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!
___//ALBUMS\\___
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.
RELEASES ON THE RADAR FROM THE LAST FEW MONTHS & A METAL POSTCARDS LABEL SPECIAL/REVIEWED BY WRITER-MUSICIAN GRAHAM DOMAIN
Letters from Mouse ‘Clota’
(Subexotic Records) – Vinyl LP and Digital DL
Steven Anderson (Letters from Mouse) returns with a beautiful album of ambient dreamscapes played with a lightness of touch using modular synthesisers.
In Celtic mythology, the Goddess Clota was patron of the River Clyde and brought purity to the natural landscape. The album pieces reflect the beauty of nature and how nature evolves and changes, both with the day and with the changing of the seasons.
The album begins with ‘Frogspawn’, which sounds like new life emerging. A red sun high in the sky, watercolours smudged by the brightness of the day.
‘Juniper’ sounds like beautiful winter landscapes illuminated by a low winter sun. Wonderful.
‘Bowling Greens and Tennis Courts’ sounds like the sun coming out as the last remnants of a summer storm fade. It’s late in the evening but still light, as the sun has one last boastful appearance before the end of the day.
‘Piglet’ employs electronic harp and sounds very playful. It puts me in mind of summer, very early morning as the sun rises, rabbits and small animals appear, foraging for food, the dawn chorus of birds mixes with the hum of insects in flight, busy for the day ahead.
‘Cosm’ sounds like swimming under water, the sunlight getting stronger, shining through the water as you approach the surface.
‘Habitual Joy’ sounds like the warm morning sun, life affirming, awakening to the joy of a brand-new day.
Altogether it’s a beautiful album that deserves to be heard by many. It is also a great ambient album for meditation or creative work such as painting. Wonderful.
Various ‘The Faithful: A Tribute to Marianne Faithfull’
(In the Q Records / Bandbox) – Vinyl and Digital Download
As the name suggests, this is a tribute album to Marianne Faithfull with all benefits going to assist her in her recovery from long Covid.
Marianne has had a checkered career with numerous labels and her voice changed and became more ‘lived in’ as she struggled with severe bouts of laryngitis and addiction. This has not given her body of work a consistent identity. However, her struggles with addiction, illness and health problems have never stopped her working. After losing her voice, her last album was spoken word poetry backed by Warren Ellis (of the Bad Seeds). Marianne is an intuitive survivor!
Most of the songs on this tribute album were not written by Marianne. Her forte being in the way she sang and interpreted the songs of others. While not having great commercial success after the 1960s, she was always appreciated by other singers, musicians and music critics. Her most well known album Broken English often being name checked by other artists. Thus, we get 19 appreciative artists covering the songs of MF. The standout tracks are ‘Working Class Hero’ by Iggy Pop and Cat Power, ‘Why’d Ya Do It’ by Shirley Manson and Peaches, ‘Broken English’ by Joan As Police Woman and ‘Love, Life and Money’ by Lydia Lunch. Hopefully, it will make enough money to help MF in her darkest hour whilst also creating interest and investigation of her colourful back catalogue, with maybe some reissues. Get better soon you husky voiced inspiration.
C’mon Tigre ‘Habitat’
(Intersuoni) – Vinyl and Digital DL
This is the fourth album by international music collective C’mon Tigre featuring, amongst others, Seun Kuti, Arto Lindsay, Xenia Franca and Giovanni Truppi.
It’s a beautiful menagerie; a wondrous sound fusion underpinned by Brazilian and African rhythms. The essence is always danceable and the album becomes more and more fascinating with each play, incorporating elements of jazz, electronic, funk and a subtle blend of influences from all around the world. Both Tricky and Sly Stone are in the mix.
Standout tracks include ‘The Botanist’, ‘Teenage Kingdom’, ‘Nomad at Home’, ‘Na Danca Das Flores’ and ‘Sixty-four Seasons’, but to be honest all the tracks are excellent.
If you are open to innovative music or want to insert something different and exciting in your DJ set, then this is a great album to check out.
A METAL POSTCARDS LABEL SPECIAL::
The Bordellos ‘Nobody’s Listening’
ALBUM – Digital DL
As Bill Fay said ‘life is people’ and here we have thirteen songs about the ups and downs that make up peoples’ lives. The themes are universal, the culture – survival in a world where the outgoings are more than the income. The highlights are many.
‘Running Back to You’ is a ‘standard-in-waiting’, ready-made for covering. Indeed, it may be that time of the year, but with a few Christmas bells added and a video with white snow parkas (a la East 17) it could be a Christmas smash!
‘Brief Taste’ has all the warped charm of an Eels track, with the refrain ‘Seduction ain’t that much of a hobby when you ain’t got that much of a body.’ Brilliant!
‘Soundtrack to getting your end away’ sounds like New Order jamming with Bob Dylan. Great lyrics and supernatural melodicism. Poetry for the soul!
‘Marianne’ is part Pixies, part The Fall, part Ted Hughes. Wonderful!
‘Tom Waits Blues’ has the melancholy atmosphere of a rainy day spent scouring shops looking for your favourite bands’ new album only to find no one has it in stock! Soaking wet and missed your bus, but there’s always tomorrow!
‘Soft Get Smile’ is a true anthem. A sing-a-long for the disenchanted. Hope among the ruins.
This is another perfect ‘slice of life’ album from The Bordellos. If all they had was a pair of spoons and a cassette-recorder, they would still be driven to record these hazy snapshots of life, in the same way that L S Lowry splashed his canvas with the daily drudgery and drama of the northern working-class. Was anyone paying attention to Mr Lowry at the time? No! But today there are hotels, theatres and tree-lined streets named after him. (Even Bowie was one to acknowledge the match-stalk painters genius titling his best album Low)!
No one (sic) may be listening to The Bordellos today but one day… recognition will be theirs! (Bordellos Night on the X Factor anyone)?
Tim. M ‘Turn This Thing Around’
Single – Digital Down Load
This is the second solo single from Tim. M (the Aliens singer). A piano based ballad, it falls into the space somewhere between James Blunt, Harry Nilsson, Crowded House (Neil Finn), Karl Wallinger (World Party) and the New Radicals.
The song grows on you with each play and after a few plays I knew all the words. Orchestrally it reminds me of Bowies ‘Life on Mars’, leading me to sing Bowie-voiced backing vocals on the chorus of ‘Listen to me now…yeah yeah’. If he stays with the piano and keyboard sound, I want to hear more.
Andi Roti (featuring Oti Soe) ‘Shazam Me At the Beach Bar’
Single – Digital Down Load
This is a great chilled dance record destined to be played in many air-conditioned beach bars around the globe. The bass line sounds very Chic-like, while the funky guitar is underpinned by warm keyboards and bongos. When it starts it reminds me of a Thom Bell production from the 70s. Topping it off are soulful Indonesian vocals from Oti Soe. Already an underground classic – make sure you ask for it on your next night out! Stone Cold Electric! #Shake that Leg Thang!
K. Board and the Skreens ‘Beauty Lies Everywhere’ and ‘Mythical Creature’ Singles – Digital Down Loads
Two singles released in rapid succession.
‘Beauty Lies Everywhere’ sounds like Sultana by Titanic deconstructed by robots and beamed live to Roswell Roxy Cinema in 1968 to soundtrack a Clint Eastwood Spaghetti Western. Not the usual pop hit – aliens, robots and time travel meet Ennio Morricone! Fantastic!
‘Mythical Creature’ is a brooding synth fare that sounds like the soundtrack to John Carpenters Assault on Precinct 13 crossed with a possessed cat on heat and dwarfs dancing round a maypole. All recorded during an alien-visit-power-cut-surge! Stup-id-end-ous! Play it when doing Cat -Yoga!
PART THREE OF THE MONOLITH COCKTAIL’S ALBUMS OF THE YEAR LISTS
Welcome to the concluding part of the Monolith Cocktail’s choice and favourite albums of the year lists (Part One and Part Two). Compiled by Dominic Valvona, Brian ‘Bordello’ Shea and Graham Domain, each entry is in alphabetical order, with this final run down starting at P and finishing at Z.
P________________
Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra ‘60’ (The Village)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘Serving the South Central L.A. Black community from within for six decades (and counting), the late Horace Tapscott and his preservation Arkestra ensemble captured and reflected the social and racial injustices of that oppressed community with a righteous politically conscious and radical jazz style blueprint; a documentation, but also self-reliant stand against the state’s brutality and economic suppression.
The 60 album proves an important preservation of a self-reliant social activist institution, integral to the community in which it serves, teaches and rises up. A great encapsulation of that story, musical journey and the changes it has gone through, this will both excite the Ark’s fans and newcomers to the cause.’ DV
Nico Paulo ‘Nico Paulo’ (Forward Music Group)
Chosen by GD/Reviewed by GD/Link
‘This is a wonderful summery album of Bacharach-like melodies by the Portuguese-Canadian singer. A truly remarkable debut of ten self-composed wonderful songs that sound like standards.
Her voice is a bewitching combination of Judy Collins, Joni Mitchell and Natalie Mering (Weyes Blood). Musically it covers a wide spectrum of Tropicalia, Folk, Americana, Jazz and Pop. Her voice conveys real emotion and depth that is bounced off the beautiful melodies and lyrics.
A future classic that will undoubtedly have a far-reaching influence on stars not yet born!’ GD
Hawk Percival ‘Night Moods Vol. 1’ (Think Like A Key)
Chosen by BBS/Reviewed by BBS/Link
‘Oh my god! How I love Hawk Percival. She is like a lo-fi indie Noosha Fox (I am once again showing my age). But come on, ‘S-S-S-Single Bed’ was one of the singles of the 70s and I think that Hawk Percival shows the potential to make something equally as wonderfully magical, as this 6 track mini album shows so much pop suss and quirky originality.
It takes from the past – you can hear the timeless melodies from the 60s/70s – and twists it into something new. She plucks the spinning melodies from the air and weaves them into her own unique creation making an album of future desert island discs. I think Hawk Percival could well be one to watch.
This album is part of the DIY music series released by the excellent Think Like A Key records, and good on them for releasing this little lo-fi treasure.’ BBS
Polobi & The Gwo Ka Master ‘Abri Cyclonique’ (Real World)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘Suffused, elevated and morphed with Parisian-based Doctor L’s jazz, electronica Francophone new waves and trip-hop, the ancestral Guadeloupe rural folk traditions of Léwòz and one of its renowned modern practitioners-deliverers Moïse Polobi is transformed into an environmental traverse. As the good doctor has proscribed so well for Les Amazon D’Afrique and the Mbongwana Stars, the roots of another form are, with subtle wondering and sophistication, given a unique sound experience.
