Live: Algiers @ Temple (Athens, February 9th, 2019)

Exactly one year after their first performance in Athens, Algiers were back to Temple club for another incendiary dose of their rebellious gospel-punk.

Next to the familiar songs from their two previous albums, the band has added a few new songs to their set and their riotous sound suggests that we can expect another killer of an album in the near future.

The majority of the gig's set list was based on the band's latest LP, 2017' excellent "The Underside Of Power" and as was also the case in their previous gig here, the highlights included "Walk Like a Panther", "Cry of the Martyrs", "Cleveland" and the album's soulful title-track.

Hopefully next year Algiers will be here again to complete their hat trick and by that time they'll have unleashed their new album to the world. The signs are it's going to be awesome! 

Here's a taste of one of the new songs they played at their second Athens gig, plus "Cry of the Martyrs":

New song by Algiers, live @ Temple, Athens, Feb. 9th, 2019

Algiers - Cry of the Martyrs, live @ Temple, Athens, Feb. 9th, 2019

Algiers, live @ Temple (Athens, February 9th, 2019)

Live: Algiers @ Temple (Athens, February 10th, 2018)

Algiers, the gospel-punk quartet that last year unleashed its second album, the fierce, politically charged "The Underside Of Power" (one of our Top Albums of 2017), made its live debut in Athens on Saturday, giving a fittingly hell-raising performance that will certainly be one of the highlights of the year for everyone who witnessed it.

For 90 minutes Algiers raised the roof of the Temple club with a unique blend of electronic rhythms, post-punk noise and soulful melodies, delivering loud and clear the passion and fury of their explosive songs. "Walk Like a Panther", "Cry of the Martyrs", "Cleveland", "The Cycle/The Spiral: Time to Go Down Slowly", "Irony. Utility. Pretext.", "Blood", "Black Eunuch" and, of course, the ace "The Underside of Power" which they saved for the cathartic ending of the show, were some of the highlights of a truly memorable night.

The opening act of the gig was Glass Rebel, a new four-piece band from Athens that gave us a taste of their melodic electro pop sound, a calm and groovy beginning before the storm that followed soon after.

Glass Rebel, live @ Temple (Athens, Feb. 10th, 2018)

Check out below Algiers performing "Cleveland", live in Athens:

Algiers - Cleveland, live @ Temple Club (Athens, February 10th, 2018)

Algiers, live @ Temple (Athens, Feb. 10th, 2018)

Top 50 Albums of 2017

2018 is here already and along with our warmest wishes for the New Year, we are presenting today our 50 favorite albums of 2017 and the perfect soundtrack to start Cool Music Central's tenth year on Blogger!

It seems unbelievable that we've gotten this far, especially since our beloved rock 'n' roll seems to be losing favor these days, a fact that becomes obvious when you check out the majority of year-end lists out there. We will press on however because I do believe that things will turn around for guitar music. Even in a year where the media's attention was focused elsewhere, there were plenty of excellent rock records around and some of them you'll find in the Top 50 we are presenting today.

It is true that in 2017 we didn't have any albums that felt like game changers, so selecting the Album of the Year was trickier business than usual, as no release stood clearly above the others. In the end we were able to narrow it down to three possible candidates and the honor was finally bestowed upon LCD Soundsystem's "American Dream", a record that managed to find a place in several year-end lists and to even reach the Number One spot in a few of them.

In a year where we had a plethora of impressive comebacks and reunions, some of them even after several decades (The Jesus And Mary Chain, Slowdive, Ride, The Dream Syndicate are some of the bands that immediately come to mind), it is fitting that a returning act would end up claiming the Album of the Year honor. James Murphy has been worrying about losing his edge ever since LCD Soundsystem started, and this uneasiness has always been the source of great music for them. Their return to action after almost seven years has proven that the period spent in limbo was actually beneficiary for the band as they have managed to make a record that feels every bit as important as their first two LPs that helped to define the musical identity of the noughties. Who would have thought that getting older and (perhaps) wiser could be just as valuable a source of inspiration for excellent dance rock music as being young and out of your mind!

