field indie rock. The drummer is the singer's auntie, or something.
Jacken Elswyth: banjo player does insturmental stuff featuring all sorts of stuff. Very good.
Jim White and Marisa Anderson: Jim the drummer and Anderson the ambient guitarist. All pretty lovely.
Jimi Tenor & Cold Diamond & Mink: collaborative album of chilled out jazz and electronica. Pretty good.
Masal: Andy Bell's ambient collaborators. This is very good. Quite anthemic.
Arooj Aftab: excellent, takes the vibes of Vulture Prince and runs from there. She's a star.
Keaton Henson: largely instrumental and loosely modern classical. Very pretty.
CAN: Live album circa 1977. Enjoyable.
Richard Thompson: high quality from Thompson as always. Folk rock, guitar to the fore.
Swamp Dogg: a sort of bluegrass/hip hop hybrid. Imaginative and very good.
Ezra Feinberg: ambient insturmental guitar pop. Very good indeed.
Poppycock: Una Baines, formerly of The Fall (early days), in her new band. There's an old school non-jangle indie vibe. Excellent.
Richard Hawley: @James nailed it above. Really lovely.
Anastasia Coope: she's a musician and painter. This is 21 minutes of looped and overlaid vocal based tracks and is exceptionally good.
Bernard Butler: a strong album of Americana-ish songs. His voice isn't the best but generally really good.
Bat For Lashes: the usual vibe. Some good songs, not her best but solid.
Willie Nelson: excellent. Hard to believe he's 94.

Album of the week: Beak> just about but Richard Hawley, Girl and Girl, Arooj Aftab , Ezra Feinberg and Anastasia Coope go close.
 
My weekly review...

Beak>: already mentioned but it's an excellent album, as always. They continue to improve.
Girl and Girl: Aussie band signed to Sub Pop. Terrific album of left field indie rock. The drummer is the singer's auntie, or something.
Jacken Elswyth: banjo player does insturmental stuff featuring all sorts of stuff. Very good.
Jim White and Marisa Anderson: Jim the drummer and Anderson the ambient guitarist. All pretty lovely.
Jimi Tenor & Cold Diamond & Mink: collaborative album of chilled out jazz and electronica. Pretty good.
Masal: Andy Bell's ambient collaborators. This is very good. Quite anthemic.
Arooj Aftab: excellent, takes the vibes of Vulture Prince and runs from there. She's a star.
Keaton Henson: largely instrumental and loosely modern classical. Very pretty.
CAN: Live album circa 1977. Enjoyable.
Richard Thompson: high quality from Thompson as always. Folk rock, guitar to the fore.
Swamp Dogg: a sort of bluegrass/hip hop hybrid. Imaginative and very good.
Ezra Feinberg: ambient insturmental guitar pop. Very good indeed.
Poppycock: Una Baines, formerly of The Fall (early days), in her new band. There's an old school non-jangle indie vibe. Excellent.
Richard Hawley: @James nailed it above. Really lovely.
Anastasia Coope: she's a musician and painter. This is 21 minutes of looped and overlaid vocal based tracks and is exceptionally good.
Bernard Butler: a strong album of Americana-ish songs. His voice isn't the best but generally really good.
Bat For Lashes: the usual vibe. Some good songs, not her best but solid.
Willie Nelson: excellent. Hard to believe he's 94.

Album of the week: Beak> just about but Richard Hawley, Girl and Girl, Arooj Aftab , Ezra Feinberg and Anastasia Coope go close.
Always very useful. Surprise no review of the King Hannah album however
 
There are new albums tomorrow from Actress, Alfie Templeman, Aurora, Bon Jovi, Bonny Light Horseman, Charli XCX, Eels, Goat Girl, Kaytranada, NxWorries, Peggy Gou, Saint Levant, Swim Deep, Tems, The Mysterines, Bloomsday, Good Looks, Marina Allen, Strand of Oaks, Kelley Stoltz, Landless, The Zawose Queens, Joana Serrat, Buffalo Tom and Beings,
 
Time for my weekly review...

King Hannah: held over from last week. It's a cracking album, probably amongst the best of the year so far.
Bloomsday: decent enough female fronted alt-rock. Clearly highly influenced by Big Thief.
Good Looks: decent enough male fornted alt-rock. No ostensible Big Thief influence.
Marina Allen: very good, perhaps a little more obviously folk influenced than her previous releases
Strand of Oaks: good. A lot more synthy than previous releases. In that regard, it kind of reminds me of the latest Amen Dunes album.
Kelley Stoltz: more alt-rock stuff from a proper veteran, This is very good, pop hooks abound.
Landless: the Irish folk revival continues apace. Four women who are heavy on vocal harmonies and minimal with instrumentation, Exceptional.
Eels: highly enjoyable, if not exactly pushing the boundaries of what an Eels album is.
The Zawose Queens: Tanzanian mother and daughter duo whose father/grandfather was number 1 chariot in the Tanzanian music scene back in the 80s. They're working with a couple of UK musicians who add guitar and electronics (but not overbearingly) and the whole thing is extremely good.
Goat Girl: as mentioned above, pretty good. A lot more reflective and less angsty than I remember their earlier albums being (and a bit less punk also).
Joana Serrat: she's moved a little away from the Americana of her earlier albums (maybe that's saved for Riders of the Canyon) into more of a general alt-rock/indie vibe. Very good songs and highly enjoyable.
Buffalo Tom: indie rock veterans return. This is pretty good but not quite up there with their early albums ("Let Me Come Over" is one of the great, should have been massive early 90s albums)
Bonny Light Horseman: a double album (20 songs). The quality remains high throughout. Excellent.
Beings: something of an alt-alt supergroup, constinig of Zoh Amba, Steve Gunn, Shahzad Ismaily and the drummer Jim White (possibly the hardest working man in showbiz). A mix of gentle alt-rock (think slightly leftfield of Yo La Tengo) and skronky free jazz. Very good.
Charli XCX: never really been my thing but the reviews for this have been wall to wall excellent. It is indeed very good. Club facing synthy pop essentially.

Album of the week: a tough one this. I think I have to give it to King Hannah but both Landless and The Zawose Queens have made exceptional albums and Joana Serrat, Bonny Light Horseman and Charli XCX could all have been up there in other weeks.
 
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