Hellhound: фебруар 2023

уторак, 28. фебруар 2023.

28.02.2023-BERNHOFT Islander (Bern/Hoft,2014)

SOUL

Everything Jarle Bernhoft has released in his relatively brief solo career has been worthy of discussion, and his fifth album is no exception to this rule. The Norwegian soul artist, who made a career as a one-man band using a loop band in his live concerts (and who got the full orchestra treatment on his last release, Walk With Me, as Bernhoft & KORK) this time crate digs into ‘80s UK soul, new wave vibes, snare drums and arcade sounds for Islander.

понедељак, 27. фебруар 2023.

27.02.2023-DAUGHN GIBSON Me Moan (Sub Pop,2013)

INDIE POP

Half his lines disappear into a twang so thick you might be tempted to laugh. Then you catch something like "Grandaddy so hot / He left me in the parking lot" (on "Kissin' on the Blacktop") and realize that's the idea. But behind the slickness and camp, Gibson's characters, like Quentin Tarantino's, remain hypnotically threatening: Punching teeth in with one hand while holding down their glittery cowboy hats with the other.

недеља, 26. фебруар 2023.

26.02.2023-LA FEMME Mystere (Born Bad,2016)

PSYCHEDELIC ROCK

Mystère is a long, cohesive, and magnificent work of art, full of vivid soundscapes and synesthetic tableaux. Despite maintaining a few connections to their excellent debut LP, the album ultimately signals a departure from their almost-exclusive strange-wavish electro-surf that we got immediately addicted to, finding the French collective venturing into a more eclectic, experimental-oriented territory that suits them like a tailor-made glove.

среда, 22. фебруар 2023.

22.02.2023-LOWELL Lone Wolf (Arts & Crafts,2018)

INDIE POP

Lowell may have a “sweet” pop voice, but she is making music that chisels at the bitterness and sourness of love’s candied perception. A Lone Wolf may want a pack, but if he or she does not protect herself, she cannot guide others to do the same.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/6f00eu

уторак, 21. фебруар 2023.

21.02.2023-MADON Good Faith (Columbia,2019)

FRENCH HOUSE

Good Faith is engaging, rich and poignantly introspective while still retaining the fun that Madeon’s discography is known for; giving its all until it collapsed from exhaustion. This truly is one man’s cathartic liberation painted in sound, although further care is required to see whether Leclerq’s vision of a new era can be maintained going forward. Is it the start of a long and arduous marathon or a rapidly fast sprint? Only time will tell.

понедељак, 20. фебруар 2023.

20.02.2023-PALMA VIOLETS Danger In The Club (Rough Trade,2015)

INDIE ROCK

At the outset of Danger in the Club’s rambunctious sixth track, “Secrets of America”, there’s a gallop-like drum beat. Akin to that so iconically heard on The Clash’s version of “I Fought The Law”, it’s just one of numerous signs of Palma Violets’ deeply ingrained punk mentality. Their latest LP sees it advance from the ramshackle rowdiness of debut album, 180, to something altogether more streamlined, more sophisticated even. Sure, there’s still chaos aplenty, but it’s been brought under control.

недеља, 19. фебруар 2023.

19.02.2022-SAVAGES Adore Life (Matador,2016)

POST PUNK

Adore Life represents a more considered, nuanced Savages, and though some of the swaggering, aggressive walls of sound that characterised their first effort might have lost some of their edge as a result, their message remains the same: don’t let the fuckers get you down.

субота, 18. фебруар 2023.

18.02.2023-WHITE ARROWS Dry Land Is Not A Myth (Votiv,2012)

INDIE ROCK

The White Arrows story begins with a blind child. Vocalist Mickey Church spent the first 11 years of his life seeing the world through an impressionistic smear. By the time his sight was righted, he had an incredibly vivid imagination and an ear for African percussion, thanks to his father. After leaving NYU with a degree in shamanistic ritual philosophy, he formed White Arrows and gigged like crazy. All of which led to this, the band's debut long player.

петак, 17. фебруар 2023.

17.02.2023.ALT J Relaxer (Infectious,2017)

INDIE ROCK

Relaxer falls together for spells, but for the most part the music sounds drunk. The general impression it leaves is inelegant and sloppy.

среда, 15. фебруар 2023.

15.02.2023-EVERGREEN Overseas (Because,2018)

INDIE POP

The French trio Evergreen (previously We Are Evergreen) grew up listening to pop music from the US and the UK. Yet, like many of the most influential artists of today's French pop scene, they value both French and English to deliver their message. This new album Overseas was recorded with Ash Workman, and sees the band use a warm sound loaded with synthesizers, drawing influences from the likes of Django Django, AIR, and Metronomy to craft percussive electro-pop songs.

уторак, 14. фебруар 2023.

14.11.2023-JUPITER Juicy Lucy (Grand Blanc,2012)

SYNTHPOP

Jupiter are an Anglo-French duo Amélie and Quarles, who are based in Paris but met in London. According to legend they met on a dance-floor which emptied when the DJ played Junior’s ‘Mama Used To Say.’

