Schneider Kacirek - Radius Walk - Bureau B - Out Now
Stefan Schneider should be familiar to fans of To Tococo Rot and Kreidler while Sven Kacirek has previously toured with Tortoise. All of which adds up to an intriguing collaborative melange of portentous drones, tin-pan rhythms, fidgety electronics and eccentric vocal stylings courtesy of Sweden's Sofia Jernberg. The duo's previous dabblings in African music on their preceding Shadows Documents album stands them in good stead for Radius Walk's extra vocalist - Jernberg has supported Kenyan Ogoya Nengo whom Schneider and Kacirek previously engineered. Thus tracks like Back and Arbeit 16 rely heavily on treated drums and marimbas and Drums Drums is, bar the retro synths, just that. Jernberg doesn't so much sing as profer indeterminable utterances and fragile phrasing in her native tongue, I Atlanten being the most successful conjoining. Curious curiosity. 6/10
Mr Jukes - God First - Island - Out Now
Here's an album that has been borne out of travelling and freedom, all constructed and defragged by former Bombay Bicycle Club frontman Jack Steadman. Since the band's hiatus, Steadman has utilised his obvious talents - sampling, production and an ear for a groove - creating something of a party-album looking for a party to gatecrash. Elements of Lalo Schifrin, Go Team and Branford Marsalis permeate these easy-going soul-funk tunes but you could pick any number of similar influences from the past 40 years or so. Steadman has nailed it. Guests bolster the whole thing with BJ the Chicago Kid lending his tender croon to Angels/Your Love and Horace Andy and De La Soul giving Ruby depth and dimension. For those expecting the expected - soulful indie noodling - kindly leave your preconceptions at the door and walk into something quite righteous. 8/10
Royal Trux - Platinum Tip and Ice Cream - Domino - Out Now
Live albums have all but been dropped from label rosters - there's no mystique about the experience, they argue. To their credit Domino disagree, hence this lo-fi artefact of new live recordings of old (and not so old) songs. Recorded on opposing sides of the U.S., Platinum Tips gathers up heel-deep unrehearsed renditions of Red Tiger, Waterpark and the like and hurls them at your ears like concrete blocks fired from a cannon. Neil Hagerty's guitar buzzes and fuzzes with a portentous growl while singer Jennifer Herrema's fucked-out bloodied howl sounds like a lion wretching on its own thigh meat. Since when have Royal Trux sung romantic ballads. Like never. And certainly not now. After recent shows and this somewhat chaotic assemblage, the likelihood of new studio material looms a little nearer. 6/10
Skatalites - Independence Ska and the Far East Sound - Soul Jazz - Out Now
Originally part of Jamaica's pioneering sessioneering scene in the '60s, The Skatalites became a band proper in 1963. With both feet firmly rooted in the region's productive and ultimately influential ska scene, musicians Don Drummond, Tommy McCook, Jackie Mittoo, Roland Alphonso et al skanked their way through hundreds of recordings in their short life time but none more memorable than this compilation's lead-off band track Guns Of Navarone which still galivants around with its strutting rhythm and confident hookline. Other highlights include Drummond's eerie Trolley Song, Alphonso's cocksure Beard Man Ska and The Skatalites own respectful Marcus Garvey homage. Perhaps the understated Surplus says more than the rest - starting like a jazz tune and finishing up as a full block-party rave, it epitomises what Skatalites were all about. Neat and nifty. 7/10
Stefan Schneider should be familiar to fans of To Tococo Rot and Kreidler while Sven Kacirek has previously toured with Tortoise. All of which adds up to an intriguing collaborative melange of portentous drones, tin-pan rhythms, fidgety electronics and eccentric vocal stylings courtesy of Sweden's Sofia Jernberg. The duo's previous dabblings in African music on their preceding Shadows Documents album stands them in good stead for Radius Walk's extra vocalist - Jernberg has supported Kenyan Ogoya Nengo whom Schneider and Kacirek previously engineered. Thus tracks like Back and Arbeit 16 rely heavily on treated drums and marimbas and Drums Drums is, bar the retro synths, just that. Jernberg doesn't so much sing as profer indeterminable utterances and fragile phrasing in her native tongue, I Atlanten being the most successful conjoining. Curious curiosity. 6/10
Mr Jukes - God First - Island - Out Now
Here's an album that has been borne out of travelling and freedom, all constructed and defragged by former Bombay Bicycle Club frontman Jack Steadman. Since the band's hiatus, Steadman has utilised his obvious talents - sampling, production and an ear for a groove - creating something of a party-album looking for a party to gatecrash. Elements of Lalo Schifrin, Go Team and Branford Marsalis permeate these easy-going soul-funk tunes but you could pick any number of similar influences from the past 40 years or so. Steadman has nailed it. Guests bolster the whole thing with BJ the Chicago Kid lending his tender croon to Angels/Your Love and Horace Andy and De La Soul giving Ruby depth and dimension. For those expecting the expected - soulful indie noodling - kindly leave your preconceptions at the door and walk into something quite righteous. 8/10
Royal Trux - Platinum Tip and Ice Cream - Domino - Out Now
Live albums have all but been dropped from label rosters - there's no mystique about the experience, they argue. To their credit Domino disagree, hence this lo-fi artefact of new live recordings of old (and not so old) songs. Recorded on opposing sides of the U.S., Platinum Tips gathers up heel-deep unrehearsed renditions of Red Tiger, Waterpark and the like and hurls them at your ears like concrete blocks fired from a cannon. Neil Hagerty's guitar buzzes and fuzzes with a portentous growl while singer Jennifer Herrema's fucked-out bloodied howl sounds like a lion wretching on its own thigh meat. Since when have Royal Trux sung romantic ballads. Like never. And certainly not now. After recent shows and this somewhat chaotic assemblage, the likelihood of new studio material looms a little nearer. 6/10
Skatalites - Independence Ska and the Far East Sound - Soul Jazz - Out Now
Originally part of Jamaica's pioneering sessioneering scene in the '60s, The Skatalites became a band proper in 1963. With both feet firmly rooted in the region's productive and ultimately influential ska scene, musicians Don Drummond, Tommy McCook, Jackie Mittoo, Roland Alphonso et al skanked their way through hundreds of recordings in their short life time but none more memorable than this compilation's lead-off band track Guns Of Navarone which still galivants around with its strutting rhythm and confident hookline. Other highlights include Drummond's eerie Trolley Song, Alphonso's cocksure Beard Man Ska and The Skatalites own respectful Marcus Garvey homage. Perhaps the understated Surplus says more than the rest - starting like a jazz tune and finishing up as a full block-party rave, it epitomises what Skatalites were all about. Neat and nifty. 7/10