Album: Damien Jurado - Reggae Film Star

★★★ DAMIEN JURADO - REGGAE FILM STAR US artist's latest is opaque, but also often intriguing

US artist's latest is singular to the point of opaque, but also often intriguing

American singer-songwriter Damien Jurado is both prolific and enigmatic. His latest album follows too many to count (OK, not really, I think this is his 20th). On his own label, it's as opaque as anything he’s done, and that’s saying something.

Album: Golden Feelings - Golden Feelings

★★★ GOLDEN FEELINGS - GOLDEN FEELINGS American Kosmische from different worlds

American Kosmische that could be from other decades or other galaxies

It’s hard to know exactly when new age music passed from being a retro curio to being part of the language of alternative music. Certainly it can be traced back to the early-mid Noughties, with acts like Emeralds, Oneohtrix Point Never and James Ferraro, and labels like Kranky and RVNG Intl. bringing synth repetitions and cosmic aesthetics into the world of North American noise and DIY music.

Album: Everything Everything - Raw Data Feel

★★★★★ EVERYTHING EVERYTHING - RAW DATA FEEL Manchester indie art-rockers experiment successfully with musical AI

Manchester indie art-rockers experiment successfully with musical AI

Since their 2010 debut, Man Alive, Everything Everything have dissected the various structures of human relationships, from socio-political to interpersonal, but all in their own experimental art-rock sound.

The Great Escape 2022, Brighton review - sunshine, queues, and thrilling new bands

★★★★ THE GREAT ESCAPE, BRIGHTON Sunshine, queues, and thrilling new bands

theartsdesk's intrepid duo spend a day trawling the multi-venue seaside festival for musical kicks

My friend George claims to have nightmares about The Great Escape. In them he’s standing in an endless queue, never reaching the front, never entering the venue, and never seeing the band he wants to see. That was his experience the only time he attended, and he consequently reckons The Great Escape is rubbish.

“I’ve been going for years and that’s never happened to me,” I said to him.

“Yeah, well, you’re press, aren’t you,” he responded, with only a smidgeon of bitterness.

“I s’pose so,” I replied, with only a smidgeon of smugness.

Transgressive Records showcase, The Great Escape, Brighton review - five acts offer intriguing pop alternatives

★★★ TRANSGRESSIVE RECORDS SHOWCASE, THE GREAT ESCAPE, BRIGHTON Let's Eat Grandma, The Waeve, Mykki Blanco and more set the south coast a-buzz

Let's Eat Grandma, The Waeve, Mykki Blanco and more set the south coast a-buzz

Onstage at The Old Market in Hove, New York’s Mykki Blanco has been waving around a knot of garlic bulbs as if it were a wand or occult aspergillum. At some point during Blanco’s punchy rendition of 2016 single “Loner”, or possibly the dizzier “Summer Fling”, they transfer it to the flies of their trousers, let it hang there, all mischief. They explain that this is the result of the band becoming obsessed with “a mad coven of witches in Italy”.

The Mission, Chalk, Brighton review - the hits, delivered straight, to an enthused crowd

★★★ THE MISSION, CHALK, BRIGHTON The hits, delivered straight, to an enthused crowd

Goth-rock perennials rev up for a year that will see them tour the globe

“Play something we can dance to,” heckles a fan. “Fuck off, we are not a dance band,” fires back Wayne Hussey, leader of The Mission. He’s right. They’re not. But still there is dancing.

One especially notable aspect of this gig is the total and vocal devotion of The Mission’s fans. Not only do they sing along loudly, en masse, to most songs, but they have their own football-style chants, sometimes making reference to Mission arcana beyond this writer’s knowledge. The band play the gig straight and sturdy, without banter, but the crowd lifts it.

Album: Kurt Vile - (Watch My Moves)

A sunny soother from the US indie perennial

Although the term “hipster” has become degraded to well beyond cliché, Kurt Vile is one of those artists whose fans may indeed have that in-the-know smugness. With Vile, though, this is not a bad thing. Given the increasingly confidence-shedding nature of recent world events, Vile’s mix of indie rock with psychedelia and Americana makes for a welcome escape.

Album: MWWB - The Harvest

Super-heavy psychedelic Welsh rockers' fourth is an epic, mind-frazzling treat

Wrexham band MWWB were known until recently as Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard. Perhaps they changed their name because its freak-friendly quality could be mistaken for spliffed Half Man Half Biscuit-style silliness. MWWB are no bong-head novelty act. THC-friendly they may be, but their stew of pummelling slug-riffage, Cocteau Twins-ish vocals, electronic ear-tickling, outright psychedelia, and sudden bursts of tunefulness is unique.

Album: Placebo - Never Let Me Go

★★★★ PLACEBO - NEVER LET ME GO UK alt-rockers successfully stick to what they know

UK alt-rockers successfully stick to what they know on first full new album in nine years

Alternative rock icons Placebo make an anticipated return in 2022 with their eighth album Never Let Me Go. Their last release was 2016’s greatest hits collection A Place For Us To Dream, and the wait has been long for the next, proper instalment from vocalist and guitarist Brian Molko and bassist Stefan Osdal. The good news is they return with aplomb.

theartsdesk on Vinyl 69: Andrew Weatherall, Courtney Barnett, Wings, Los Bitchos, Popol Vuh and more

THEARTSDESK ON VINYL 69 The most extensive regular vinyl reviews in the universe

The most extensive regular vinyl reviews in the universe

As the year starts to rev up, theartsdesk on Vinyl returns with over 7000 words on new music on plastic, a smörgåsbord of the kind you will find nowhere else. This month we also have a competition for the dance music lovers among you, a chance to win a £50 gift card for the new app Recycle Vinyl (online stock of 10,000 records + 25,000 in their warehouse + 500 more added every week).