The best new albums this week

The weekly roll call of album honour

Ron Trent presents WARM – What Do The Stars Say To You (Late Night Tales)

Rom Trent has achieved much over his 32-year career – either as a solo artist, remixer or collaborator, most famously with Chez Damier, he’s been responsible for countless deep house classics – but he’s yet to deliver an album that fully showcases his skills as a producer and musician. His trademark sound, which has long prioritised rich chord progressions, immersive pads, hybrid electronic and acoustic percussion, and intricate instrumentation, feels tailor-made for the album format.

That’s not to say that he hasn’t released albums, or that those he has released weren’t very good. Far from it, in fact. His 1999 debut album on Peaceforg, Primitive Arts, provided subtle hints of what could come down the line, with spine-tingling club cuts such as ‘Morning Factory’, ‘Time’ and ‘I Feel The Rhythm’ rubbing shoulders with jazzy, atmospheric downtempo numbers and the deep dub flex of ‘Woman’.

Then there’s Trent’s 2008 set as Cinematic Travels, Ancient/Future. This further expanded his musical horizons and made far greater use of live instrumentation, with the set’s mixture of downtempo, nu-jazz and soft-focus deep house offering not so subtle nods towards some of his formative musical influences. It was, we have subsequently learned, his first attempt to develop an idea he’d had years earlier – 1992, in fact – to mirror the far-sighted, musically adventurous electronic/acoustic albums that were a feature of the early-to-mid 1980s.

Although a good album, Ancient/Future felt like a prelude to something much bigger, bolder and more musically refined. Fast forward 14 years, and Trent has returned to the same idea, only this time he’s developed it further and opted for a new project alias, WARM. By his own admission – as he discussed in a recent interview with Juno Daily – the WARM project was designed to be listened to from start to finish, in one sitting, and deliver the best possible sonic experience for home listeners.

What Do The Stars Say To You is undoubtedly an album with lofty ambitions. Trent wanted to make an album that was genuinely timeless, matched the quality of those he found in his dad’s record collection as a youth, and couldn’t easily sit in one restrictive genre box. Considered in these terms, Trent has achieved his aims and then some. Put simply, What Do The Stars Say To You is masterful album that deftly applies his now familiar aural trademarks to the world of horizontal, sofa-bound listening. Thrillingly, it also includes an extremely impressive cast list of guest musicians, whose contributions help lift the album to dizzying new heights.

For proof, check opener ‘Cool Water’, where German deep house legend Lars Barkthun and Azymuth drummer Ivan Conti make their presence felt on a bibrant sonic soup of laidback jazz-fusion beats, intergalactic electronics and glistening jazz guitars. Similarly impressive are the samba-soaked, percussively detailed future jazz-funk warmth of ‘Melt Into You’, featuring Azymuth bassist Alex Malheiros, the bubbly deep space soul of ‘Flowers’ (featuring vocalist Venecia) and the slow-burn, new age influenced deep bath of ‘Admira’, a sunrise-ready soundscape the benefits from the involvement of Italian ambient legend Gigi Masin.

These aren’t even the most eye-opening collaborations either. ‘Flos Potentia’, featuring Texan stars Khruangbin, may well be the set’s most surprising and inspired moment: an utterly beguiling, life-affirming affair in which sustained deep house piano motifs and trademark Trent electronics swirl around the band’s cosmic and psychedelic rock grooves. Yet there’s more surprises to come, too, with virtuoso violinist and leading early ‘80s electronic-acoustic fusionist Jean-Luc Ponty providing a star turn on ‘Sphere’. Ponty’s ‘In The Fast Lane’ has long been an inspiration for house and techno producers in Chicago and Detroit, and ‘Sphere’ sounds like Trent’s take on that – a grandiose, constantly evolving and mind-altering mix of rising and falling synthesizer lines, shuffling beats, effects-laden guitars and breathless solos from the French musical legend.

