Juno Recommends Rock / Indie / Folk / Metal / Punk / 50s / 60s: October 2022

Review: Arguably one of the most integral tentpoles of the grunge movement, Alice In Chains' seminal sophomore effort, Dirt, changed the game upon its release in 1992. Featuring some of the band's most classic cuts such as, 'Them Bones', 'Down In A Hole', 'Rooster', and, 'Junkhead', to name but a few; the incomparable dynamic of Wayne Staley's iconic vocals and cryptic, yet brutally honest lyricism combined with guitarist Jerry Cantrell's mammoth riffs and delicate nuance, still resides high in the echelons of alternative rock three decades on. For lifers and newcomers alike, this 30-year anniversary edition serves as an ideal opportunity to revisit a genuine classic, far murkier and riddled with antagonistic depths than any of its would-be peers.

Review: Prolific Pink Floyd record producer and engineer James Guthrie once again has his 2018 remix album for the band's 'Animals' reissued, this time on limited LP wax. A five-piece meditation on Floyd's penchant for animalism, Guthrie's reinterpretation yanks the Orwellian structure and themes of the original album and hurls them back into an electronic prog rock prayer, with many of the new versions impressively breaching 10 minutes. In true Floyd fashion, this is window-closed, record-sleeves-on-the-floor, bong-hitting stuff, but with an extra Guthriean darkness lended to it. Clock the pig oinks littering the mix too.

Review: Texan funk-dub stalwarts Khruangbin set aside their own inward-looking solo projects for another collaborative endeavour. Following their first collab with Leon Bridges, they've now covered the work of 'African rock royalty' Ali Farka Toure, alongside his son, Vieux. Toure is a much-celebrated Malian musician whose 'desert blues' evoked a similarly African, primordial version of Khruangbin's Western cosmic folk. While their music came up in completely different times, the throughlines between the Khru' and Toure's musics are far from tenuous; together, the band and Vieux Toure paint a diasporic picture of a legend's music and life, musically documenting the influence his music has had on subsequent generations.

Review: Since the glorious synth pop years of Japan, David Sylvian has journeyed into many other realms as a musician. The experimental nature of his formative band set the tone for a career of genuine intrigue, demonstrated wonderfully on this compelling album from 2009, reissued as a double vinyl release to foil some astronomical second hand prices. Manafon centres around pieces of free improvisation, experimental rock and chamber music, with Sylvian's eloquent voice guiding your ear through all manner of fascinating soundscapes and story scenes. With contributors including Christian Fennesz, Evan Parker, Keith Rowe and Toshimaru Nakamura, this is a widely hailed piece of leftfield art that ranks as one of the brightest jewels in Sylvian's glittering career.

Review: One of the most tumultuous projects of the Ramones' tenure, 1986's 'Animal Boy', would see the punk icons at an all-time low in terms of communication and camaraderie. Following on from the well received, 'Too Tough To Die', the internal strife would mark the least amount of input or performance from vocalist Joey Ramone and guitarist Johnny, to that point. Instead, bassist Dee Dee and drummer Richie took it upon themselves to make the best of a bad situation, leading to a sporadic collection that initially was noted for its lack of direction, or cohesion, but can now be appreciated fondly for its new wave experimentations and synth-laden cuts. With lyrical topics dissecting their own issues with one another, as well as the political point of contention between members on the standout, 'My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down (Bonzo Goes to Bitburg)', taking central aim at one Ronald Reagan, this often misunderstood ninth entry into the Ramones canon is more than deserving of reassessment.

Review: Autofiction is certainly a triumphant return for the mighty Suede, one of the most iconic of all UK indie bands who helped nurture the Britpop movement out of nappies and into big boy pants, and big boy record deals, during the early-1990s. Whether this is exactly the rebirth into a punk outfit some corners of the press would have you believe is another question.

Ultimately, LP number nine definitely feels like a change of tact, with Brett Anderson's voice taking on a new, grizzlier sound (albeit at times still erupting into the siren-esque tones we fell head over heels for first time round). On the whole, it would be far more accurate simply to label this outing as tougher, rawer and much less affected than the stuff we've had in the past.

