Short Attention Span Record Reviews, May 2016 Vol. II

THE LOUDER STUFF

DEATH GRIPS – Bottomless Pit
Dear hipsters, FYI Dalek was doing this rap/industrial thing better than Death Grips 20 years ago. (6)

GOO GOO DOLLS – Boxes
I remember these guys from the early 90’s as a really cool punk band on Metal Blade Records. What the fuck happened? This sappy shit is like a soccer mom’s idea of edgy rock music. (4)

KVELERTAK – Nattesferd
What do you get when you crossbreed black metal with cock rock? I’ll give you the answer before any smartass says “black cock” – you get “Nattesferd”. (8)

PURSON – Desire’s Magic Theatre
More fun that this year’s Blood Ceremony and Witchcraft albums, if you’re into the whole vintage psychedelic/occult thing. (8)

VEKTOR – Terminal Redux
With their most ambitious album to date Vektor take thrash and twist it into weird four-dimentional shapes not of this world. If a better metal record is released in 2016 I’ll be very surprised. (9)

WRONG – Wrong
Helmet from Lidl. (6)


THE OTHER STUFF

ANOHNI – Hopelesness
The artist formerly known as Antony (& The Johnsons) lyrically attacks everything and everyone in sight, also goes full-on electronica. I guess you’ll like this sound if you enjoy FKA Twigs and the weirder Bjork and Radiohead stuff, I’m a Billy Squier fan. (6)

IMARHAN – Imarhan
Another interesting Tuareg desert blues band – it seems that Tinariwen’s success has created (or unearthed) a huge scene down there on the Algeria/Mali border. This one’s a bit funkier. (7)

JEAN-MICHEL JARRE – Electronica 2: The Heart Of Noise
Another collaboration album, this time featuring the Pet Shop Boys, Julia Holter, Primal Scream, Gary Numan, Hans Zimmer, Peaches, Sebastien Tellier, The Orb, Yello, Cyndi Lauper and others. Just as meh as the first one. (6)

JIMBO MATHUS – Band Of Storms
9-song, 23-minute EP of Jimbo taking another trip into all things Southern: Dr. John-type stompers, honky tonk tear-jerkers, swampy blues, American gothic devil tales. Fantastic. (8)

MARISSA NADLER – Strangers
Not bad but after Lana Del Rey, Sharon Van Etten, Eleanor Friedberger, Lera Lynn and a couple of dozen others I really can’t take any more tortured gothic hipster chanteuses. (7)  

RADIOHEAD – A Moon Shaped Pool
Not a stone cold proper rock masterpiece like “The Bends” or “OK Computer”, not a WTF avant garde whatchamacallit that you admire rather than enjoy like everything they released since the turn of the century, but somewhere in between and still light years ahead from the competition. (8)