Albums of 2016

It's time for the annual blog year-end wrap, and a list of 2016's best albums. Or in the case of the way we roll here at everythingsgonegreen, the "best" as in a list of the ten "most listened to" albums in my house this year. The only prerequisite for inclusion here is that I had to purchase a copy during the year. And, of course, I had to like it more than the other 100 or so new (or reissue) albums I picked up in 2016. Streaming doesn't count, and Spotify is dead to me - for OCD reasons that I may one day expand upon in a separate post.

10. The Leers - Are You Curious?

Yet another of the many great recent things to come out of Auckland's Red Bull Studios with Ben Lawson's name affixed to it, The Leers' debut album was a firm favourite across the first half of the year. Are You Curious? was an absorbing radio-ready blend of indie pop hooks and big slabs of bluesy psychedelia. My review can be found here.

9. Crystal Castles - Amnesty (I)

Evidently no longer the critical darling he was when Alice Glass was fronting his unique form of agit-electro-rave on three previous albums, Ethan Kath returned in 2016 alongside a new vocalist, with a new full-length work, and thankfully, more of the same. My review is here.

8. Radikal Guru - Dub Mentalist

Dub Mentalist arrived right at the end of the year so I didn't manage to get a full review up on the blog. But it was nonetheless impressive enough to get more than its share of pod time, and that's all that really matters in terms of where it ultimately stacks up. This is the third straight Radikal Guru album to make the blog's year-end list, so some context here might be that I’m a committed fan of the Polish dub fiend, and therefore, Dub Mentalist, by default, was always guaranteed more ear time. But it still had boxes to tick and expectations to meet, which it did with some aplomb, and Radikal Guru’s signature mix of the deep, the digital, and the rootsy, ensures Dub Mentalist rates just as highly as the other two albums. The tunes given the most room and space to breathe, sans vocalists, take on lives of their own, and those are my favourites here. But that doesn’t mean contributions by guest conspirators like Jay Spaker, Echo Ranks, Solo Banton, and Earl 16, don’t also have their place. This guy keeps on rolling out a wholly unique brand of extra-terrestrial dub at fairly regular intervals, but his genre of choice and area of expertise is so niche, nobody seems to notice.

7. Pacific Heights - The Stillness

Shapeshifter-come-electro-head-bobber Devin Abrams came up with something personal, intimate, and quite raw (in parts) with The Stillness, yet it was also polished, accessible, and everything a successful breakout solo album should be. During a year when local work blasted all preconceived limitations out of view, The Stillness could quite easily have placed much higher on this list. My review is here.

6. The Radio Dept - Running Out of Love

On the surface Running Out of Love appeals as a dose of saccharine Swedish indie pop. Scratch a little beneath that, however, and you’ll find something much darker buried deep within its slightly rotten core. My review is here.

5. Adrian Sherwood/Various - At The Controls Vol.2 1985-1990

This is another one of those pesky compilation albums that has no place on a list such as this (see unwritten blog rule 425, clause 1b). Well it would be, if it wasn’t an On-U Sound compilation, and a collection of prime On-U era archive material, mixed by label guru and occasional world leading mixologist Adrian Sherwood. In defiance of the rule, At The Controls v2, also topped one of the annual lists over at the obviously very learned website, The Quietus. Admittedly it was a list for rogue releases, oddities, and collections that don’t really fit in anywhere else. A little bit like Sherwood himself. My review is here.

4. Underworld - Barbara Barbara, We Face A Shining Future

Aside from the Radikal Guru album, Underworld’s awkwardly-titled BBWFASF (phew) was the only other entry in the ten that I failed to write a full review for during the year. But just like Radikal Guru, Underworld’s place on this list was practically assured as soon as the album arrived in my inbox. As an Underworld fan, I was always bound to give more time to BBWFASF than some others. I even thought their otherwise indifferently-received Barking album of 2010 was one of the best of its year. The thing that makes new Underworld material so hard to resist is the sense that they’re always a few steps ahead of the game, always state-of-the-art, despite massive changes in the rules over the course of the 25-odd years they’ve been doing their thing. And all - for the vast majority of those years - within that most fickle of flighty genres, dance music. In truth, it probably doesn’t hit the giddy or euphoric heights of their first couple of albums, and there’s no ‘Born Slippy’ or an epic ‘Rez’ to be found here, but the music of Underworld has evolved to occupy a different space these days, and there’s still a lot to love on BBWFASF.

3. Pitch Black - Filtered Senses

See all of the above. Add in a local context. Ahead of the rest, state-of-the-art, across 20 years. Etc. For me, one of the best Friday mornings of 2016 was the one when I skyped Paddy Free in New York, and he spoke of Pitch Black’s accomplishments and getting to do what he loves every day like it was the most natural thing in the world. Reviewed here for the blog and for NZ Musician magazine. 

2. David Bowie - Blackstar

Only David Bowie could pull this off. What better way to go out than to do so just two days after releasing an album that positively oozed all things life and death? Without giving us so much as a hint in advance. I’m still a little spooked by it. A massive loss, but he left us with an incredible legacy. My review is here.

1. Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool

I told anyone that would listen just how good this was. Every listen felt like it was turned up an extra notch. As Radiohead continue to astound and build on an already expansive discography, A Moon Shaped Pool is merely the latest flawless instalment. In reality, daylight was second. My review is here.

Five Honourable Mentions:

The Average Rap Band album, El Sol, very nearly pipped The Leers for a place in the final ten, falling just short in the end. It probably just needs to simmer through another summer.

I thought the Suede album, Night Thoughts, had a lot going for it, in a very insular and retro kind of way, but it also felt a little bit out of step with everything else going on in 2016. I remain a Suede devotee and completist.