There are sublime solo moments too, so it’s by no means the guests that make the album such an invigorating and enjoyable listen. The star of the show is undoubtedly Ron Trent, who seems to have channelled everything he’s learned over the years into one astounding sonic statement. At last, he’s made the album his skills and talent suggested he was capable. It could be the start of a whole new chapter in his illustrious career.

MA

Various ‘Colleen Cosmo Murphy Presents Balearic Breakfast Volume 1’ (Heavenly)

If anyone ever happens to be tasked with tallying the ways that the esoteric dance community love and revere the irrepressible Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy, her new various artist compilation on Heavenly would be an eminently sensible place to commence to count. A longstanding jewel in the crown of the Balearic disco scene, Murphy has been conjuring dancefloor magic for decades. Having been schooled in the craft by the late, great David Mancuso, she’s continued to refine and enhance her musical affinity – via positively-charged DJ performances and gloriously curated radio shows – and remains a figurehead for lovers of deeply delicious sonic moves. Her Balearic Breakfast show helped keep listeners well-nourished and approximately sane throughout the perplexing epoch of the pandemic, and here she presents a snapshot of the much-loved show by way of 11 carefully selected and wonderfully varied cuts. As fans of the show will be unsurprised to learn, there isn’t a dull moment across the collection. In fact, it’s rather challenging to single out highlights since the quality threshold is set so very high.

Nevertheless, Majorca-based fusionist Joan Bibiloni’s enchanting ‘Sa Fosca’ is as good a place as any to start, embodying, as it does, the very essence of the Balearic mood. The FM marimba’s of Fragile’s ’80s-fuelled ‘We’ve Got Tonight, Boy’ provide another happy inclusion, as does the sorely missed Phil Asher rework of P’Taah’s ‘The Cosmic Law’, with its unmistakable London deep house bump. Cosmo’s sumptuous remix of Mildlife’s ‘Vapour’ brilliantly maintains the dancefloor intent, before the psychedelic stoner haze of ‘Velo’ from Friendly Fires & The Asphodells marks a guitar-laden detour. Peter Vriends rolling rework of Morenas’ ‘Hazme Sonar’ keeps the cosmic fire burning, while the soul-searing vocal of ‘Paths’ by Caoilfhionn Rose allows for some evocative introspection. I’ve breached my word limit now, so it’s best you just grab a copy, pop it on the platter, and dissolve into Balearic bliss, Cosmo style.

PC

µ-Ziq – Magic Pony Ride (Planet Mu)

Seems like you can’t keep Mike Paradinas down at the moment. Not that you’d want to on current form. This year was all supposed to be about the lead up to the 25th anniversary reissue of µ-Ziq’s 1997 breakthrough album, ‘Lunatic Harness’.

The ‘Goodbye’ EP was the first sign that the reissue wasn’t just going to be a stand-alone. Inspired by trawling the archives during the remastering process, Paradinas began to revisit that distinct 90s sound and upgraded what he was up to back then to serve up six new tracks. Here he’s at it again with his first new material for Planet Mu since 2013.

“‘Magic Pony Ride’ was written as a kind of follow-up to ‘Lunatic Harness’, at least in terms of genre and style,” he explains. “After remastering ‘Lunatic’ I went back to using breaks again on some newer tracks and this is the result.”

He got a taste for making new µ-Ziq music after a trip to Wales, which resulted in last year’s ‘Scurlage’ album on Analogical Force. The influence this time comes not only from ‘Lunatic’ but  from a weekend getaway that featured riding Icelandic horses across a snowy landscape at dawn. Yup.

It all starts as he means to go on with ‘Magic Pony Ride Pt 1’, its low-slung bass melody and bright plinks are classic µ-Ziq. ‘Uncle Daddy’ hammers home the point. The breaks build and build to full-blown kitchen sink proportions by the end. It’s ferocious, in a Paradinas kind of way. The delightful ‘Don’t Tell Me (It’s Ending)’, which is, surprise, the last track, is almost synthwave with its pulsating ‘A Real Hero’ bassline, twinkly keys, sweet vocal samples… but fret not, the blistering breaks aren’t far away. It is marvellous stuff.