The other two records that effectively share the honor of being our Top Albums of the Year along with LCD Soundystem's return, were St. Vincent's "Masseduction" and Algiers' "The Underside of Power".

St. Vincent continued her impressive, ever changing and always innovative trajectory that make her one of the most inspiring music creators of this decade. The sound of "Masseduction" openly flirted with today's dance pop music, but in reality this was a chameleon's camouflage hiding its idiosyncrasies and deeply personal confessions in plain sight, somewhere in the crowded dance floor.

Algiers made one of the strongest protest records of 2017, in a year where getting political became more and more a necessity. The strong views and feelings expressed in their songs were accompanied by a potent mixture of gospel, soul, hip hop, garage and punk rock music that always felt on the brink of explosion without sacrificing any of its tunefulness. The dance-rock revolution begins here!

Here's our selection of the best albums of 2017 based, of course, on what we were able to listen to so far. We are always on the lookout for records that may have slipped under our radar and an updated, final version of this list will appear in Cool Music Database sometime in the next few months. For now though, this is our Top 50:

Top 50 Albums of 2017

1.   American Dream - LCD SOUNDSYSTEM
2.   Masseduction - ST. VINCENT
3.   The Underside of Power - ALGIERS
4.   Holiday Destination - NADINE SHAH
5.   Plunge - FEVER RAY
6.   Run The Jewels 3 - RUN THE JEWELS
7.   Hot Thoughts - SPOON
8.   Modern Kosmology - JANE WEAVER
9.   Relatives in Descent - PROTOMARTYR
10. Rock n Roll Consciousness - THURSTON MOORE
11. Damage and Joy - THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN
12. Antisocialites - ALVVAYS
13. Out in the Storm - WAXAHATCHEE
14. Whiteout Conditions - THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS
15. A Deeper Understanding - THE WAR ON DRUGS
16. Damn. - KENDRICK LAMAR
17. Sleep Well Beast - THE NATIONAL
18. In Spades - THE AFGHAN WHIGS
19. Gargoyle - MARK LANEGAN
20. Slowdive - SLOWDIVE
21. Death Song - THE BLACK ANGELS
22. How Did I Find Myself Here? - THE DREAM SYNDICATE
23. Hey Mr Ferryman - MARK EITZEL
24. Painted Ruins - GRIZZLY BEAR
25. Lotta Sea Lice - COURTNEY BARNETT AND KURT VILE
26. Moonshine Freeze - THIS IS THE KIT
27. Semper Femina - LAURA MARLING
28. Soft Sounds From Another Planet - JAPANESE BREAKFAST
29. Nothing Feels Natural - PRIESTS
30. Hug of Thunder - BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE
31. Cry, Cry, Cry - WOLF PARADE
32. Weather Diaries - RIDE
33. Brood X - BOSS HOG
34. Flying Microtonal Banana - KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD
35. Ty Segall - TY SEGALL
36. Cost of Living - DOWNTOWN BOYS
37. Apocalipstick - CHERRY GLAZERR
38. ken - DESTROYER
39. Exile in the Outer Ring - EMA
40. Electric Trim - LEE RANALDO
41. In Between - THE FEELIES
42. Last Place - GRANDADDY
43. Everything Now - ARCADE FIRE
44. Visions of a Life - WOLF ALICE
45. Near to the Wild Heart of Life - JAPANDROIDS
46. Life Without Sound - CLOUD NOTHINGS
47. Occult Architecture Vol. 1 - MOON DUO
48. New Facts Emerge - THE FALL
49. Silver / Lead - WIRE
50. Strange Peace - METZ

Also recommended:

