RELEASES ON THE RADAR FROM THE LAST FEW MONTHS REVIEWED BY WRITER-MUSICIAN GRAHAM DOMAIN
photo credit : Morgane Landrieu
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Colin Johnco ‘L’Air Qui Danse (the Air that Dances)’
(Johnkool Records)
The first single released from Colin Johnco’s forthcoming album Crabe Geant (Giant Crab) is a piece of atmospheric piano and orchestral jazz ambience, that is intermittently manipulated electronically. I can’t see it receiving much airplay but it is a lovely piece of atmospheric ambience.
Essence Martins ‘Deer in the Headlights’ EP
(Young Art Records)
The debut EP by Essence Martins is a thing of beauty; six songs of warmth, humanity and love by a beautiful soul. She reminds me of a young Corrinne Bailey Rae, but make no mistake, she is copying no one and shows a maturity and clarity of thought in the mastering of her emotive warm songs.
‘Wandering Souls’ is a wonder, with its contemplation of human existence and the continuation of the human soul-consciousness. Beautiful.
‘Brussel Sprouts’ is like a warm cocoon, full of love – with the refrain ‘some people have goodness in their bones’. Destined to become a song standard if it gets the exposure it deserves.
This is a wonderful debut and I can’t wait to hear more.
Charlie Risso ‘Alive’
(T3 Records)
The new single from Italian singer Charlie Risso is a dark ballad sitting somewhere between Marissa Nadler and Lana Del Rey. It is also the title track of her wonderful new album out in April. FFO Isobell Campbell, Mark Lanaghan, Marissa Nadler, Lana Del Rey.
K Board & The Skreens ‘Mistery Magoo’ and ‘Rocchenroll’
(Metal Postcard Records)
The latest two singles from K Board & the Skreens are Fantastic!
‘Mistery Magoo’ sounds like Boris Pickett and the Crypt Kickers with The Specials covering the Clash! Picture a creepy clown playing sinister circus music on an organ as IT grumbles away! Suddenly the beat kicks in and the tempo speeds up with cries of ‘Magoo, Magoo we’ve got him, we’ve got him’ as all hell breaks loose! No idea what it’s all about but I can well imagine some wild cartoon characters running amok in the video for the song! Brilliant stuff!‘Rocchenroll’ meanwhile, starts like a rave track with arpeggiated synths and just at the point where a fast Prodigy beat should kick in, we get instead what sounds like a depressed Glitter Band invoking the spirit of Glam and rocking out in a downward spiral of depression, thus inventing a new genre: Bi-Polar Beat.
TIM M. ‘The Road Home’ and ‘I’m Not The Man’
(Metal Postcard)
Two more classy singles from TIM M.
‘The Road Home’ would have been a massive hit had it been released in 1976 to compliment Gerry Rafferty’s ‘Baker Street’ and Bill Withers ‘Lovely Day’. It has that same high-end pop song production complete with Sax solo and a melody to match.
‘I’m Not The Man’ has that ‘Guilty Pleasures’ AOR sound in a song where the protagonist accepts full responsibility for the failure of his relationship. A refreshing-take on the love rejection theme!
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Laetitia Sadier ‘Rooting for Love’
(Duophonic Super 45s) (CD/Vinyl/DD)
There is something unique about the music of Laetitia Sadier. Something magical and in definable, whether it’s with Stereolab, in one of her many collaborations (such as Modern Cosmology) or indeed as a solo artist. Any song by, or featuring, Laetitia Sadier is always instantly recognisable, imbued with Sunshine, a point of view, humour and humanity. If any music makes me feel happy and alive then it is the music of Laetitia Sadier. ‘Emperor Tomato Ketchup’ by Stereolab will always be my choice for sunniest album ever!
The new album ‘Rooting for Love’ follows suit and features ten splendid tracks full of colour, movement and sunshine – humanity in all its guises. Every track offers something different, from the joyous Brazilian vocal chants of ‘The Dash’ to the inner turmoil of ‘Cloud 6’.
In these times of uncertainty – climate change, unnatural disasters, smaller chocolate bars, conflicts, war and the rising price of tea bags – there is still Hope, still Sunshine. There is still Laetitia’s joyous music. Before the final days, the Margerine Eclipse, enjoy the music, get excited at the sound of carpet, live your life with Love, care and help others! Be Happy!