There’s a couple of tracks here – ‘Picksing’ and ‘Elka’s Song’ – that feature his daughter’s sampled vocal, and ‘Galope’ is in memory of his father who died a few years ago. Family is to the fore as, while he is clearing looking backwards, he’s also well aware time is marching on.

I’ve seen criticism of this recent work along the lines of Paradinas has always been man of future sounds, with both his own music and his label, so what’s he doing getting all retro on our ass? Which is missing the point by some distance. This is an unabashed celebration of all things retro, brilliantly executed. You can only love this stuff.

NM 

The Smile – A Light for Attracting Attention (XL)
The three members of The Smile are working at the heights of their respective genres: Thom Yorke’s electronic solo work – most recently 2019’s Anima – has presented detailed analogue synth experimentation; drummer Tom Skinner has produced some terrific propulsive jazz with Sons of Kemet; and Jonny Greenwood has crafted some of the most exciting film scores of the past decade. With A Light for Attracting Attention, the three styles coexist in one album: Skinner’s rhythms add an Afrobeat-inspired danceability to Nigel Godrich’s textured production, while Greenwood’s compositions for larger ensembles sit beautifully next to Yorke’s characteristic falsetto. The result is a stylistically diverse record with a substantially more open feel than what we’ve come to expect from Radiohead.

The opener is a minimalistic slow-burn, incorporating the eerie synths found on Anima. Following on, “The Opposite” maintains the ghostly tone but superimposes it onto a funky guitar-driven cut. Here we encounter the rhythmic sensibility present in so much of Sons of Kemet’s work – the drums are accompanied by a melodic core that is equally percussive. The fiery punk of “You Will Never Work in Television Again” takes aim at predatory men in powerful roles. Yorke is refreshingly explosive, channelling a manic vocal delivery that has long been absent from his work.
The excellent horn-assisted “Pana-vision” provides space for Greenwood’s orchestration to take a prominent role while “The Smoke” returns to a funky, Afrobeat feel. Interestingly, drawing from such diverse genres never feels forced or half-hearted; the record somehow maintains a consistent, committed feel beneath the instrumentation. For some listeners, “Thin Thing” may buckle under the weight of its dizzying rhythms, but it’s a bustling, energetic track nonetheless.

Two affecting ballads follow, Yorke’s vocals sounding strikingly similar to Neil Young on “Free In The Knowledge”. With the exception of the Vangelis-esque synths of “Waving A White Flag”, the remaining four tracks return to the established tones of the record. The closer ends on a mournful note, the band leaving space for some beautiful reed instrumentation. In closing, A Light for Attracting Attention is a worthwhile addition to any Radiohead fan’s catalogue. The comparatively loose, exploratory sound makes for an accessible, stylistically diverse record that never fails to surprise.

NS

Aboutface – The water that glows like dancing glass cuts crimson (Coordinates)

Ben Kelley’s work as Aboutface has a conceptual, research-oriented rigour which puts the average flippant machine jammer to shame. As well as being an accomplished synthesist, multi-instrumentalist, producer and composer, Kelley approaches each project with acutely oriented purpose. 2019’s The fallen birch sings under a whisper explored the communication of funghi in response to the demolition of 74 trees in the Tidemill Gardens in Lewisham with a scientific, political and social incisiveness which articulated an urgent point in plain terms and created a beautiful audio-visual artwork in tandem.

Continuing his environmentally-conscious approach, Kelley presents an expansive work which responds to the threat caused by the melting of the polar cryosphere. More than just a rumination on distant concerns, Kelley embarked on a polar expedition with the Alfred Wegener Institute to make sound recordings which demonstrate the issue at hand. These have been interspersed with elaborate synth work, violin playing from Taro and recitation of dreams by Leyla Pillai.

Projects such as these are far greater than the individual listening experience – Kelley’s work drives at the issues around climate change with clarity and lucidity, and the paintings he creates to frame his releases are as accomplished as the casdades of arpeggios and pads he uses to shape his message. Tied in with conscious decisions around the availability of the digital release and where the record is pressed, it’s a wholly conscious approach to releasing music in the modern which presents a model many others would be wise to follow.