The also no-longer-particularly-relevant Primal Scream released something close to an actual synthpop album in the form of Chaosmosis, which had a few cracker tunes on it. But the feeling I got listening to it, given the Scream’s cutting edge past, is that cliché commercial pop, in this instance, might just be the last bastion of the ultimate Nineties scoundrel. Bobby Gillespie has a lot to answer for, and that vocal is now more irritating than ever.

I know Warpaint’s Heads Up got a lot of love elsewhere, with good reason, and I did enjoy it, I just didn’t find myself wanting to go back for fourths, fifths, or a sixth listen. Even though I understand that’s probably exactly what I needed to do.

My guilty pleasure quota was sated by the music of Icelandic blues-rockers Kaleo, and their album A/B, which arrived somewhere out of left field and was an album I wouldn’t *normally* find myself listening to.

Some other end-of-year gongs (“the EGGs”):

EP or short album of the year was Yoko-Zuna’s Luminols, five quite diverse and distinct tunes, with the Tom Scott collab, ‘Orchard St’, going on to become a big pod favourite.

Reissue of the year was Jack White’s Acoustic Recordings 1998-2016, because I’m a big White fan, and cos I like the idea of putting some of this stuff together, where it wouldn’t ordinarily be automatically compatible by default. And because, if for no other reason, the stripped back bluegrass version of The Raconteurs’ ‘Top Yourself’ blows me away every time I hear it. White’s release was pushed closely by two deluxe/expanded releases: the 40^th anniversary issue of The Ramones’ 1976 debut, which became a triple disc featuring demos and live takes, and Pure McCartney, which was another scarcely needed yet still strangely compelling post-Beatles career overview from his nibs. There was also the small matter of Michael Jackson’s Off The Wall getting a deluxe makeover.

Freebie or exceptional name-your-price release of the year: as found on Bandcamp, toss a coin and choose between Adi Shankara’s dark and dense Structures, or the Auckland-based Peach Milk, with her delicious Finally EP.

The everythingsgonegreen gig of the year was Tami Neilson’s San Fran (Wellington) set from way back in March. Thoroughly polished and professional, great company, and a brilliant vibe on the night. 

More generally, 2016 was a year of relentless mourning for pop culture fiends. All of those barely anticipated deaths: from Bowie to Prince to Leonard Cohen to George Michael. And everyone else in between. Farewell to popular artists like Glenn Frey, Sharon Jones, Maurice White, and Pete Burns. To roots and country music stars like Leon Russell and Merle Haggard. To iconic producers like (Sir) George Martin and Prince Buster. To local (NZ) legends such as Ian Watkin, Ray Columbus, and Bunny Walters. To stars of the big and small screens - Gene Wilder, Debbie Reynolds, Carrie Fisher, Alan Rickman, Jean Alexander, and Caroline Aherne. Even beyond the world of music, film, and the arts, transgenerational global figures such as Muhammad Ali and Fidel Castro couldn’t survive the cull. Plus there will be many others of varying importance and influence to you personally (that I simply haven’t covered here). Bottom line: it’s been a rough year …

And while I’m sorely tempted to use the last paragraph of this post to launch into an opinionated rant about global politics - Aleppo, terrorism, the global refugee crisis, Brexit, Trump, and the rise of the xenophobic Right in general - I’ll spare you …

Be gone 2016 ... watch your arse on the way out.

Album Review: Average Rap Band - El Sol (2016)

I picked up my digital copy of the Average Rap Band debut album, El Sol, as long ago as April, but in typical lazy arse fashion, as a grumpy greybeard and confirmed hip hop sceptic (context is everything), I’ve waited until the year is all but over to share my thoughts about it.

Then again, if you're looking for timeliness and relevance, you'd hardly come to everythingsgonegreen for the good oil, would you?

I hope not ...

So anyway, the 11-track El Sol is the first upsized album release for ex @peaceniks Tom Scott and Lui Tuiasau, as the Average Rap Band. It’s a follow-up to last year’s well-received Stream of Nonsenseness EP, and as you’d expect from this pair, it’s yet another state-of-the-art benchmarking album for the local hip hop scene.

 

I don't think it's too much of a stretch to call this "local"? Even though Scott and Tuiasau are now based in Melbourne, and not Auckland, where they previously made a big noise as part of the critically acclaimed @peace, and prior to that, as part of the wider Home Brew crew.

Those former projects tagged Scott and Tuiasau as massively talented wordsmiths. Masters of rhyme, and students of flow, each man possessing an uncanny ability to turn even the most mundane routine observation into something resembling an existential vision. It isn't just about being clever and wordy, it's also about timing and having the delivery to ensure those words have maximum impact.

El Sol is packed full of such seemingly throwaway (but not really) moments, and the duo's attention to detail when it comes to straight up storytelling is a pivotal element here. As is the sense of place present in each tune - helped by a clear commitment to telling these tales in unashamedly authentic "Kiwi" accents, rather than falling into the common (and often cringeworthy) trap of seeking to imitate our American brethren.

Musically, it draws from a relatively broad base and these narratives are underpinned by a variety of funky beats - from 80s style Jam & Lewis-flecked slow-jams to replica G-Funk styles. Even where the subject matter veers toward the serious, the vibe underneath it all seldom deviates from summery and relaxed. It all tends to blend together seamlessly, and in production terms, nothing ever feels out of place or rushed.

Highlights include the sublime 'Pool Side' (a Tuiasau stand-out moment), the humorous 'Pizza Man', and the great-ball-in-the-sky worshipping title track.

Ps. All things considered, I guess that’s a favourable review for someone who struggles with post-1990 hip hop. But I also picked up new work from past heroes like De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, and Common, during 2016, and I struggled with each one of those albums. Yet, stuff like El Sol, plus new EPs from the home-schooled likes of Raiza Biza and Yoko-Zuna were impressive this year, and it’s clear, despite a sense of default cynicism, hip hop from this corner of the globe is currently flying a steep upward trajectory …

Album Review: Pitch Black - Filtered Senses (2016)

Here's my review of Pitch Black's Filtered Senses for NZ Musician magazine. I also interviewed Paddy Free for the mag and will link to that at a later date. What a great album this is ...