Review: An intense exercise in duality, 'Know Your Enemy' was actually born as a mission by Manic Street Preachers to record two albums in quick succession. 'Solidarity' and 'Door To The River' were simultaneous early-noughties left and right brains, channelling completely different ideas in some ways, and the same ideas in others. Now, the compiled album gets a full restoration, and includes two previously unreleased tracks 'Rosebud' and 'Studies In Paralysis'.

Review: English alternative rock band Supergrass dropped their third album back in 1999, following on the wave of Britpop, their hugely successful debut I Should Coco and its successorIn It For The Money. It was another commercial hit, reaching number three in the UK charts and fondly being known as the 'x-ray album' because of the picture on the artwork. Mixing up the prevalent Brit-pop and indie sounds of the era, listening back to it now immediately takes you back to those days, although brothers Gaz and Rob Coombes, Mick Quinn and Danny Goffey also flaunted some of their 70s influences on these tunes, with many of them becoming classics in their own right (see Moving, Pumping On Your Stereo).

Review: Ozzy Osbourne remains a rock behemoth. Number 9 is The Prince of Darkness's 11th solo studio album and one that finds the heavy metal singer and former Black Sabbath frontman in fine form after a big performance at the closing Ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in his native Birmingham recently. He has a big team of top collaborators along for the ride such as Jeff Beck, late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins and Eric Clapton. It is his second solo album in two years and word is there is a new studio being built at his Grade II listed UK pile so expect much more to come.

Review: Paul Hillery is the curator and compiler behind 'Folk Funk And Trippy Troubadours', a brand new compilation series likening modern folk music with the natural world, and seeking out 'loner folk' by artists or from labels whose music is difficult to track down. Centred on balearic Americana and trippy acoustic folk sourced on an international basis, and often filtered through his blog FFTT, this album is the first in what is promised to be an important establishment of a new genre, described by Hillery as 'folk-funk'.

Review: Stereolab's superb Switched On series hits the fifth volume here with another essential collection of their rarest releases. Also included along the way are some unreleased tunes and despite this being the fifth volume it is still impeccably high in standard. Just check out Autechre's remix of 'Refractions in the Plastic Pulse' for evidence - it's as thrilling as they come while Stereolab's second collaboration with Nurse With Wound is another good one. It is 31 minutes of psychedelic kraut to really lose your mind to. Fans old and new are sure to lap up this one.

Review: For rock fans, Creedence Clearwater Revival's show at London's Royal Albert Hall in 1970 is legendary. Now, all these years later, it gets an official release that features the much-talked-about live show in all its glory. Enduring hits as 'Fortunate Son', 'Proud Mary' and 'Bad Moon Rising' all feature and the audio has been restored and mixed by Giles Martin and engineer Sam Okell. As well as the album dropping, there is also a documentary concert film Travelin' Band: Creedence Clearwater Revival at the Royal Albert Hall which has been narrated by Jeff Bridges and directed by Bob Smeaton. Well worth checking.

Review: 7 Up is three things; a ubiquitous energy drink brand, an infamous TV show charting the upbringing and development of various children from the ages of seven upwards, and the third studio album by Ash Ra Tempel - their only collaborative piece with notorious psychologist and psychedelic drug advocate Timothy Leary. Supposedly, the sprawling psych-Moog album was named after a bottle of 7 Up that had been spiked with LSD was given to the band's lyricist Brian Barritt. This new version contains the original manuscript of the album's concept by Leary, as well as photos from the recording session in Bern.

Review: Ash Ra Tempel are one of the undisputed totems of krautrock, and from their considerable legacy, Join Inn is one of their most important records. The line-up of the band in 1973 included Klaus Schulze and Manuel Gottsching, who went on to become legends in their own right, but it was on pieces like the extended 'Freak'n'roll' and 'Jenseits' that they cemented their reputation as instrumental trailblazers, shattering the conventions of rock music and creating a new musical mode that still carries weight today. Getting the celebration in early, Gottsching's own Mg Art label are toasting 50 years since this landmark album came out with a shiny new reissue - much needed given the scant repressing Join Inn has had up until now.

Review: Rather than endlessly reinterpreting what the best of Roxy Music's catalogue truly is, why not just reissue this classic best-of collection from Virgin? Made available on wax for the first time ever, 'The Best Of Roxy Music' contains every hit from 'Love Is The Drug' to 'Angel Eyes', alongside lesser known bits such as 'Over You'. And of course, the band's aristocratic version of John Lennon's 'Jealous Guy' is on there too. Just in time for an anniversary tour, too.