Beyond all that, this album bristles with the very vitality that inspires Kelley’s work. Far from ambient, these interwoven melodic patterns spring and weave like the symbiotic biosphere we exist in, and it’s hard to think of a more appropriately beautiful depiction of that idea than this album, despite the grim portent embedded in the project.

OW

The Utopia Strong – International Treasure (Rocket Recordings)

Album number two from Kavus Torabi, Mike York and Steve Davis. What? The snooker guy? Yup, that’s the him. His six world championship titles aside, Davis is well-known for his deep love of prog. He famously promoted UK shows for French loons Magma just so he could see them live. In dream-come-true world, The Utopia Strong are currently playing shows with Magma.

Anyway… Davis also happens to be a huge electronic music fan with a healthy obsession for modular synths. A chance meeting with like-minds Torabi (one-time member of Cardiacs and current Gong frontman) and York (Torabi bandmate over the years) and music was always going to be the result.

But while 2019’s self-titled debut was enjoyable, it was the sound of friends jamming and kind of felt like a collection of tracks. ‘International Treasure’ sees things move to a whole other level, a devil at the crossroads moment as their improvised sessions head deeper and further an anomalous sound world they seem to have created for themselves.

The delicate ambience of the opening duo of tracks – ‘Trident Of Fire’ and ‘Persephone Sleeps’ – gently guide us towards to ‘Shepherdess’, which really kicks proceedings up a gear as it blossoms over its seven minute. And yes, that is a guzheng, a Chinese plucked zither, if you you were wondering. It was introduced to proceedings by Torabi in a bid to push boundaries and keep comfort zones at arm’s length. Which also applies to York who has “an evolving array of pipes and wind instruments” (I swear there’s bagpipes on this record).

Starting with rainfall and distant thunder, ‘Disaster 2’, despite its title, feels almost hopeful, while in more sinister territory, the shivering keys and ominous sweeps and thrums of ‘Revelations’ kicks that hope out from beneath you. And then, right at the end, comes ‘Castalia’. My word. It has that feel-good vibe of The Beloved, with vocal sighs and a rippling bassline that has the same euphoric feel as Arcade Fire’s ‘Everything Now’. It’s a track you can already hear radiating out from Cafe Del Mar as the sun heads for the horizon. It is too good.

Andrew Weatherall described what The Utopia Strong do as “gnostic sonics”, which is high praise indeed. If only he could hear this. A magical mystical tour.

NM

They Might Be Giants – Join Us (Idlewild)
The absurdist humour, emotive introspection, and delightful chemistry of the two Johns, Flansburgh and Linnell, better known as They Might Be Giants, has been an audible delight to behold over the past near four decades, with barely a misstep ever taken.

Even look at last year’s phenomenal, ‘BOOK’, which delivered on the far too casual witticisms with a striking sense of vulnerability, ultimately leading to one of their finest efforts since 2013’s criminally underrated, ‘Nanobots.’

‘Join Us’ arrived two years prior in 2011 and was the duo’s first attempt at an “adult” album after delving into children’s entertainment on projects such as ‘Here Comes Science.’ Aiming to return to the home recording experiments of their earlier 80’s material, the writing process strived for the most “insane sounding” songs which they described as the sound of Spike Jones and Kraftwerk falling down a stairs in unison.

When assessing the most “mutant” tracks, as John Flansburgh put it, there was a sensible, cohesive batch to pull from the 30+ demo wreckage. The end result was a natural rediscovery of self with instant cult hits such as, ‘You Probably Get That A Lot’, and, ‘Judy Is Your Viet Nam’, slipping so naturally into their bevvy of bizarre-pop anthems.

Stranger, and more complex fare rears its head in typical, muted Giants fashion on the micro-ditty, ‘Old Pine Box’, whereas ‘When You Will Die’, bounces and juts with power-pop shimmer while subtly preventing the more cryptic, dark lyricism from accosting too much upon first listen. Instead, it uses its pop surroundings to crawl deep into the psyche and pepper its introspective, quirky musings for later subdued analyses.

