The sticker attached to the cover of this latest Black Keys album reads “Play it Loud”. This recommendation makes perfect sense from the onset of the lowdown, somewhat sleazy opening chords to Lonely Boy, an all-out rocker in the vein of that fantastic raunch from early 1970s Rolling Stones. That wobbly decade perfectly suits the funky, stripped back yet over the top vibes suffusing each hard hitting nugget on El Camino. Like on Gold on the Ceiling, where the enthused female chorus raises the earthy rhythmic stomp to the roof in the vein of Ziggy Stardust, Marc Bolan and all those rockin’ pre-disco glam tunes. It all works well, so when vocalist/guitarist Dan Auerbach is ready to “run right back to her”, he does so to fulfil a pressing physical need expressed by the music. I still find it fascinating that no-count ‘60s garage punk could exert a strong pull in early 21st century Ohio where the two-piece first hooked up to tap into a rock ‘n’ roll authenticity with little other than a guitar, basic drum kit and a primal desire coursing through the veins. When the band teamed up with esteemed producer Danger Mouse in 2005 the sound opened right up particularly on Brothers from 2010, but this didn’t necessarily mean a refined sensibility was on the cards. El Camino is a conscious step back into the garage, and reveals a positive direction in the eternal quest for an essential stripped down wail.
The opening tones of Something announce a pair of young musicians determined to mine 1980s synth and tone for all its worth. It sounds like music made for an Atari game. The forceful slap-beat synth instantly brings clunky consoles, Cyndi Lauper and Flock of Seagulls haircuts to mind. This basis is created by one half of Chairlift, Patrick Wimberly. His skill lies not just in mining this territory but in moulding new and infectious tunes over the raw bones. Where the ugly simplicity of 1980s pop music drills a hole in my head, using gentle tones and rippling keyboard tones Wimberly is able to give the music body without losing its drive. However, the thing tying it all together is the silken voice of Caroline Polachek. Great ‘80s divas were not just singers, they were curious women of personality. For all the clichés that have arisen, women like Lauper and Madonna were surprising, affronting women. Their voices belied insecurities, longings and great aspirations and Polachek is no different. In the positively gothic pop numbers Ghost Tonight and Cool As A Fire it is Polachek’s song to make or break and her ethereal, sweeping voice is like a cool breeze carrying autumn leaves. Her soaring chorus on I Belong In Your Arms is as anthemic a chorus as Madonna ever pumped out. There are only a couple of tracks that pushed too far for me. Otherwise, Chairlift’s mining has struck gold.
It’s not every day that you hear a black metal band who can flit between punchy guitar riffs and smoky jazz club lead trumpet breaks. But this is the unique selling point of Sear Bliss on their delightfully demented album Eternal Recurrence.
Maybe demented is a bit too harsh. Eclectic is probably a better description since Sear Bliss control each layer and change so precisely. Headed by bassist and lead vocalist András Nagy, they are capable of blasting tracks like The Eternal Quest and the more punishingly slow There’s No Shadow Without Light with its dreamy guitar riffs. The disorientating, otherworldly atmospherics on Great Cosmic Disorder rattle inside your brain before the superb creepshow riffs of A Lost Cause kick your grey matter further into submission.
Having a horn player will certainly make you stand out, but whether it works or not is another matter. Ballad Of The Shipwrecked is by far the best track on Eternal Recurrence, melding the different instruments – including perfect use of Balázs Bruszel’s trumpet – and Nagy’s raspy vocals into one sweeping example of intelligent and foresighted metal.
This is actually Sear Bliss’ seventh album and first album proper since The Arcane Odyssey in 2007. Pounding out their dark rhythms since 1993 the finest Hungarian export since the, er, Rubik’s Cube have been slowly refining their sound. The result is seven tracks of explosive, daring, heavy, black metal.