Filtered Senses is studio album number five for the pioneering flag bearers of Aotearoa’s rapidly evolving electronica scene, Pitch Black. It’s the duo’s first full-length release for nine years, made primarily by sending sound files back and forth across the globe while its protagonists got on with life in different parts of the world. Eventually Mike Hodgson (London) and Paddy Free (Piha, New York) got together to add the spit and polish final touches at Hodgson’s home studio, with the requisite trademark attention to detail which ensures the end product doesn’t disappoint. More than that, it works as a timely reminder of just how much Hodgson and Free still have to offer, and just how cutting edge the pair’s work has been across two full decades of working together. If anything, Filtered Senses takes things to a different level; while Pitch Black’s signature dubby dancefloor textures remain firmly intact, this feels somewhat darker and denser than anything they’ve done in the past. There’s a claustrophobic, paranoid, almost post-apocalyptic energy buried somewhere deep in this mix, and the 8-track album is all the better for the way it rather perfectly represents the worrying state of our planet as we approach the end of 2016. Looking forward to the remix version already – if we make it far, that is.

http://nzmusician.co.nz/music/pitch-black-filtered-senses/

Album Review: The Droids - The Droids (2016)

This expansive 22-track self-titled set from the husband and wife duo collectively known as The Droids is one of my most loved name-your-price Bandcamp downloads of 2016. Not to be confused with the hard rocking Las Vegas covers band of the same name, nor indeed, the Seventies French space rock freaks, these guys are DIY home studio merchants from North Carolina … and I’m not even sure we can accurately label this collection an official album. The Droids make a variation on post-punk, or alt-rock as it’s probably called in their neck of the woods, with duelling synths enjoying pride of place alongside fuzzy guitars, a big drum sound, and solid vocal chops from Mrs Droid, who occasionally prompts recall of a prime-period Beth Ditto. Some of it can get a little familiar or same-y across the entire set – particularly that vocal – and if that’s a criticism, it’s one that could easily have been resolved by a more ruthless culling of what they’ve put online. But then, I guess, we’d potentially get less bang for our invisible buck and it seems somewhat churlish to moan about something offered free of charge. There’s at least one extremely good album in amongst this very generous download package, with the most obvious highlights for me being ‘Runaway’, and the instrumental ‘Divide By Zero’ … check it out below:

Album Review: Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool (2016)

I’m a little late getting this review over the line, but feel I need to post it now regardless, before the end of 2016, while the album still has some semblance of currency or relevance, at least …

It's coming up for nearly 20 years since Radiohead released its masterpiece*, OK Computer. Which means that for the best part of two decades the band has been continuously striving to match or better that landmark work. Not to reproduce or replicate the formula, but to expand or develop upon it. The result of that quest for long-form excellence has been a series of albums ranging from the good, to the great, to the quite magical. A Moon Shaped Pool is merely the latest instalment in that remarkable flop-free run.

In some respects, along the way, Radiohead has become post-millennium rock’s equivalent of what Pink Floyd was to Seventies rock – a genuine master of the album art form. During a period when that art form has been slowing dying. Or so we’ve been told.

And of course, just like Floyd, a large degree of innovation is right at the very heart of everything Radiohead does – whether it comes to embracing new production values, breaking down genre prejudices, mixing up release formats, or in the case of A Moon Shaped Pool, releasing the album on the back of zero pre-release publicity or hype. Radiohead just like to do things a little differently.

With a few other projects on the go (solo albums, Atoms for Peace) there was a school of thought that Thom Yorke may be, in a creative sense at least, in danger of spreading himself too thinly. The same might be said for guitarist Jonny Greenwood (film scores and other composition work), or indeed, producer Nigel Godrich (various, also Atoms for Peace), but on the evidence offered here, we need not be concerned with such folly. Radiohead is back, and clearly, all component parts are fully engaged.

In fact, I’ll go further: Radiohead, as a unit, is better than it has been for a long time. Each time I play A Moon Shaped Pool, everything else I've been listening to immediately pales into insignificance. It feels like the album is a cut above everything else out there at the moment. It’s a bit like that mythical "next level" status so loved by those of us who like to deal in hyperbole.

Next level, progressive, moving forward, and yet still able to draw upon many of the best features of the band’s past output. So we get the beautifully crafted symphonic rock (‘The Numbers’), the darker, dense, flashes of paranoia (‘Ful Stop’), and the softer, more melancholic acoustic moments (‘Desert Island Disk’). There’s strings, glitchy electronica, dreamy prog flourishes, and rather more straightforward or orthodox pop elements. And if there’s an album this year with a better one-two knockout opening combo of tracks – ‘Burn The Witch’ and ‘Daydreaming’ – then I certainly haven’t heard it.

A Moon Shaped Pool clocks in at a perfectly manageable 52 minutes (11 tracks), and where I might once have enjoyed the band’s music in much shorter doses, there’s not a single moment on this album where I feel bored or disengaged – it’s utterly captivating from start to finish. Even my long-suffering partner – a Radiohead sceptic, if ever there was one – owned up to (unexpectedly) enjoying this album. There can be no higher praise that that.

* Many will argue The Bends, or Kid A, might be a better fit for this description, but I’d argue more vociferously on behalf of OK Computer, as that album specifically marked the moment when pretty much the whole world – give or take a few naysayers in remote Amazonian blackspots – woke up and took note of the band’s existence.

