Short Attention Span Record Reviews Oct 2017

GRAVE PLEASURES – Motherblood
Post-punk you can dance to, sort of like a Sisters Of Mercy/Bauhaus/Billy Idol hybrid. Slightly better than “Dreamcrash”, not as good as “Climax”. (7)

IBEYI – Ash
Second album by French-Cuban twin sisters merging soul, jazz, hip hop and world music with solid results. +1 point for Kamasi Washington playing on the first single “Deathless”, -1 point for the autotune. (7)

J.D. McPHERSON – Undivided Heart & Soul
Oklahoman rockabilly star (check out 2015’s excellent “Let The Good Times Roll”) and Josh Homme buddy modernizes his sound with special guests and songwriting collaborations (Aaron Lee Tasjan, Parker Millsap, Butch Walker etc). Party time! (8)

JOHN ZORN’S SIMULACRUM – The Garden of Earthly Delights
Bassist Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle, Tomahawk, Melvins) joins Zorn’s progmetal vehicle for a mostly instrumental musical extravaganza loosely based on the work of Hieronymus Bosch. Not for the faint of heart. (7)

KAMASI WASHINGTON – Harmony Of Difference
If “The Epic”’s 3-hour epicness was too much for your attention span, you smartphone-generation goldfish, this wonderful EP only contains 5 short pieces so it’s the perfect opportunity for you to finally meet the guy who made jazz cool again. (9)

PRIMUS – The Desaturating Seven
Concept album based on a children’s book about goblins eating rainbows. Yes, I know. And even though it does figure the original 90’s line-up of Claypool-LaLonde-Alexander, there’s nothing as catchy as “Jerry Was A Race Car Driver” or “My Name Is Mud” here. (6)

PROPAGANDHI – Victory Lap
Real talk: 2017’s top-5 metal albums to date were all released by punk bands. This is one of them. (9)

PROTOMARTYR – Relatives In Descent
A much better post-punk record than Grave Pleasures’. But you can’t dance to it and the girls won’t like it much. (8)

SONS OF APOLLO – Psychotic Symphony
Progressive/metal supergroup, basically a Dreamer Theater spin-off, exploring their inner Rainbow. I don’t hear stuff like this often nowadays and I sort of miss it. (8)

THE WEATHER STATION – The Weather Station
We’ve already had great albums by Laura Marling, This Is The Kit, Jesca Hoop and Joan Shelley this year, the Weather Station/Tamara Lindeman’s latest is OK but adds little to the female folky singer/songwriter genre. (7)