Back To The Beginning: Some Quick Thoughts / Comments

Not in the mood to write a proper, full concert review, really. Not now, anyway. Too soon for so much to process, and I'm sure you can read that sort of thing on a million websites today. But I did make it to Villa Park and I've got a couple of hours to kill on a train now, so I might as well jolt down what comes to mind:

• Birmingham is not as ugly as I expected it to be, as a matter of fact I found it quite pleasant. But of course I was there for a limited amount of time so I only saw downtown and Villa Park, I'm sure there are dodgy neighborhoods as well. But aren't there in every city?
• I've never been to a better organized major concert in my life. Everything was perfect, the schedule was kept like clockwork (except the last band to appear, but more on that later), decent toilets without long waiting times, no lines for food and drink either. Kudos.
• Live Aid-style, everyone played 15-30 minute sets with 10 minute breaks (possible through the use of a rotating stage - one band playing on side A, next band's road crew setting up on side B).
• Best proper band appearance of the day, Ozzy/Sabbath excluded: Metallica. Literally in a league of their own.
• Worst proper band appearance of the day: Guns 'N' Roses. The good thing is Axl can still hit the notes, the bad thing is that he hit all of them in the wrong places. Throughout the set he was 5 seconds ahead or behind the rest of the band, and he totally ruined three Sabbath covers and his own band's two greatest hits.
• Most indifferent band appearance of the day: Rival Sons. I mean, their poor man's Zeppelin-style hard rock is pretty decent, but I can think of a million other bands that would have fitted the bill better.
• Best proper band appearance of the day, Metallica/Ozzy/Sabbath excluded: A three-way tie between Mastodon, Gojira, and Tool. Mastodon had the difficult job of opening the festivities and did a great job, Brett Hinds will not be missed. They also threw us the first surprise of the day by having the drummers from Tool, Gojira and Slipknot on stage with them playing percussion on a blistering version of "Supernaut". Gojira proved once again that they are world-class. Tool was impressive and made "Hand Of Doom" their own.
• Did I mention Slipknot? One of them was DJ-ing between band sets in an Aston Villa shirt. Did a decent job.
• Tom Morello's kid can also shred.
• Jason Momoa started as the MC of the evening, but we lost him sometime around Pantera's set as he simply joined the fans in the pit and never came back up.
• The supergroups with rotating singers and musicians? A great experience to watch, despite the ups and downs. The downs - Sammy Hagar who was sort of a momentum ruiner, and that guy from Disturbed who seemed bored singing "Shot In the Dark" and "Sweet Leaf". He also got booed, probably not for his performance but most likely for his public pro-Israeli stance. The ups? Definitely the fun silliness of Billy Corgan from Smashing Pumpkins doing "Breakin' The Law" with KK Downing, Tom Morello, Adam Jones, Danny Carey and Rudy Sarzo. Also Ron fuckin' Wood from the Rolling fuckin' Stones jumping on stage to do "Train Kept A Rollin'" with Steven Tyler. Papa Perpetua on "Bark At The Moon". Surprisingly, a non-metal guy called Youngblud I wasn't familiar with doing "Changes" and winning over the whole stadium - if we compare this event with the Freddie Mercury tribute concert, he was this year's George Michael doing "Somebody To Love". And Nuno Bettencourt as the anchor of the rotating supergroup line-ups - he was perfect.
• Ozzy: What can I say. Ozzy had to sing sitting down (BTW the picture above is not mine, it's by the great Ross Halfin, I stole it off the internet, I hope he doesn't mind). His voice started breaking during "Mr. Crowley" and kept getting worse, but he never gave up, not for a second. And the crowd stepped up taking lead vocals and singing all the words. Zakk Wylde, while playing his brains out, kept walking over to Ozzy's chair to make sure he's OK. And there was a video of Randy Rhoads showing behind him, synced to Zakk's playing. Thousands of people (myself and my mate included) were literally crying - tears of joy for being there, tears of sadness because it's obvious Ozzy's saying goodbye to more than just the stage, tears of general fuckin' emotional overload.
• Sabbath: The only delay between bands of the evening, obviously because the doctors backstage were trying to get Ozzy back in shape to do a few more songs. Most people actually started getting worried if he would make it back out there after his solo set or if the concert would have to close with Iommi/Geezer/Ward fronted by someone else from the day's line-up (my money's on Steven Tyler being the contingency plan, but I'm glad we'll never find out). But he made it to the stage and managed to sing four songs from the first two albums, and it was triumphant. Iommi is timeless, Geezer was a monster, and Ward received the warmest welcome and even took his shirt off to play better (at 77! Not even Iggy Pop can pull off that shirtless thing anymore!). 
• As I said, still too much to process but if I had to sum it up, I'd say that this was one for the ages, the perfect send-off, and a day I'll remember forever. Thank you Sabbath, for everything.