A very personal album, this is the first to be released under Polobi’s own name. Previously the Guadalupe star has performed with his Indestawa Ka band, releasing eight albums and performing internationally. But this cyclonic whirlwind is something different, a galvanised, electrified and bolstered earthy and magical vision of his country’s past, present and future. It’s one of the most interesting albums yet in 2023, with a sound that reboots folkloric traditions in the face of an ever-encroaching modernity.’ DV
Psyche ‘Self-Titled Debut Album’ (Four Flies Records)
Chosen by GD/Reviewed by GD/Link
‘This is a brilliant album of funky Mediterranean psychedelic instrumentals that sits somewhere between Khruangbin and the Barry Gray Orchestra! Every track is a Gem! Wonderful!’ GD
R__________________
Raf And O ‘We Are Stars’ (Telephone Records)
Chosen by Dominic Valvona/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘Few artists have purposely entwined themselves so deeply with their idols than the Raf And O duo of Raf Mantelli and Richard Smith (the “O” in that creative sparked partnership). David Bowie and Kate Bush loom large, permeating near every note and vocal infliction of their idiosyncratic, theatrical, cinematic and up-close-and-personal intimate style of avant-garde pop and art school rock experimentation. Raf even has a Kate Bush tribute side project; coming the nearest I’ve yet heard of anyone to that maverick progenitor’s range-fluctuating, coquettish and empowered delivery, and her musicianship and erudite playful and adventurous songwriting.
An alternative time travelling theatre of interwoven fantasy, dream realism and the reimagined, We Are Stars is as playful with its unique style as it is only too aware of the deep held stresses, strains, pain and detachment that plagues society in the aftermath of a global pandemic, economic meltdown and war. Looking to the stars, but knowing that even escapist dreams of the cosmos have failed us, Raf And O (who I haven’t mentioned in name at all, but is an adroit craftsman of his form, accentuating, punctuating or loosely weaving a meandered musicality around Raf) take their concerns, observations and curiosities into ever more arty and intriguing directions. They remain one of the most individual acts in the UK; true inheritors of Bowie and Bush’s legacy and spirit.’ DV
Refree ‘El Espacio Entre’ (Glitterbeat Records)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘Coming on like an Iberian vision of the Neel Murgai Ensemble and Hackedepicciotto trapped with Nacho Mendez (I’m thinking of the Ángeles y Querubines album) in an undefined, veiled timeline and atmosphere, the follow up sketchbook album of Raul Refree’s imagination is yet again a unique, “seamless”, amalgamation of reflective enquiry, soundtracks, semi-classical etudes and the visceral.
Not so much an album of performances as a quality production of fleeting descriptions, of moments captured in poignant scenery, Refree’s second such album of scores and sound pieces is an incredible, immersive mood board of magical and often plaintive thoughts, feelings, processes and films yet to be made. I’ve been sitting on this album for months and it never loses its initial pull, gut feeling, and yet I can also hear new things on every listen. Raul Refree is a great talent indeed.’ DV
Sebastian Reynolds ‘Canary’ (PinDrop)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘After what seems like an age, and with a prolific string of projects, collaborations and EP releases behind him, Sebastian Reynolds finally unveils his debut solo album.
A near lifetime’s experience and musicology is called upon for a mostly sophisticated and subtle amalgamation of the electroacoustic, trance, EDM, electronic-chamber music, techno ambience and soundtracks on an album that draws on all of Reynolds passions and emotional threads. Self-help guidance with the neurons fired-up, the mind open, Canary counterpoints mistrust with wonderment, alarm with the rational and the optimistic. It has taken a while to arrive, but Reynolds debut expanded album of thoughts and ideas is a mature statement of quality. ‘ DV
Room Of Wires ‘Welcome To The End Game’ (Ant-Zen)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘A buzz, whine, flex and resonating ring of zinc and alloy, of recondite machines, permeates another heavy set from the Room Of Wires duo. The latest in a strong catalogue of such dark materials and alien mystery, Welcome To The End Game ties together a complex of dystopian woes, rage and dramas into an interlayered twisting and expanding metal muscled album of electronic.
Room Of Wires navigate and balance the uncertainty with glimmers of escape, and moments of hope and release; the machinations and unseen forces that bear down upon us all at least dissipated enough to offer some light.’ DV
Seljuk Rustum ‘Cardboard Castles’ (Hive Mind)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘Imbued by a rich history of place and time, and the trading winds that brought so many atavistic and less ancient civilizations to its natural harbor hub, Seljuk Rustum’s Kochi-base of creative activity is a city steeped in polygenesis sounds and ideas.
For the most part the musical mind of Rustum and his partners on this magical, entrancing and dreamy journey, reveals a great sonic knowledge, both a part of, yet also in some ways, escaping history.’ DV
S___________________
Salem Trials ‘What Myths Are We Living’ (Metal Postcard Records)
Chosen by DV & GD/Reviewed by Graham Domain/Link
‘Crawling along dark streets, shadows loom in every doorway, footsteps echo in the night silence. Cold sweat trickling down spine, dark rumblings from a dirty basement, shadows dancing on the barred windows. Fish bones in a mouth. Coughing up blood and the smell of urine. Decay and aftershave. Cracked voice and beer-stained floor. Each step shoes stick. Black trail like slime from a snail. A coffin landfill club of noise and danger! The night ignites with saw-like melodies and cavernous hypnotic rhythms kicking against the pricks! Smoke and dark truths bounce off the walls shaking flesh and brick, glass and bone. Inspiration as sonic affray, until the last notes flare into a howl of darkness. A murder of youth collapse through doors and out along streets. City centre lights, a loneliness of drinkers cast adrift, flowing like a cut artery in a thrombosis of social isolation. Music smashed against walls! Exciting! Unbreakable!’ GD
Ryuichi Sakamoto ‘Ongaku Zukan’ (WeWantSounds)
Chosen by GD/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘A timely, special release in the wake of the Japanese icon’s death in March of this year, the impeccable vinyl specialists WEWANTSOUNDS have reissued Sakamoto’s cult 1984 solo album Ongaku Zukan (or “Musical Encyclopedia”).
Sakamoto assails the mid 80s with his own manual, a merger of signatures and fresh horizons, but above all, rewriting the Japanese cannon whilst reaching into a future yet unwritten. There will be a lot of people very happy that this classic has been rejuvenated, whilst a new generation can hear what all the fuss is about. Not his best by any stretch of the imagination, but everything Sakamoto touched is worthy of investigation, and this feels like a bridge between periods. WWS has done us all a great favour in resurfacing this lost class piece of experimentation and groove.’ DV
Schizo Fun Addict ‘Love Your Enemies’ (Fruits Der Mer)
Chosen by BBS/Reviewed by BBS/Link
‘This album is one of the best and wormiest sounding albums I have heard in many years. It has the same magic and otherworldly but inwardly peaceful calmness about it as Pet Sounds, and there is something about Schizo Fun Addict that reminds me of the Beach Boys but without ever actually sounding like them – I will put it down to musical genius and heavenly inspiration.’ BBS
Seaming To ‘Dust Gathers’ (O Sing At Me)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by Gillian Stone/Link
‘The structure and tracking of Dust Gatherers are utterly brilliant. Instrumental “AnOverture” introduces the juxtaposition of the electronic and symphonic elements the make up the album’s ethos. The next three tracks, “Blessing”, “Tousles”, and “Brave” are imbued with choral synths and swirling vocals. It is not until the fifth track, “Traveller”, that acoustic instruments come back into the fold, with the introduction of Seaming To’s clarinet. Clarinets then mesh beautifully with synths on “Water Flows”, followed by the instrumental synth piece “xenanmax”. The album then takes a left turn into the string-quartet-driven “Hitchhiker”, and pivots again into the Björk-style melodies and microbeats of “Look Away”. The final two songs on Dust Gatherers, which appear to be companion pieces, harken back to the golden era of jazz, finishing the record with a sense of timelessness. Piano ballad “Pleasures are Meaningless” alludes to the final track, jazz standard “Tenderly”, which is tethered down by pulsing clarinets and synth glitches. Ever present are Seaming To’s profoundly strong character vocals, which evoke goosebumps at every turn.’ GS
Silver Moth ‘Black Bay’
Chosen by GD/Reviewed by GD/Link
‘Cinematic tracks full of atmosphere and grandeur! 45 minutes of Bliss! It may become the holy grail of lost albums in future years – if it slips under the radar!’ GD
Slow Readers Club ‘Knowledge Freedom Power’ (Velveteen Records)
Chosen by GD/Reviewed by GD/Link
‘The fifth (official) album by Manchester band The Slow Readers Club comes across like a live album such is the energy captured in the recording. First track ‘Modernise’ is perhaps the most powerful, if least representative, song on the album. With its Chemical Brothers rave intro and pounding rhythm it also has the most individual sounding vocal on the album, a bit PIL like! It’s a song created to be exciting live and it serves that purpose well!
A great album of powerful anthemic songs and possibly their most consistent effort to date.’ GD
Lonnie Liston Smith ‘Cosmic Change’ (Jazz Is Dead)
Chosen by GD/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘Smooth soulful vibes, bulb-like notes and cosmic fanning rays from the great jazz-funk doyen Lonnie Liston Smith, who released his first album in 25 years in 2023. Thanks to the overseeing facilitators of the enriching Jazz Is Dead label project, Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad have coaxed the legendary artist, ensemble bandleader and sideman for such impressive luminaries as Miles Davis, Pharoah Sanders, Gato Barbieri and Leon Thomas, back into the studio; just one of many great names from the spiritual, conscious and funky-jazz rolls of inspiring talents.
Co-composing and collaborating with their chagrin Younge and Muhammad both work in the old magic with a sense of the new and forward; paying homage yet creating something new, performing the very kinds of influential music that had an impact on those who came later, namely the hip-hop fraternity (Jazzmatazz era Guru and the Digable Planets being just two such notable collaborators and acolytes). and of course, Liston is in supreme form as sagacious keyboard foil.’ DV
Snowcrushed ‘Snowcrush’
Chosen by BBS/Reviewed by BBS/Link
‘Snowcrushed’s A Frightened Man debut album was one of my fave albums of 2021; an album of beguiling atmospheric found sounds ambient gems. But on Snowcrush he’s gone on an alternative music journey of post-punk, Goth and Darkwave, and on occasion lo-fi folk – the excellent ‘Cowardice’ sounding like someone has taken Kurt Cobain’s tortured soul and spread it on Johnny Cash’s toast, which he ate before recording the American Recordings series of albums: A truly dark wonderful song. Although nothing else on the album quite matches up to the brilliance of ‘Cowardice’, which is no slight as not many other tracks I have heard this year matches up to it, the rest of the album is still full of unsettling dark gems.’ BBS
Samuele Strufaldi ‘Davorio’ (Música Mascondo)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘Every expression has meaning, a story, which is then transformed by Strufaldi’s production into something almost dream like and cosmic yet still connected to the villagers’ roots. A transistor radio collage here, some Songhoy Blues on a bustling street with a small amp there; a display of rattled and scrapping percussion and hymnal stirrings merge with zaps, warbles and various embellishments. This cultural exchange with the Ivory Coast blurs the lines between worlds; an act of preservation, but much more, as the foundations of this culture prove intoxicating, dynamic and mesmerising.’ DV
Susanna ‘Baudelaire and Orchestra’ (Susanna Sonata Label)
Chosen by GD
T____________________
Tachycardie ‘Autonomie Menerale’ (Un-je-ne-sais-quoi)
Chosen by GD/Reviewed by GD/Link
‘This is the third album in a trilogy of ambient sound-art works by French composer Jean-Baptiste Geoffroy. Consisting of seven pieces of strange, dark, tribal, alien ambient dissonance and warm unnatural half-light!
