THE BATHERS – Sirenesque
This is fucking gorgeous, best orchestral pop album of the year, why have I never heard of these guys before. (8)
DANNY BROWN – Quaranta
One of the best rappers out there hits 40, slows down the beats and the flow, and doubles up on the intensity. (8)
LILA DOWNS – La Sanchez
Another fantastic vocal performance from Downs on the most personal album of her career, written during a turbulent time in her personal life and with her partner/producer/manager/saxophonist dying midway through the recording process. If you want a quick taste of Regional Mexican, the most popular music genre you probably never even heard of, you might as well start here. (8)
DUSK – Glass Pastures
Like CCR for indie rock kids. (8)
THE DWARVES – Concept Album
Juvenile humor combined with stoopid punk rock riffs and catchy choruses? Bring it on! Nick Oliveri’s on bass and this is better than QOTSA’s 2023 album, so he wins. (8)
PETER GABRIEL – I/O
Literally two decades in the making, I/O rewards the listener with a texturally rich aural experience (including two different mixes) and some of Gabriel’s best songwriting – and for a guy who wrote “Solsbury Hill”, “Games Without Frontiers”, and “In Your Eyes”, this says quite a lot. (8)
GHOST WOMAN - Hindsight is 50/50
What if The White Stripes were actually The Cramps but played psychedelic goth? (8)
HARP – Albion
Former Midlake frontman Tim Smith in Robert Smith (no relation) worship mode. (7)
DOLLY PARTON – Rockstar
After being indicted into the Rock Hall Of Fame despite her protests that she’s not a rock musician, she releases a rock album as a response and invites what feels like the entire Rock Hall of Fame to be on it – the guest list is more stacked that Dolly herself, with everyone from McCartney to Miley Cyrus to Stevie Nicks to Rob Halford showing up. As for the songs? Her own compositions are fine, the covers are essentially so close to the originals that they can be considered karaoke (with a couple of notable exceptions, e.g. a fantastic gospel-flavoured version of CCR’s “Long As I Can See The Light” featuring John Fogerty), but it’s all good, clean, stupid fun. (7)
VARIOUS ARTISTS – The Faithful: A Tribute to Marianne Faithfull
A great team of mainly female artists on a benefit album for Marianne, who’s been struggling with health issues and unable to perform. Excellent job covering Faithfull (or covering Faithfull covers) by the likes of Tanya Donelly, Josie Cotton, Shirley Manson with Peaches, Bush Tetras, Lydia Lunch, and, ummm, Iggy Pop? (8)
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