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This ‘chamber jazz’ release from an ACT duo is so cool it might be straight from the ice cube tray in your freezer. It’s a very intimate two person ‘jam’, matching the incredible piano of Luke Sweeting with Rachael Thoms’ haunting vocals. This disc, which pushes the boundaries on what jazz can be, is just one facet of the duo’s drive for new forms of musical expression. Both have their own sextets, while Luke also plays with the ANU All Stars, and Rachael also collaborates with international solo musos. The CD overture creates a sense of mystery and adventure, with sounds of falling rain and passing cars, before Rachael’s voice illuminates the night. Songs are structured to alternately highlight the vocals and the mesmerising keys. Not all tracks have lyrics, as some are just a medium for expressing the amazing talents of this duo, with the piano jousting with Rachael’s vocal gymnastics. The songs’ themes – ranging from a mother’s love to fear and loneliness – are expressed by both the inflections of her voice and the fingers of Sweeting, which make the piano keys speak. Highlights include the constantly evolving texture of the piano in Lonely People and Rachael’s kaleidoscopic scatting in The Great Unknown. This is floating music to take you up high to where the oxygen is rarefied.
Since he first emerged back in 2007, Glasgow-based electronic producer Rustie has experienced a spectacular ride in the ensuing years thanks to his stellar Play Doe collaboration with Joker and remixes for Kelis and Nicki Minaj. On the heels of last year’s Sunburst EP, this debut album Glass Swords sees Rustie pushing his productions to even more hyper-maximal levels, with everything from cocaine-fuelled ‘80s synth-pop to rave, slick commercial RnB, UK funky and dubstep figuring into the 13 tracks collected here. Sonically, it’s a monument to sheer excess, with every available inch of space covered with sheeny alien synths, cut-up vocals and rhythmic frills, making this one of those rare records that works just as well on a good pair of headphones as it does through a booming soundsystem. The opening title track tosses the listener straight down into this gleaming lush aesthetic, as ‘80s soft-rock guitar solos stretch out over a swelling backdrop of luminous synth trails and synth-vocal textures. Flash Back then kicks things straight down into elastic bass-synth grooves reminiscent of some fusion between Harold Faltermeyer and Daft Punk as bright synth solos pitchbend over airy synth ambience and snatches of autotuned vocals. First single Ultra Thizz meanwhile easily comes across as one of the most detail-packed tracks I’ve heard this year, threading queasy autotuned pop vocals through a colossal backdrop of juddering G-funk synths and snapping snare breaks that flirts with dubstep’s loping crawl. A strong debut album that’s been worth the wait.
Noah Taylor's up there with my fav Australian actors. I find his thin pallid face and occasional lisp alluring, and who can deny his outburst of sharehouse fury in ...Felafel is one of the funniest moments in Australian cinema. When I saw his name on the Homebake line-up in the guise of Noah Taylor & The Sloppy Boys I did, however, cringe a little; why’s he doing the actor-turned-singer thing? Turns out he’s actually been in various bands over the past few decades. This incarnation is the winner.So the story goes Noah was on hols in Sydney (he’s lived in England for the past ten years) when a friend’s recording studio (BJB no less) suddenly became available. He penned six tracks in a week and recorded them with musical mates Ed Clayton-Jones (The Wreckery) and Cec Condon (The Mess Hall) in 24 hours. The result? Well, in the words of Nick Cave, it’s “a flat-out, freaked out masterpiece.”The first time I spun Live Free Or Die!!! was on the Wednesday of our final working week of the year. By Friday it had bumped an unlucky contender and made it into my Top Ten. It’s become one of my favourite records of the year in the space of three days; such is the power of its ferocity and tenderness, salacious sentiments and crude humour, and unadulterated execution.Second track Fuck You, with its smashing cymbals and simple chords is the raunchiest, most honest confession of insatiability (“I wanna fuck you all night long / And all the next day too”) since QOTSA’s Make It Wit Chu. Holiday Sidewinder (what a name) from Bridezilla, who is Taylor’s goddaughter, lends her honeyed tones to Scary which really highlights Taylor’s lyrical genius: “I’m shittin’ my britches / And life is a bitch cos / I’m scared of falling in love”, while Dark and Lovely is as beautiful as it is menacing.Live Free Or Die!!! is raw rock ‘n’ roll. It’s also bratty, occasionally incomprehensible punk (said Cave of the opener and title track “it surpasses all understanding… it’s thrills and chills all the way”). And in its quieter moments it’s whispered post-coital poetry.It’s not often that a record can grab you by the hair and have its wicked way with you and become a true fav in a matter of days, but Live Free Or Die!!! has done exactly that.
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