TFCF - LIARS, English Tapas - SLEAFORD MODS, Every Valley - PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING, Fujiya & Miyagi - FUJIYA & MIYAGI, Offering - CULTS, Powerplant - GIRLPOOL, In Mind - REAL ESTATE, Heartworms - THE SHINS, Love in the 4th Dimension - THE BIG MOON, Future Politics - AUSTRA, The French Press - ROLLING BLACKOUTS COASTAL FEVER, in•ter a•li•a - AT THE DRIVE-IN, Villains - QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, The Tourist - CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH, Polygondwanaland - KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD, Volcano - TEMPLES, Humanz - GORILLAZ, I See You - THE XX, Oczy Mlody - THE FLAMING LIPS, Occult Architecture Vol. 2 - MOON DUO, Losing - BULLY, The Witch - PUMAROSA, Hang - FOXYGEN, Low in High School - MORRISSEY, Okovi - ZOLA JESUS, Hiss Spun - CHELSEA WOLFE, V - THE HORRORS, Flat Worms - FLAT WORMS, Choir of the Mind - EMILY HAINES & THE SOFT SKELETON, Tourist in This Town - ALLISON CRUTCHFIELD, Everybody Works - JAY SOM, Love is Love - WOODS, Phases - ANGEL OLSEN

Listening Habits: Summer 2017

The time has finally come for our much needed summer break, but before we take our leave, let's have another listen to some of the best new albums and re-releases of the last couple of months:

At the top of our list of recommended albums for the period May - July 2017 we have the sophomore LP by Algiers, "The Underside of Power", a powerful protest statement for these dark times that manages to make its point without losing its tunefulness. The Atlanta - London - NYC four-piece rages against the powers that be with the fury of punk, adds uplifting melodies from soul and gospel, shakes the walls with hip hop beats and channels the spirit of the blues to produce one of the strongest collections of songs we've listened to this year.

Among the best albums of this season you'll also find the latest outstanding releases by several of our 80's - '90s indie rock icons who are here once again to show you how it's done, including Thurston Moore's "Rock N Roll Consciousness", one of his strongest solo efforts, Mark Lanegan's "Gargoyle" and "In Spades", the eighth album by The Afghan Whigs. '90s cult shoegazers Slowdive are also here with their first album in 22 years and so is Boss Hog, the blues-punk outfit featuring Christina Martinez and Jon Spencer, with "Brood X", another couple of additions to the long list of this year's excellent comebacks.

Add to the above the rightly acclaimed "DAMN." by Kendrick Lamar, great records by The New Pornographers and The Black Angels, as well as promising releases by up-and-coming new acts Priests, Cherry Glazerr and Girlpool, and our Summer 2017 playlist is shaping up pretty nicely:

Top 15 Albums

1.   The Underside Of Power - ALGIERS
2.   Rock N Roll Consciousness - THURSTON MOORE
3.   Gargoyle - MARK LANEGAN
4.   In Spades - THE AFGHAN WHIGS
5.   Whiteout Conditions - THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS
6.   Death Song - THE BLACK ANGELS
7.   Slowdive - SLOWDIVE
8.   Damn. - KENDRICK LAMAR
9.   Brood X - BOSS HOG
10. Nothing Feels Natural - PRIESTS
11. Apocalipstick - CHERRY GLAZERR
12. Powerplant - GIRLPOOL
13. Occult Architecture Vol. 2 - MOON DUO
14. OK Computer / OKNOTOK 1997 2017 - RADIOHEAD
15. The Great Annihilator / Drainland - SWANS 

Top 15 Tracks 

 

1.   The Underside Of Power - ALGIERS
2.   Aphrodite - THURSTON MOORE
3.   Death’s Head Tattoo - MARK LANEGAN
4.   Demon in Profile - THE AFGHAN WHIGS
5.   DNA. - KENDRICK LAMAR
6.   High Ticket Attractions  - THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS
7.   Hunt Me Down - THE BLACK ANGELS
8.   Sugar for the Pill - SLOWDIVE
9.   Formula X - BOSS HOG
10. Pink White House - PRIESTS
11. Told You I’d Be with the Guys - CHERRY GLAZERR
12. It Gets More Blue - GIRLPOOL
13. Sevens - MOON DUO
14. Celebrity Lifestyle - SWANS
15. Lift - RADIOHEAD

Algiers - Cleveland

Top 30 Albums of the first half of 2017

We've just passed the halfway mark of 2017 and, as usual, we'll take a moment to look back on the last six months and come up with a list that includes most of our favorite albums of the year so far.