Short Attention Span Record Reviews, June 25

THE LOUDER STUFF

GHAALS WYRD – Braiding The Stories
Ex-Gorgoroth frontman tries to pull an Ihsahn and to a large extent he succeeds. (8)

THE HAUNTED – Songs Of Last Resort
Thrash with melodeath tendencies, no experiments. This is The Haunted most people love. (7)

KATATONIA – Nightmares As Extensions Of The Waking State
Anders Nystrom’s departure does not affect the vibe, which is still aligned with the prog of Katatonia albums from 2006’s “The Great Cold Distance” onwards. But there is something missing, or maybe that’s just me. (7)

RIVERS OF NIHIL – Rivers Of Nihil
Progressive death metal, not as adventurous as, say, Blood Incantation, but expertly written and executed. This one will appeal to people outside the metal ghetto too. (8)

SWANS – Birthing  
In the same vein as all their post-2010 crescendocore releases, this is meant to be played at tinnitus-inducing levels and at two hours long it will test your patience, but if you have the attention span to stick around you’ll be richly rewarded. (8)

TURNSTILE – Never Enough
If this is modern hardcore, I have to say that in places it sounds a lot like a cross between imperial era Chili Peppers and The Police. This is meant as a compliment. (8)

VOLBEAT – God Of Angels Trust
Nothing unexpected or surprising here, just the usual entertaining Metallica-meets-rockabilly shtick. (7)


THE OTHER STUFF

MARY CHAPIN CARPENTER – Personal History
Intimate and autobiographical country folk songs from a singer-songwriter who’s been excelling at this sort of thing for decades. Produced by Josh Kaufman at Peter Gabriel’s studio. (8)

S.G. GOODMAN – Planting By The Signs
Americana’s rising star explores her inner Lucinda Williams on strong third album. (8)

ELIJAH JOHNSTON – Stupid Soul
Somewhere between modern-day Americana and 90’s-style indie rock you’ll find Johnston, writing tunes about everyday life and all that makes it sad and beautiful. (8)

JAMES McMURTRY – The Black Dog And The Wandering Boy
This is supposed to be folk/americana, but it sounds more like Jason Isbell’s harder rockin’ uncle. (8)

WILLIE NILE – The Great Yellow Light
A true rock ‘n’ roll lifer, as much a dedicated New Yorker as Lou Reed and musically sitting within the Dylan/Springsteen Venn diagram, Nile continues to release excellent albums at the age of 77. If you like him, you love him. (8)

TY SEGALL – Possession
A return to the everything-and-the-kitchen-sink approach of 2018’s magnificent “Freedom’s Goblin”, Segall’s new album is what most fans will see as a return to form: Power pop, glam rock, psychedelia, it’s all here. (8) 

METAL: Halftime

OK, so I don't normally do this, but since we're halfway through the year here's a list of the year's 20 best metal and metal-friendly albums to date. The list is alphabetical, if you think I missed something I really don't care:

BEHEMOTH – The Shit Ov God
A grandiose black/death metal statement, and probably their best since career-high “The Satanist”.
CRYPTOSIS – Celestial Death
An interesting combination of prog, blackened death metal, and thrash, with keyboards. People will make comparisons to Vektor and Blood Incantation but I’m old enough to remember Nocturnus.
DEAFHEAVEN – Lonely People With Power
They bring the metal back and it’s a triumph – you still have shoegaze-y guitars pop up here and there but this is their heaviest record in at least a decade, reminiscent in places of second-wave Norwegian black metal like Emperor and Enslaved.
DREAM THEATER – Parasomnia 
Portnoy’s return to the line-up coincides with a strong album that will thrill prog metal fans, but whether this sound can still be described as “progressive” after 35 years of it is debatable.
GHAALS WYRD – Braiding The Stories
Ex-Gorgoroth frontman tries to pull an Ihsahn and to a large extent he succeeds.
GHOST – Skeleta 
Even though it’s still one of the better heavy rock releases of the year, shows the first signs of tiredness? Certainly not as catchy and fun as “Impera".
HANDGEMENG – Satanic Panic Attack
The stoner bastard child of Turbonegro and Kvelertak.
HELLACOPTERS – Overdriver
A very welcome return for these guys and their brand of infectious, high-energy rock ‘n’ roll. Now, where’s Gluecifer so they can tour together?
IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT – Goldstar
Masked technical death metal virtuosos on their most accomplished album to date, their avant-garde-leaning compositions finally resembling songs rather than just aiming to impress.
MACHINE HEAD – Unatoned 
This album will certainly make the haters say that they’re just trying to align their sound with what’s going on today, but it’s really a solid late-career album that kicks the ass of what most younger thrash/metalcore bands are capable of.
MELVINS – Thunderball
They throw another curveball at us with a revised line-up, bringing back the original drummer from 1983 and adding a couple of electronic/noise artists into the mix. It sounds exactly like the Melvins without sounding much like the last 25 Melvins albums.
PENTAGRAM – Lightning In A Bottle
How’s it possible that this guy's still around? In any case even with a new line-up backing him Liebling can still kick the ass of any young doomster, and this new album is groovier – not exactly Clutch, but think Trouble’s “Manic Frustration”.
PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS – Death Hilarious
Doom/sludge metal band Pigs x7 instill a bit of Helmet into their formula and bring home the bacon.
PROPAGANDHI – No Longer Young
Canadian punk/metal heroes return with another excellent slab of technical, thrashy social commentary.
RIVERS OF NIHIL – Rivers Of Nihil
Progressive death metal, not as adventurous as, say, Blood Incantation, but expertly written and executed. This one will appeal to people outside the metal ghetto too.
SANHEDRIN – Heat Lightning
A lady you wouldn’t mess with on vocals and bass backed by a couple of hooligans on guitar and drums, this is traditional heavy metal in its purest form channeling early 80’s Riot and Maiden and all sorts of good stuff.
SPIDERS – Sharp Objects
Nordic rockers return and this time they pump up their Detroit/Australia-style garage punk rock with some late-70’s NYC vibes – I can hear traces of Blondie, The Ramones, even Richard Hell/Stiv Bators/Johnny Thunders in here.
TURNSTILE – Never Enough
If this is modern hardcore, I have to say that in places it sounds a lot like a cross between imperial era Chili Peppers and The Police. This is meant as a compliment.
VENAMORIS – To Cross Or To Burn
Mrs. Lombardo releases strong goth/trip hop album featuring her husband and his friends (Alex Skolnick, Gary Holt) like you've never heard them before.
WITCHCRAFT – Idag
It’s much better than “Black Metal” and “Nucleus”, probably better than “Legend” too, and as fuzzy and riff-tastic as their first three albums on Rise Above.
 