In the first piece, ‘Parties sud puis nord’, tribal drums and hyper percussion are intermittently infiltrated by reverberating clangs and deep disturbed atmospheric noise. It is a strangely compelling listen! Although if listened to by those of a disturbed mind it may likely trigger psychosis, one-legged.
You will not find another album like this. It will penetrate your dreams bringing raptures of nightmare terror, joyous pain and nerve scraping pleasure. As the stones with eyes move closer, watching, surrounding your house, you may never ‘escape into night’ or feel at ease again!’ GD
Tele Novella ‘Poet’s Tooth’ (Kill Rock Stars)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘A wistful, almost disarming, Tele Novella weave their magic on an album that takes its cues from Harold & Maude and a removed version of the heartbreak yearning vulnerability of Nashville and Texas country music; albeit a version in which Cate Le Bon and Aldous Harding sip despondently from a bottle of life’s despair. Better still, Mike Nesmith writing for Patsy Cline.
As whimsical and beautifully executed as it all is, Poet’s tooth is a moving album of timeless tropes, somehow delivered musically and visually through a slightly off, sometimes surreal, vision of the familiar. Natalie Ribbons and foil Jason Chronis dream up an idiosyncratic staged world, their moniker taken from the serial drama/soap opera phenomenon of the “television novel”, a format most prominently produced for the Latin American markets.
Adolescence escapism wrapped in a softened, but no less stirring, epiphany, Tele Novella has a surreal, dreamy quality about them. From the Tex-Mex border of yore to the contemporary Austin scene of City Limits, they weave a really impressive songbook that’s as Hal Ashby and Sidney Lumet as it is pining Country and Western. Poet’s Tooth is both lyrically and musically perfect; one of my favourite albums of 2023 – no idle boast. Prepare to be equally charmed and moved with a counterculture resurgence of quality, subtle comedy and tragedy, eccentric disillusion.’ DV
Tomo-Nakaguchi ‘The Long Night in Winter Light’ (Audio Bulb Records)
Chosen by GD/Reviewed by GD/Link
‘This is a beautiful album where each piece conjures-up a different vision of winter – the wonder of nature surviving and flourishing as the seasons change! As the composer himself says, the music reflects the beauty of nature – frost glistening on grass – a field of snow lit by moonlight – the night sky filled with stars! Like a ray of light, a ray of hope, this is beauty that shines through the darkest of times!’ GD
Ali Farka Touré ‘Voyageur’ (World Circuit)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘This latest project, produced by the label’s Nick Gold who spent time with the late Ali (his brilliant accompanying notes are full of vivid anecdotes and adventures spent with the Mali icon) and his scion, the equally gifted virtuoso Vieux Farka Touré is the first album of ‘unheard’ material from the legend since his 2010 posthumously released partnership with Diabate.
Voyageur is a welcoming addition to the catalogue, an incredible nomadic traverse of songs that capture Mali’s diversity and rich musical heritage; especially with his celebrated guests opening the sound up, travelling even further afield to those bordering regions that meet Mali.
Ali Farka Touré aficionados will find this a welcome addition to the chronology, with recordings that many will have either never known about or been anticipating. But I’m sure there’s going to be surprises for even the most committed of fans. And for newcomers to Ali’s legacy, this album will prove a great entry point with its diversity and range, showing Ali with various collaborators and paying homage to several cultural styles, traditions. These songs are anything but unfinished scraps, demos, or downtime experiments. Instead, Voyageur is a collection of real quality.’ DV
Trupa Trupa ‘ttt’ (Glitterbeat Records)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘The Polish outfit Trupa Trupa fashion their very own Faust Tapes out of an accumulation of sonic explorations, unfinished jams and rehearsal sessions, field recordings and play.
In the interval between recording new martial ttt is an almost seamless cassette offering of two experimental sound collages – coming in at just under the forty-minute mark. A development played out under the spell of psychedelic hallucination, mirage and more caustic machined distortions and abrasions, the triple “ts” experiment could be read as a really untethered avant-garde outlet for the band. Not that they’ve ever been conventional on that front with previous works melding and contorting, as they do, psych with no wave, post-punk, the industrial and indie to produce a multi-limbed psycho drama or revelation, the hypnotic and propulsive.
Trupa Trupa are in their ascendency all right, their creative collective consciousness constantly dreaming up fresh ways of hearing and articulating the wastelands of what was once called civilisation; the discourse all but filtered out for the most part on this immersive experience. They can do no wrong it seems at the moment, and must be considered one of the most important bands to emerge from Europe in the last decade. On the strength of this latest release it will be very interesting to know where they will go next.’ DV
V______________________
Various ‘New No York’ (Metal Postcard Records)
Chosen by BBS/Reviewed by BBS/Link
‘A compilation of music from Metal Postcard bands, but what all these bands have in common is Andy Goz. Yes, the guitar genius who’s in all these bands, and all the bands are of course pretty darn special.
New No York is a quite wonderful comp of post-punk invention and fury and no doubt will be soundtracking my next few weeks.’ BBS
Various ‘Parchman Prison Prayer – Some Mississippi Sunday Morning’ (Glitterbeat Records) Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘Back in the state penitentiary system, the producer, author and violence prevention expert Ian Brennan finds the common ground once more with another cast of under-represented voices. Eight years on from his applauded, Grammy nominated Zomba Prison Project, Brennan, thousands of miles away from that Malawi maximum-security facility in the deep, deep South of America, surprises us with an incredible raw and “uncloyed” (one of Brennan’s best coined interpretations of his production and craft) set of performances of redemption and spiritual conversion.
There’s music, song and litany that would be recognizable to inmates from the turn of the last century, whilst others, tap right into the modern age. The Gospel’s message runs deep in the Southern realms, and encouragingly seems to motivate even those with little hope of being released. Hard times are softened by belief and redemption on a revelatory production. Returning to America after a myriad of recordings throughout the world’s past and present war zones, scenes of genocide and remote fabled communities, Brennan finds just as much trauma and the need for representation back home.’ DV
Various ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ & ‘Intended Consequences’ (Apranik Records)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link /Link two
‘As the West’s attention is quite rightly invested in the ongoing Russian aggression in Ukraine, it’s fallen on artists, musicians to draw that intense scrutiny on the Iranian regime and its heinous treatment of women. Prompted by the death of Mahsa Jina Amini in the custody of the authorities last year, an ensuing battle of ideals and freedoms has ensued that threatens to topple the tyranny. However, the regime has pushed back harder and with an almost unprecedented violence started executing (mainly men so far) supporters and activists on trumped up, tortured confessional charges of treason. But even in the face of this bloody repression history is on the side of Iran’s younger more liberal generations.
In bringing that plight to Western attention and ears, Iranian artists AIDA and Nesa Azadikhah announced two volumes of not-for-profit compilations.
Both platform a multi-diverse cosmology of electronic female artists working both under endurable pains and censorship inside Iran, or self-exiled and making waves in the diaspora. Each compilation is a discovery of riches in the field of the avant-garde, techno, sound experimentation and protest. There’s been few worthier causes, and few that have been so ignored: the outrage, protests and marches here in the West sadly lacking and silent.’ DV
Violet Nox ‘Vortex And Voices’ (Somewherecold Records)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘A sci-fi chemistry of vapours the Boston, Massachusetts electronic outfit Violet Nox once more entrance with a futuristic new age album of psy-trance, cerebral techno and acid ethereal-voiced self-realization/self-discovery. Wired into the “now” however, messages of self-love and inclusiveness waft and drift to a rhythmic, wavy vision of EDM, crossover rave music and soulful electronica.
For this newest venture – their first for the highly prolific and quality North American label Somewherecold Records – features, more than ever, the experimental, often effected, vocals of group member Noell Dorsey: a mix of hippie cooed yearn, Tracey Thorn, Claudia Brücken and Esbe if you will.
Whether it’s journeying into the subconscious or leaving for celestial rendezvous’, Violet Nox turn the vaporous into an electronic art form that’s simultaneously yearning and mysterious. Fizzing with techy sophistication and escapism, the American electronic group continue to map out a fresh sonic universe.’ DV
W_______________________
The Waeve ‘The Waeve’ (Transgressive)
Chosen by GD/Reviewed by GD/Link
‘The WAEVE are a new band formed by Blur’s Graham Coxon (vocals/sax/guitar/medieval lute) and The Pipettes’ Rose Elinor Dougall (singer/songwriter/piano/ARP 2000 Synth).
The interaction and balance between the two voices is perfect with each singer excelling in their introversion and reserve! The band do have their own sound – a strange mix of folk-rock, punk, no wave, psych and easy listening! A truly great album that deserves a wide audience! Give it a listen – you may be surprised!’ GD
The Wedding Present ’24 Songs’ (HHBTM Records)
Chosen by BBS
‘An album that collects the A and B-sides to the series of singles released last year by the mighty Wedding Present, so obviously one of the best of the year.’ BBS
Y__________________________
Dhafer Youssef ‘Street of Minarets’ (Back Beat Edition)
Chosen by GD
Z___________________________
Zohastre ‘Abracadabra’ (ZamZam)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘Spinning and dancing around the phosphor glowing fire whilst invoking a polygenesis array of pagan, hermetic and galactic deities, the French-Italian combo cast magical spells of progressive, psychedelic, noise, primitivism, electronica and cosmic krautrock on their conjuring sonic Wurlitzer.
Reworking references from each of the duos respective countries into a dizzy and often accelerated kaleidoscope of acid-trip occult ritual and more moody, near eerie, mystical uncertainty, Héloise Thibault and Olmo Guadagnoli combine an electronic soundboard with drums as they hurtle, collide and work a frenzy around the maypole.
For those seeking to discover some lost tribe of extraterrestrial worshipping acolytes with a penchant for Zacht Automaat, Sunburned Hand Of Man and the Soft Machine then ZamZam Records have you covered with an occult and tripping invitation too good to be missed.‘ DV
Hi, my name is Dominic Valvona and I’m the Founder of the music/culture blog monolithcocktail.com For the last ten years I’ve featured and supported music, musicians and labels we love across genres from around the world that we think you’ll want to know about. No content on the site is paid for or sponsored and we only feature artists we have genuine respect for /love. If you enjoy our reviews (and we often write long, thoughtful ones), found a new artist you admire or if we have featured you or artists you represent and would like to buy us a coffee at https://ko-fi.com/monolithcocktail to say cheers for spreading the word, then that would be much appreciated.
Choice/Favourite Albums Of The Year: Part Two: H to N
December 14, 2023
SELECTED BY GRAHAM DOMAIN, BRIAN ‘BORDELLO’ SHEA & DOMINIC VALVONA
Welcome to PART TWO of this year’s favourite/choice albums features. If you missed PART ONE, follow this link.
2023’s list, as ever in alphabetical order, is broken down into three more digestible parts.