Comet Gain ‘BBC Radio Sessions (1996-2011)’
(Tapete Records) (CD/Vinyl/DD)
After last year’s excellent album of rarities ‘The Misfit Jukebox’, we now get a compilation of all the radio sessions Comet Gain recorded for the BBC (John Peel, Mark and Lard (Marc Riley) and so forth). And what an excellent set of radio sessions it is – essential for any completest collector! Some of these songs are seeing the light of day for the first time having only been recorded in session (see ‘Love and Hate on the Radio’).
Thus, we get songs overlapping several genres, some played for the first time and tested in radio demos. Brave perhaps, but more likely played to get new songs recorded to be worked on later. This may be why the compilation musically lacks focus. We have noisy pop songs reminiscent of the Only Ones (‘Say Yes’), songs akin to the Go-Betweens (‘Pier Angeli’), songs that sound polished and almost mainstream (‘Stripped’). And yet, it could be said that the band had too much breadth of vision giving them a less identifiable ‘sound’ of their own. Still, there are a lot of good songs on here and hats off to them for recording their own songs without a contrived masterplan, but with the conviction that good songs will stand on their own two feet (regardless of genre).
A worthy addition to the Comet Gain music catalogue and one that should please a myriad of CG fans.
Mark Trecka ‘The Bloom of Performance’
(Beacon Sound)
Mark Treka’s new album is a vibrant and engaging avant-garde, experimental album of songs incorporating elements of industrial, post-punk, goth and found sound. Tape loops play a large part in the construction of each ‘song’ creating drama and conflicting atmospheres.
Musically, the album brings to mind Mark Stewart (post Pop Group), late period Scott Walker, Circuit Des Yeux (Haley Fohr), Clock DVA and the end of the pier sadness of Arnold Loxham.
There are elements of early Roxy, Bowie, Nico, the Associates, Diamanda Galas, Dead Can Dance, Bauhaus and early Cabaret Voltaire in the mix, more in the sonic experimentation and atmospherics than actually sounding like any of those icons.
It begins with the dramatic ‘Utter Bloom Things’, a tape looped piano motif is accompanied by pounding tom-tom drum machine before being overtaken by a more melodic keyboard, then back to the drama. The vocals sounding close to a fearful Brendan Perry in the dentist waiting room. Love it!
‘Houndedness’ is stunning. It begins with a shining bass bringing to mind Adrian Borland’s group the Sound, before the vocals come in sounding something akin to late period Scott Walker. An Ebow-like sustained guitar builds towards the end accompanied by found sound, which shifts through dimensions of melancholia. As poignant in its way as ‘New Dawn Fades’.
‘Go Through’ ends the album with an almost Brendan Perry sounding vocal over a commercial bass and a tape loop of 2 seconds of the Tardis materialising! Hypnotic! As commercial as it gets!
Whilst it may not for everyone, if you like your music dark, experimental, strange, on the edge, then you should have a listen to this compelling, complex, emotional album.
Felix Machtelinckx ‘Night Scenes’
(Subexotic Records)
The new album from Belgium singer, songwriter and producer Felix Machtelinckx is a strange album. In part electronic, it has an ethereal dreamlike quality where the music seems distant and the vocals sound as though they have been beamed through space from a distant galaxy.
Vocally, Felix has a voice as different and distinct as Anthony Hegarty (or Anohni as she is now known), with echoes of Amber Webber (Lightning Dust). The music is very abstract and otherworldly, in part like some of James Blake’s music but more in-definable. A track like ‘Hypnose’ for example is almost organic, as though it is a living organism slowly growing in the womb of a brand-new species! ‘Make Me Sad’ meanwhile begins with Amber Webber-like vocals before a stunted keyboard or guitar joins in with floor tom drums seeping through from another dimension. ‘Love Made Me B*tter’ sounds more contemporary, like Hosier recorded in a large glass walled cavern. ‘Buwigabuwi’ is the standout track with echoes of Radiohead, Sigur Ros and Old Fire in its DNA to create a stunning original!
Night Scenes is an intriguing album that is hard to define, but one that grows in definition, depth and subtle beauty with each play. It might prove to be a contender for album of the year.