Album Review: Pacific Heights - The Stillness (2016)

Quite a few years ago, nearly a decade ago, I suppose, I heard a great track on one of those fabulous post-millennium Loop (label) compilation CDs. I can’t be sure of its title, but I can recall that the tune in question was an impressive slice of soulful electronica by an artist called Pacific Heights. I was told it was local. "Local" as in New Zealand-made, but I knew nothing of Pacific Heights, and could scarcely believe an artist this good, one from my own neighbourhood, no less, had somehow passed me by completely. Then ... tumbleweed, zilch, nada … I heard nothing more from Pacific Heights.

Until earlier this year, that is, when Pacific Heights appeared back on my radar with a brand new album called The Stillness, an equally remarkable full-length offering which has subsequently gone on to become one of my most-listened-to albums of 2016.

Had I known back in the day that Pacific Heights was the solo guise for foundation Shapeshifter and fellow Wellingtonian Devin Abrams, it would all have made so much more sense. The long sabbatical between releases being a result of Abrams’ commitment to making music with Shapeshifter, which is, of course, a veritable giant within Aotearoa’s (admittedly niche) drum’n bass scene.

I note that The Stillness is touted in some places as being a debut album, yet according to the usually-reliable Discogs, it may in fact be the fifth Pacific Heights album, if you include the 2004 “mix” CD, Borne Together, and the rarely sighted self-titled six-track mini-album of 2002. The point, I guess, is that Abrams has been around the traps for quite a while, and it might just be that The Stillness represents something of a belated coming of age for its multi-talented key protagonist. Certainly from a “solo” perspective, at least.

I say “solo”, but Abrams is the beneficiary of a little help from his friends on this release, and the album features collaborative efforts with the likes of Deanne Krieg (on three tracks), Shaan Singh (of Drax Project), Jen Turner, and Louis Baker, all serious talents in their own right.

Naturally, production comes courtesy of Abrams himself, and it is immaculate all the way through. There’s a sense that Abrams is able to craft the absolute best out of each track – most of them being a variation on soulful (if occasionally dark) electronic forms – simply because he wrote the material. There’s a certain intimacy and lightness of touch evident for the duration, whether it be his careful use of percussion, soft keys, or even the odd, slightly new-age-centric sample.

This has appealed (so far) mostly as a winter album – if there is such a thing – so it’ll be interesting to see how it fares (at the everythingsgonegreen mansion, at least) during the long hazy days of summer ahead. Whatever else happens, you can stick your mortgage on this one making the shortlist for the (highly coveted!) everythingsgonegreen New Zealand album of the year …

Highlights include the Shaan Singh collab, 'So Love', the sublime Jen Turner track, 'Drained', plus Louis Baker's contribution on 'Buried By The Burden'. All of that said, the video clip for 'Breath and Bone', featuring Deanne Krieg, is also rather terrific (see below) ...

 

Album Review: Miloux - EP 1 (2016)

Miloux is classically trained Auckland-based artist Rebecca Melrose, and EP 1 is a well-received Ben Lawson-produced debut, released back in April of this year. Tracks like ‘Pocket’ and ‘Beaches’ (there’s two versions here) have subsequently benefitted from a good amount of airtime on radio and exposure on various social media platforms. Those tracks, along with the three remaining tunes on the EP, serve to highlight exactly what Miloux is able to bring to the table – lovely vocals, rich in variety and texture, set against a light electronic backdrop, to create an absorbing blend of easily digestible synthpop. But it’s also more than just straightforward pop – this isn’t really about hooks; there’s an element of subtle experimentation lurking just beneath the surface, a chilly ambience, perhaps even a sense of unease, or a darkness that isn’t always immediately obvious. As debut releases go, this one is full of depth and promise.
 
You can buy (it is “name your price”) or stream the EP on Bandcamp below, and check out the Remixes release which followed in August.

Album Review: Snake Salvador - All-Star Resort (2016)

If you thought the sub-genre of trip hop was long since dead and buried, or that it never really existed in any local context, then you clearly haven’t heard the work of Auckland-based duo Darryl Hocking and Kevin Tutt, who collectively make music under the guise of Snake Salvador. Released on their own Punchywah Records label, All-Star Resort is the act’s third full-length release, with 10 breezy dancefloor-geared grooves clocking in at just a few ticks over 40 minutes. And while much of that Café del Mar-driven chill-out scene lost favour with the wider masses the best part of two decades ago, Snake Salvador expand on that early template to bring things right back up to date. So much so, it feels a little awkward even attempting to stick any sort of label on some of this stuff, with highlight tracks like ‘Come Follow Me’ veering towards unashamed nu disco, and the likes of the closer, ‘All You People’, being far too up-tempo to be tarred by any downbeat brush. So perhaps it’s best if we simply cast all of these pesky prejudices aside, and call All-Star Resort a twilight album, something close to an ideal appendage for those long summer evenings hanging out on the back deck with the cool kids. At least you’ll know where to find us.

This review originally appeared on the NZ Musician Website:

http://www.nzmusician.com/2016/10/26/snake-salvador-all-star-resort/

Album Review: Disjecta Membra - The Infancy Gospels EP (2016)

I’m a little reluctant to call it goth, or even stick the ubiquitous “deathrock” tag on it, because neither of those labels do the music of Disjecta Membra any justice whatsoever. In fact, the sounds found on the band’s latest release, a five track EP called The Infancy Gospels, suggest that the Wellington-based masters of the dark arts are keen to expand the band’s palette, and this EP appears to represent a genuine cross-pollination of ideas and genres.

Yes, things remain at the darker end of the spectrum, and sure, there’s the requisite quota of drama for full effect, but each of the five tracks on The Infancy Gospels offer something a little different, and the EP is all the better for the diversity on show.

Last year’s collaboration with Rob Thorne, the incredibly powerful ‘Whakataurangi Ake’, which was released as a single, benefits from another outing to open proceedings in dramatic fashion. Only this time we get an alternative mix, which is exclusive to the EP. It really is a quite extraordinary piece, combining traditional Maori elements (instrumentation and Te Reo), with cold electronics, and state-of-the-art production which showcases vocalist (and band founder) Michel Rowland’s voice in a wholly unique and rather special way.