Short Attention Span Record Reviews, May 25 Vol. II

EZRA FURMAN – Goodbye Small Head
Defiant and vulnerable, Ezra’s new album finds the artist expand the sound palette by re-introducing strings and electronica elements to the beloved “trans/gay Springsteen” formula. (8)

GANAVYA – Nilam
If you appreciate Arooj Aftab’s work then you should definitely check out Ganavya, and “Nilam” is an excellent starting point. (8)

GRAILS – Miracle Music
Cinematic post-rock from the masters of the genre. If you haven’t yet discovered the ultimate chill-out band, now’s the time to do so. (8)

TOM HICKOX – The Orchestra Of Stories
I have no idea who this guy is and what else he’s done so far in his career, but discovering this album has been a great gift: Excellent character-based storytelling reminiscent of Richard Dawson, sung in a beautiful rich baritone and supported by a full orchestra. It sounds like absolutely nothing else. (8)

THE MAYFLIES USA – Kickless Kids
I love jangly power pop, and these guys are really good at it. An unexpected but welcome return. (8)

PELICAN – Flickering Resonance
Instrumental post-metal from the masters of the genre. If you haven’t yet discovered, etc. (8)

MARC RIBOT – Map Of A Blue City
One of the great, unique guitarists of the last fifty years explores singer-songwriter territory that reminds me of his sometime boss, Tom Waits – not so much in sound or subject matter, but definitely in originality and out-of-the box-approach to making music. (8)

SLOW MOTION COWBOYS – Wolf Of St Elmo
A new take on cosmic country/americana by a really talented songwriter. If you’re into Sturgill Simpson, Margo Price etc. you should definitely give this one a spin. (8)

STEVE VON TILL – Alone In A World Of Wounds
Neurosis guy goes back to gothic Americana after 2024’s three dub albums as Harvestman. It’s a beautiful, dark, haunting piece of work. (8)

WITCHCRAFT – Idag
It’s much better than “Black Metal” and “Nucleus”, probably better than “Legend” too, and as fuzzy and riff-tastic as their first three albums on Rise Above. (8)

VARIOUS ARTISTS – The Magic Forest: More Pastoral Psychedelia & Funky Folk 1968-1975
Another one of those really fun Cherry Red compilations – three CDs chock-full of what the title implies, featuring a few recognizable names (Sandy Denny, Family, Pentangle, Roy Harper…) and a whole bunch of people you’ve never heard of unless you’re a 70-year-old crate-digging hippie from the East Midlands or something. (9)

Short Attention Span Record Reviews, May 25

 

THE LOUDER STUFF

BEHEMOTH – The Shit Ov God
A grandiose black/death metal statement, and probably their best since career-high “The Satanist” which had made The List. (8)

PROPAGANDHI – No Longer Young
Canadian punk/metal heroes who have made The List in the past, repeatedly, return with another excellent slab of technical, thrashy social commentary. (8)
    