This year our half-way list is ten albums shorter than last year's, which is an indication that 2017 did not have the best of starts. Actually, after a slow couple of months at the beginning of the year with just a few great releases worth writing home about (Run The Jewels, Ty Segal, Mark Eitzel, The Feelies among them), the roster of new albums certainly grew much stronger during the spring, with a number of strong come-backs, some of them really long overdue, by some of our all-time favorite artists and bands, including The Jesus And Mary Chain, Thurston Moore, Mark Lanegan, The Afghan Whigs and Spoon, to name but a few. And on the very last week of June came perhaps the strongest candidate for Album of the Year based on what we have listened to so far, "The Underside of Power" by Algiers, a record that perfectly captures the turmoil of 2017 (more on this subject coming soon).

Here is the list of the 30 albums that sum up the first half of 2017 for Cool Music Central, without a ranking order (and yet not totally random!), and a playlist with some of our favorite tracks off them:

Top 30 Albums of 2017 so far

• The underside of power - ALGIERS
•  Run The Jewels 3 - RUN THE JEWELS
•  Hot thoughts - SPOON
•  Rock n roll consciousness - THURSTON MOORE
•  Damage and joy - THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN
•  Gargoyle - MARK LANEGAN
•  In spades - THE AFGHAN WHIGS
•  Whiteout conditions - THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS
•  Death song - THE BLACK ANGELS 
• Hey Mr Ferryman - MARK EITZEL
•  Slowdive - SLOWDIVE
•  Damn. - KENDRICK LAMAR
•  Brood X - BOSS HOG
•  Flying microtonal banana - KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD
•  Ty Segall - TY SEGALL
•  Semper femina - LAURA MARLING
•  Apocalipstick - CHERRY GLAZERR
•  Nothing feels natural - PRIESTS
•  Near to the wild heart of life - JAPANDROIDS
•  In between - THE FEELIES
•  Last place - GRANDADDY
•  Occult architecture Vol. 1 - MOON DUO
•  Silver / Lead - WIRE
•  Life without sound - CLOUD NOTHINGS
•  In mind - REAL ESTATE
•  Heartworms - THE SHINS
•  Powerplant - GIRLPOOL
•  The French press - ROLLING BLACKOUTS COASTAL FEVER
•  English tapas - SLEAFORD MODS
• Volcano - TEMPLES

 

New Releases: June 2017

Round-up of the most interesting albums, singles and EPs released in June 2017:

Albums

The Underside of Power

ALGIERS - The Underside Of Power
KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD - Murder Of The Universe
RIDE - Weather Diaries
FLEET FOXES - Crack-Up
KEVIN MORBY - City Music
PALEHOUND - A Place I’ll Always Go
CHASTITY BELT - I Used To Spend So Much Time Alone
BEACH FOSSILS - Somersault
THE DRUMS - Abysmal Thoughts
JASON LOEWENSTEIN - Spooky Action
SUFJAN STEVENS, BRYCE DESSNER, NICO MUHLY, JAMES MCALISTER - Planetarium
AMBER COFFMAN - City Of No Reply
LAUREL HALO - Dust
PEAKING LIGHTS - The Fifth State Of Consciousness
H HAWKLINE - I Romanticize
ULRIKA SPACEK - Modern English Decoration
CIGARETTES AFTER SEX - Cigarettes After Sex 
TEMPLE OV BBV - Temple ov BBV 
JAD FAIR AND KRAMER - The History Of Crying
ROYAL TRUX - Platinum Tips and Ice Cream
ROYAL BLOOD - How Did We Get So Dark?
DAN AUERBACH - Waiting On A Song
MIRANDA LEE RICHARDS - Existential Beast
MARIKA HACKMAN - I'm Not Your Man
BETH DITTO - Fake Sugar
PHOENIX - Ti Amo
VINCE STAPLES - Big Fish Theory
JAY Z - 4:44
BIG BOI - Boomiverse
MARK WYNN - More Singles
TOPS - Sugar At The Gate
SONGHOY BLUES - Resistance
LOVE THEME - Love Theme 
MAJOR LEAGUES - Good Love 
THE POPGUNS - Sugar Kisses
THE RUBY SUNS - Sprite Fountain
CELEBRATION - Wounded Healer
CHAIN AND THE GANG - Best Of Crime Rock