In the late 1990s, Air and Daft Punk radically changed the way that French pop music was perceived in the UK. This may follow in that vein, but there’s a link back to 70s classic disco (think Chic, Sister Sledge et al). It’s minus the cheese and too-knowing irony, and instead what we have is an album that’s perfect for summer days and those hot summer nights.

понедељак, 13. фебруар 2023.

13.02.2023--LEVERAGE MODELS Leverage Models (Hometapes,2013)

INDIE/ART ROCK

On Shannon Fields' debut as Leverage Models, you can hear the giants of Fields’ record collection, hopefully nodding along to his own beats. You can also hear the influence of his peers and friends, too. But Fields starts from these touchstones now and moves forward rather than simply folding them into his own music.

недеља, 12. фебруар 2023.

12.02.2023-LITTLE GREEN CARS Ephemera (Glassnote,2016)

INDIE ROCK

Ephemera is Little Green Cars’ second album. Three years following the release of Absolute Zero in 2013, Ephemera is a collection of mostly depressing, yet soulful and relaxing songs. Absolute Zero was highlighted by upbeat indie-pop hits such as “The John Wayne” and “Harper Lee”. Although initially disappointing, the focus on the more smooth, emotionally intense sound is very powerful. The slower song in their previous record were almost entirely overshadowed by their more fast paced songs, which proved to be much more popular. Ephemera focuses on this slower style of song, creating a more cohesive album.

субота, 11. фебруар 2023.

11.02.2023-LUKE SITAL SINGH The Fire Inside (Parlophone,2014)

FOLK

‘The Fire Inside’ doesn’t deliver any kind of meaningful belly-warming emotion. Far from being a firecracker, it’s like a floppy slice of lukewarm Wetherspoons fudge cake; acceptable, over-cooked, and totally unremarkable.

четвртак, 9. фебруар 2023.

09.02.2023-LUMINEERS Cleopatra (Dualtone,2016)

AMERICANA

The Lumineers are about simple songs, and tasteful arrangement. Though the release of Cleopatra was met by virtually every track on the record charting on Billboard‘s Rock Songs chart, The Lumineers are Americana if any band ever was, and are worthy of a subgenre distinction usually reserved for a more thoughtful and attentive audience who enjoys music with an underlying roots sound.

уторак, 7. фебруар 2023.

07.02.2023-MELODY'S ECHO CHAMBER Melody's Echo Chamber (Weird World/Fat Possum,2012)

PSYCHEDELIC POP

The debut album from Melody’s Echo Chamber has sunny, melodic rock and pop at its core, with a dizzying array of orbiting elements that serve equally to enhance the basic theme and to throw your equilibrium into wicked disarray. Full immersion is recommended but keep one hand on the rail at all times.

понедељак, 6. фебруар 2023.

06.02.2023-PRINCESS CHELSEA The Great Cybernetic Depression (Lil' Chief,2015)

BAROQUE POP

Auckland’s finest delivers an electropop journey into space…

недеља, 5. фебруар 2023.

05.02.2023-ZEUS Say Us (Arts & Crafts,2010)

ALTERNATIVE ROCK

Just like The Beatles and many of their contemporaries, Zeus has created an album in the word’s truest sense: a collection of disparate songs, no one more important than the other. It’s utterly relieving that there’s no sign at all of any recurring theme and that each song is a new project, a new start, a new novella wrapped up in clever arrangements ranging from the stomping baroque pop of the escapism-smasher “How Does It Feel?”, the dirty bluesy rocker “You Gotta’ Teller”, the brilliant faux-Americana of “River By The Garden””, and whatever snippet of influence the band might succumb to. It’s also relieving that the band has stripped the album off of all grander ambitions debut albums may often have. There’s no unnecessary tension or pretension, no strings attached and no limits.

субота, 4. фебруар 2023.

04.02.2023-LAURA MVULA Pink Noise (Atlantic,2021)

ELECTROPOP

As Mvula entered the global arena with an incredibly soulful sound, it is also a sound that relinquishes the traditional constraints of genre, no matter how hard you try to categorize it. It is even more interesting to note that her latest album Pink Noise moves well beyond her previous sound into a slightly more commercial area encompassing electro-pop and a nod to the iridescent ‘80s. Mvula, again, is not going to be constrained by anything, and why should she be? She has the goods and then some.

петак, 3. фебруар 2023.

03.02.2023-JAR FAMILY The Jar Family Album (Jar Records,2011)

FOLK ROCK

These dapper neo-Dickensians will be a treat for people who last got excited about new bands around 1975.

среда, 1. фебруар 2023.

01.02.2023-DOLDRUMS Secret Life Of Machines (VHF,1995)

POST ROCK

The first Doldrums release pretty well set the mood for the following albums, and a fine mood it is. Given that VHF label head Bill Kellum is part of the trio, it's no immediate surprise that the music embraces the principles of long, exploratory drones and gently haunting guitar wash and playing. Unlike a lot of run-of-the-mill music tagged and burdened with the label post-rock, though, Doldrums have both a sly sense of humor (mostly apparent in the song titles) and a knack for making truly interesting compositions and performances.