PUP – Who Will Look After The Dogs?
A slight departure from the sound of their previous albums, the Canadian pop-punk quartet’s fifth sounds a bit like Jeff Rosenstock (who also guests on a track here) or a punkier Weezer. (8)

SWAMI JOHN REIS – Time To Let You Down
Ass-kicking pedal-to-the-metal blasts with a very strong sense of melody from a punk rock lifer (he fronted the excellent Rocket From The Crypt in a previous century). This rules! (9)

RODEO BOYS – Junior
A fantastic hard-rocking heartland punk record that falls somewhere between Mannequin Pussy’s “I Got Heaven” and The Distillers’ “Coral Fang”. (8)

SLEEP TOKEN – Even In Arcadia
Look. I do understand the appeal to a certain demographic, of course, and they do have some interesting stuff in here such as the delicate/crushing dynamics of album opener “Look To Windward”. But I find the Auto-tuned R&B vocals annoying, the saxophone solo funny (not in a good way), the backstory/mythology boring, and the lyrics too emo. (6)  

VARIOUS ARTISTS – Yeah Man It’s Bloody Heavy!!
Rise Above digs really deep for demo tapes and one-off acetate discs recorded between 1969-1976, featuring 10 UK proto-metal bands you’ve never heard of before – I certainly hadn’t. (11)


THE OTHER STUFF

CAR SEAT HEADREST – The Scholars
Former lo-fi indie darlings embrace their inner arena rock stars and go full-on “Quadrophenia” with an awesome, explosive rock opera. (8)

COUNTING CROWS – Butter Miracle, The Complete Sweets!
I really loved these guys back in the 90’s but then lost touch with their work – until now with this, a wonderful album that seamlessly blends Americana-flavored melodies, a Beatlesque pop sensibility, and “Born To Run” epicness. (8)

LOTTI GOLDEN – Motor-Cycle (Reissue)
A lost 1969 cult classic and one of the first concept albums ever recorded, this is a semi-autobiographical tale of life in the bowels of the NYC counterculture of the period. The music is an epic mix of rock, soul, and avant-garde, sort of like Dusty Springfield doing Jesus Christ Superstar in the style of the Velvet Underground. I love this! (8)

SŌON – Actions Made Audible
Electronic music legends Jack Dangers (Meat Beat Manifesto) and Adi Newton (Clock DVA) join forces and use lots of samples and analog sounds for something really trippy and hallucinogenic. (7)

KASSI VALAZZA – From Newman Street
Her name might sound like a high-end brand of espresso coffee but her music is not a jolt of energy – it’s rather subdued country folk with some psychedelic guitars scattered here in there, more like a really nice cup of herbal tea. (8)

Short Attention Span Record Reviews, Apr 25 Vol. 2

THE LOUDER STUFF

ALIEN WEAPONRY – Te Ra
A strong album that sounds like a Maori version of Gojira. (8)

RUSS BALLARD – Songs From The Warehouse / The Hits Rewired
A double CD from a 79-year-old who plays all instruments himself and is sort of Desmond Child’s granddaddy, having provided hits to everyone from Rainbow to Hot Chocolate. The first disc is all new material and it’s OK (he does sound like a 79-year-old sometimes), the second one is Ballard re-recording all those songs made famous by other people and it’s a delight. (7 for disc 1, 9 for disc 2)

GHOST – Skeleta
Their previous three albums all made The List but this one, even though it’s still one of the better heavy rock releases of the year, shows the first signs of tiredness? Certainly not as catchy and fun as “Impera”, let’s hope they bounce back quickly. (8)
 
HANDGEMENG – Satanic Panic Attack
The stoner bastard child of Turbonegro and Kvelertak. (8)

MACHINE HEAD – Unatoned
They’ve been repeatedly accused of jumping on bandwagons and these accusations have not been entirely unfounded. This album will certainly make the haters say that they’re just trying to align their sound with what’s going on today, but it’s really a solid late-career album that kicks the ass of what most younger thrash/metalcore bands are capable of. (8)

MELVINS – Thunderball
They throw another curveball at us with a revised line-up, bringing back the original drummer from 1983 and adding a couple of electronic/noise artists into the mix. It sounds exactly like the Melvins without sounding much like the last 25 Melvins albums. (8)

MELVINS & NAPALM DEATH – Savage Imperial Death March
Collaborative mini-album (not split – they play together) ahead of a co-headline tour, this meshes together the best of what each legendary band has to offer in 2025. It’s released on Amphetamine Reptile, which has always been a mark of quality in noise. (8)

UKANDANZ – Evil Plan
Ethiopian jazz meets hard rock in a highly entertaining hybrid. Includes a stellar cover of Sabbath’s “War Pigs”. (8)


THE OTHER STUFF

JULIEN BAKER & TORRES – Send A Prayer My Way
Lucy Dacus went pop, now Julien Baker goes country. I assume Phoebe Bridgers’ next album will be doom metal or something? (8)