And as we have since our inception back in 2008, the Monolith Cocktail continues to avoid those silly, factious and plain dumb numerical charts that our peers and rivals insist on continuing to print – how can you really suggest one album deserves their place above or below another; why does one entry get the 23rd spot and another the 22nd; unless it is a vote count. We’ve always chosen a much more diplomatic, democratic alphabetical order – something we more or less started in the first place.
Whilst we are proud to throw every genre, nationality together in a serious of eclectic lists, this year due to various collaborators commitments, there will be a separate Hip-Hop roundup by Matt Oliver in the New Year.
The lists, broken up this year into three parts (A to F, H to N, P to Z), includes those albums we’ve reviewed or featured on the site in some capacity, plus a smattering of those we just didn’t get the time to include. All entries are displayed thus: Artist in alphabetical order, then the album title, label, who chose it, a review link where applicable, and finally a link to the album itself and a quote.
So without further ado, cast your eyes over the H to N entries for 2023.
H________
Hackedepicciotto ‘Keepsakes’ (Mute)
Chosen by Dominic Valvona/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘The sound of Berlin with stopovers across Europe and New York City, Keepsakes conjures up evocative visions, dramas and characters out if the arty, the gothic, the cerebral and surreal; creating an alternative photo album and collection of memories, events. As earthy as it is dreamily floating in a constructed world of fairytale, myth and magic, the creatively sagacious couple draws upon a lifetime of experiences, friendships to produce another captivating album for the Mute label.’ DV
H. Hawkline ‘Milk For Flowers’ (Heavenly)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by Gillian Stone/Link
‘Starting out a certain way, where you think you know what you’re getting into, then taking you by surprise, is the thematic journey of H. Hawkline’s Milk For Flowers (Heavenly). So is lyrical vulnerability.
Milk For Flowers begins steeped in traditional songwriting, takes you on a breathless journey, then brings you back into a place of safety, where feelings can be acknowledged and processed.’ GS
Healing Force Project ‘Drifted Entities Vol. 2’ (Beat Machine)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘The re-rebirth of cool in an ever-forward momentum of flux, Antonio Marini’s Healing Force Project once more tumbles across a broken-beat, jungle, free-jazz and cosmic spectrum of reverberating exploration and spliced assemblage.
A splashy mirage of effected, realigned beats and reframed jazz inspirations sent out into space, Volume 2 in this series continues the ‘spiritual music mission’ but offers something once more eclectic and boundless.’ DV
Andrew Heath ‘Scapa Flow’ (Disco Gecko)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘A geopoetry; a psychogeography of that famous body of shallow waters, Heath’s gauzy drifts, serene washes, glassy piano notes, Myles Cochran and Joe Woodham-like post-rock refracted guitar bends and harpic zither spindles coalesce to score an effective mysterious soundtrack to the former naval base and battleship graveyard.
Andrew Heath plays a combination of instruments, merged with ambient and real sounds that falls somewhere between such notable artists as his old foil Roedelius, Eno, John Lane (i.e. A Journey Of Giraffes), Jon Tye, Ulrich Schnauss and Flexagon. Stirrings from beneath are conveyed with a subtle drama and sonic history on yet another exemplary album of minimalist music.’ DV
The Holy Family ‘Go Zero’ (Rocket Recordings)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘A phantasmagoria of occult manifestations, conjured or drawn from out the old soil, from out of the ether, The Holy Family’s Go Zero album offers darkness with glimmers of light. The Holy of their name, taken from the controversial Angela Carter narrated documentary on Christ’s depiction in the Western art cannon, not so forgiving and Christian, but an open vassal for confronting and exploring the divine and ungodly. Guidance there is none, as the band unnerve, rush, grind or prowl across a mystical dreaded mind fuck of a world that mirrors our own mortal chaotic, ungovernable hell hole. In short, it’s a great dense trip with dramatic voodoo and accelerated velocity.’ DV
James Howard ‘Peek-A-Boo’ (Faith & Industry)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘To a languid soundtrack of bendy, dreamy blue Hawaii (relocated to Margate), and Tales Of The Unexpected and Third Man waltzes performed in a spoiled ballroom that Strictly Come Dancing couldn’t even revive, James Howard once again wanders wistfully across a worn, battered, disconsolate post-Brexit landscape.
Augurs of a reckoning; the sullied state of a septic Isle; an English seaside Ennio Morricone; just some of the feels and atmospheres all listlessly and longingly channeled into a well-crafted songbook (complete with leveling-up asides/intervals). Howard shields the hurt to an extent with his soft stinging observations, aphorisms and melodramas on yet another fantastic album; one of my favourites of 2023 already.’ DV
J__________
Carmen Jaci ‘Happy Child’ (Noumenal Loom)
Chosen by Dominic Valvona/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘A brilliance of candy-electronica and Casio symphonies, Happy Child is a clever work of unburdened, unpretentious, but indeed deliberate and well-crafted, kidulthood. Jacki Carmen’s magical, if occasionally straying into the mysterious, new album pings back and forth with humour and, above all else, playfulness. Not for the burgeoning artist (I say burgeoning, Carmen is quite the professional technician with some years of experience: you can even pay for one-on-one tuitions at her own studio) the sour-faced seriousness of many of her peers, this is electronic music with a taste of fantasy and fun recollections of childhood.’ DV
Kenneth Jimenez ‘Sonnet To Silence’ (We Jazz)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘Taking a leap into the untethered realms of Kenneth Jimenez’s dreams, the jump off point for his newest album literally takes flight. The Brooklyn-based bassist, composer and quartet bandleader runs for the mountains and sprouts wings; flying over the valley and the versant contours of free jazz and hard-bop: ala New York style.
So much is happening on this incredible, engaging and sometimes challenging (in the best possible way) album, which draws you in and then ups or changes the tempo, mood and direction. This is free jazz at its most promising; certainly encouraging and with dreamy quality that lifts you up into an imaginative vision of soaring and more complicated expression. Kenneth Jimenez and his quartet have produced one of the leading jazz albums of 2023.’ DV
Darius Jones ‘fLuXkit Vancouver (i̶t̶s suite but sacred)’ (We Jazz/Northern Spy)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘Absorbing all the history and ethos of Vancouver’s multidisciplinary Western Front hothouse, the acclaimed alto-saxophonist, composer and bandleader Darius Jones conceptually, artfully embodies the spirit of that creative hub’s avant-garde, Fluxus/Duchampian foundations on his new album of free-jazz movements.
Jones and ensemble have created something emotionally charged and highly expressive (challenging too, in a good way) from a site and history. The home of the avant-garde in Vancouver proves fertile, fiery kindle for an impressive, raw at times, catharsis and unload of free thought and art.’ DV
Junkboy ‘Littoral States’ (Wayside & Woodlands)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘A loving tribute, romantic cartography and healing process, Littoral States provides an alternative pathway from another age; a world away from the vacuous self-absorption of popular culture and the distractions of the internet. It’s a wonderful, magical, and for the most part reassuring, gentle gradient landscape that the brothers dream up; tailoring nostalgia and influences into something picturesque, peaceable but above all, moving. Folklore from a recent past is woven into much older geological layers, with the emphasis on the element of water; acting as the source, the road that connects the stopover on this West and East Sussex travelogue photo album. It’s good to have them back in the fold, so to speak, waxing lyrical and dreamily envisioning such beautiful escapism.’ DV
L____________
Laraaji & Kramer ‘Baptismal’ (Shimmy Disc)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘Divine styler of radiant ambiance zither spiritualism Laraaji can be found in communion with no less a pioneer than Shimmy Disc founder and downtown no wave doyen Mark Kramer, on this latest release from the New York label. Two pioneers of their form together over four movements of immersive, deeply affected mood music, draw on their extensive knowledge and intuition to create suites rich in the mysterious, the afflatus and more supernatural. What’s not to like.’ DV
Natalie Rose LeBrecht ‘Holy Prana Open Game’
Chosen by DV & Graham Domain/Reviewed by Graham Domain/Link
‘This is a beautiful album of cosmic folk strangeness singular in its vision and unique today, in its combination of sounds.
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.
Every home should own a copy of this album and play it each day as the sun rises bringing hope to the world.’ GD
Legless Crabs ‘American Russ’ (Metal Postcard Records)
Chosen by Brain Bordello Shea/Reviewed by BBS/Link
‘What if Joan Jett was telling lies and she did not love Rock ‘n’ roll at all, and she was just playing at it to make her millions, and really she loved nothing better than to listen to the old sequence dance compilations – the Swing And Sway series say – or was really a closet Pat Boone fan and preferred his version of Long Tall Sally and not in a ironic way, and did not believe in the old adage that the devil had all the best tunes (which to be truthful is not true, as Cliff Richards Jesus single was one of the finest singles of the 1970s). If Joan Jett was indeed a fake I am sure The Legless Crabs could and would turn the leather panted one to the dark side. And I don’t mean the Dark Side Of The Moon as that is as rock ‘n’ roll as a defrosted box of Fish Fingers. I mean the dark side of rock ‘n’ roll, the side filled with feedback and Cramps like guitar riffs and both sexual frustration and sexual exploitation (in a seedy 70s porn like way). See, that is what I like about the Legless Crabs, they are rock ‘n’ roll in a seedy 70s porn like way.’ BBS
Yungchen Lhamo ‘One Drop of Kindness’ (Real World Records)
Chosen by GD/Reviewed by GD/Link
‘This is a fantastic album of beautiful spiritual music by the wonderful world-renowned Tibetan female singer. Accompanied by a variety of acoustic instruments from around the world the seven songs are offerings to the Great Divine Spirit ‘devoted to spiritual awakening, unconditional love and compassion for all beings!’ A record to treasure – a beacon of hope in the darkest of times.’ GD
The Lilac Time ‘Dance Till All The Stars Come Down’ (Poetica)
Chosen by BBS
‘‘Why Stephen Duffy is not as big as Bob Dylan, I will never know. Maybe it is because Dylan did not form Duran Duran or make albums with Robbie Williams and Nigel Kennedy (one of the best LPs from the 90’s). Dance Till The Stars Come Down is yet another album from The Lilac Time‘s that is criminally ignored.’ BBS
Antti Lütjönen ‘Circus/Citadel’ (We Jazz)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘During the initial pandemic wave of April 2020 the double-bassist maestro Antti Lötjönen released his debut proper as bandleader to a quintet of exciting Finnish jazz talent.
That album, Quintet East, with its monograph vignettes and flexible free-play of be bop, Sonny Clark, the left bank and Bernstein-like musical NYC skylines, is improved upon by the ensemble’s follow-up, Circus/Citadel. With a title both inspired and imbued by the Romanian-born, German-language titan of 20th century poetry, Paul Celan, the issues of a tumultuous world on the precipice of disaster is channeled through a controlled chaos and a reach for the old and new forms of expressive jazz.