CAST ‘Love is the Call’
The album opens with an acoustic song ‘Bluebeard’ that sounds initially like the Moody Blues and proves to be quite lovely. John Powers voice has matured and sounds fantastic, if not a touch too much like John Lennon.
The production is interesting and a few songs are dressed in shiny Psychedelia. However, the trouble with the songs themselves is that they fail to make any emotional impact. I am left wondering if they are actually about anything at all. The lyrics are bland and unoriginal and the songs are lacking in ideas. It seems as though Cast have concentrated more on the production than on good song ideas. The songs are repetitive. But repeating bland words that mean very little, does not make a song interesting or memorable just annoying, however you dress it up!
The stand out track is the ridiculous ‘Starry Eyes’, which sounds like the Glitter Band with Gene Pitney.
David Newlyn ‘Encouraged to Lose’
(Sound In Silence Records)
This is a beautiful album of emotive ambience.
‘March’ is a minimal ambient piece of melodic piano and electronics. It sits somewhere between Harold Budd with Brian Eno and Nils Frahm. Lovely.
‘Under the Lifeboat Pier’ reminds me very much of Max Richters first album, Memory House: all minimalist melody and droning beauty.
‘A Secluded Scene’ is the aural equivalent of a long summer Sunday afternoon in the 1970s when everywhere was closed and no buses ran. A blanket of warm emptiness and mournful beauty.
‘A Strange Kind of Confusion’ sounds like a wasp nest caught in a church organ. Beautifully warped with an air of menace and an undertow of danger.
‘17th out of 19’ should come with a mental health warning – contains the bleakest feelings of loss, self-doubt, black worry and crippling despair!
Sinerider ‘Perennial’
(Sound In Silence Records)
SineRider (Devin Powers) returns with another haunting ambient album of otherworldly beauty and grace.
The album begins with ‘Perennial’, an ambient piece that sits somewhere between David Sylvian and Holger Czukay and Harold Budd. ‘Roadmap’ follows in the same vein. Its atmospheric drones and synths giving it the air of a post-apocalypse world, similar in feel to the soundtrack for ‘The Road’. ‘Wildflowers’ brings in a piano melody to add to the melancholy and desolate soundscape.
The whole album is like a flower slowly opening up. Subtle drones and synths combine with occasional guitar and piano to provide a lovely ambience of dreamlike quality. A masterpiece of calm.
Our Daily Bread 583: Alabaster DePlume, Comet Gain, Maija Sofia, Natalie Rose LeBrecht…
July 17, 2023
GRAHAM DOMAIN’S REVIEWS ROUNDUP: A SUMMARY OF THE LAST MONTH: NEW FINDS, DISAPPOINTMENTS AND TRIUMPHS
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Alabaster DePlume ‘Did You Know’
(International Anthem)
I liked last year’s album Gold and the wonderful eccentric single ‘Don’t Forget You’re Precious’ on
which he talk-sang. This is the first single from new album Come with Fierce Grace, out in September. It’s a sad jazz ballad sang by Momoko Gill and is reminiscent of Corrine Bailey Rae. It’s not particularly memorable and is a bit of a disappointment after last year’s excellent output!
Deja Blu ‘Crash’
(Fragile Hands)
The new single from dream-pop duo Deja Blu is a mesmeric tune that begins like a dreamy cross between Massive Attack and the Sundays before DJ Shadow type drums kick-in and propel the song into a world of echoing dream ambience! Fabulous!
Maija Sofia ‘Four Winters’
(Tulle Collective)
The new single from Galway’s Maija Sofia is a song that sits somewhere close to Aldous Harding but with its own strangeness akin to early Kate Bush. A song that mixes woodwind, harps and harmonic discord with poetic lyrics of womanhood and the joy of pain via emotional growth! A bright flare in a sea of shiny blandness!
Peter Brewis (from Field Music) ‘Lemoncadabra’
(Daylight Saving Records)
This instrumental reminds me of the mid seventies when any song with a synth on it seemed magical. It does not have much in the way of a tune but sounds like he’s been listening to Chick Corea (circa The Mad Hatter), Yellow Magic Orchestra and perhaps Tomita! It sounds more like a BSide or Demonstration Disc than a tune with any commercial intent! Caramel Latte Froth (with sweeteners)!