BEIRUT – A Study Of Losses
If you like Beirut you’re going to like this, as it sticks relatively close to the formula of pop/rock played on non-pop/rock instruments and cheap drum machines and enriched with multilayered vocals. (7)

KRIS DELMHORST – Ghosts In The Garden
Who is this woman? How can I describe this beautiful, haunting music she makes without calling it “Americana” or “folk” because it wouldn’t do her justice? (8)

RHIANNON GIDDENS & JUSTIN ROBINSON – What Did The Blackbird Say To The Crow
Giddens reunites with a former collaborator and pays tribute to her roots: North Carolina black string music of past ages. This is recorded live, outdoors, just banjo and fiddle, so it’s a rather niche thing. (7)

WILLIE NELSON – Oh What A Wonderful World
I’m writing this on his birthday, the guy just turned 92 and he still releases albums every five months or so! May he live forever. Anyway, this one features a crack band backing Nelson on 12 great covers of songs written by Rodney Crowell. (8)

WU-TANG CLAN – Black Samson, The Bastard Swordsman
A collective that revolutionized hip-hop in the 90’s, still sounds very much like the 90’s. (7)

Short Attention Span Record Reviews, Apr 25

BLACK COUNTRY, NEW ROAD – Forever Howlong
A very different band from the one that made The List in 2021, and again in 2022, they venture towards a pastoral, orchestral pop that has much more in common with, say, Joanna Newsom than Slint. (7)

BON IVER – Sable, Fable
Totemic indie figure goes easier on the experiments and sound effects, focuses more on the actual songs, and it’s all the better for it. (8)

BUTLER, BLAKE & GRANT – Butler, Blake & Grant
A supergroup featuring an ex-Suede, a guy from Teenage Fanclub and James Grant, that hasn’t made any headlines even in the UK, and I wonder why as this is the most gorgeous Crosby, Stills & Nash album since 1969. (8)

CRAIG FINN – Always Been
The Hold Steady frontman gets his buddy Adam Granduciel from War On Drugs to produce his latest solo album, so it does sound a bit like War On Drugs. It also sounds a bit 70’s L.A. singer-songwritery, in case you didn’t get the hint from the album cover which recreates the album cover of Randy Newman’s “Little Criminals”. As always, Finn’s world-class storytelling is front and centre. (8)

GALACTIC & IRMA THOMAS – Audience With The Queen
Wow, what a great old-school funk/soul album! (8)

THEA GILMORE – These Quiet Friends
English singer/songwriter doing covers of some of her favorite songs. She strips the songs bare to their essence using minimal, mainly acoustic instrumentation, and it works. Great taste too, from Liza Minelli’s “Cabaret” to G’n’R’s “Sweet Child O’Mine” to the Bunnymen’ “The Killing Moon” to Myley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball”. (8)

VALERIE JUNE – Owls, Omens, And Oracles
Singer/songwriter’s sixth album is her most ambitious and kaleidoscopic to date, building on influences from a million sources – Fats Domino’s New Orleans, Phil Spector girl groups, gospel, folk, blues, psychedelia, you’ll find it all here topped by her unique voice. (8)

THE LORD WEIRD SLOUGH FEG – Traveller Supplement I
A sequel of sorts to a 2003 album, this EP delivers the expected Maiden-esque classic metal with epic overtones, galloping riffs etc. They’ve probably listened to too much Thin Lizzy when they were younger. Pretty great if you’re into this sort of thing. (8)

THE MARS VOLTA – Lucro Sucio; Los Ojos Del Vacío
Moving away from bonkers prog rock into some weird doodling jazz shit. (6)

PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS – Death Hilarious
Doom/sludge metal band Pigs x7 instill a bit of Helmet into their formula and bring home the bacon. (8)

SOUL COUGHING – Live 2024
A reunion I thought impossible given the bad blood between Mike Doughty and the rest of the band (plus the fact that the bucks to be made out of such a reunion wouldn’t be too much), but here we go – my favorite NYC stream-of-consciousness jazz-rap art-funk band from the mid-90’s revisits its repertoire. I really missed that Gabay/Steinberg groove. (11)

THE WATERBOYS – Life, Death And Dennis Hopper
I thought these guys had broken up a hundred years ago but not only they’re still around, they just released a very high-profile concept album about a dead actor featuring guests like Bruce Springsteen and Fiona Apple. And it doesn’t suck! (8)

Short Attention Span Record Reviews, Mar 25 Vol. III

BAMBARA – Birthmarks
Is there such a thing as cinematic post-punk goth? (8)

HOLLY COLE – Dark Moon
My favorite jazz singer is back with her beautiful husky voice and wonderful interpretations of some classics you might have heard before from Fred Astaire, Gil Evans, Audrey Hepburn, Dionne Warwick, Elvis Presley, Peggy Lee etc. plus some quirkier choices. (8)