I’m always building the We Jazz label up; always aggrandising that Helsinki based hub of Scandinavian jazz. But really, this is an enriching, immersive and artful start to the label’s 2023 calendar with a classic jazz album in the making. I reckon it will be one of the year’s best.’ DV
Lukid ‘Tilt’ (Glum)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘Those of you waiting on a new Lukid album will not be disappointed. If more ‘refined’, composed and ‘simplistic’ than before, there’s still a real rhythm to Luke’s form of subtle but effective electronica. A ‘tilt’ perhaps of process, method and outcomes, this is a minimalistic iteration styled vision of dance music, submerged in lo fi veils, fuzz and gauze.
Tilt is an album of real quality; a cerebral distillation of Ambience, Techno, House and Electronic forms into some reification of time and moments caught before they disappear in smoke. This is a great returning album from the Lukid alias, one of the best in its field in 2023.‘ DV
Lunar Bird ‘The Birthday Party’
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘Disarming malady and alienation with such vaporous gauzy diaphanous veils of dream wave, Lunar Bird with a myriad of fellow Italian artists and musicians weave vulnerability and fragility into the most purified of intoxicating pop songs.
Not so much dipping as submerged fully in that drowsy intoxicating dream vision, Lunar Bird entwine emotional pulls, anxieties with the most delicious, sumptuous of Southern European ethereal pop. The Birthday Party is a spellbinding songbook that subtly pushes the Italo-Welsh group into swimmingly new waters without losing the signature diaphanous bohemian sound we all love them for. There’s absolutely no reason they shouldn’t be much bigger, well known and successful with potential hits like this.’ DV
M_____________
June McDoom ‘With Strings’ (Temporary Residence Ltd.)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘Despite the diaphanous, wispy and hushed delivery, June McDoom’s voice is anything but evanescent or forgettable. Because just like one of her most cherished heroines, Judee Sill, every word and expression is believable as a lived experience of heartbreak, yearning and a close relationship with the elementals of an ethereal, but deeply felt, nature.
McDoom’s inspirations are worn on the sleeves, and yet I keep racking my brain to fathom who she reminds me of. An American Maria Monti? A softer Natalie Ribbons? Maybe a passing resemblance to Connie Converse perhaps? McDoom settles somewhere in-between them all as a refreshing, heavenly talent as she disarms the hurt and depth of emotional turmoil, inquiry and wonder with the most beautiful and impressive of deliveries.’ DV
Jean Mignon ‘An/al’ (Metal Postcard)
Chosen by GD/Reviewed by GD/Link
‘
‘Raucous debut album by New York based Johnny Steines. A mixture of high energy garage punk and high-speed rock and roll – it sounds like a live album such is the energy contained in the grooves!
‘Tackled By Men’ recycles parts of ‘Jumping Jack Flash’, whilst ‘Canadian Exit’ has echoes of Warsaw’s ‘Failures’. If he can produce this excitement in a live-setting he will surely make his own impact! Primal Rock and Roll that screams from the speakers andexcites like a high-speed car chase!’ GD
Liela Moss ‘Internal Working Model’ (Bella Union)
Chosen by GD/Reviewed by GD/Link
‘There are some great melodies and expressive vocal performances on the album. At times, she reminds me of Sarah Blasko at her most colourful and daring! ‘The Wall from the Floor’ sounds like a James Bond theme with its ethereal vocals and ‘Bad World’ refrain! ‘Ache in the Middle’ meanwhile has a melody that falls somewhere in-between Tears for Fears Mad World and Kate Bush the Sensual World! ‘New Day’ feels like a hymn to World Leaders for a better tomorrow – a call to feel empathy for others, concern and love for each other! If the overall feel of the electronic music is one of dystopia, alienation and oppression, the intent, the motivation is human – love and kindness as the antidote to isolation and inertia, feelings of helplessness transformed into positivity and action!’ GD
MultiTraction Orchestra ‘Reactor One’ (Aion Records)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘‘A moving, evocative odyssey [through] a myriad of imaginative, mysterious environments and landscapes. One of those albums that truly gets better and better with every listen.’ DV
N______________
N’dox Électrique ‘Tëdd ak Mame Coumba Lamba ak Mame Coumba Mbang’ (Bongo Joe) Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘Continuing to circumnavigate the depths of Africa, on a quest to connect with the purest origins of that continent’s atavistic rituals, the Mediterranean punk and avant-rock motivators Gianna Greco and François R. Cambuzat seize on the adorcist practices of Senegal’s Lebu people.
The successor to that partnership’s Ifriqiyya Electrique collaboration with the descendants of Hausa slaves (a project that produced two albums of exciting Sufi trance, spirit possession performance and technology), the next chapter, Ndox Électrique, radically transforms the Lebu’s N’doep ceremonies of spirit appeasement.
Between worlds the Ndox Électrique transformation moulds spheres of history and sound, whilst creating a dramatic new form of communication and ritual. Summoning up answers to a sickening society, both groups of participants in this blurred boundary exchange rev-up the sedate scene with a blast of authentic regeneration and dynamism. One that is neither wholly African nor European. Dimensions are crossed; excitement and empowerment, guaranteed.’ DV
Neon Kittens ‘Nine Doesn’t Work For An Outside Line’ (Metal Postcard Records)
Chosen by BBS & GD/Reviewed by BBS/Link
‘Post-punk beatnik shenanigans are afoot with this the new release from Neon Kittens. Their second album [I think] carries on where their last left off, with spoken female vocals purring erotically like an attractive nun filing her nails, smiling, knowing her crotchless knickers are only slightly hidden by her too short mini habit wondering just where to place her oversized cross next, over the scratch and sniff guitar yearnings that are part Fire Engines, part Scary Monster & Super Creeps, part rock ‘n’ roll, and part sexual abandonment. Yes, this is the true sound of total derailment. This is the sound of a 15 year old girl French kissing her jazz induced slightly older best friend with benefits; an album of pure off-center genius.’ BBS
Sam Newsome & Jean-Michel Pilc ‘Cosmic Unconsciousness Unplugged’
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘Joining the ranks of the great jazz (although they go beyond that, into the blues, classical and avant-garde) duos, the partnership of experimental soprano saxophonist and composer Sam Newsome and pianist, composer and educator Jean-Michel Pilc left a critically acclaimed marker with 2017’s Magic Circle album. Before that, and ever since, both foils in that collaborative duet built up enviable reputations, notably with Newsome as a soloist, and Pilc with his trio.
There’s some real class mixed with the unburdened pouring through every second of this album’s fifteen pieces; a real sense of freedom on the move, with the destination uncharted, unsettled and in some small part, mysterious. But as a showcase, the ‘unplugged’ consciousness platform reinforces the reputations of Sam Newsome and Jean-Michel Pilc’s explorative mastership and ingenious collaboration.’ DV
Greg Nieuwsma & Antonello Perfetto ‘Earth’ (Submarine Broadcasting Co.)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by Andrew C. Kidd/Link
‘The score offered by Nieuwsma and Perfetto is as complex and intricate as the source material. Their waveforms and filters arpeggiate poetically to illuminate its idealism. They bring me closer to the chimaera of collectivisation that Dovzhenko was perhaps intending to showcase.’ ACK
Gard Nilssen’s Supersonic Orchestra ‘Family’ (We Jazz)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘The debut from Gard Nilssen and his Supersonic Orchestra Family album is ambitious in scale and musicality; a real impressive first effort that in which Prikoviv, Ayler, Coleman, Braxton, Dolphy and Phil Ranelin mix it with Ill Considered, Binker & Moses and The Hypnotic Brass Band over an octet of extended suites. I can hardly do it justice in the brief space I’ve got left, but suffice to say, this is an incredible cacophony of every era in the jazz and classical cannon you can think of; everything from Latin to bop, the soulful, theatrical, wild and even stage. Wow. A real feat.’ DV
Hi, my name is Dominic Valvona and I’m the Founder of the music/culture blog monolithcocktail.com For the last ten years I’ve featured and supported music, musicians and labels we love across genres from around the world that we think you’ll want to know about. No content on the site is paid for or sponsored and we only feature artists we have genuine respect for /love. If you enjoy our reviews (and we often write long, thoughtful ones), found a new artist you admire or if we have featured you or artists you represent and would like to buy us a coffee at https://ko-fi.com/monolithcocktail to say cheers for spreading the word, then that would be much appreciated.
Choice/Favourite Albums Of The Year: Part One: A to F: A Journey Of Giraffes to Nick Frater
December 11, 2023
SELECTED BY GRAHAM DOMAIN, BRIAN ‘BORDELLO’ SHEA & DOMINIC VALVONA
Just when we thought it couldn’t get much worse: it did. 2023 has been yet another, if not even more depressing shit show on the world stage and closer to home. The stalemate defence of Ukraine, Hamas’ barbaric massacre and rape on the 7th October, and the Israeli retaliation; the ethnic cleansing of Armenians from the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region; the cost of living crisis; threat of pandemics and all kinds of illness; bedbugs; A.I.; strikes; activism; fuel poverty; Iranian protests; and the continuing horror show of a zombie government dragging on, being just some examples. 2023 qualifies as one of the most incomprehensible years on record of any epoch; an ungovernable country in the grip of austerity point 2.0 (the architect of the last one now back to haunt us all again), and greater world untethered and at the mercy of the harridans on either side of the extreme political divide, the billionaire corporates and narcissist puritans.
Despite the myriad of problems that face artists and bands in the industry, from a lack of general interest to the increasingly punitive costs of touring and playing live, and the ever encroaching problems of streaming against physical sales and exposure, people just can’t quit making music. And for that we, as critics – though most of us have either been musicians or still are – really appreciate what you guys do. In fact, as we have always tried to convey, we celebrate you all. And so, instead of those silly, factious and plain dumb numerical charts that our peers and rivals insist on continuing to print – how can you really suggest one album deserves their place above or below another; why does one entry get the 23rd spot and another the 22nd; unless it is a vote count –, the Monolith Cocktail has always chosen a much more diplomatic, democratic alphabetical order – something we more or less started in the first place.
Whilst we are proud to throw every genre, nationality together in a serious of eclectic lists, this year due to various collaborators commitments, there will be a separate Hip-Hop roundup by Matt Oliver in the New Year. The lists, broken up this year into three parts (A to F, H to N, P to Z), includes those albums we’ve reviewed or featured on the site in some capacity, plus a smattering of those we just didn’t get the time to include. All entries are displayed thus: Artist in alphabetical order, then the album title, label, who chose it, a review link where applicable, and finally a link to the album itself.
A_
A Journey Of Giraffes ‘Empress Nouveau’ (Somewherecold Records)
Chosen & Reviewed By Dominic Valvona/ Link
‘Imbued by a suffusion of influences, most notably Harold Budd and Susumu Yokota (once more) but also Kazumichi Komatsu, Sakamoto & Sylvain, Andrew Heath and Eno, John Lane spins, weaves and spindles the essence of place and time; stirring up dulcimer-like tones of the Orient, a hand-ringing school (could also be a call to prayer, or assembly point prompt, perhaps the intermission signal at the opera or theatre) bell, or softly evoking a South American wilderness.
