Short Attention Span Record Reviews, October 2019, Vol. 2

DESERT SESSIONS – Vols. 11 & 12
Josh Homme’s jam sessions return 16 years after Vols. 9 & 10. Guests this time are more mainstream than usual, whatever that signifies for Homme’s current status in the rock world, including Billy Gibbons, Les Claypool, the guy from Scissor Sisters etc. Not their best, still an enjoyable ride through the desert. (7)

FLOATING POINTS – Crush
I’m not an electronica expert but I loved this guy’s instalment of the “Late Night Tales” compilation series so I decided to give his own album a chance, and I’m in two minds about it: On one hand I love the dancefloor/techno stuff like the magnificent single “LesAlpx”, but on the other hand I don’t have the patience for his more glitchy stuff. (8/6)

MARK LANEGAN BAND – Somebody’s Knocking
Lanegan’s transformation into Electro-Goth King has now been completed, “Somebody’s Knocking" sounds like a cross between early New Order and mid-period Sisters Of Mercy. (7)

MAYHEM – Daemon
First album post-“Lords Of Chaos” (the movie), “Daemon” proves that these black metal veterans can still sound ferocious but are no longer the pioneers of extremity they once were, having been surpassed by younger bands from France and North America. (7)

RAY ALDER – What The Water Wants
Alder goes for a mellower vibe than that of his day job in Fates Warning, sticks to his mid-range, writes some good stuff, ends up with an excellent melodic hard rock album with discreet prog overtones. If you’re one of those who cream their pants thinking about “Parallels”/”Inside Out”, this is closer to that than Fates Warning will ever get again (even with the mid-range singing) (8)

REFUSED – War Music
Everyone’s favorite extreme-left punks and true heirs to the MC5 legacy are back with a second post-reunion gem. (8)

ROB HALFORD WITH FAMILY & FRIENDS – Celestial
Judas Priest frontman releases album of Christmas carols with his brother on drums, his nephew on bass etc. No offense to the Metal God but this is a bit ridiculous. (5)

SCREAMING FEMALES – Singles Too
A collection of rarities and covers that also serves as a chronicle of the band’s development from sloppy indie rockers in 2006 to one of the world’s best punk bands today, even making The List last year. (7)

SUNNO))) – Pyroclasts
A companion album to ¨Life Metal” that was released earlier this year, “Pyroclasts” includes 4 improvisations, each 11 minutes long, recorded during the same sessions, which take the term “drone” to extreme levels. (∞)

SWANS – Leaving Meaning
Nowadays Swans are more like an artist collective than a band per se with Gira joined here by former band members as well as guests like Australian avant-jazz combo The Necks, experimentalist Ben Frost, goth royalty siblings Anna & Maria Von Hausswolff and others, but it still sounds like post-2010 Swans, i.e. loud, grim, disturbing, and great. (8)

THE BARRENCE WHITFIELD SOUL SAVAGE ARKESTRA – Songs From The Sun Ra Cosmos
Barrence Whitfield is one of the Music Geek’s all-time favorite singers/screamers and this time he goes way, way off his beaten soul/garage rock path, all the way to Saturn where Sun Ra’s out-there jazz came from, Funkadelicizing some of this weirdo’s better known compositions. This is pretty great, actually. (8)