theartsdesk on Vinyl 64: Chet Baker, Lava La Rue, Bob Mould, Krust, The Yardbirds, The Fratellis and more

THEARTSDESK ON VINYL 64 Literally the largest fresh set of vinyl reviews on the internet

Literally the largest fresh set of vinyl reviews on the internet

Things got out of hand at theartsdesk on Vinyl this month and these reviews run to 10,000 words. That's around a fifth of The Great Gatsby. It's because there's so much good music that deserves the words, from jazz to metal to pure electronic strangeness.

Album: Blk Jks - Abantu/Before Humans

★★★ BLK JKS - ABANTU / BEFORE HUMANS Return of the Johannesburg art-rockers

The breathless return of the Johannesburg art-rockers after over a decade away

 “A complete fully translated and transcribed Obsidian Rock Audio Anthology chronicling the ancient spiritual technologies and exploits of prehistoric, post-revolutionary afro bionics and sacred texts from The Great Book On Arcanum by Supernal 5th Dimension Bound 3rd Dynasty young Kushites from Azania.”

Album: Teenage Fanclub‎ - Endless Arcade

★★★★ TEENAGE FANCLUB - ENDLESS ARCADE Line-up changes no obstacle to excellence

Line-up changes are no obstacle to sustained excellence

A few hurdles need jumping before grappling with the essence of Teenage Fanclub’s 11th album. Endless Arcade is their first without bassist and founder member Gerard Love. He, alongside Norman Blake and Raymond McGinley, was one of the band’s songwriters. And this is their first with former Gorky's Zygotic Mynci mainstay and solo artist Euros Childs in the line-up on keyboards.

Reissue CDs Weekly: Spiritualized - Lazer Guided Melodies

Jason Pierce and co’s first album reappears

Lazer Guided Melodies was great. It still is. Spiritualized’s debut album built from what was already there in Jason Pierce’s previous band Spacemen 3 and took it into newer, more textured territory. While softer-focussed and more dynamic than Spacemen 3 there was still an edge, a brittle carapace which ensured Spiritualized was its own thing. There was also a gospel-informed sense of drama.

Album: Field Music - Flat White Moon

★★★★ FIELD MUSIC - FLAT WHITE MOON David and Peter Brewis draw inspiration from their own lives

David and Peter Brewis draw inspiration from their own lives

Although it is not solipsistic, Flat White Moon is Field Music’s most personal, most revealing, warmest-sounding album so far. David and Peter Brewis have opened up. Their ninth studio album together opens with a seeming declaration. “Orion from the Street” has a drum pattern, bubbling, whooshing sounds and weaving, treated guitar unambiguously alluding to The Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows”.

Album: Imelda May - 11 Past the Hour

★★ IMELDA MAY - 11 PAST THE HOUR Irish star makes rare musical blunder into whiffy 'classical rock' and balladry

Irish star makes a rare musical blunder into whiffy 'classic rock' and balladry on her latest

11 Past the Hour opens with its title song, a delicious, twangy, string-laden Nancy Sinatra Bond theme that never was. The album closes with a lyrically empowered torch song, “Never Look Back”, which rises and rises over a marching band drum tattoo and swelling orchestration. Its enormousness is hard to argue with. Unfortunately, in between these two, Imelda May’s sixth album is a bit of a stinker.

Reissue CDs Weekly: Tame Impala - InnerSpeaker (2010➝2020)

REISSUE CDS WEEKLY: TAME IMPALA - INNERSPEAKER (2010➝2020) Box-set makeover of crisp, fizzing debut album

Box-set makeover of one of the last decade or so’s greatest albums

Heard now, InnerSpeaker sounds as it did when it was issued in 2010. Tame Impala’s debut album was crisp, fizzing; a pithy collection of psychedelic rock nuggets which made its case instantly. This was modern psychedelia, infused with a dash of Sweden’s Dungen, which still sounds fresh. Despite brushing the borders of freak-out territory, it was direct. Tuneful too. Fantastic.

theartsdesk on Vinyl 63: KMFDM, Laurie Anderson, Seratones, The Telescopes, Black Sabbath, Conrad Schnitzler and more

THEARTSDESK ON VINYL 63 KMFDM, Laurie Anderson, Seratones, Black Sabbath and more

The biggest bumper crop of vinyl record reviews out there

Rumours keep swirling of pressing plants stumped by the effects of COVID-19 lockdown, and it’s true that vinyl editions of many albums have been delayed, yet still those records keep arriving. At theartsdesk on Vinyl, no-one cares if an album was streaming or out in virtual form months ago. Vinyl is the only game here and when those albums arrive, they are heard, and the best of them, from hip hop to Sixties pop to steel-tough electronic bangin’ to whatever else, makes it into 6000 words of detailed reviews. There’s no shortage of juice or opinion here. Dive in!

Album: Ryley Walker - Course In Fable

★★★★ RYLEY WALKER - COURSE IN FABLE Musically-aware singer-songwriter at his most assured, most direct

The musically aware singer-songwriter at his most assured, most direct

Although Course In Fable is, as Ryley Walker albums go, pretty straightforward some sharp left turns indicate that the formerly Chicago-based, now New York-dwelling guitar whizz isn’t content with limiting a single musical line of attack to one song.