That track morphs straight into the EP’s title track, which turns out to be a heavy slab of sludgy blues rock dressed entirely in black threads. In contrast to the spiritual beauty of the opener, this one rolls along quite menacingly, while unrepentantly mining all manner of feedback and riffage from a bygone era. It’s a veritable monster of a tune.

If that’s a throwback, or a nod to the classic rock strains of a distant past, then the next track, ‘Lititu’, brings us forward at least a decade to the Eighties, and the spiky angular guitar-driven textures of what we might otherwise call post-punk. This is probably the most generic “darkwave/goth” track on the EP, or at the very least it’s the tune that most obviously wears its influences on its sleeve. But then who doesn’t love a little taste of Peter Murphy and/or Bauhaus on a dark winter’s night? … and that’s exactly where this one takes me.

Up next is the almost unclassifiable ‘Cernunnos’, which I think, three or four listens into it, is probably my favourite track on the EP. Not least because of its mix of styles, a wider ambiguity, and another great vocal take by Rowland. ‘Cernunnos’ mixes both acoustic and electric flavours to give us an intriguing blend of folk rock and Celtic strands, with a little bit of western – without the country baggage – thrown in for good measure. After belatedly consulting Mr Google, I’m informed that Cernunnos is the (horned) Celtic God of fertility, life, animals, wealth, and the underworld. But you already knew that, right?

Regular followers of Disjecta Membra will probably be familiar with the EP closer, ‘Madeleine! Madelaine!’, but on this occasion the slightly dated synthpop-flecked tune is the beneficiary of a new vocal mix which hadn’t previously seen the light of day. This track is the closest we come to a “pop” tune on the EP, and it works as an ideal closer to what is otherwise an incredibly eclectic set of songs.

For those who aren’t regular followers, or overly familiar with the music of Disjecta Membra, The Infancy Gospels EP appeals as an ideal place to start. The band has been at the forefront of Aotearoa’s “deathrock” scene (for all that I have issues with that description) since 1993, with Michel Rowland being the mainstay of its many different line-ups across the years. The version of the band featuring on The Infancy Gospels EP includes Rowland, Kane Davey, Matthew Tamati Scott, and Isobel Joy Te Aho-White. With a deft production hand coming courtesy of Bryan Tabuteau.

Check the Bandcamp link (below) for presales (the official release date is 17 November 2016) and purchase online, bearing in mind that the physical CD version of the album is limited to just 100 individually numbered copies, so you may need to be quick. While you’re there, I can recommend the 1997 (reissued 2008) album Achromaticia, and I’m also a bit of a fan of last year’s Death By Discotheque Remixes EP.


 

Album Review: The Radio Dept. - Running Out of Love (2016)

One of the first posts on this blog, dating back to March 2011, was a review for an album called Clinging To A Scheme by Swedish indie pop merchants The Radio Dept. I wound up loving that album, and I wanted to let the world know a little bit about it. Of course, at that time, everythingsgonegreen’s “world” or readership consisted of myself and very occasionally, my Mum, so letting “the world know about it” is a very subjective way of putting it. The blog’s readership has at least doubled since then to now include extended family members and the odd (very odd) stalker. But the point remains – Clinging To A Scheme was one of my most loved albums of that time, and it probably rivalled The National’s High Violet as my favourite release of 2010, even if not very many people seemed to be aware of it.

Fast forward a handful of years and it’s been a long time between albums for The Radio Dept., but they’re back in 2016 with another quite beautifully crafted full-length work called Running Out of Love, the band’s fourth album overall, and quite possibly one of the best “contractual obligation” albums ever made. You see, one of the reasons for the long break between albums, has been the band’s protracted, ultimately unsuccessful, legal dispute with its label, Labrador Records. From all accounts, this work will be the final release on Labrador for The Radio Dept.

But they got there in the end, and if there was a sunnier disposition and hints at a wider optimism on past releases, then Running Out of Love has a degree of sadness and weary resignation about it. This album is essentially a bittersweet, outwardly bright, inwardly morbid, set of tunes that deal with much darker subject matter this time out – from global politics and the arms trade, to societal violence, racism, and other not so joyous developments rather reflecting the present age of mankind – see the complete folly and real horror of the seemingly endless current US presidential campaign(s) for any proof, if it was needed, that things are taking a (right) turn for the worse, or even entering the realm of the utterly surreal on a global level.

Yet somehow The Radio Dept. manage to dress up these otherwise ominous looking clouds with a distinctly silver lining – the message is stark and worrying, but the delivery hints at a certain level of discretionary or voluntary denial. In other words: sure, this is serious stuff, but hey, let’s just dance like it’s 1990 again, and to hell with any of the rest of it. And while the band retain all of the key elements of prototype indie pop – jangly guitars, a hushed shoegaze-type approach to vocals, and dreamy synth-pop textures – there’s also a massive nod to the all pervasive influence of disco, house, and Detroit techno on some of these tracks. In fact, one key tune on the album, ‘We Got Game’, blatantly apes the inescapable dancefloor rhythms of Inner City’s ‘Good Life’, without so much as a hint of shame, nor irony. Well, okay, perhaps there’s a touch of irony there, but The Radio Dept. are fairly nonchalant and carefree about it all.

Whatever else there is, there’s a genuine depth to Running Out of Love which is almost impossible to ignore. It makes me want to dance a little, to slide/glide around the kitchen in nothing but my socks, even, but all the way through I find myself listening for those portentous little signs, the important bits which inform me that all is not as it seems. That all is not as it should be. Not as it once was. I want to tune into these lyrics, to remember them, to lock them away in a corner of my mind so that when the apocalypse does finally arrive, I can’t say I wasn’t warned …

Highlights include: ‘Swedish Guns’, ‘We Got Game’, ‘Occupied’, the title track, and the closer, ‘Teach Me To Forget’ …

But enough from me, here’s what the band itself had to say about the album upon its completion:

"We have just finished our 4th full-length album, Running Out of Love. An album about life in Sweden in 2016 and how our society seems to be in regression on so many levels. Politically, intellectually, morally...It’s an album about all the things that are moving in the wrong direction. It’s about the impatience that turns into anger, hate and ultimately withdrawal and apathy when love for the world and our existence begins to falter.