Review: The Afghan Wings serve up their ninth album here and it is one that finds them in top form throughout. The sounds here are brilliantly thrilling and high octane across a first record in five years. 26 years after this group formed they still find new heights and fresh sounds as they reference greats like Warren Zevon, Prince, and Zeppelin while also adding their own love of soul and R&B. Frontman Greg Dulli is in typical swaggering and dynamic form on the mic as he leads this one from the front.

Review: For people of a certain age, their teenage years were defined by the edgy grunge, alt and punk rock sounds of bands like Alice in Chains. Three decades later their seminal sophomore effort, Dirt sounds as good as it ever did and gets an anniversary reissue to mark the occasion. It comes with plenty of powerful drums and big-ass basslines as well as yelping vocals and fuzzy textures that take in a range of emotions and even bigger riffs. This issue features a special insert and comes across four sides of vinyl so it's nice and loud, just as intended.

Review: Since forming in Austin in 2004, American Psych-Rock group The Black Angels have become standard-bearers for modern psych. Over 5 years since the band's fifth album 'Death Song' was released, the group have spent two years working on 'Wilderness of Mirrors', the times providing more than ample fodder for the Black Angels' signature sonic approach. And does it show, packaged in this beautiful gatefold housing limited red and blue coloured discs There are classic blasts of fuzzed-out guitars alongside melancholy experiments in the realms of shoegaze and garage rock. Even amidst these new experimentations, The Black Angels remain true to psych-rock forebears such as Syd Barrett, Roky Erickson, Arthur Lee and the members of the Velvet Underground, all of whom are namechecked on album highlight 'The River.' Another highlight is 'El Jardin' and its sorrowful lyrics and vocal delivery, lyrics discussing a toxic relationship as guitars strum away.

Review: Don't get it confused; this isn't just a simple reissue of Neu!'s first album, but rather a tributary collection box of the krautrock pioneers' first four albums. And that's not to mention all the new reworks of the debut LP's tracks from various bands whose members double up as megafans - including Mogwai, The National, and Idles. A stonking, lead double-time EBM remix of 'Hallogallo' comes from Stephen Morris and Gabe Guernsey, and sets an impressive-progressive tone for the album to follow.

Review: Long before shoegaze and goth were even things, And Also The Trees from Inkberrow in Worcestershire were touching on both genres, building a fan base that included perhaps most notably Robert Smith of The Cure, who invited the band on tour with them and co-produced some of their work. More than four decades on from their first show in 1980, they have a new album that shows not only are they capable of summoning their atmospheric self with ease, but also that they're still evolving musically. Songs like 'The Book Burners' and 'The Seven Skies' see them experimenting with quirky rhythms and a Scott Walker-esque storytelling narrative, although at other moments - see 'Across The Divide' - it's still about setting the guitar pedals to stun and gliding serenely along. Diehard fans will be enthralled, no doubt, but chances are they'll be picking up quite a few new ones with this as well.

Review: If you're never been to Galway, Ireland, we implore you to head for Skyscanner airport immediately after ordering this latest EP from one of the city's most promising new(ish) outfits. Once you arrive it will quickly become apparent that, in so far as guitars go, the place is brimming with great artists and outfits, not to mention incredible ideas, with an abundance of incredible places to see those creatives at their best.

Suffice to say, labelling NewDad among the finest in G-Town, to use the colloquial, could never be a spurious statement given their peers. Combining, at various points, elements of Goat Girl, The Cure, and Slowdive, while comparing easily to none of the above, they paint vivid pieces with gradually emerging powerhouse tracks disguised as intimate meditations on highly emotional formative experiences.

Review: What better way for The Stranglers to commemorate the sweet sixteenth of their 2006 return to form, Suite XVI, than with an anniversary edition. Following the departure of vocalist, Paul Roberts, the duties were split between guitarist Baz Warne and bassist Jean-Jacques Burnel, with the band continuing the journey back towards their post-punk heyday, all whilst maintaining the more expansive sonics garnered throughout their progression. Building on the melodious tendencies of its 2004 predecessor, Norfolk Coast, but with a measured focus to return to the energy of the early years, the effort has only aged gracefully over time, standing as a vital contribution to their latter day catalogue.