This is yet another essential album from one of the best artists working in this field of subtle, sometimes breathtaking and sublime, exploration – although this is experimenting without sounding like you’re experimenting, if that makes sense. It’s a joy to experience.’ DV
Dot Allison ‘Consciousology’ (Sonic Cathedral)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by Matteo Maioli/Link
‘Folks? backstory? Chamber-pop? I do not know. All this and also none of it. Simply: Dot Allison.’ MM
Anohni and the Johnsons ‘My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross’ (Rough Trade)
Chosen by Graham Domain
Anthéne & Simon McCorry ‘Florescence’ (Oscarson)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘A both hallowed and moving merger of seasonal changes, suffused with a certain gravitas and meaning, the pastoral is revalued and sent out on a voyage of reflection. Florescence is yet another minimalistic work of sublime quality from a collaboration perfectly in-synch with each other.’ DV
Assiko Golden Band de Grand Yoff ‘Magg Tekki’ (Sing A Song Fighter/Mississippi Records) Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘In action, they sound out a controlled raucous of rustling, shaking ancestral calls and conscious version of Afro-beat, Afro-jazz and Afro-soul; like Kuti sharing the stage with Laba Sosseh and Seckou Keita. As a counterbalance, a pause from the rolling and polyrhythmic drums, there are short interludes of time-outs in the community and under nature’s canopy of bird song: the sound of the breeze blowing through the trees overhead and all around, and of children playing in the background, as the kora speaks in communal contemplation.
At times they create a mysterious atmosphere of grasslands, and at other times, play a more serenaded song on the boulevards that lead down to the sea. On fire then, when in full swing, but able to weave a more intricate gentler sound too, the AGBDGY prove an exhilarating, dancing combo with much to share: the ancestral lineage leading back centuries, but lighting up the present.‘ DV
B__
Moonlight Benjamin ‘Wayo’
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘No one quite channels the “iwa” spirits and musical, drum-beating ceremony of Haitian vodou like one of its most exhilarating priestesses, Moonlight Benjamin. Returning with her atmospheric and grinded-scuzz swamp-blues foil Matthis Pascaud for a third manifestation of hungered electrified vodou-blues, Moonlight roughs up and adds a wider tumult of energy to her vocally incredible and dirt music imbued sound of deep southern roots, West African and Hispaniola influences: an all-round Francophone sound you could say, from Louisiana to Mali and, of course, her homeland of Haiti.
As wild as it is composed, Moonlight Benjamin takes the vodou spirits back home to Africa, before returning, via the bayou, to Haiti on another fraught electrified album of divine communication.’ DV
Blur ‘The Ballad Of Darren’ (Parlophone/Warner)
Chosen by Brian Bordello
‘An album of nostalgia, melancholy and heartbreak, and one of Blur’s best.’ BBS
Brian Bordello ‘Songs For Cilla To Sing’ (Think Like A Key)
Chosen by DV & GD/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘As ridiculous as it may seem on the surface, the lower than lo fi (making Sparklehorse sound like a flash git bombastic ELO in comparison), nee no fi King of the well-worn Tascam four-track and St. Helens idiosyncratic Les Miserable, was only one person away on the Venn diagram of Cilla Black’s orbit. His potential songbook of flange-y distorted (more through low grade recording techniques) and curmudgeon demos did make its way to the, then retired from singing, Liverpool songbird – in the three or four decades before her death more the star of TV presenting and hosting than performer.
If imagining Brian Epstein inviting Ian McCulloch to front The Tremolos, or The Red Crayola, Spaceman 3 and a budget Inspiral Carpets time-travelled back to 1962 sounds like one incredible proposition, then this songbook is for you.’ DV
The Bordellos ‘Star Crossed Radio’ (Metal Postcard)
Chosen by GD/Reviewed by GD/Link
‘The latest release by St Helens finest is a cabinet of curiosities containing some wonderful lo-fi gems and hitherto lost standards!
This album is one to treasure, an Aladdin’s cave of eclectic life affirming songs. The Bordellos are the fine web that holds the stars in place!’ GD
Jaimie Branch ‘Fly Or Die Fly Or Die Fly Or Die ((World War))’ (International Anthem) Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘As an unwittingly last will and testament, the late experimental trumpeter Jaimie Branch’s final led album with her Fly Or Die ensemble is a beautiful collision of ideas and worldly fusions that pushes and pulls but never comes unstuck. In fact, despite the “world war” suffix backdrop this album of both hollered and more disarming protestation colourfully embraces the melodic, the groove and even the playful.
Fly Or Die Fly Or Die Fly Or Die ((word war)) is an accomplished album that channels the legacies of Chicago, New Orleans and New York to create an eclectic modern adventure in protest jazz.‘ DV
Julie Byrne ‘The Greater Wings’ (Ghostly International)
Chosen by GD
Bex Burch ‘There Is Only Love And Fear’ (International Anthem)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘In the moment extemporized expressions in multiple locations, both in Europe and North America, the feels on Bex Burch’s new album are led or prompted by a hand made xylophone. Any yet, there’s no particular pattern nor pathway to these captured performances; Burch joined as she is by a myriad of notable artists/musicians, all of whom only met for the first time before each improvised performance.
Each day is a different sound and a new canvas for Burch, who transcends her bearings and musical boundaries. There’s rhythm to these improvisations, a real groove that at times counterbalances the passages of avant-garde expression to create a non-linear journey of emotions, thoughtfulness and sense of yearned fears.’ DV
C___
Luzmila Carpio ‘Inti Watana: El Retorno Del Sol’ (Bongo Joe)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘Full of wonderment and magic, the Bolivian performer and composer Luzmila Carpio returns with her first all-encompassing album in a decade. Imbued with an ancestral heritage and language that predates the Conquistadors colonial apocalypse, Carpio weaves and plays with her Aymara and Quechua roots, its creation stories, shamanistic ceremonies and humble custodianship of nature.
Carpio invites us into her dreams and meditations with a wonderful message of universal care and respect for that which nurtures and feeds us; an unbroken link to civilizations like the Incas, propelled into the 21st century.’ DV
Billy Childish & CTMF ‘Failure Not Success’ (Damaged Goods Records)
Chosen by BBS
‘Quite simply what Billy Childish does best: spit feathers at an unplucked rock ‘n roll chicken.’ BBS
Chouk Bwa & The Ångströmers ‘Somanti’ (Bongo Joe)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘Reuniting for a second explosive dynamic album of electrified Vodou and Mizik Rasin, the Haitian collective Chouk Bwa and the Belgian production duo The Angströmers once more propel ritual and ceremony into an otherworldly futuristic setting.
Music from another dimension, the Haitian roots music and performative religious invocations and words of wisdom from Chouk Bwa are sent through a vortex into the future on another successful union.’ DV
Julian Cope ‘Robin Hood’ (Head Heritage)
Chosen by BBS
‘An album of psych, folk and pop wizardry; one that matches up to the best of the man. Cope is on a run of brilliance that is equal to his run of greatness from the late 80s to early 90s. A national treasure, and one of the last living motherfuckers.’ BBS
Creep Show ‘Yawning Abyss’ (Bella Union)
Chosen by GD/Reviewed by GD/Link
‘Make no mistake, John Grant is a genius! As half of Creep Show he provides the moments of sheer joy! ‘Bungalow’ comes over like a song that could have been on any of his brilliant solo albums, post ‘Queen of Denmark’. It’s a fantastic vocal, the music dark, funny, sexy, – electronic music at its best and a good song to boot! Elsewhere we find him singing strange rhymes on the title track ‘Yamning Abyss’ – a song that grows on you with each play.’ GD
D____
Vumbi Dekula ‘Congo Guitar’ (Hive Mind/Sing A Song Fighter)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘Removed from a full-on band setting of loud blazed, wailed horns, thundering drums and chanted vocals Kahanga “Vumbi” Dekula’s legendary guitar shines on a new solo album of his melodious virtuoso playing.
Hive Mind’s inaugural partnership with Winqvist’s own Sing-A-Song-Fighter label is both a joy and discovery; the Congolese star, more or less, singlehandedly capturing the listener’s attention with a captivating septet of natural, expressive performances.’ DV
Diepkloof United Voice ‘Harmonizing Soweto: Golden City Gospel & Kasi Soul’
(Ostinato Records) Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘Incredibly moving and enriching for the soul, the united Diepkloof chorus has achieved the seminal with nothing more than their voices; releasing perhaps one of the year’s most essential records.’ DV
Dexter Dine ‘Flood’
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by Gillian Stone/Link
‘The self-defined Brooklyn, NY-based “apartment rocker” conjures a diverse and expansive sound that is a “mixture of melodic samples, multi-part drum grooves, and off-kilter saxophone solos”. From the Animal Collective vibes of “Flooded Meadows”, “Splatter In Two”, and “Lockeeper”, to the Juana Molina-esque “Peanutbutter”, to the Bossa Nova feel of “Valley Of Air”, the beats he creates are the driving force behind this electroacoustic pursuit.
Dine is a prolific artist, and his work is ethereal, striking, and drenched in both sunshine and melancholy.’ GS
Matt Donovan ‘Sleep Until The Storm Ends’
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘In the face of political, social discourse and ruin, lawlessness, loss and anxiety Donovan captures the evocative moments and scenes we all often take for granted; turning nighttime walks, the memories of loved ones into something musically and sonically lasting.
Barefoot Contessa daydreams sit well with clavichord buzz splintered boogies on yet another enriching and rewarding album that slowly unfurls its understated balm of warmth and also protestation gradually over repeated plays. On the fringes certainly, a true independent diy artist, Matt Donovan is far too good to stay under the radar. Do yourselves a favour, grab a copy on bandcamp now.’ DV
Dur-Dur Band Intl. ‘The Berlin Session’ (Outhere Records)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘Marking the first session of new-recorded music since the halcyon days of their heydays in 80s Somali, the revivalist legacy incarnation of the Dur-Dur Band is back with a truly “international” sounding groove.