"For the third time in a row we have made two albums instead of one. After constant touring for a couple of years after our latest release, Clinging to a Scheme, we started writing and recording an album that we later decided to scrap. As some of you might be aware, we have been caught up in a lengthy legal battle with our record label and publisher. We took a pause from releasing singles and EP’s and instead spent our time hanging out with friends, working odd jobs and just loafing around. Ultimately we lost the court case but still managed to reach an agreement with the record company that gave us the motivation to create music again.

 

"In the summer of 2014, ideas and a concept for Running Out of Love started to come together and the single “Death to Fascism”, now too old to be included, was the first effort towards the new album. Later, more new songs started to appear. The court case is taken care of in “Occupied”, the Swedish weapon and arms industry in “Swedish Guns” and “We Got Game” is about the proud police tradition of protecting nazis and racists, whilst at the same time using brutal violence against opposing groups of protesters.

 

"Running Out of Love has moulded itself into a rather dystopian album, mainly because it was created in a sense of deep frustration over the reactionary currents which characterize our time."

 

Here’s ‘Running Out of Love’ …

 

 

Album Review: Various - Two Tongues (2016)

As published in the August/September edition of NZ Musician magazine. 

Things don't get much more regional and grassroots than this ... and the album was all the better for that. One of a kind:

This 16-track compilation album of music from Whanganui provides a snapshot of some of that region’s creative talent, as produced and curated by local AV production guru Sacha Keating of Te Aio Productions. Part funded by the Whanganui District Creative Communities Scheme and limited to a CD run of just 150 copies, it reflects Whanganui’s rich multi-culturalism, with a blend of styles and hybrid influences present across the album’s hour-long duration. There’s naturally a heavy emphasis on local history and Maoritanga – with both Rihi’s 'He Pai Noa' and MoKu Whanau’s 'Whanau Ora' sung entirely in Te Reo Maori – and also a strong roots reggae and hip hop presence throughout. With helpings of old fashioned funk and soulful harmonies from Keating’s own group RedBack Villain, and even some orthodox rock from Wicca Bees, some of this material starts to feel almost borderless. Sure, it’s a celebration of language and all things Whanganui first and foremost, but right at its core, the album’s wider themes of identity, empowerment, unity and whanau are wholly universal. It’s a positive message from a community that hasn’t had its problems to seek in recent years, and it comes packaged in some great – and suitably challenging – cover photography from local artist Tia Ranginui.

Album Review: Crystal Castles - Amnesty (I) (2016)

With the departure of vocalist Alice Glass two years ago, there were serious concerns about what her absence would mean for Crystal Castles. And more generally, somewhat less amicably, quite a lot of debate around the true extent of her contribution to the duo's work across three albums.

Let me deal with that bit first: Ethan Kath is the brains behind the project - and it's essentially his beast to do whatever he wants with - but there's no question he'll miss the raw energy and pure anarchy of Alice Glass when it comes to a live setting. A more extraordinary front-person or on-stage presence he'd be hard pressed to find.

That part is true, but on the evidence of the just released album number four, Amnesty (I) - the first post-Glass outing - the music of Crystal Castles has lost none of its studio clout, and new vocalist Edith Frances is a more than adequate replacement. Even if the jury will remain out on the live show for the time being.

And so while Amnesty (I) essentially represents a new phase for Crystal Castles, it's business as usual in terms of Kath's approach, and it's his production genius that dominates the latest work in the same way it did all previous full-length offerings. That means an updated variation on the warped synthpop that Kath specialises in, multiple rave-style loops, and more trademark layers of distorted and chopped vocal FX. Most of all, Amnesty (I) maintains the prevailing sense of organised chaos and melodrama we saw across the three previous Crystal Castles albums. I personally find it a thoroughly intoxicating formula, and already this album has enjoyed high rote on my pod.


If there's a criticism, it's exactly that. It’s that we’ve been here before - three times - and the onus may have been on Kath to take more risks this time out. To perhaps offer up something quite different. Amnesty (I) is unlikely to win any new followers, but it'll certainly keep existing fans happy - reassured as they'll undoubtedly be that, Alice or no Alice, Crystal Castles is still very much a going concern.

Highlights include 'Fleece', 'Char' - probably the most mainstream radio friendly tune Kath has ever made, 'Frail', and the closer, 'Their Kindness Is Charade' (clip below).

 

 

 

Album Review: The Beths - Warm Blood (EP, 2016)

The Beths are a small part of a much greater Auckland-based collective whole, a group of musical projects that include the likes of Sal Valentine & The Babyshakes and others. Long-time friends Elizabeth Stokes, Jonathan Pearce, Benjamin Sinclair and Ivan Luketina-Johnston seem intent on using this project to revive and celebrate the increasingly lost art of high energy guitar pop. Starting with the bouncy ‘Whatever’, which combines hooks, crooks and guitar solos, Warm Blood is a whirlwind 19-minute blast across five high tempo tracks. Each pays homage to a bygone era in one form or another, and all contain a distinctly retro post-punk fraying around the edges. Pearce recorded, mixed and mastered the EP, and while for the most part Stokes is the lead vocalist, the band embrace girl/boy vocal exchanges and clever harmonies, and use catchy backing vocals to provide genuine Beths’ signature moments. Stokes also wrote the majority of the material for Warm Blood, the only exception being Luketina-Johnston’s ‘Rush Hour 3’, which perhaps owes the biggest debt of all to the retro styles of the ’60s beat groups a lot of this music recreates.