Review: Filth, flarn, filth, and not much else, is how self-professed Atlanta, Georgia based shock rockers, Nashville Pussy, would describe their cult classic debut full-length. 'Let Them Eat Pussy' combines the Americana blues rock of Ted Nugent and ZZ Top with crusty, punk n' roll grit and an abundance of drug, sex and barnyard brawl references. Edgier than a razor upon its initial 1998 release, the sleazy gem has only swelled in controversial praise in the decades since. Also, in the running for top five "where are they now" album cover adorners.

Review: Weird, enigmatic, and unarguably wonderful would be three ways to describe the names that have been brought together on this reissue of part of a compilation series that first landed on cassette via the VP231 imprint as the 1980s got into gear. A collector's item in the truest sense, Alternative Funk Vol.2 is a strange yet recognisable beast, with so much here being almost familiar but alien at the same time.

Over the course of the track list, then, you'll find proto-e-funk (Dee Nasty's 'Orientic Groove'), block party electro hip hop ('Asphalt Zombie' by Scoop!), broken, guitar-lick-heavy funk that's almost definitely been sampled for pop and house mash ups, only set to the vocals of a militant German sex droid ('Der Sound Kosten' by Melsjest), and spoken word poetry worthy of Hunter S. Thompson layered over driving breaks (Randall Kenney's 'Norma Jones'), alongside a host of even trippier, experimental and abstract stuff.

Review: The 60s Liverpudlian rock quartet are famed for their song '6 Day War', which has been sampled from the likes of DJ Shadow in Tokyo Drift and Pusha T on his album released earlier this year. This track is undoubtedly a classic, written in the aftermath of the ongoing Arab-Israeli war of 1967, '6 Day War' is one of the best anti-war tracks of all time. The slow jam-rock ballad comes from the band's album 'Oh What a Lovely War!' released in 1973 which has not been released in Britain until now, making this a landmark pressing. The record is a psychedelic soft-progressive rock LP with emphasis on heavy guitars like in 'Lay it Down' and even pulls from folk rock in 'Dirty Delilha Blues'. Colonel Bagshot were almost criminally overlooked, though their music seems to consistently stand the test of time and it's easy to hear why. The sound is quintessential Liverpool rock, even down to the naming conventions being evocative of The Beatles.

Review: Thrash metal "Big 4" alumni, Megadeth, make their much-anticipated return this year with, 'The Sick, The Dying & The Dead.' The sixteenth full-length from the speedy, war-obsessed titans marks their first album since 2016's, 'Dystopia', making it the longest gap between projects frontman Dave Mustaine has ever allowed to transpire. Featuring drummer Dirk Verbeuren making his debut with the group, as well as bass duties being handled by Steve Di Giorgio of Testament (following the controversial dismissal of long-time member David Ellefson), the progressive-metal leaning material has been poured over to an astute degree. With a seething, near-seven-minute epic, 'Night Stalkers', boasting an Ice-T collaboration (whose love for the metal scene appears to have been totally rekindled by his revival of Body Count), Mustaine and co seem utterly determined to make Megadeth's epic return as dynamic, diverse and memorable as possible. Strap in for an endless barrage of shredding riffage, complex solos, and of course, the signature snarl which their frontman has practically made an artform all on its own.

Review: If there's a list of bands to get - or be - excited about to hand, then add Dummy to it. The Los Angeles crew formed in late-2018, and had a solid run of things through to the great pandemic pause, and between then and now have evolved pretty quickly to get to where they are. All the trappings of a group deserving of cut status, although sadly perhaps not huge commercial success (then again, who is these days?), attempting to define their sound isn't easy.

As this vinyl-only outing proves. Comprising two EPs - logically entitled 'EP1' and 'EP2', both released in 2020 - this is very dense stuff indeed. Veering from the blissful, earthy ambience of 'Second Contact', to sci-fi synth refrains on 'Touch the Chimes', and Pixies-style garage rock chaos with 'Slacker Mask', we implore you not to pass these over.

Review: Folktronic singer-songwriter Beth Orton turns her focus inwards on her new album 'Weather Alive', manifesting a pathetically fallacious sound drawing on the natural environment and the use of a secondhand piano bought thriftily in Camden Market. Spring-boarding from the ambient, spoken word acoustic textures of her earlier projects, which used guitar and extensive production, this album is pure upright piano and voice. Just like Orton's righteous flight from London, this is cloud-floating music for nomads.