Simultaneously familiar whilst offering a fresh songbook (of a sort), the Dur-Dur Band Int. Berlin Session is as lilting as it is dynamic. Above all it’s always grooving to a unique fusion of worldly rhythms and beats, catapulting that Somali funk to new heights and hopefully making new fans with lively and cool performances. Nothing should keep you buying a copy.’ DV
Dutch Uncles ‘True Entertainment’ (Memphis Industries)
Chosen by GD
Dyr Faser ‘Karma Revenge’
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘It turns out that Dyr Faser are rather good at mixing the esoteric krautrock of the Amon Düül family (especially the Wagnerian acid-wash and otherworldly vocals of Renate Knaup-Krötenschwanz) with grunge, alt/post/space rock and doom; bridging morbid curiosities, spirals of melancholy with black sun fun, fun, fun! A great duo to discover. ” DV
E_____
Eamon The Destroyer ‘We’ll Be Piranhas’ (Bearsuit Records)
Chosen by BBS/Reviewed by BBS/Link
‘Performed with a wit and wisdom only matched by the beauty and musical genre hopping extravagance not seen since John Peel dropped his record collection down three flights of stairs… A madness of electronica, psychedelia, dance and pop; at times sounding like an inspired Momus after sharing magic mushroom soup with Cornelius and Ivor Cutler. Yes, there is magic in these tracks that one can lie back and completely lose themselves in…’ BBS
The Early Mornings ‘Ultra-Modern Rain’ EP (Practise Music/Rough Trade)
Chosen by GD/Reviewed by GD /Link
‘It is an exhilarating ride of moody bass lines, spikey guitar, distorted chords and garage drums with vocals by Annie Leader.’ GD
Ex-Norwegian ‘Sooo Extra’ (Think Like A Key)
Chosen by BBS/Reviewed by BBS/Link
‘Sooo Extra is the 14th album from Ex Norwegian and like all the other Ex Norwegian albums I have heard it is a rather excellent affair full of pop hooks and has a lovely undercurrent of darkness, a bittersweet taste of songwriting savvy you really do not come across everyday: sadly.’ BBS
F______
Fantastic Twins ‘Two Is Not A Number’ (House Of Slessor)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘Competitive from the outset, birthed from a primordial cosmic womb, the Fantastic Twins in Julienne Dessagne’s otherworldly sci-fi fantasy go through hellish travails and separation before finding a final resolution. From the bawled birth of ‘I Was First’, the Berlin-based French producer, musician and vocalist explores the magic, duality and multiplicity of twins over an album of metallic, chrome and liquefied material sci-fi and otherworldliness: even the haunted and supernatural.
Albums from Carl Craig, Man Parrish, Fever Ray, Andy Stott and others, alongside the influence of Cosey Fanny Tutti, Chris Carter, Coil, Nina Simone and Pan Sonic can be added to the depth and range of this accumulative mood board and framework.
It proves a fertile concept and doorway to the investigations of the “psyche” and its relationship to all manner of inquisitive explorations. A most striking sophisticated debut from an artist with depth and curiosity.’ DV
Fat Francis ‘Oyster’
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘Disillusioned despondency and a touch of the roguish are filtered through softened hues of idiosyncratic lo fi beauty, as Fat Frances’ hardened, worn-down posterior reveals a heart-wrenching drip-drip pouring of poetic insecurity, dealt and languorous resignation.
Yet despite the wretchedness of the world, the austerity and the lawlessness and directionless malaise of our times, there’s a melodious magic to be found in this rough diamond’s (excuse the cliché) Northern lament. It’s as if Frances has somehow brought an air of Bonnie & Clyde folklore, or an enervated and far less violent Badlands to a West Yorkshire pastoral landscape.
Oyster has quickly become one of my favourite albums of 2023 – the balmy washes and heartache wistfulness drift of ‘Billy’, a worthy earnest but sublime song, being just one highlight. It should if life was fair, bring attention and plaudits to this artist, but I won’t hold my breath.’ DV
Fhae ‘Sombre Thorax’ (4000 Records)
Chosen by GD/Reviewed by GD/Link
‘This is a wonderful album of ethereal, ambient, dream-folk-pop that ebbs and flows like the tides and inhabits its own world of subtle beauty. Sometimes, mists of the sea seem to creep into the music and the edges of reality become blurred, the music shape shifting into another dimension!
A fantastic debut album, I can’t wait to hear more!’ GD
Fir Cone Children ‘The Urge to Overtake Time’ (Blackjack Illuminist Records)
Chosen by GD/Reviewed by GD/Link
‘This is fantastic album from Berlin based band Fir Cone Children. It sounds like it was recorded in 1979 when New Wave (Post Punk) creativity took hold for a couple of years and no two bands were the same!
Time Needs an Upgrade’ sounds like the Cure mixed with the Pop Group. ‘Snowblack’ sounds like Wire led by Jeff Lynne! ‘The Inability to Raise the Left Corner of my Mouth’ sounds like the Buzzcocks if they had been from San Francisco circa 1968. ‘It Feels Complete’ sounds like the Cramps if they had been Buddhist Monks! ‘Spider School’ sounds like the Scars mixed with the Undertones and Interpol. ‘One Hundred Years’ sounds like the Sound mixed with Wire and MBV! But moreover, although there are always comparisons to be made, Fir Cone Children have an individual spark; the music is much more than the sum of its influences! Perhaps, the best German band since Faust!’ GD
Flagboy Giz ‘Disgrace To The Culture’ (Injun Money Records)
Chosen by DV
‘Exciting bounce-hip-hop-modern-R&B cross-pollinations from the colorful, parading Mardi Gras tail-feather shaking chief, who once more leads with attitude and verve another street theatrics company of like-minded artists on a strut through New Orleans. The second album from motivator, performer, producer and MC, Flagboy Giz – he of the world famous Wild Tchoupitoulas Mardi Gras Indians -, and his crew of contributors, is a rambunctious hyper merger of The Meters, Neville Brothers, Lee Dorsey, Dr. John. Master P, Lil Wayne and DJ Jubilee. What’s not to like.’ DV
Flat Worms ‘Witness Marks’ (Drag City)
Chosen by DV
‘I’d like to believe the reemergence of the L.A. garage-punk-rockers is down to my glowing review of the their Live In L.A. album from 2022 (which made our choice albums of that year). But whatever the reasons, their return (back once again in the Ty Segall fold) is very much welcome; especially as they’ve lost none of that vociferous wired attitude and spirit. Witness Marks is an assured, mature and heavy vortex of growling and fierce, but slacker too, Gang Of Four, Salem Trials, Modern Lovers, The Fall and The Southern Death Cult sounds. And if that doesn’t grab you, nothing else will.’ DV
Flexagon ‘The Towers I: Inaccessible’ (Disco Gecko)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link
‘Through a near domination of the high seas, a skill in winning wars, a Norman lineage and generally to annoy the French, the Channel Islands have been a British dependency for centuries. During that time a whole lot of history has passed under the bridge; the last 200 years of which are channeled by the Guernsey native, artist and environmental, site-specific composer Flexagon.
A work of site-specific atmospheric stirrings and timelessness, The Towers I: Inaccessible album translates the off-limits sites of Guernsey into a multi-layered sonic map for inquiring minds. An Island life, history and shared trauma is transduced across a mix of styles and delivery methods as both repurposed and more derelict out of bounds architecture is allowed to breath and to tell stories of the history that’s passed through its doors. Even with the all too awful reminders of Guernsey’s occupation (finally liberated in the May of 1945 after nearly five years of German authoritarian rule; at least a thousand of its people deported to camps in Southern Germany) these towers transmit plenty of arresting Meta and fertile research, which Flexagon and his foils have turned into a lush, dreamy and mysterious veiled journey.’ DV
Nick Frater ‘Bivouac’
Chosen by BBS/Reviewed by BBS/Link
‘The art of the concept album is alive and well and living in the confines of Nick Frater’s new album Bivouac; an album about escaping post industrial Britain and seeking solitude in a woodland sanctuary.
All the tracks run into each other giving you the blanket of warmth and melody, which really is not a bad thing and with the coming Winter months can indeed be an essential requirement as it may be the only warmth we get this year. It’s sunshine pop after all. It brings to mind the magic of Jellyfish and Squeeze at their best. The 70s am pop of Andrew Gold, Billy Joel, Todd Rundgren all collide and cause an explosion of one of the most heart warming and joyful albums of the year.’ BBS
Hi, my name is Dominic Valvona and I’m the Founder of the music/culture blog monolithcocktail.com For the last ten years I’ve featured and supported music, musicians and labels we love across genres from around the world that we think you’ll want to know about. No content on the site is paid for or sponsored and we only feature artists we have genuine respect for /love. If you enjoy our reviews (and we often write long, thoughtful ones), found a new artist you admire or if we have featured you or artists you represent and would like to buy us a coffee at https://ko-fi.com/monolithcocktail to say cheers for spreading the word, then that would be much appreciated.
Monthly Playlist For November 2023: Pidgins, SANITY, Danny Brown, June McDoom, LINA, Flexagon…
November 29, 2023
CHOICE MUSIC FROM THE LAST MONTH/CHOSEN BY THE MONOLITH COCKTAIL TEAM
Every month, depending on who’s contributing, the Monolith Cocktail team create a choice track journey of eclectic music; an encapsulation of that month’s reviews plus those tracks we either didn’t get time or room to write about, but loved all the same. Joining me, Dominic Valvona, this November, there’s selections from our resident Hip-Hop guru Matt Oliver and indie, lo to no-fi and underground motherfucking rock ‘n’ roll maverick, Brian ‘Bordello’ Shea, all-rounder Graham Domain and electronic-classical expert Andrew C. Kidd.
Without further ado, let’s crack on with the playlist and track list:::
Rave At Your Fictional Borders ‘Potion Trigger’
Yungchen Lhamo ‘Sound Healing’
Johanna Burnheart ‘Ems’
Assiko Golden Band De Grand Yoff ‘La Musique Du Coeur’
Pidgins ‘These Models Scale’
Neon Kittens ‘Child In A Pet’
Fir Cone Children ‘The Inability To Raise The Left Corner Of My Mouth’
Ultrasonic Grand Prix, Little Barrie & Shawn Lee ‘Seamoon Rising’
Daneshevskaya ‘Big Bird’
K. Board & The Skreens ‘Gorillino’
Bloom de Wilde ‘Clown’s Ride On A Kangaroo’
U.S. Girls ’28 Days – Live’
Koma Saxo ‘Sista Dansen’
SANITY ‘Part Time’
Elaquent Ft. Skyzoo ‘Spirit Of Richard Wright’
Benaddict, Slim, Ella Mae Sueref ‘Birds Of A Feather’
Uber Magnetics, Sir Beans OBE ‘Brain On Drugs’
Eamon The Destroyer ‘Underscoring The Blues’
Danny Brown ‘Dark Sword Angel’
Sonnyjim & Lee Scott Ft. CRIMEAPPLE, D-Styles ‘Tommy Lee Scott’
Von Pea & The Other Guys Ft. Donwill ‘Putcha Weight On It’
Berke Can Ozcan ‘The Way Back Hill’
The Stance Brothers ‘Futuristic Earth’
George Demure Ft. Stevie Christie ‘Late Again’
H31R, Jwords & Maassai ‘Right Here’
Don Leisure & Amanda Whiting ‘Walk With Us’
Radhika De Saram ‘Little Sloth Bear’
Blockhead & UGLYFRANK ‘Lighthouse’
Essa & Yungun ‘Push’
Metermaids & Seez Mics ‘Still, Life’
EF Knows ‘Bug’
Leisure FM ‘Weather Warning’
Oopsie Dasies ‘Weird Topangas’
Humm ‘Danced Alone (Who I Am When I’m In Love)’
Sweeney ‘The Fear & The Failing’
Roedelius & Arnold Kasar ‘Lifeline’
June McDoom ‘The City – With Strings’
Diepkloof United Voices ‘Round & Round’
LINA & Rodrigo Cuevas ‘Q Que Temo E O Que Desejo’
Flexagon & Lihou ‘Un Vert Bocage’
Nick Frater ‘Little Sister Moon’
Ex Norwegian ‘Send Nudes’
Dog Door ‘Cover-Up Contest’
Zahn ‘Zebra’
Sone Institute ‘Going To Hell In A Handbasket’
Room Of Wires ‘Stormdrains’
Tetsüo ii ‘!!’