Finally, back on vinyl after far too long a time in waxless limbo, this underappreciated latter day gem from one of the most unique duo’s to ever to do it, deserves attention and appreciation.

ZB

Kelly Lee Owens – LP.8 (Smalltown Supersound)

Kelly Lee Owens’ second album, ‘Inner Song’, was slated for release at almost the exact moment the world went into lockdown. Finally released in August 2020, it was a tour de force, a deeply personal record that delved into some difficult self-reflection. It was an album that chimed with so many people who connected with its message of hope as well as the genre-blending approach that saw a belting mix of fizzy electropop, vibrant techno and bright vocals. Rather unfairly, it didn’t really get the shot it deserved.

Now things seem to back on track, how do you follow such a complete, accomplished piece of work? With pandemic time on her hands, Owens channelled her creative energy into a new studio project that came with no preconceptions or expectations whatsoever. The result is ‘LP.8’, a release that is entirely not what anyone would expect.

For a change of scene Owens headed to Oslo hooking up with avant-noise producer Lasse Marhaug, whose work with Merzbow and Sunn O))) would seem like one heck of a curveball. Until that is you hear they “envisioned making music somewhere in between Throbbing Gristle and Enya”.

So you have tracks like ‘Anadlu’ (Welsh for “breath”), which has Owens’ sampled voice – just  the one word – over and over on deep swathes of rich ambient synth washes. Or there’s the twitchy ‘S.O (2)’ which where her vocal is used as an instrument rather than something that sings actual words. But there are actual words, like on ‘One’, the closest the record comes to a song, with a vocal sample peeling like a church bell while a sort of verse/chorus structure picks itself out over the top.

‘LP.8’ certainly brings the Enya and there’s a strange calm to their brand of industrial drones meets ethereal Celtic mysticism. There are moments – see closer ‘Sonic 8’ and its sinister “this is a wake-up call”/alarm clock rhythms – that’ll have you on the edge of your seat, but you can almost feel the peace and quiet of lockdown in it somehow.

An outlier in Owen’s body of work no doubt, but since when did we want our most creative artists to serve up more of the same. Excellent stuff.

NM

Spiritworld – Pagan Rhythms (Century Media)

Fusing elements of crusted country, gothic Americana and ferocious hardcore punk, Spiritworld conjure a Western, frontier aesthetic to their metallic cacophony in a very similar guise to Colorado blackened saddleriders, Wayfarer.

The one-man-band vision of Stu Folsom has built on numerous, progressing EPs exuding an earnest desire to craft something both all too familiar yet strikingly alien. On ‘Pagan Rhythms’, the full-length debut from the project, punk/emo veteran producer, Sam Pura (The Story So Far, Basement, SPICE), elevates and increases the malodorous nature of the work to staggering, near caustic degrees.

Far removed from the seminal 2018 EP, ‘Viper Blood’, these cuts are steeped in bloody, visceral aggression, encapsulating the ruthless era the sonics wish to reflect. Pura provides a raw, dry, desert plain of cavernous hollow as audible stage-dressing, replacing black metal’s usual frosted, Karpathian nuance with heat, sand and sorrow.

Where epic moments like the opening title-track bleed into more cut throat fare like the blistering, ‘The Bringer Of Light’, the deeper one dares to traverse, the more enveloping, frightening and ultimately rewarding the material becomes.

From the pummelling chaos of ‘Godless’ to the misplaced anguish of ‘Ritual Human Sacrifice’, Spiritworld have crafted an arresting, dynamic debut that plunders and steals from differing sources of extreme metal and punk in true outlaw fashion, taking what it needs and abandoning the rest. The experience is akin to watching a rider traverse through the valleys of plains on horseback, only decked out in corpse paint.

ZB

This week’s reviewers: Zach Buggy, Matt Anniss, Patrizio Cavaliere, Oli Warwick, Noah Sparkes