Ben Howard - I Forgot Where We Were - ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆
If you imagine what first song Small Things sounds like - The National on a huge downer, perhaps - then you'll already be casting your eyes down to the next review for fear of an immediate toxic reaction to cultured misery. Mind you, I like The National but hopefully you're getting my drift with the comparison - it's inward-looking intense stuff that many find beautiful and others find a drag. Things pep up on Rivers In Your Mouth but things are still sad-face, in fact the entire breadth of I Forgot Where We Were is a transcendence of dewy-eyed glum-rock that admittedly features some pleasing reverb and atmospherics, even if Howard's affected voice rarely changes gear. In Dreams has some natty guitar work on it and Time Is Dancing possesses something remotely resembling a melody (it's the album's centrepiece). The rest of the album is a borderless travelogue through the mediocre and the bland and i just don't get it.
Candi Staton - Life Happens - ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆
Perhaps famed more for her vocals on much-loved rave anthem You Got The Love than the carefree disco megaton Young Hearts Run Free, Candi Staton's career hasn't been limited to infrequent hits - she is the first lady of southern soul and the undisputed champion of modern-day gospel. Not for her the trappings of fame - Staton's kept it real by producing a string of soulful recordings without compromising her beliefs or musical heritage. And so it continues with her first full-length set in five years. Life does indeed happen and it's all here on this hour-long album of contrasting results. The first two songs, in particular Close To You, display Staton in fine vocal form - lung-busting vocals aplenty and memorable melodies that are sure to indelibly stamp their mark in her repertoire in the coming years. However, all too often Life Happens dips into treacly territory, just when the running order is getting going. Perfectly suited to her devout fanbase for sure - we're talking soul, country and blues without much of an update required - it's hard to see where her next generation of fans will come from after hearing this. Refreshingly organic (there's not much evidence of digitised input at all), Life Happens has its feet firmly rooted in the '70s, an era when the likes of Staton, Gladys Knight and Diana Ross were the flavour of the month.
Alvin Stardust - Alvin - ★★★★★★★☆☆☆
Sadly the former leather-clad rocker's final foray into recorded music, but a strong epitaph nonetheless. With a resonant voice that belied his age at the time of recording, Bernard William Jewry turns in a passable blues-flavoured roots-rockin' collection that's a long way from the pop of My Coo Ca Choo but never far from his beloved preference of '50s and '60s rock 'n' roll, or his hits Pretend or Jealous Mind for that matter. It's accomplished storytelling that draws from various sources - a little bit Dylan, a little bit Dr John, some Frankie Laine, a spot of Cash and even a wee nod towards atmospheric revivalism that isn't unlike Richard Hawley's more restrained work, particularly on the warm Had To Be You. Stardust's voice drifts from drawling whisky-soaked regret to wavering balladeering fragility and only sounds unconvincing on the forgettable Always In The Rain. As for the remaining half-hour or so, you'll probably get emotional after listening to the album and artist's Orbison-esque curtain-call, Lovin' You Till I Die. It's 30 years since his last album but at least he made it and made it good.
Billy Idol - Kings and Queens Of The Underground - ★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆
Every year, a seemingly-forgotten '80s icon has something of a rebirth, a comeback but not the album to back it up with. Tours are all very well but fans demand something new occasionally - Billy Idol therefore delivers. I use the term 'new' loosely - we really are back in the eighties with this first new album since 2006's truly bewildering Christmas set Happy Holidays. With Kings and Queens, you get several originals written by Idol and the band, most of them produced and arranged by Trevor Horn and surely a return to winning ways, right? Sadly, no. While William Broad has an ear for a tune - Bitter Pill is really quite good, One Breath Away a passable revisit of Eyes Without a Face - some of this seventh studio-album is as hackneyed and dated as you could imagine - and somehow that makes it all the more charming. Cliched lyrics, tub-thumping drums, cheesy rock riffs and Idol singing as though he's gargled his own septum, it isn't Rebel Yell time for sure. On the autobiographical lighter-waving title-track he recalls his days in Generation X, his admittedly likeable solo hits topped off with the immortal line "..well I touched you with my Eyes Without a Face, I was Hot In The City, I thought I was ace...". He pays homage to the Beatles on the reflective Ghosts In My Guitar and explosive hair-metal on Whiskey and Pills, without any sense of irony. The latter is laughable hokum that might just make you wish that previously-released Festive album was still available, while the former barely sounds like the same songwriter, a vast improvement. There's enough decent material on here to make a very good EP with - spreading it over an entire album is beyond the pale and Idol is, frankly, capable of something greater. He's certainly a trier, a fighter and he's at least managed to sound like he's had some fun making this.