This review originally appeared in the August/September 2016 edition of NZ Musician Magazine:

http://www.nzmusician.com/2016/09/13/beths-warm-blood-ep/

You can purchase the EP on Bandcamp, here:

https://thebeths.bandcamp.com/album/warm-blood

Here's 'Whatever' ...

 

 

Album Review: Oyawa - Won't Even Try To Scale It (2016)

This is one of three reviews submitted to NZ Musician for the most recent issue. The other two made it into the print edition, this one got some online coverage ...

Recorded and produced at Blackdoor Studios in Auckland across the second half of 2015, ‘Won't Even Try To Scale It’ is the latest EP from the Waiheke Island-based three-piece Oyawa. Checking in at just under half an hour, the EP amounts to six tracks of varying degrees of heaviness, headlined by the popular student radio favourite ‘Heads On Fire’. These tunes are not so much outright heavy, as they are merely weighty, and the band’s careful use of the art of repetition tends to create a sort of dark brooding intensity throughout. There’s an underlying anxiety, a sense of impending doom perhaps, without the music ever really breaking out into anything resembling unashamed card-carrying hard rock. Part of the reason for that is the occasionally menacing vocal stylings of lead singer Nikki Ngatai (who also plays guitar), as she squeezes every last smidgen of meaning out of a set of lyrics that frequently stare into a rather shadowy abyss. The rhythm pairing of Brett Garrity (bass) and Miles Gillett (drums) complement this voice-as-main-weapon approach perfectly, giving Ngatai’s upfront personality enough room to flourish in its own right. A second guitarist, Willem van der Plas, joins the band for a couple of tracks without radically altering a formula that clearly works, and on this evidence, we certainly won’t have seen or heard the last of Oyawa.

Here’s the slightly edited version as published on the NZ Musician website:

http://www.nzmusician.com/2016/08/28/oyawa-wont-even-try-scale-ep/

And here’s a link to the Oyawa Bandcamp page, where you can purchase the EP:

https://oyawa.bandcamp.com/album/wont-even-try-to-scale-it

And here’s ‘Heads On Fire’ …

 

 

 

Album Review: Lucid Hiest - Absence In Motion (2016)

This was another review for the Fresh Cuts section of the latest issue of NZ Musician magazine:

http://www.nzmusician.com/2016/07/30/lucid-hiest-absence-motion/

(With this one I initially had OCD/spelling nazi issues with what I (wrongly) assumed was an incorrect spelling of the word Hiest (sic), and I also struggled with a few swearies on the album itself. Then I realised that Lucid Hiest couldn't care less about what the likes of me think, and it's exactly that attitude that makes the album the unique and special thing it is ...)

Self-proclaimed “East Coast rebel” Isiah Ngawaka knows a fair bit about life’s struggles. On Absence In Motion, wearing his Lucid Hiest moniker, Ngawaka gets to share a few of his stories, with a further promise that he’s really only just getting started. And when a young artist with this much talent starts out with roughly 50 tracks, whittling them down to an album-sized baker’s dozen becomes an exercise in continually raising the level on the quality control filter. The end result is a quite startling home-produced album which blends a distinctly local hip hop vibe with world-class drum’n bass flavours. Throw in sub-rattling slabs of heavyweight bass, a sack full of sticky dub, some smooth RnB vocal harmonies, plus the occasional post-apocalyptic sci fi sample, and Lucid Hiest covers off all of the bases within the gamut of this wider thing called ‘urban’. Themes include growing up in small-town Aotearoa, nights out, racism, and survival – within the music industry and with daily life itself. As fiercely independent as he undoubtedly is, Lucid Hiest gets some help along the way, mostly with vocals, but also from ace brass man Matt Mear, whose subtle instrumentation is one of the best features on an album rich in atmosphere. Something which is perhaps best emphasised on the outstanding ‘Pushing Through’. The explicit nature of some of the lyrics won’t appeal to all, but thankfully Ngawaka isn’t in this game to tread carefully on the delicate sensibilities of anyone not inhabiting his world. Lucid Hiest is all about creating four to five-minute bursts of gritty realism; these are his stories, honest and raw snapshots of his world, nobody else can tell him how to frame them. Bring on chapter two.

Album Review: Shades - For The Sake Of Experimentation (2016)

Released a month ago as a name-your-price deal on Bandcamp, For The Sake Of Experimentation is a six-track EP from a duo called Shades. Not to be confused with the Melbourne-based artist of the same name, these guys, according to their brief and rather modest bio on Bandcamp, are “two dudes from New Zealand”. As self-produced self-released debut EP’s go, this one is exceptionally polished, and I'm a little surprised it hasn’t yet gained a little more commercial traction. Then again, Gavin Woodward and Nick Wrathall, who work out of Auckland and Wellington respectively, are only just starting out, and their beautifully crafted intoxicating blend of dreamy pop hasn't yet caught the ear of the wider public. Brief excursions into the realm of hip hop aside, there's something distinctly "yacht rock" about these tunes, and with its breezy production sheen, the EP appeals as something of a throwback to a bygone era of plush radio-friendly pop. There’s four songs on For The Sake Of Experimentation, but actually six tracks, with ‘Soundless Speed’ working as a short intro at just over a minute long, and we get two versions of a tune called ‘Shapeless’, with a rework by Yume acting as the EP closer. I’m a bit reluctant to single out highlights, but both ‘Slow Down’ and ‘Summer Spent’ probably fit the bill. Stream or download from the link below, or check out the same work on the Shades Soundcloud page …

Album Review: Shady Brain Farm - Feather In A Fire (2016)

