Short Attention Span Record Reviews, June 2018 Part II

BEYONCE & JAY-Z (THE CARTERS) – Everything Is Love
The surprise album drop thing is getting a bit tired and so is their idea of turning their marriage into a reality show and mending it publicly through their albums: Beyonce’s “Lemonade” accusation was great, Jay-Z’s “4:44” apology was OK, but third time around I’ve got very few fucks left to give about this “we’re fine now” joint effort. (6)

DEATH GRIPS – Year Of The Snitch
This is Death Grips’ “Kid A”, too weird for me. (6)

FANTASTIC NEGRITO – Please Don’t Be Dead
From the Led Zep-infused “Plastic Hamburgers” to the “Come Together”-isms of “Bad Guy Necessity”, from “A Boy Named Andrew”’s exotic hook to the chilling “A Cold November Street” and the funky “Bullshit Anthem”, this guy’s singlehandedly dragging the blues kicking and screaming into the 21st century. (8)

HERE LIES MAN – You Will Know Nothing
Afrobeat meets superfuzzed, bigmuffed proto-metal. (7)

HOWLIN’ RAIN – The Alligator Bride
Bandleader Ethan Miller has described this album as “Neil Cassady rock” and I say he’s spot on. RYIL Ethan Johns and Ethan Hawke. (8)

KAMASI WASHINGTON – Heaven & Earth
I don’t know much about jazz but I know what sounds good, and this sounds GREAT. More than a jazz saxophonist, Washington is a genius arranger/bandleader who’s not afraid to venture into Stevie Wonder/Isaac Hayes soul/pop territory as he’s more about solid songwriting rather than just technical dexterity. (8)

KHEMMIS – Desolation
The yin to Pallbearer’s yang in leading the U.S. doom metal resurgence, these guys go full-on Epic (with a capital “E”) metal on their third album. Great guitars, much improved clean vocals, highly recommended. (8)

NINE INCH NAILS – Bad Witch
Most likely it’s an existential thing but somehow I can never give Trent Reznor anything less than a (7)

ORANGE GOBLIN – The Wolf Bites Back
Not sure why they’re still stuck with the “stoner” label (which they seem to be perfectly happy with, BTW) since, really, these are the children of Motorhead. (7)

WILKO JOHNSON – Blow Your Mind
Wilko didn’t die, he’s back to kick some ass and he sounds VERY alive. His guitar playing remains awesome, his band is rockin’, too bad he can’t really sing so minus one point. (7)

Short Attention Span Record Reviews, June 2018

THE HARDER STUFF

GHOST – Prequelle
It’s so refreshing to find a metal musician with a brain inside his head that I want to give him a 10 just for that, let alone the tunes being catchier than the Black Plague he sings about. (9)

GRAVEYARD – Peace
If this album is any indication there was no reason for the band’s break-up, they just seem to have picked it up from where they had left it, only the drummer’s different. Apart from that, it’s the same competent retro pseudo-70’s boogie/garage rock. (7)

PANEGYRIST – Hierurgy
Devoutly Christian black metal (!?) with epic undertones sounds surprisingly better than expected, sort of like a cross between Arcturus and Bathory. (7)

REFUSED – Servants Of Death
2016 Record Store Day EP from an all-time great punk band now available to all on streaming services. Includes live tracks and a rare B-side. (8)

YOB – Our Raw Heart
Skull-crushing doom metal, dense, cathartic. (8)

ZEAL & ARDOR – Stranger Fruit
When the debut came out in 2016 we expressed the opinion that if he skipped the DIY and got a real drummer he’d be capable of greatness. So he went out and hired Kurt Ballou and a real drummer and he came up with greatness, not straying from his unique satanic black metal/gospel mash-up style but more, well, satanic. (8)


THE OTHER STUFF

COLIN STETSON – Hereditary (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Scary sounds for this year’s scariest movie. (8)

FATHER JOHN MISTY – God’s Favorite Customer
Officially released more than a month after being leaked, this still sounds pretty great a month later and it's a lot poppier than his previous one. Play it for the songs, not for the hype. (8)

JOHN PARISH – Bird Dog Dante
Adventurous guitarist, producer extraordinaire and long-time PJ Harvey collaborator returns with first solo album in a very long time. Polly Jean guests of course, and so does Aldous Harding. Very different from PJ’s own stuff but somehow appealing to the same ears. (7)

KANYE WEST – Ye
He’s lost it. Let’s hope he gets it back. (6)

LUMP – Lump
Beloved indie-folk star Laura Marling partners with producer Mike Lindsay for a series of dreamlike improvisations. Nice. (7)

NATALIE PRASS – The Future And The Past
On her better 2015 debut she sounded like she wanted to be the indie-rock Dusty Springfield, this time around she sounds like she wants to be the indie-rock Grace Jones doing theme songs for Disney soundtracks or something. (6)

NEKO CASE – Hell-On
Case is very different from every other female singer-songwriter out there and cannot be compared to anyone else. It’s not “Americana”, it’s not rock, it’s not country or folk, I really don’t know how to label this but I know these songs go deep and demand multiple listens. Mark Lanegan, k.d. lang and a whole bunch of others guest. (7)

THE LAST POETS – Understand What Black Is
Forefathers of rap return 50 years after the group’s inception and 21 years since their last studio album, and they’ve got plenty to say on this spoken word/reggae/jazz hybrid. (7)

VARIOUS ARTISTS – Late Night Tales: Agnes Obel
I love this artist-curated compilation series, and Obel’s “mixtape” is among the most eclectic of the bunch with tracks by Henry Mancini, Lee Hazlewood, Yello, Lena Platonos, Ray Davies, Can etc. blending seamlessly into a beautiful collection of music. (8)