LUCY DACUS – Forever Is A Feeling
The first solo album by a member of boygenius after 2023’s triumph is a bit hit-and-miss, with arrangements leaning more towards pop than rock (even Taylor Swift springs to mind) and lyrics that sometimes read like a horny highschooler’s attempts at poetry. (7)

DEAFHEAVEN – Lonely People With Power
They bring the metal back and it’s a triumph – you still have shoegaze-y guitars pop up here and there but this is their heaviest record in at least a decade, reminiscent in places of second-wave Norwegian black metal like Emperor and Enslaved, and they seem to be at the peak of their songwriting powers. (8)

KINKY FRIEDMAN – Poet Of Motel 6
I first got to know Friedman (R.I.P.) as a humorist from pieces in National Lampoon magazine, then I discovered his detective novels, and had no idea about his music career even though it preceded his writing career (probably because at the time I had no interest in country music whatsoever). His presumably final album is the most country-sounding album you’ve ever heard, but what sets him apart is of course the pen – scaling down the humor this time and replacing it with touching ruminations on life and death while avoiding (or subverting) the genre’s cliches. (7)

JIM GHEDI – Wasteland
Rooted in the traditional folk sounds of the British isles but given an experimental twist, this one will certainly appeal to people who liked Lankum’s masterpiece from 2023. (8)

EIKO ISHIBASHI – Antigone
Japanese avant-garde artist better known from her collaborations with people like Jim O’Rourke and Merzbow and from scoring films for Ryūsuke Hamaguchi goes back to her “pop” roots. Of course in this case “pop” means Scott Walker and Joni Mitchell, not Taylor Swift. (8)

ALISON KRAUSS & UNION STATION – Arcadia
Krauss has a successful solo career and works with Robert Plant but The Union Station are a whole different ballgame, to a large extent thanks to Jerry Douglas’ dobro playing.  New guitarist Russell Moore adds some great harmonies and the occasional lead vocal on what will probably prove to be the best Bluegrass album of 2025. (8)

MASTERS OF REALITY – The Archer
I’ve always loved Chris Goss, the first new music in 16 years breaks away from the heavy riffing of the past but it’s just as fun. (8)

PERFUME GENIUS – Glory
I admit I haven’t been paying much attention to this guy over the past 15 years and I really don’t know why, but “Glory” is a glorious album, toying with the tropes of indie rock, classic rock, and pop and coming up with something altogether original. (8)

Short Attention Span Record Reviews, Mar 25 Vol. II

JASON BOLAND & THE STRAGGLERS – The Last Kings Of Babylon
This guy made The List with his previous album, a bonkers sci-fi concept album. He now returns to Earth with a shit-hot record full of country-rock barnburners. (8)

KEVIN DRUMM – Sheer Hellish Miasma II
What the fuck did I just listen to? (-)

LONNIE HOLLEY – Tonky
Post-blues that often moves into Massive Attack-style trip hop by cult artist who remains agile at 75. (8)

IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT – Goldstar
Masked technical death metal virtuosos on their most accomplished album to date, their avant-garde-leaning compositions finally resembling songs rather than just aiming to impress. (8)

JAPANESE BREAKFAST – For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women)
Nice, but I still don’t get the hype. (7)

MY MORNING JACKET – Is
21st century hippies bring in A-lister producer Brendan O’Brien who probably shouldn’t have gotten rid of that beloved MMJ reverb. (7)

SANHEDRIN – Heat Lightning
A lady you wouldn’t mess with on vocals and bass backed by a couple of hooligans on guitar and drums, this is traditional heavy metal in its purest form channeling early 80’s Riot and Maiden and all sorts of good stuff. (8)

CANDI STATON – Back To My Roots
Octogenarian soul legend literally goes back to her roots with a solid gospel-influenced record. (7)

TOBACCO CITY – Horses
Young band with two singers, male and female, seeks to recreate the old Gram Parsons/Emmylou Harris country rock magic and does a pretty decent job of it. (7)  

STEVEN WILSON – The Overview
After spending years on detours into everything from metal to synth-pop, Wilson goes back where he started and unabashedly embraces 70’s-style space-prog once again. (8)

Short Attention Span Record Reviews, Mar 25

THE LOUDER STUFF

CHRISTIAN MISTRESS – Children Of The Earth
These guys have previously released a couple of albums I truly love, among the best heavy metal of the 2010’s. This time around they add some hippy-ish moments to their NWOBHM sound, like Diamond Head covering Jefferson Airplane. (8)

CRYPTOSIS – Celestial Death
An interesting combination of prog, blackened death metal, and thrash, with keyboards. People will make comparisons to Vektor and Blood Incantation but I’m old enough to remember Nocturnus. (8)

THE MEN – Buyer Beware
A great American punk rock album, if we are very specific about the definition of “American punk” so its history starts with The Sonics, morphs into the Dead Boys, evolves into The New Bomb Turks and The Bronx, and then stops before it becomes Against Me! or Turnstile. (8)