Singles & EPs

Everything Now

ARCADE FIRE - Everything Now
ARCADE FIRE - Creature Comfort
AMBER ARCADES - Cannonball EP
PJ HARVEY AND RAMY ESSAM - The Camp
MODERN COSMOLOGY - Summer Long EP
H HAWKLINE - Last Thing On Your Mind
THE COATHANGERS - Parasite
FLASHER - Winnie / Burn Blue
SYNTHETIC ID - Escapement
WHITNEY - You’ve Got A Woman / Gonna Hurry (As Slow As I Can)
THE NO ONES - Sun Station EP
THE ORIELLES - Sugar Tastes Like Salt
TROUBLE - Snake Eyes
LICE - The Human Parasite
MARY EPWORTH - Me Swimming
LAPS - Who Me?
MOLLY NILSSON - Single
MAJOR LAZER - Know No Better EP

Algiers - The Underside of Power

Killer Tracks: The 2017 Playlist Vol.2

A few weeks ago we presented a selection of ten tracks taken from some of our favorite releases of the year so far. As we are getting closer to the actual mid-point of the year, the list of excellent new albums increases and it looks that 2017 is going to be one to remember! Soon we'll have a more thorough presentation of all the albums that stood out for us in the last six months, but 'till that time comes, here are seven more great tracks you should lend an ear to, among them "Cleveland", the latest track to surface off Algiers new album "The Underside of Power", out next week, and Waxahatchee's "Silver" from the album "Out in the Storm", out on July 14th. If the strength of these two songs is any indication of what to expect from the respective LPs, them it seems we have already found two of the Albums of the Year for 2017!

Algiers - Cleveland (from the album The Underside of Power)

Waxahatchee - Silver (from the album Out in the Storm)

Priests - Pink White House (from the album Nothing Feels Natural)

Jay Som - Baybee (from the album Everybody Works)

Girlpool - It Gets More Blue (from the album Powerplant)

Cherry Glazerr - Nuclear Bomb (from the album Apocalipstick)

Amber Arcades - It Changes (from the EP Cannonball)

2015 Review: Top 10 Debut Albums of the Year

In the second half of December we are celebrating the best music that 2015 had to offer, which means you're going to see plenty of lists here for the next couple of weeks, as we do enjoy putting things in the "right" order. This order, of course, is changing almost daily, but we do feel that these lists are a fun and efficient way to capture the overall picture of the musical landscape we've been wandering in for the past twelve months.

So, let's get the ball rolling by reinstating the "Best Debuts of the Year" list. Last year we didn't feel like making one, perhaps for the first time since this blog started, as in our opinion 2014 was a rather unimpressive year for the rookies. Things did look up in 2015, although I still wouldn't call it a vintage year for debuts. However the following ten albums include one indisputable classic plus four or five more strong candidates for the year's Top 50. All of them deserve your attention if you're looking for promising new acts who inject fresh blood in guitar rock and pop music. 

Here's our Top 10 Debuts of 2015:

1. Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit - COURTNEY BARNETT

2. Viet Cong - VIET CONG

3. The Expanding Flower Planet - DERADOORIAN

4. Algiers - ALGIERS

5. My Love Is Cool - WOLF ALICE

6. Holding Hands With Jamie - GIRL BAND 

7. Me - EMPRESS OF

8. Hermits On Holiday - DRINKS

9. Feels Like - BULLY

10. Are You Satisfied? - SLAVES

Also recommended:

Before The World Was Big - GIRLPOOL

Switch Me On - THE FIREWORKS