Scott Walker and Sunn O))) - Soused - ★★★★★★★☆☆☆
Certainly not being billed as the greatest party album in the world ever is Soused, the collaborative debut from eccentric sonic stalwart Walker and the mysterious hooded Sunn O))). If Walker's Bisch Bosch had you running to the hills, head in hands and sobbing uncontrollably then Soused might be enough to coax you back down the slopes for a cuddle. Still intense, unsettling and unique, the album's shortest track at just under nine minutes, the eerie Brando, is by turns cinematic and atmospheric although hardly a radio-friendly walk in the park. And thank Heavens (or Hell) for that. Soused is as gloriously uncompromising as you'd expect.
Tindersticks - Ypres - ★★★★★★★☆☆☆
Recorded specifically for the permanent memorial exhibition in the Belgian town of the same name, Ypres is a soundtrack of sorrow, reflection and daunt that recollects another tragic piece, Gavin Bryars' Sinking Of The Titanic, as well as the band's previous soundtrack works. Mournful orchestral arrangements, slowly drifting strings and the occasional piano note provide something of a catch-all accompaniment to the exhibition and Klaus Verscheure's attendant video. At times truly a wrench to listen to, Ypres' woeful airs serve a purpose - to encourage remembrance of a War that was never Great as a concept, simply 'great' due to the sheer scale of casualties in and around the small town. Tindersticks should be commended for following the commission's brief to the letter.
Young Fathers - Dead - ★★★★★★★☆☆☆
The 2014 winners of the Mercury Music Prize finally get hyped on Spotify, hence a revisit here. Unarguably attention-grabbing, Young Fathers combine Nigerian, Liberian and Scottish ancestry with otherworldly, gritty 'urban' beats and forthright raps that, as a whole, paints a familiar picture of hardship, hope and humour. But this is no novelty Highland hip-hop or Gaelic grime to rubberneck with - Young Fathers make an altogether more satisfying hybrid that borrows from soul, blues, hip-hop and electronica and turns it into something that resembles Tricky, Murs and N.E.R.D., but a slightly off-kilter British version. Get Up is perhaps the party-banger that most punters know already, but Low, No Way and I've Arrived all have their charm. Whether the Mercury win will spawn dozens of copycat Young Fathers wannabes remains to be seen and heard but for now, Dead is very much alive.
The Kuhls - Holy Rollin - ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆
More siblings with a country-rock bent, this time from Kansas sisters Renee and Grace Kuhl whose music takes in Pixies, The Pierces, Haim and the grainy textures of Gram Parsons and Gene Clark. Holy Rollin' is often ballsy, sometimes reflective and occasionally peerless - opener A Woman Is Like a Man sets the tone with it's slow-paced Southern influences worn on its sleeve and a nod towards The Eagles and Black Crowes in places. Single Leavin' The Prairie reminds me of Kings Of Leon if they were fronted by Kim Deal - it's a toe-tapping romp indeed - while the title-track displays the girls' harmonious vocals to their full. Winning proves that the Kuhls don't just rock right up in your face - they can pluck a mean acoustic guitar when they have to - while Grimjack represents their blues side. Overall, Holy Rollin' has enough in its arsenal to warrant repeated plays.
Tarwater - Adrift - ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆
Perhaps a little less rooted in progressive electronica than most Bureau B signings, Berliners Tarwater nonetheless retain the label's experimental bent with their twelfth studio-album. Adrift is a headphones album comprised of vaguely cross-genre songs that borrow from post-rock, Prog, dub and minimal electronica, as well as the occasional instrumental interludes such as the pretty Devon Saturday and the tribal Inreturn. Tarwater's triumphs tend to be the most insistent inclusions such as the near-dubstepping romp Log Of The Sloop and The Evening Pilgrims which isn't a million miles away from some of Suicide's mid-period work, vocally at least. Engaging work, if a tad disjointed in its running order - the second half of Adrift is really rather special compared to the first.
