Short Attention Span Record Reviews, Mar 2021

JULIEN BAKER – Little Oblivions
This year’s Phoebe Bridgers. (8)

BLANCK MASS – In Ferneaux
Blanck Mass’ electronic music, a combination of noise, EDM and industrial, is known to be aggressive and loud, but this time around it’s more ambient. (7)

NICK CAVE & WARREN ELLIS – Carnage
It’s mind-boggling how this guy can release consistently great work throughout a 40+ year career, his face deserves a spot on rock’s Mount Rushmore next to the Bob Dylans and Neil Youngs of this world. This one bites harder than the last couple of minimalistic Bad Seeds albums in terms of instrumentation and texture. (9)

ALICE COOPER – Detroit Stories
Building upon 2019’s “Breadcrumbs” EP, Alice pays tribute to his Detroit roots with some solid hard rockin’ garage punk and soul. Bob Ezrin produces, members of the MC5 and Grand Funk Railroad guest. Rocks pretty hard for a 73-year old! (7)

DEATH BY UNGA BUNGA – Heavy Male Insecurity
Classic 90’s high-energy rock ‘n’ roll Norwegian style (e.g. Gluecifer, Turbo Negro) infused with some pop-punk silliness. (8)

DJANGO DJANGO – Glowing in the Dark
Their best album to date, a fantastic, catchy and very danceable new wave/art rock/disco hybrid. (8)

THE HOLD STEADY – Open Door Policy
The Rock band (with a capital “R”) that OWNED the 00’s is back with their best album since 2008’s “Stay Positive”. I love this. (8)

MAXIMO PARK – Nature Always Wins
7th album for the Northern England indie rockers, and probably their best one since that PERFECT 2005 debut. (8)

MELVINS – Working With God
If you look beyond the silliness and jokes (e.g. opening the album with the Beach Boys’ “I Get Around” re-imagined as “I Fuck Around”, not one but two tracks titled “Fuck You”, etc.), you’ll find a cornucopia of ass-kicking metal riffs that would make Mastodon green with envy. It’s certainly a top-10 Melvins album, no mean feat considering they’ve probably released more than 30 to date (nobody’s counting, not even the band themselves). (8)    

MOUSE ON MARS – AAI
An electronic music experiment utilizing artificial intelligence both as a theme and as a tool, easier to admire than to enjoy. (6)

WILLIE NELSON – That’s Life
Willie Nelson does Frank Sinatra tribute, how can this NOT be good? Certainly better than Bob Dylan’s “Shadows In the Night”. (8)

TINDERSTICKS – Distractions
Sparser and more repetitive/hypnotic than the usual lush cinematic Tindersticks sound, half the songs on “Distractions” are terrific, the other half annoying. ((9 + 5)/2 = 7)

Short Attention Span Record Reviews, Feb 2021

THE BESNARD LAKES – The Besnard Lakes Are The Last Of The Great Thunderstorm Warnings
A truly epic psychedelic rock album and an early candidate for my year-end List. (9)

BLACK COUNTRY, NEW ROAD – For The First Time
Seemingly out of nowhere, this young band releases its debut featuring buckets of chutzpah and a fully formed sonic identity – and even though it brings to mind a combination of great 90’s bands that went totally unnoticed (Firewater meets Lifter Puller, anyone?), these guys will actually make it big: Hottest new rock band out of the UK since the Arctic Monkeys. (9)

FARMER DAVE & THE WIZARDS OF THE WEST – Farmer Dave & The Wizards Of The West
Byrds meets Grateful Dead meets Hawkwind meets Link Wray? It’s groovy, man! (7)

JIM GHEDI – In The Furrows Of Common Place
Intriguing and totally out of time, this 2021 album by the Irishest-sounding guy ever has more in common with the John Faheys and the Fairport Conventions of this world than with anything belonging to this century. (7)

ARLO PARKS – Collapsed In Sunbeams
If a 19-year old can write such a gorgeous record in her bedroom, there’s still hope for pop. (8)

NANCY SINATRA – Start Walkin’: 1965-1976
If you thought she didn’t record much worth remembering beyond “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’”, here’s a fantastic anthology of Nancy’s career and a testament to the genius of Lee Hazelwood. (9)

SOEN – Imperial
A Venn diagram where 2000-2010 Opeth intersects Tool and Disturbed. (8)

AARON LEE TASJAN – Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan!
A great pop rock album that sounds like something out of the Jeff Lynne late 80’s playbook (e.g. Traveling Wilburys, Tom Petty’s “Full Moon Fever”). I still prefer “Silver Tears”, the best album of 2016 that didn’t make the List because I heard it too late, but still. (8)

THE WEATHER STATION – Ignorance
Come December you’ll see this one topping several year-end lists from Pitchfork to Uncut, which would be quite an accomplishment for an album with a yacht rock vibe and speaks volumes for the quality of the songwriting. In any case, imagine “Mirage”-era Fleetwood Mac fronted by Margo Timmins of the Cowboy Junkies and you’ve got the general idea. (8)

YASMIN WILLIAMS – Urban Driftwood
An extremely talented acoustic guitarist with a totally unique technique, Williams sounds unlike any other player out there. (8)

STEVEN WILSON – The Future Bites
An intriguing pop album about consumerism and technology: It’s got songs close to No Man’s electronica-infused territory, and funky jams bringing to mind The Temptations and Prince, but very little that sounds like Porcupine Tree. And that’s fine. (8)

VARIOUS ARTISTS – Cuba: Music And Revolution Culture Clash in Havana, Cuba, Experiments in Latin Music 1975-85, Vol 1
The Buena Vista Social Club project introduced us to pre-revolutionary Cuban music, now this excellent collection digs deep into the Western-influenced music produced underground during the Castro years, blending the Latin stuff with jazz, rock and psychedelia, ending up sonically not too far from Brazil’s Tropicalia but with more brass. (8)