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Playdate ‘Wonderland’
(Idee Fixe Records/Bandcamp/Ansible Editions)
This is an interesting album of modern technology versus traditional instruments, or put another way, programmed and improvised synths trade melodies and inspired ‘sojourns into space’ with vibraphones, woodwind instruments and even pedal steel! The group are a trio from Toronto made up of Carl Schilde, Matthew Bailey and Scott Harper, and guest improvisers include Christine Bourgie, Michael Davidson, Daniel Pencer and Andy Shauf’s woodwind section. The result is an album of chilled dreamscape music. Not essential listening, but ambient music that does have its own charm! ‘Insert Quarter(s)’ has echoes of Japan’s ‘My New Career’.
Comet Gain ‘The Misfit Jukebox’
(Tapete Records)
The Pandemic of 2020 gave David Christian Bower the time to re-visit the archive of unreleased tracks, demos and live recording for his band Comet Gain. The highlights of which were gradually released via Bandcamp throughout 2022. These are now released as a 17-track album of rarities.
The breadth of vision of the band is evident from the genre crossing musical make-up of the songs.Thus, we get energy and melody combined in a variety of musical settings – punk-pop, punk-funk, melodic pop-folk to name a few! Even the noisiest of Comet Gain songs has melody at its core. ‘The Weekend Dream’ has all the pop-punk energy of the Buzzcocks or the Only Ones. ‘Pinstriped Rebel’ meanwhile encompasses the jangle-funk of late-period Jam, the Style Council or the modernist cold white-funk of the new romantics. ‘When’ sounds like a song from the early 80’s Mod Revival or a pale 1970’s cover of a Wigan Casino northern soul song. ‘You’re Just Lonely’ sounds like New Order without the programmed synths! ‘Only Happy When I’m Sad’ is perhaps the pop nugget of the collection sounding like a mixture of Stereolab, Broadcast, St. Etienne and Everything but the Girl. A wonderful, warm, melodic, strange song.
The album is a fine addition to the Comet Gain musical catalogue, a compilation of rarities but also an album that succeeds on its own merits.
Natalie Rose LeBrecht ‘Holy Prana Open Game’
(American Dreams)
This is a beautiful album of cosmic folk strangeness singular in its vision and unique today, in its combination of sounds. Opener ‘Home’ combines strings, synths, woodwind and guitar with haunting vocals to produce a strange folk-infused cosmic jazz masterpiece. ‘Prana’ follows with its synths and vocal harmonies underpinned by piano and jazz drums sounding not unlike something from the Roman Polanski film Dance of the Vampires, evolving in the middle into a beautiful atmospheric sound-world! ‘Holy’ meanwhile is a chilled piano-led song complete with tremolo guitar and woodwind.
Sitting somewhere between Nico, Linda Perhacs and Alice Coltrane, the six haunting songs have superb intricate arrangements and a wonderful spiritual element! It could easily be mistaken for a long-lost album from the 1970’s, such is its charm.
The band include Jim White (drums) and Mick Turner (guitar) from the Dirty Three. If the album had been made by someone with a higher commercial profile, say Lana Del Ray, then it would be lauded as a masterpiece and top the end of year poles! That not being the case, the album is still a masterpiece of haunting music that has a meditative quality and reveals more of its colour with each play! Every home should own a copy of this album and play it each day as the sun rises bringing hope to the world.
M. Ward ‘Supernatural Thing’
(ANTI Records)
This is a nice album of easy listening Americana-pop! Songs such as ‘Too Young to Die’ and ‘Engine 5’ featuring First Aid Kit, have a Nancy (Sinatra) and Lee (Hazlewood) feel to them! However, much like his albums recorded with Zooey Deschanel as She and Him, the album never rises above ‘pleasant’!
To some it may seem that Matthew Ward’s music has slowly declined since the release of his influential Post War album in 2006. Being stuck in one place can still be inspiring if you have the presence of mind to see beauty in the everyday and there is plenty of evidence of that here. No matter where we are, we all share the same sky – some see nothing, others see the beauty in the changing light of day and are inspired seeing the shifting patterns in nature. But is M Ward on the cusp of regaining his greatness? Only time will tell if M Ward is indeed a writer of songs of subtle depth and longevity. He remains ‘one to watch’!