If you imagine what first song Small Things sounds like - The National on a huge downer, perhaps - then you'll already be casting your eyes down to the next review for fear of an immediate toxic reaction to cultured misery. Mind you, I like The National but hopefully you're getting my drift with the comparison - it's inward-looking intense stuff that many find beautiful and others find a drag. Things pep up on Rivers In Your Mouth but things are still sad-face, in fact the entire breadth of I Forgot Where We Were is a transcendence of dewy-eyed glum-rock that admittedly features some pleasing reverb and atmospherics, even if Howard's affected voice rarely changes gear. In Dreams has some natty guitar work on it and Time Is Dancing possesses something remotely resembling a melody (it's the album's centrepiece). The rest of the album is a borderless travelogue through the mediocre and the bland and i just don't get it.
Candi Staton - Life Happens - ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆
Perhaps famed more for her vocals on much-loved rave anthem You Got The Love than the carefree disco megaton Young Hearts Run Free, Candi Staton's career hasn't been limited to infrequent hits - she is the first lady of southern soul and the undisputed champion of modern-day gospel. Not for her the trappings of fame - Staton's kept it real by producing a string of soulful recordings without compromising her beliefs or musical heritage. And so it continues with her first full-length set in five years. Life does indeed happen and it's all here on this hour-long album of contrasting results. The first two songs, in particular Close To You, display Staton in fine vocal form - lung-busting vocals aplenty and memorable melodies that are sure to indelibly stamp their mark in her repertoire in the coming years. However, all too often Life Happens dips into treacly territory, just when the running order is getting going. Perfectly suited to her devout fanbase for sure - we're talking soul, country and blues without much of an update required - it's hard to see where her next generation of fans will come from after hearing this. Refreshingly organic (there's not much evidence of digitised input at all), Life Happens has its feet firmly rooted in the '70s, an era when the likes of Staton, Gladys Knight and Diana Ross were the flavour of the month.
Alvin Stardust - Alvin - ★★★★★★★☆☆☆
Sadly the former leather-clad rocker's final foray into recorded music, but a strong epitaph nonetheless. With a resonant voice that belied his age at the time of recording, Bernard William Jewry turns in a passable blues-flavoured roots-rockin' collection that's a long way from the pop of My Coo Ca Choo but never far from his beloved preference of '50s and '60s rock 'n' roll, or his hits Pretend or Jealous Mind for that matter. It's accomplished storytelling that draws from various sources - a little bit Dylan, a little bit Dr John, some Frankie Laine, a spot of Cash and even a wee nod towards atmospheric revivalism that isn't unlike Richard Hawley's more restrained work, particularly on the warm Had To Be You. Stardust's voice drifts from drawling whisky-soaked regret to wavering balladeering fragility and only sounds unconvincing on the forgettable Always In The Rain. As for the remaining half-hour or so, you'll probably get emotional after listening to the album and artist's Orbison-esque curtain-call, Lovin' You Till I Die. It's 30 years since his last album but at least he made it and made it good.
Billy Idol - Kings and Queens Of The Underground - ★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆
Every year, a seemingly-forgotten '80s icon has something of a rebirth, a comeback but not the album to back it up with. Tours are all very well but fans demand something new occasionally - Billy Idol therefore delivers. I use the term 'new' loosely - we really are back in the eighties with this first new album since 2006's truly bewildering Christmas set Happy Holidays. With Kings and Queens, you get several originals written by Idol and the band, most of them produced and arranged by Trevor Horn and surely a return to winning ways, right? Sadly, no. While William Broad has an ear for a tune - Bitter Pill is really quite good, One Breath Away a passable revisit of Eyes Without a Face - some of this seventh studio-album is as hackneyed and dated as you could imagine - and somehow that makes it all the more charming. Cliched lyrics, tub-thumping drums, cheesy rock riffs and Idol singing as though he's gargled his own septum, it isn't Rebel Yell time for sure. On the autobiographical lighter-waving title-track he recalls his days in Generation X, his admittedly likeable solo hits topped off with the immortal line "..well I touched you with my Eyes Without a Face, I was Hot In The City, I thought I was ace...". He pays homage to the Beatles on the reflective Ghosts In My Guitar and explosive hair-metal on Whiskey and Pills, without any sense of irony. The latter is laughable hokum that might just make you wish that previously-released Festive album was still available, while the former barely sounds like the same songwriter, a vast improvement. There's enough decent material on here to make a very good EP with - spreading it over an entire album is beyond the pale and Idol is, frankly, capable of something greater. He's certainly a trier, a fighter and he's at least managed to sound like he's had some fun making this.
