Keeping these things up to date over the weekends is proving to be a little difficult due to other distractions – but as usual things have been piling up so this is by way of four days of ruminations.
Thea Gilmore appears to have a released a complete clone of “John Wesley Harding” last year which i’ve just got round to- never my favourite Dylan album (Blood on the Tracks in case you are interested) i’m not sure it works that well – seems to be more Springsteen than Dylan in its delivery. If you like that breathy folky stuff that appears to be all the vogue these days then no doubt you will have already acquired it and are enjoying, I’d much rather listen to ……
Kill Pretty who made available a Soundcloud stream of their Brixton Jamm gig here and rather fine it is too – looking forward to seeing them live this Thursday at the Kings Arms in sunny Salford. Sandells and Factory Star are also playing so it’s a bit a special night for me.
Death to the Strange also released some tracks from their long awaited album on Soundcloud here – not sure whether this will see the light of day due to line up changes but the material is excellent and demands attention.
Was pleasantly surprised by the airy art-pop sounds of Clinic who manage to combine a certain amount of scouse irony into their material. Just been perusing their 2010 album “Bubblegum” following a recommendation by a chum. I realise they have been around since 1997 but i’ve only just got to them.
The 25th anniversary re-release of The Residents “Heaven & Hell” as a two-CD set offers 44 tracks of the usual madness……only 300 made.
The posting of Womb’s track from a gig in London “My Meat Is Bigger Than Yours” gives the opportunity to more closely listen to what they are about. I guess this is improv in the traditional sense of the form with a mantra like attention to the soundscape and the ditching of conventional “rock” structures to create work in the spirit of say Faust, and to some degree Gong – without the pixies and the flying tea-pots mind you. I like the way the insistent rhythmic core created a sort of structure for the guitars and the voice to weave in and out of. Not sure it’s something I could play on the radio but I like listening to it.
Irvin Mayfields “A Love Letter to New Orleans” came out last year – his seventh album and the next one along from his last release in 2008 – a relaxed affair, it offers both the Basin Street side of the city, along with a cooler Afro-Cuban feel. Mayfield is a great trumpet player and he makes his way round some great latino rhythms.
Aural Delights 