Jamie Lidell - Multiply

Howard request. 21st century soulman, Sam Cooke filtered through Warp's Artificial Intelligence.

Game of Fools

Tindersticks - Curtains

British purveyors of the most exquisite drunken miserabilism. Check out Isabella Rossellini in the last song.

"Curtains finds Tindersticks exploring the same dark, string-drenched territory as their first two albums, and while it shares a surface similarity with its predecessors, there are subtle differences that make it a rewarding listen. The tone of Curtains is slightly brighter than that of the second album, with the songs unfolding into lush, affecting laments that recall Scott Walker at his finest. Though the sound is seductive, what is most impressive about Curtains is the songwriting. The Tindersticks have become more assured writers, letting the songs gradually develop into intimate epics. Stuart Staples' lyrics are similarly textured and subtle, with alternating layers of pathos and humor. Curtains, in many ways, functions as the culmination of what the Tindersticks set out to accomplish with their first two albums, and the results are appropriately stunning." - Stephen T. Erlewine

Get it

Bongwater - The Power of Pussy

God bless Bongwater and those who sail(ed) with them.

"Kicking off with the great title track, a slow-chugging anthem with a sharp Magnuson lead and lyric, along with guest vocals from none other than the B-52s' Fred Schneider, Pussy pumps up Magnuson's vicious, intelligent feminism to an even higher level than before. From the barbed "What If..." and "Women Tied Up in Knots" to her incredible spoken word "What Kind of Man Reads Playboy" and more, she's on a very artistic rampage. Style, performance, sass, and rage combine brilliantly throughout. In general, Bongwater, with Licht back on drums in place of Sleep's rhythm boxes, continue as before, incorporating a more creepy sweetness at points. "Great Radio" is a standout, the group performing a slow, drony, and druggy piece with gentle power, while other songs like "I Need a New Tape" mix up the zoned psychedelic hush of past albums once again. Covers again crop up, both quite striking. The Weavers' folk standard "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine" gets a lovely, haunting take, with guest banjo from roots music legend Peter Stampfel, while Dudley Moore's hilariously dismissive "Bedazzled," from the mid-'60s film of the same name, is tailor-made for a crackerjack Magnuson spotlight vocal. Throughout Pussy, pop culture is roasted over a slow fire in a multitude of ways. "Nick Cave Dolls," besides concluding with Magnuson's breathy, delicious whine about wanting one of said items, slips in everything from references to Hollywood and Dorothy Stratten to some of the notorious profane tapes of Buddy Rich abusing his band. The absolute hands-down winner comes right at the end, the lengthy "Folk Song." Tackling everything from wannabe rebels to corporate and political idiocy from the top on down -- not to mention a ripping dissection of then-recent hit-movie Pretty Woman that spares absolutely nobody -- Magnuson is in excelsis throughout." - Ned Raggett

Nick Cave Doll

Young Marble Giants - Colossal Youth

More cream of the crop up in here.

"Although Prefix cannot unequivocally commit to an album that is "strenuously stiff," most critics have no reservations about labeling the album a classic. And MusicOMH advises, "You only get one chance to hear Colossal Youth for the first time. So if you’re not yet initiated, unhook the phone, put some time aside and revel in its tiny beauty." Dusted–and many critics–find that the material holds up quite well: "Three decades later, Colossal Youth & Collected Works still feels like the start of a brand new life." Exclaim! agrees, saying, "Colossal Youth sounds as important in 2007 as it likely did in 1980." And Treble adds, "While there are certainly many who have taken cues from YMG’s atmospheric new wave sound, their style remains distinctive and largely without peer."

Brian Eno is an oft-mentioned reference point in reviews of the hugely-respected Colossal Youth, but Dusted also hears echoes of Joe Meek and Lee Hazlewood. Like many reviewers, Gigwise zeroes in on the album’s deconstructionist nature: "What remains immediately striking is that ‘Colossal Youth’ is clearly an album of experimentation – a record of boundless artistic ambition that deconstructs song structure to its core principles." Filter hears "precise and elegant sketches" that amount to "primitivism at its most perfect." And the Seattle Weekly calls attention to the tension inherent in YMG’s minimalist style: "Because of this restraint, you keep waiting for the songs on Colossal Youth to explode, like ticking time bombs. But they never do."

As for the reissue itself (rather than just the original album), Exclaim! calls the new collection "thorough and, above all, necessary," while Gigwise deems it "essential," and The Guardian, "spellbinding." The latter publication adds that the material marks "an unassuming triumph, but a triumph nonetheless." Pitchfork notes that the extra material cannot live up to the standard set by the album: "Colossal Youth is such a bracing artifact, even now, that it begs for context; the other two discs demonstrate that the album is really all the band had to say, and the way they said it best." The Village Voice, however, appreciates the new material, declaring that "even demos of now-familiar songs can startle" in the context of different arrangements.

[Colossal Youth] is a record without genre, arguably outstripping The Slits in its disdain for rock structures or Wire in the way the songs appear to exhaust their ideas then stop dead, perfectly sated."

Taxi

Robert Wyatt - Old Rottenhat

For Howard.

More Wyatt greatness. This is an explicitly political album, and altogether darker and pessimistic.

PLA

Robert Wyatt - Ruth is Stranger than Richard

For Howard.

More amazing songwriting from the Seer of Canterbury, his third album. Includes Eno on "anti jazz ray gun".

Soup

Robert Wyatt - Rock Bottom

For Howard.

Go get "Comicopera" and enjoy the work one of the greatest songwriters of all time. And then get this masterpiece, his second album and to me still his best. Listen to "Sea Song", with a coda that melts the sternest heart, and you'll know why it's one of my top five favorite songs ever. A monumental achievement by Mr. Wyatt.

Hit the Road

Slapp Happy - Sort Of.../Acnalbasac Noom

Info about Slapp Happy can be found here. This group has always given me hours of utter enjoyment. The almost perfect combination of pop sensiblity, wit, irony, and experimentation with songform. For Howard: this was Peter Blegvad's second group. Collaborations with Henry Cow soon to follow.

Acnalbasac
Sort Of...

Kevin Ayers - Joy of a Toy.

"Kevin Ayers' talent is so acute you could perform major eye surgery with it." -John Peel

One of the founding members of Soft Machine, Ayers has played with the best of 'em: Brian Eno, John Cale, Syd Barrett & Nico; just to name a few.
Here is his first solo album and one of my all-time favorites. Quite the fucking gem.


















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