Bravery In Battle ‘The House We Live In’
(Believe)
French band Bravery in Battle have released a Video-Album that puts music behind words from International ecological activists calling for a rethink of how we live. Climate change is of course at the forefront of this urgent call to arms. ‘The Market’ is a key track on the album and melodifies a lecture by Australian ecological activist Clive Hamilton enhancing the message and sharpening the focus. A worthy release and worth a watch on YouTube.
Quarterly Revue Playlist 2019: Part Four
December 16, 2019
PLAYLIST SPECIAL
COMPILED: Dominic Valvona, Matt Oliver, Brian ‘Bordello’ Shea and Gianluigi Marsibilio
ARTWORK: Gianluigi Marsibilio
From an abundance of sources, via a myriad of social media platforms and messaging services, even accosted when buying a coffee from a barristo-musician, the Quarterly Revue is expanding constantly to accommodate a reasonable spread that best represents the Monolith Cocktail’s raison d’etre.
As you will hear for yourselves, new releases and the best of reissues plucked from the team – that’s me, Dominic Valvona, and Matt Oliver, Brian ‘Bordello’ Shea, Andrew C. Kidd and Gianluigi Marsibilio (who also put together the playlist artwork) – rub shoulders in a continuous musical journey.
The final playlist of 2019 is no less eclectic and frantic, with electrifried peregrinations from Mali next to the best new hip-hop cuts and a wealth of post-punk, souk rock, jazz, noise, indie and the avant-garde.
That tracklist in full:
Automatic ‘Too Much Money’
Dead Rituals ‘Closer’
Comet Gain ‘The Girl With The Melted Mind And Her Fear Of The Open Door’
BRONCHO ‘Boys Got To Go’
SUO ‘Honey I’m Down’
Pocket Knife ‘Manger Constructeur’
Prince Rama ‘F.A.T.E (Bought Us Together)’
Cate Le Bon & Bradford Cox ‘Fireman’
Elizabeth Joan Kelly ‘Baleen Executioner’
Bear With Me ‘Cry’
Max Andrzejewski’s HUTTE ‘Little Red Robin Hood Hits The Road’
Tapan Meets Generation Taragalte ‘Yogi Yamahssar’
Junis Paul ‘Baker’s Dozen’
Invisible System ‘Diarabi’
Homeboy Sandman ‘Yes Iyah’
Guilty Simpson & Phat Kat ‘Sharking’
Iftin Band ‘Il Ooy Aniga’
Kalbata ft. TIGRIS ‘Tamera’
The Budos Band ‘Old Engine Oil’
Aziza Brahim ‘Hada Jil’
Atomic Forest ‘Life Is Anew’
Klashnekoff ft. K9 & Ricko Capito ‘The Road Is Long’
Chris Orrick & The Lasso ‘No Place Is Safe’
Blockhead ‘Spicy Peppercorn’
Willie Scott & The Birmingham Spirituals ‘Keep Your Faith To The Sky’
Jehst & Confucius MC ‘Autumn Nights’
Xenia Rubinos ‘DIOSA’
Genesis Elijah ‘Haunted Trap House’
Rico James & Santos ‘New York Cut’
Hiach Ber Na ‘Another Human Brain’
Mike Patton & Jean-Claude Vannier ‘Cold Sun Warm Beer’
TELGATE ‘Cherrytight’
Land Of OOO ‘Waiting For The Whales (Radio Edit)’
Big Thief ‘Not’
Gary Davenport ‘True Freedom’
Northwest ‘The Day’
The Cold Spells ‘I Hate It When You’re Sad’
Mick Harvey & Christopher Richard Barker ‘A Secret Hidden Message’
Boa Morte ‘Sleep/Before The Landslide’
Vola Tila ‘All Alone’
Owen Tromans ‘Burying The Moon King’
The Good Ones ‘My Wife Is As Beautiful As A Sunset’
Dub Chieftain ‘Enter The Chieftain’
Provincials ‘Cat’s Cradle’
Right Hand Left Hand ‘White Sands’
Ringfinger ‘Burning’
Giant Swan ‘YFPHNT’
Rafiki Jazz ‘My Heart My Home Home (Shallow Brown/Light of Guidance/The Settlers Wife/Shedemati)’
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