Scott Walker and Sunn O))) - Soused - ★★★★★★★☆☆☆
Certainly not being billed as the greatest party album in the world ever is Soused, the collaborative debut from eccentric sonic stalwart Walker and the mysterious hooded Sunn O))). If Walker's Bisch Bosch had you running to the hills, head in hands and sobbing uncontrollably then Soused might be enough to coax you back down the slopes for a cuddle. Still intense, unsettling and unique, the album's shortest track at just under nine minutes, the eerie Brando, is by turns cinematic and atmospheric although hardly a radio-friendly walk in the park. And thank Heavens (or Hell) for that. Soused is as gloriously uncompromising as you'd expect.
Tindersticks - Ypres - ★★★★★★★☆☆☆
Recorded specifically for the permanent memorial exhibition in the Belgian town of the same name, Ypres is a soundtrack of sorrow, reflection and daunt that recollects another tragic piece, Gavin Bryars' Sinking Of The Titanic, as well as the band's previous soundtrack works. Mournful orchestral arrangements, slowly drifting strings and the occasional piano note provide something of a catch-all accompaniment to the exhibition and Klaus Verscheure's attendant video. At times truly a wrench to listen to, Ypres' woeful airs serve a purpose - to encourage remembrance of a War that was never Great as a concept, simply 'great' due to the sheer scale of casualties in and around the small town. Tindersticks should be commended for following the commission's brief to the letter.
Young Fathers - Dead - ★★★★★★★☆☆☆
The 2014 winners of the Mercury Music Prize finally get hyped on Spotify, hence a revisit here. Unarguably attention-grabbing, Young Fathers combine Nigerian, Liberian and Scottish ancestry with otherworldly, gritty 'urban' beats and forthright raps that, as a whole, paints a familiar picture of hardship, hope and humour. But this is no novelty Highland hip-hop or Gaelic grime to rubberneck with - Young Fathers make an altogether more satisfying hybrid that borrows from soul, blues, hip-hop and electronica and turns it into something that resembles Tricky, Murs and N.E.R.D., but a slightly off-kilter British version. Get Up is perhaps the party-banger that most punters know already, but Low, No Way and I've Arrived all have their charm. Whether the Mercury win will spawn dozens of copycat Young Fathers wannabes remains to be seen and heard but for now, Dead is very much alive.
The Kuhls - Holy Rollin - ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆
More siblings with a country-rock bent, this time from Kansas sisters Renee and Grace Kuhl whose music takes in Pixies, The Pierces, Haim and the grainy textures of Gram Parsons and Gene Clark. Holy Rollin' is often ballsy, sometimes reflective and occasionally peerless - opener A Woman Is Like a Man sets the tone with it's slow-paced Southern influences worn on its sleeve and a nod towards The Eagles and Black Crowes in places. Single Leavin' The Prairie reminds me of Kings Of Leon if they were fronted by Kim Deal - it's a toe-tapping romp indeed - while the title-track displays the girls' harmonious vocals to their full. Winning proves that the Kuhls don't just rock right up in your face - they can pluck a mean acoustic guitar when they have to - while Grimjack represents their blues side. Overall, Holy Rollin' has enough in its arsenal to warrant repeated plays.
Tarwater - Adrift - ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆
Perhaps a little less rooted in progressive electronica than most Bureau B signings, Berliners Tarwater nonetheless retain the label's experimental bent with their twelfth studio-album. Adrift is a headphones album comprised of vaguely cross-genre songs that borrow from post-rock, Prog, dub and minimal electronica, as well as the occasional instrumental interludes such as the pretty Devon Saturday and the tribal Inreturn. Tarwater's triumphs tend to be the most insistent inclusions such as the near-dubstepping romp Log Of The Sloop and The Evening Pilgrims which isn't a million miles away from some of Suicide's mid-period work, vocally at least. Engaging work, if a tad disjointed in its running order - the second half of Adrift is really rather special compared to the first.