N’dox Electrique ‘Sango Mara Rire’
Our Daily Bread 601: Corinne Bailey Rae, Fir Cone Children, Emil Amos…
November 16, 2023
A CATCH-UP OF REVIEWS FROM GRAHAM DOMAIN
__/SINGLES/EPS\__
TANDM ‘Sirens’ EP
(self-released) (Download)
Of this five song EP, ‘The Man in the Sea’ is the best song. A spooked lonely piano ballad sounding not unlike Sarah Blasko. They need more variation in their sound to hold interest, but still ‘one to watch’!
Corinne Bailey Rae ‘Peach Velvet Sky’
(Thirty Tigers) (Download Single)
This the second single from her new album Black Rainbows, released back in September. It is a beautiful slow jazz piano ballad where her soft voice often soars above the music reaching out towards the stars.
The song is inspired by the autobiography of a slave girl in the 1800’s who escaped from her master by hiding for seven years in a crawl space above her grandmothers’ storeroom viewing the outside world through a small hole in the wood. As an artist CBR has developed and grown since her pop breakthrough hit ‘Put your Records On’ in 2006, collaborating with Herbie Hancock and Stevie Wonder along the way. Nowadays, her music has more of a jazz edge to it rather than pop. A lovely song and a great record.
Michael Peter Olsen ‘So Far So Good’
(Hand Drawn Dracula) (Download Single)
Experimental instrumental piece that blends acoustic and manipulated electric cello to produce a piece that could easily slot into a documentary about manufacturing or cell reproduction. Not exciting, not Rock and Roll. Music from a dimension where Ian Curtis had never been born.
Neon Kittens ‘Sunburn On My Legs’ 3 track EP
(Metal Postcard Records) (Download EP)
This three track EP from Neon Kittens is a frantic whirlpool of abstract guitar, rabid rhythms and Freudian psychosis – ‘a disturbance of the connections between the self and the exterior world.’
A masterclass condensed into a few vital minutes where nothing is wasted, every scratch, every scrape, and every note speaks. The paranoia bleeding into a chaos of neurosis – ‘you see everything but nothing sees you.’
__/ALBUMS\__
Yungchen Lhamo ‘One Drop of Kindness’
(Real World Records) (Vinyl, CD, Download)
This is a fantastic album of beautiful spiritual music by the wonderful world-renowned Tibetan female singer. Accompanied by a variety of acoustic instruments from around the world the seven songs are offerings to the Great Divine Spirit ‘devoted to spiritual awakening, unconditional love and compassion for all beings!’ A record to treasure – a beacon of hope in the darkest of times.
Emil Amos ‘Zone Black’
(Drag City) (CD, Download)
An album of eerie instrumental music, much of it electronic. The sort of music that could easily be used as a TV Theme or to soundtrack a cult Movie (or even as music on a Video Game). It bears comparison to both D J Shadow (‘Bad Night at Cowboys’) and Martin Rev of Suicide (‘Theme from A Personal Prison’). Intriguing and addictive. This album could well become a cult classic!
Fir Cone Children ‘The Urge to Overtake Time’
(Blackjack Illuminist Records) (CD, Cassette, Download)
This is fantastic album from Berlin based band Fir Cone Children. It sounds like it was recorded in 1979 when New Wave (Post Punk) creativity took hold for a couple of years and no two bands were the same! ‘Time Needs an Upgrade’ sounds like the Cure mixed with the Pop Group. ‘Snowblack’ sounds like Wire led by Jeff Lynne! ‘The Inability to Raise the Left Corner of my Mouth’ sounds like the Buzzcocks if they had been from San Francisco circa 1968. ‘It Feels Complete’ sounds like the Cramps if they had been Buddhist Monks! ‘Spider School’ sounds like the Scars mixed with the Undertones and Interpol. ‘One Hundred Years’ sounds like the Sound mixed with Wire and MBV! But moreover, although there are always comparisons to be made, Fir Cone Children have an individual spark; the music is much more than the sum of its influences! Perhaps, the best German band since Faust!
Monthly Playlist Revue: July 2023
July 28, 2023
CHOICE MUSIC SELECTION FROM THE LAST MONTH ON THE MONOLITH COCKTAIL
TEAM EFFORT: DOMINIC VALVONA/MATT OLIVER/BRIAN ‘BORDELLO’ SHEA/GRAHAM DOMAIN/ANDREW C. KIDD
The Monolith Cocktail Monthly playlist is a revue of the last month on the blog, plus those tunes we didn’t get time to review or feature: including Matt Oliver‘s special hip-hop selection. Curated as a musical journey by Dominic Valvona, there’s a huge diverse array of choice tunes from across the genres and the globe, collated from an amalgamation of posts by Dominic Valvona, Brian ‘Bordello’ Shea, Graham Domain and Andrew C. Kidd.
THOSE TRACKS IN FULL ARE…
Habitat 617 Ft. Jack Slayta ‘Bricklayer’
Young Van Gundy Ft. Al Divino & Tha God Fahim ‘Fuyu No Senso’
J. Scienide & Napoleon Da Legend ‘Wind Parade’
Annie Taylor ‘Fucking Upset’
White Ring ‘Before He Took The Gun’
African Head Charge ‘Asalatua’
Mokoomba ‘Ndipe’
OKI ‘Tukinahan Kamuy’
Dip In The Dub ‘La Cumbia Del Sufi Que No Sabia Bailer’
Luiza Lian ‘Eu Estou Aqui’
Deja Blu ‘Crash’
It’s Karma It’s Cool ‘Vacations In A Taxi Cab’
Life Strike ‘Whip Around’
K-Nite 13 & Lee Scott Ft. Homeboy Sandman ‘Staple Junk’
The Moose Funk Squad ‘Abe Simpson’
Verb T & Vic Grimes ‘Your Heart Deserves’
SadhuGold ‘Fear Of A Black Yeti’
The Difference Machine ‘His Country’
Rusty Santos ‘Focus’
August Cooke ‘Shed With Me’
Maija Sofia ‘Telling The Bees’
Circe ‘My Boy Aphrodite’
Natalie Rose LeBrecht ‘Holy’
Hackedepicciotto ‘La Femme Sauvage’
Fat Frances ‘The Worm In The Wood’
Mike Gale ‘Summer Be Gone’
Stella Burns & Mick Harvey ‘My Heart Is A Jungle’
Emil Amos ‘Jealous Gods’
Oopsie Dasies ‘Illusioned-Broken Toys’
Zohastre ‘DUNE’ <THIS MONTH’S COVER ART STARS>
The Holy Family ‘Hell Born Babel’
The Dark Jazz Project ‘Jazz’
Healing Force Project ‘Inharmonious Layer’
Sebastian Reynolds ‘Cascade’
Caterina Barbieri ‘Sufyosowirl’
Ziur Ft. Abdullah Miniawy ‘Malikan’
Pierce Artists ‘Black Hooded Generals’
Stu Bangas & Chino XL ‘Who Told You’
Teflon/M.O.P. & DJ Premier ‘The Thoro Side’
Remulak & Moka Only ‘Starlings Green’
Jonny Wickham ‘Uncanny Valley’
Marty Isenberg ‘Life On Mars’
Gibralter Drakus ‘Exode Rural’
Las Mijas ‘Ronca (Carta Para Una Mija)’
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
___{SINGLES}___
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)!
___[ALBUMS]___
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.
Monthly Playlist: June 2023: Valia Calda, Killer Mike, Sparks, Kool Keith, Luzmila Carpio…
June 29, 2023
THE JUNE SELECTION: 50 plus tracks from the artists/bands we championed, rated and loved during the last thirty days. This is the eclectic, global and influential Monolith Cocktail Monthly Playlist, with music chosen from all the releases we covered in June plus those we didn’t have room for at that time. Selectors include Dominic Valvona (who curated this expansive playlist), Matt Oliver, Brian ‘Bordello’ Shea, Andrew C. Kidd and Graham Domain.
___TRACKLIST___
Valia Calda ‘Stalker’
La Jungle ‘La Compagnie de la Chanson’
Ramuntcho Matta ‘Hukai’
Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra ‘Nation Rising’
Killer Mike Ft. Jagged Edge ‘SUMMER’
Royalz Ft. THE HIDDEN CHARACTER ‘God In Da Ghetto’
Professor Elemental ‘Ready Or Not’
DJ Mk & Sonnyjim ‘WORTH THE RISK’
Revival Season ‘Chop’
Vieira and The Silvers ‘The Judge’
Trees Speak ‘Radiation’
Cat Box Room Bois ‘California Stars’
ANGHARAD ‘Postpartum’
Outer Limit Lotus ‘Let The Night Ride You’
The Kingfishers ‘Lapwings’
Sedona ‘Domino’
Katie Von Schleicher Ft. Lady Lamb ‘Elixir’
Mari Kalkun ‘Munamae Loomine (The Creation Of Munamagi|)’
Sparks ‘Not That Well Defined’
Bob Dylan ‘Queen Jane Approximately’
Maija Sofia ‘Four Winters’
Mike Cooper Ft. Viv Corringham ‘A Lemon Fell’
Dirty Dike Ft. Jam Baxter ‘The Places We’ve Been In’
The Chives ‘Your Mom’s A Bitch’
Lunch Money Life ‘The God Phone II’
Martha Skye Murphy ‘Dogs’
Sacrobosco ‘Pearl’
CODED ‘Binary Beautiful (Sunshine Variation)’
Baldruin ‘Zuruckgelassen’
Lauren Bousfield Ft. Ada Rock ‘Hazer’
Ital Tek ‘The Mirror’
Joe Woodham ‘Spring Tides’
WITCH ‘Streets Of Lusaka’
Celestial North ‘Otherworld’
Psyche ‘Kuma’
Omar Ahmad ‘Cygnet Song’
Luzmila Carpio ‘Inti Watana – El Retorno del Sol’
Ricardo Dias Gomes ‘Invernao Astral’
Andrew Heath ‘Fold’
Granny Smith ‘Egypt’
Spindle Ensemble & Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan ‘Lucid Living – Live’
Pawz One & Preed One ‘Revenge Of Silky Johnson’
ILL BILL, Non Phixion, La Coka Nostra, Kool G. Rap, Vinnie Paz ‘Root For The Villain’
Syrup Ft. Twit One, C. Tappin & Turt ‘Timing Perfect’
John Coltrane Ft. Eric Dolphy ‘Impressions – Live’
Vermin the Villain & ELAM ZULA ‘POWER OF TWO’
King Kashmere & Alecs Delarge Ft. HPBLK, Ash The Author & Booda French ‘Astro Children’
Lukah ‘First Copy’
Kool Keith ‘First Copy’
Stik Figa & The Expert ‘Slo Pokes’
S. Kalibre Ft. Scoob Rock, Slap Up Mill, Jabba The Kut ‘Murda Sound Bwoy’
Verbz, Nelson Dialect & Mr. Slipz ‘Beside Me’
Dillion & Diamond D ‘Uncut Gems’
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