This review was originally written for publication in the Fresh Cuts section of the June/July 2016 edition of NZ Musician magazine …

http://www.nzmusician.com/2016/07/14/shady-brain-farm-feather-fire/

First things first, the CD packaging for Feather In A Fire, the latest release for the ominously named Shady Brain Farm, is truly impressive. Not only in its cover design, which is an unusual concoction of acid-tinged pop art and freaky monster imagery, but also in a wider sense, with a double-sided band poster inlay adding an immediate connection with our subjects. The Auckland three-piece’s music is less easy to categorise, with the 12-track album throwing up a genuine hybrid of styles and influences – from ska and cod reggae, to power pop, to what can only be described as some form of arty psychedelic surf rock. And often, it feels like the flit between genres is only the clever flick of an FX pedal away for guitarist and vocalist Ben Furniss. Yet it’s likely this artistic ambiguity is a deliberate ploy, a firm if unspoken modus operandi, and if variety really is the spice of this thing called life, then here is a colourful upsized carton of tasty soul food. It’s that freedom from any stylistic prejudice, and the refusal to be easily labelled, which is perhaps the album’s biggest strength.

Album Review: Broods - Conscious (2016)

Nah, I'm not sure why I've got this one either. Apart from it being another local release I couldn't let slip past. Which is kind of silly, because I didn't really expect to enjoy it. Let's call it an OCD thing and move on. I'm not really the target demographic for Broods, and I'm pretty sure Broods' music has a pretty specific target demographic.

So I'll try to be brief: this is a distinctly 2016 brand of synthpop, full of soft emo-tugging hooks and similarly persuasive production tricks. Cutesy colour-by-numbers electronic pop, immaculately produced - naturally - by Lorde collaborator Joel Little.

It isn't that siblings Georgia and Caleb Nott aren't talented, or not very good at what they do, because they are. It's just that the music they make doesn't really speak to me on any level other than a very superficial one.

Which in itself isn't always an issue either. I actually quite like similarly teen-geared stuff from local youngsters like Lontalius and Boy Wulf. It's just that for all of those pop hooks, Conscious feels very safe and a little too bland for my taste. It lacks innovation beyond a well-worn formula, and its intended inoffensiveness is actually a little offensive to me. It doesn't challenge me in any way whatsoever. But then, I never really expected it would.

For all of that, despite my cynicism, on a commercial level, with Conscious, Broods have successfully negotiated the often tricky album number two. It was flying high in the album charts when I last checked, and my opinion of it makes no odds one way or another. The duo's path is well set.

 

But, with synthpop being the super fickle genre it undoubtedly is, they may want to think about mixing it up or pushing a few more boundaries next time out. That’s all I’m going to say ...

Album Review: Various/Sherwood at the Controls Volume 2 1985 - 1990 (2016)

I ordered the CD/T-shirt bundle for this release as long ago as March (a pre-order for a June release), so my excitement when the package turned up in my letterbox last week was palpable. I may be a grizzled middle-aged man, but my inherent ability to revert back to "kid in a sweet shop" mode right on cue really is quite remarkable at times.

Of course, that's really just another way of saying that anyone hoping for a balanced or objective review of the latest On-U Sound compilation release will probably be best served going to another site.

The second volume of Adrian Sherwood's At The Controls series showcases a selection of the On-U label's extensive archives from the period 1985 to 1990. It's a follow-up to last year's impressive first instalment, which featured producer/label guru Sherwood's work from 1979 to 1984. More generally this release covers what was arguably Sherwood's most productive period, and highlights the man's uncanny ability to sprinkle fairy dust across a variety of different musical genres.

As such, hard-edged industrial post-punk electronica from the likes of Mark Stewart ('Hypnotised' 12-inch) and KMFDM ('Don't Blow Your Top') sits comfortably alongside the heavy funk beats of Tackhead ('Mind At The End Of The Tether') and Doug Wimbish & Fats Comet ('Don't Forget That Beat').

Naturally there's the obligatory helping of dub (roots/reggae and electro) with tunes from Lee Perry ('Music & Science Madness'), Bim Sherman (a stripped back dub version of 'Haunting Ground'), African Head Charge ('Hold Some'), plus a couple of tracks from label stalwarts Dub Syndicate ... although one of those is little more than a short interlude, effectively paying tribute to label legend Style Scott, R.I.P.

Other highlights include the so-very-Eighties politically-charged early hip hop of The Beatnigs with 'Television' ("it's the drug of the nation"), which features a pre-Spearhead Michael Franti. There’s a genuine synthpop relic from pre-hard industrial era (read: pre-heroin) Ministry with 'All Day', and Pankow's completely bent but still wonderful take on Prince's 'Girls And Boys'.

Contributions from Tackhead drummer and frequent co-conspirator Keith Le Blanc, ex-anarcho-punks Flux, Afro-German outfit The Unknown Cases, plus the otherwise little known Italians, Rinf, take the track-listing up to a generous 16 cuts in total - or just over 72 minutes of listening pleasure all up.

And yet, despite the wide variety of artists and styles merged together for this compilation - as with the first volume - nothing feels out of place. Every track is drenched in Sherwood signature moments - be it his absolute understanding and mastery of space through the use of echo FX or reverb, be it the careful placement of a politically-motivated sample or three, or be it some other odd sound-shape or subtle bass drop just when it's least expected. This is Sherwood at the controls, as uncompromising as always, and operating at something of a career peak.

Finally, the quality of the liner notes - not always an On-U label strength - was a nice surprise. The CD release comes with a booklet containing a very comprehensive set of notes, which provide some of the best commentary I've yet read about this remarkable label. There's a good selection of rarely seen photos - including one of a young Sherwood, with hair.

Oh, and I love the Tee, black with the album cover design, even if it is somewhat tighter fitting than I had anticipated it would be … three months clearly being an unruly length of time in the life of your blogger's ever expanding waistline.

I can hardly wait for the next volume already. Make mine an XL.

Here’s Tackhead’s ‘Mind at The End of The Tether’ ...