Joni Mitchell and Kate Bush were Fiona Apple’s current age in 1985 and 1990. What if they got way into Doc at the Radar Station/Ice Cream for Crow era Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band? Tom Waits‘ Bone Machine? Yoko Ono, The Slits and Rip Rig + Panic? Who the heck knows what that would sound like, but it’s the closest comparison I can think of after my first few listens to this album. I hear some bits of Los Lobos on Colossal Head (1996), which was also engineered by Tchad Blake. A more recent reference that comes to mind is Tropical Fuck Storm in terms of the sonic and emotional rawness.
Not to diminish the recent accomplishments of other avant pop songwriters like FKA twigs, Grimes and Weyes Blood, but it’s a relief to get a break from hyper-processed/produced/layered/chopped/mixed pop and just hear an artist unfettered from technology, just banging shit around the house and letting her five dogs (Mercy, Maddie, Leo, Little, and Alfie) in on the fun.
Don’t get the wrong idea, this is not half-assed acoustic lo-fi bedroom project. It’s complex, dynamically well recorded, and rich with details that we’ll be uncovering months from now. I’ve always admired every single one of Apple’s albums, but never really listened to them much beyond a few weeks past their release dates. This could be different. | Buy
Also Out this Week (April 17):
Seil Lien – Shatter (Carbface)
Seil Lien is Marie Claire White’s Chinese name, which means “little lotus.” While she evokes some of the Nick Cave-y garage noir vibes of Is This Desire? era PJ Harvey, there’s also plenty of gauzy shoegaze, Sonic Youth, Massive Attack and Portishead shaping the band’s sonic imprint.
White Denim – World As A Waiting Room (Radio Milk)
It just got a lot harder for bands to make excuses to not produce material during the quarantine. Starting March 18, White Denim wrote, recorded, mixed and mastered this album in 30 days, and it’s great, probably better than last year’s Side Effects. Last time I saw them live they seemed to be falling into a jammy chooglin’ rabbit hole, but they can apparently write good choons in their sleep, on the toilet, over a bowl of cereal, in their pajamas, etc. | Bandcamp
Hexvessel – Kindred (Svart)
I was surprised to see another album from Finnish psychedelic folk proggers Hexvessel just a year after All Tree. I figured vocalist Matt McNerney would have flipped over to his post-punk band Grave Pleasures (formerly Beastmilk). Instead, we have one of the best of the five Hexvessel albums,
Coldbones – Cataclysm (Dunk!)
Every year or so I dig myself into a post-rock rabbit hole and get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of it. What’s exasperating is there’s a lot of good bands, but I don’t really want to spend 24/7 listening to that genre. So now it takes something extra special for me to take notice. This happened when the Kent based trio Coldbones did a sleek cover of Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill,” pruning and changing the lyrics for an even darker mood. The mood is blackened even further on their sophomore album, with it’s desolate, apocalyptic theme assisted with shades of post-punk and prog.
Also out, Datura4 (Australian garage/blues rock), Oranssi Pazuzu (psychedelic black metal, also from Finland), Lido Pimienta (Canadian Afro-Colombian electro/art pop), Rina Sawayama (London via Japan fiery feminist R&B/dance pop), Shabazz Palaces, Sneaky Feelings, EOB (Ed O’ Brien from Radiohead), Gregory Porter, The Howling Hex, Black Dresses, Enter Shikari, RJD2, Pearl Jam, Soul Asylum, Zelma Stone, Girl Skin, The Pack A.D. and Shelby Lynne.
