• Music

    Pere Ubu – Trouble On Big Beat Street

    Avant-rock legends Pere Ubu have a brand new album out!  From the band’s Bandcamp site: “Pere Ubu unveil their new album, ‘Trouble On Big Beat Street’, nearly four years after their previous record for Cherry Red, ‘The Long Goodbye’. ‘The Modern Dance’ (1978) marked the end of Rock ‘n’ Roll. ‘Trouble On Big Beat Street’ marks the end of The Song. Pere Ubu ended with ‘The Long Goodbye’ (their last album, also on Cherry Red, from 2019). Pere Ubu begins again with ‘Trouble On Big Beat Street’. If you missed the last 48 years then imagine a bad- attitude. Imagine…

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    Peter Gabriel – Live in Athens 1987

    It’s incredibly nice to see Peter Gabriel release the bulk of his solo material on Bandcamp.  He even offers a subscription for rare tracks and remixes, most of which are perfectly okay.  This release was a pleasant surprise, as it was, I believe, once released as part of the So box set, but it sounds fine as a standalone disc.  The recording is during the peak of his creative powers, and the musicians working behind him in this tour (David Rhodes on guitar, Tony Levin on bass, David Sancious on keyboards and Manu Katché on drums) are as tight as…

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    Kara Jackson – Why Does The Earth Give Us People To Love?

    Kara Jackson certainly knows how to leave a strong impression!  If you can imagine Nick Drake’s guitar being willed to Nina Simone with a touch of the spirit of David Bowie (see the track brain for reference), then you have this incredibly powerful album.  I had no idea what to expect when I saw the cover art, but this is one of those albums I’m very happy to have taken a chance on, as the listening was rewarding.

  • Music

    PoiL Ueda – PoiL Ueda

    This is a heavy, near-monstrous release involving Japanese singer and bassis Junko Ueda and the French avant-prog group PoiL.  From their Bandcamp site: “PoiL Ueda is the result of a collaboration between Junko Ueda, a vocalist and satsuma-biwa player from Japan, and PoiL, a French rock/contemporary music band. The creation is based on the 13th-century Japanese epic tale “Heike-Monogatari.” The composition is based on traditional epic singing accompanied by the satsuma-biwa and Buddhist Shomyo chant. Through the fusion of an ancient Japanese traditional music with a hyper modern European musical formation, this project offers the opportunity to discover a unique musical…

  • Music - Music Articles

    David Bowie – Lodger (2017 Remix) – Classic Music Review

    Thirty years on, still no one is quite sure where to place Lodger. In a way, that’s appropriate: as the title suggests, it’s a record that doesn’t … David Bowie – Lodger (2017 Remix) – Classic Music Review I’ve had the pleasure of following altrockchick for a good while now. This is one of the best reads on a reissue I’ve perused in at least a year, so I am happy to introduce my readers to her stellar work.

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    Bruce Licher – Tape Excavation (Special Expanded Edition)

    Bruce Licher is an icon in the art-punk/post-punk/post-Industrial music scene.  He was a member if the seminal band Savage Republic, runs Independent Projects Records and Independent Projects Press for his graphic design work. Though we’re a bit early to the party, so to speak, Bruce will be reissuing an album called Tape Excavation, which has been supplemented with bonus material and will feature the gorgeous letterpress artwork he and the projects he works with are known for.  I am sure that this will sell out very quickly, so you’ve been warned – now is a good time to pre-order this…

  • Music

    The Chills – Scatterbrain / Scatterbrain​-​Storms: Outtakes

    We have two releases today to share with you.  Both come from New Zealand’s greatest indie rock band, The Chills, and at least to my ears, should be seen as one cohesive session.  The first, Scatterbrain, came out in September of 2021 is a rather lush affair, quite different from the early, stripped-down lo-fi albums.  Great production, choruses, an almost proggy feel to some tracks dot the album, yet the songs still have that hallmark Kiwi indie sound.  Scatterbrain​-​Storms: Outtakes is quite different, however.  Three tracks, more stripped down and raw (well, they’re outtakes for a reason, right?), and I…

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    Zhaoze – The Life of a Dayfly | 蜉​生​记

    I suppose one can call this post-rock with Chinese characteristics.  Zhaoze are a progressive rock/post-rock band out of Guangzhou, China, and this is the first I’ve heard of them.  Their sound is mellow, almost dramatic in a TV-theme way, yet the music, though soothing, is also engaging, especially after about the 5 minute mark, where guitars begin to shimmer.