PAINKILLER – The Equinox
A follow-up to “Samsara” which was released just a few months ago, by legendary grind/noise/jazz trio (John Zorn, Bill Laswell, Mick Harris). More electronic/drum ‘n’ bass than their early 90’s incarnation, just as extreme. (7)

VENAMORIS – To Cross Or To Burn
Mrs. Lombardo releases strong goth/trip hop album featuring her husband and his friends (Alex Skolnick, Gary Holt) like you've never head them before. (8)


THE OTHER STUFF

PATTERSON HOOD – Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams
Drive-By Trucker goes solo on an autobiographical album. Lots of guests from the wider Americana universe, great songwriting, and arrangements that are much quieter than DBT (with the exception of one track, “The Van Pelt Parties”, where he’s backed by Wednesday, the most DBT-influenced young band out there). (8)

JASON ISBELL – Foxes In The Snow
On his first post-divorce album Isbell leaves the band out of it and goes solo acoustic, just him and his guitar. Some great songs here (“Eileen”, “Gravelweed”, “True Believer”…), but I like him even more with The 400 Unit doing the E-Street Band thing behind him. (8)

ANTHONY JOSEPH – Rowing Up River To Get Our Names Back
If you like “Holy Terror”-era The Last Poets when their spoken word was backed by a world-class funk band featuring Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrell, and Bill Laswell, then check out this London-born poet’s latest. (8)

BOB MOULD – Here We Go Crazy
Mould often gets called the granddaddy of The Pixies and Nirvana and on this late-career gem he indeed finds the perfect balance between noisy guitars and bittersweet melody. Again. His most instantly gratifying since the Sugar days. (8)

THE TUBS – Cotton Crown
Wow. Put Richard Thompson, Johnny Marr, and Bob Mould in a blender and you’ll get this. I dunno, the combination of jangly guitars and heavy lyrics does something to me. (8)

Short Attention Span Record Reviews, Feb 25 Vol. II

RICHARD DAWSON – End Of The Middle
Often classified as a folk artist, Dawson is really in a league of his own sounding like a cross between Captain Beefheart and Tortoise and with an uncanny bard’s ability to tell stories that feel personal, universal, mundane, and extraterrestrial all at the same time. (8)

THE DELINES – Mr. Luck & Ms. Doom
The low-key Muscle Shoals country soul sound and Amy Boone’s gorgeous voice are ideal for late-night listening, but it’s Willy Vlautin’s lyrics that are the real revelation – not only a good musician but an acclaimed author in the Raymond Carver vein, he puts his skills to good use here with stories about the down and out. (8)

DREAM THEATER – Parasomnia
Portnoy’s return to the line-up coincides with a strong album that will thrill prog metal fans, but whether this sound can still be described as “progressive” after 35 years of it is debatable. (8)

CHRIS ECKMAN – The Land We Knew The Best
His former band The Walkabouts were making Americana popular (especially in Europe) before the term even existed in this context, and Eckman still excels at it now that he’s actually living in Europe. (8)

SETH LAKEMAN – The Granite Way
One of the best contemporary English folk artists, and probably the most rock ‘n’ roll one (no surprise that he’s served on Robert Plant’s and Van Morrison’s backing bands) on one of his strongest solo sets, inspired by the stories and myths of his native Devon. (8)

JAMES BRANDON LEWIS – Apple Cores
One of the great contemporary jazz sax skronkers in top form. The rhythm section kills it too. (8)

PRESERVATION HALL JAZZ BAND – Preservation Brass: For Fat Man
New Orleans traditionalists/revivalists dedicate a joyous album to their recently deceased drummer. (8)

NADIA REID – Enter New Brightness
Folk-pop that somehow reminds me of a hybrid between Laura Marling and Chantal Kreviazuk even though it shouldn’t. Her voice is soothing to the soul. (8)

SQUID – Cowards
With Black Midi breaking up and Black Country New Road in the process of transitioning, Squid are left alone to fly to flag for British talk-singing post-punk. But they also sound reluctant to do that, venturing more and more into art rock. (7)

SPIDERS – Sharp Objects
Nordic rockers return and this time they pump up their Detroit/Australia-style garage punk rock with some late-70’s NYC vibes – I can hear traces of Blondie, The Ramones, even Richard Hell/Stiv Bators/Johnny Thunders in here. (8)

SHARON VAN ETTEN & THE ATTACHMENT THEORY – Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory
People will say that Van Etten has gone electronica but, really, this is post-punk and sounds more like Joy Division/Siouxsie than anything else. (8)

Short Attention Span Record Reviews, Feb 25

THE LOUDER STUFF

THE HELLACOPTERS – Overdriver
A very welcome return for these guys and their brand of infectious, high-energy rock ‘n’ roll. Now, where’s Gluecifer so they can tour together? (8)

THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA – Give Us The Moon
Another tasty platter of AOR cheese from and for Toto-loving metalheads. (8)

PENTAGRAM – Lightning In A Bottle
How’s it possible that this guy's still around? In any case even with a new line-up backing him Liebling can still kick the ass of any young doomster, and this new album is groovier - not exactly Clutch, but think Trouble’s “Manic Frustration”. (8)

REVENGE – Violation.Strife.Abominate
This is so fucking evil-sounding I can’t stop laughing. The combination of undecipherable strangled screaming, a guitar that scrapes meat off bones, and a drummer that sounds like he just threw his kit rolling down a staircase is not for everyone, but it’s refreshing to listen to some black metal that just spews hatred without any highbrow pretensions. (8)


THE OTHER STUFF

LILLY HIATT – Forever
Americana stalwart decides to rock a little bit harder this time around with excellent results. Catchy and fun! (8)

LARKIN POE – Bloom
Like an estrogen-fueled hybrid between AC/DC and the Allman Brothers, the Lovell sisters bring on the guitars and kick some serious ass. Again. (8)

ROSE CITY BAND – Sol Y Sombra
Twangy, slightly psychedelic country rock that sounds like it was recorded in 1969. RYIL The Flying Burrito Brothers, New Riders Of The Purple Sage, that sort of thing. (7)

ANNA B SAVAGE – You & I Are Earth
A beautiful, largely acoustic record that sounds like a 32-minute-long love letter to a new lover as well as to her adopted home of Ireland. Lankum’s producer does a stellar job of bringing out the best in songs that were great to start with. (8)

TUNNG – Love You All Over Again
Very English-sounding folktronica. (7)

THE WEATHER STATION – Humanhood
As always everyone will bring out the Joni Mitchell references, but to the Geek’s ears it sounds more like Sarah McLachlan. This is also a compliment. (8)

Short Attention Span Record Reviews, Jan 25

ETHEL CAIN – Perverts
Having received critical acclaim with a gothic Americana debut, Ethel Cain decides to alienate all the fans she won with an industrial/noise follow-up. (7)

EMEL – MRA
One that I missed from earlier this year because Emel dropped the last name (Mathlouthi) just to mess with me. I love this NY-based Tunisian and this album turns out to be one of 2024’s best world music albums, merging Arabic sounds with EDM and hip-hop and featuring guest female MCs from Mali, Iraq, Ukraine and Nigeria. (8)

GOUGE AWAY – Deep Sage
Another one I missed from earlier this year, which would have probably made The List! An impressive hardcore attack knowingly nodding towards 90’s indie rock and melodic flourishes. (8)

BRIDGET HAYDEN AND THE APPARITIONS – Cold Blows The Rain
Noise/experimental artists ventures into folk, recording eight traditional English, Irish, and American songs dating from the early 20th century, with mostly acoustic drone-y accompaniment. She’s from Yorkshire, and sounds like it. (7)

KENDRICK LAMAR – GMX
Better, and more fun, than his last one. Probably the best hip-hop album of the year. (8)

THE LAST POETS & TONY ALLEN ft. EGYPT 80 – Africanism
Septuagenarian proto-rappers re-record tracks off their first couple of albums from the early 70’s with contributions from Fela Kuti’s legendary drummer and a bunch of jazz cats. They sound totally different but just as fresh and exciting. (8)

PAINKILLER – Samsara
Wow, didn’t see this one coming – legendary grind/noise/jazz trio (John Zorn, Bill Laswell, Mick Harris) return to the studio after a 3-decade hiatus. They still sound as extreme as their grandchildren (e.g. Imperial Triumphant) and Zorn’s sax skronk is pure joy. (8)

SOUL COUGHING – Ruby Vroom [30th Anniversary Edition]
One of the best debut albums of the 90’s gets a revamp with unreleased and rare tracks. A truly unique band. Doughty’s smartass hipster persona remains highly entertaining, the rhythm section of Sebastian Steinberg and Yuval Gabay grooves like a motherfucker, and the sampler guy’s work still sounds innovative 30 years later. (10)

WHITE DENIM – 12
Not a very smart idea to release a great album in December after all major print and online music publications have already compiled their year-end “best of” lists, but this is exactly what happened here – a fantastic “70’s-soft-rock-meets-90’s-indie” record will probably go unnoticed. (8)

VARIOUS ARTISTS – The Devil Rides In: Spellbinding Satanic Magick & The Rockult 1967–1974
A 3-CD compilation that manages to fit in everyone from Atomic Rooster, Coven and Comus to Genesis, Curved Air and the Easybeats under totally arbitrary but fun imaginary genres/labels like “Phantom Sabbaths”, “Popular Satanism”, “She Devils”, “Evil Jazz”, and “Beelzefunk”. Brace yourself for an overdose of Hammond organ and a few bongos. (11)