Listening Habits 03-04.2016

The five years we had to wait from 2011's masterpiece "Let England Shake" to this year's "The Hope Six Demolition Project" is the longest between-albums period in PJ Harvey's astounding  24-year trajectory. It was certainly worth the wait as the new album may not achieve the impossible, which would be to surpass a record that stands among the best of this decade and is certainly one of Harvey's finest hours, but it does accomplish the next best thing; to be its worthy successor and another fascinating chapter in Harvey's ever-changing, constantly evolving musical career.

As on her previous album, PJ Harvey once again structures her songs as musical documentaries. The focus this time has shifted from the devastation of war and the tragedies it has caused in the last hundred or so years of English history and turns to the harsh social and political realities of today's world. Travels to far and wide places, from Washington, to Kosovo, to Afghanistan, provide the themes for her rock reportage, while the lyrics try to describe the hard facts adopting a journalistic approach. With a body of songs with such a difficult subject matter, the challenging task of the music is not only to convey the sentiments of its creator about the societal ills described in the lyrics, but also to give the artistic strength to the songs to become powerful, moving experiences. PJ Harvey and her stellar cast of musical accomplices have once again succeeded in taking on this challenge and as a result you'll probably find yourself humming along to lyrics like "Here's the highway to death and destruction, South Capitol is its name" or "They're gonna put a Walmart here" like it's the most natural thing in the world.

Our list of favorite albums for Spring 2016 also includes the mighty fourth full-length by psychedelic heavy rockers Black Mountain (another welcome return after a six year period), the third and best effort so far by Boston psych-rockers Quilt, the experimental electro-folk concocted by Thao & The Get Down Stay Down with the help of Tune-Yards' Merrill Garbus who produced their fourth LP, Poliça's politically charged "United Crushers", the third LP by the Minneapolis synthpop group led by Ryan Olson and Channy Leaneagh, the return of Animal Collective and The Last Shadow Puppets, as well as the fine debuts by New York-based indie-rockers Sunflower Bean and Mass Gothic (the new group led by Noel Heroux, formerly of Hooray For Earth). Here's the complete list of our favorite albums and songs for March - April 2016:

Top 12 Albums

1.  The Hope Six Demolition Project - PJ HARVEY
2.  IV - BLACK MOUNTAIN
3.  Plaza - QUILT
4.  A Man Alive - THAO & THE GET DOWN STAY DOWN
5.  United Crushers - POLIÇA

6.  Painting With - ANIMAL COLLECTIVE
7.  Mass Gothic - MASS GOTHIC
8.  Human Ceremony - SUNFLOWER BEAN
9.  Everything You've Come To Expect - THE LAST SHADOW PUPPETS
10. Life Of Pause - WILD NOTHING
11. SVIIB - SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS
12. Pool - PORCHES

Top 15 Tracks

1.  Florian Saucer Attack - BLACK MOUNTAIN
2.  Roller - QUILT
3.  Wedding - POLIÇA
4.  The Community Of Hope - PJ HARVEY
5.  Nobody Dies - THAO & THE GET DOWN STAY DOWN
6.  Every Night You’ve Got To Save Me - MASS GOTHIC
7.  Wall Watcher - SUNFLOWER BEAN
8.  Aviation - THE LAST SHADOW PUPPETS
9.  TV Queen - WILD NOTHING
10. Be Apart - PORCHES
11. Confusion - SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS
12. Vertical - ANIMAL COLLECTIVE
13. I Serve The Base - FUTURE
14. Psykick Espionage - JOANNA GRUESOME
15. Late 20s - BEST COAST

Listen to our Spring '16 playlist on Spotify:

Black Mountain - Florian Saucer Attack

Nothing compares to Prince, though, so here's a little something from his untouchable '80s period - R.I.P:

Prince And The Revolution - Let's Go Crazy

#BestNewMusic 2016 Vol.2

The second installment of #BestNewMusic 2016, our new section featuring some of the most exciting releases of the year, kicks off with "The Wheel", the first single off P.J Harvey's new album "The Hope Six Demolition Project" (expected April 15th) and continues with Poliça's "Wedding" from their upcoming third album "United Crushers", Black Mountain and their long overdue return with "Mothers of the Sun", the first taste off their fourth album "IV", and "A Woman's Wisdom", another fine track off Wild Nothing's third album "Life of Pause", out on February 19th. For the finale we have the brand new and utterly groovy cover of The Rolling Stones' "Emotional Rescue" by St. Vincent, taken from the soundtrack of the film "A Bigger Splash". Enjoy:

P.J. Harvey - The Wheel

Poliça - Wedding

Black Mountain - Mothers of the Sun

Wild Nothing - A Woman's Wisdom

St. Vincent - Emotional Rescue

Black Mountain, live @ Gagarin 205 (Athens, April 1st, 2011)

After a dry spell, April looks like it’s going to be a great month for live music in Athens. In the next few weeks we’re expecting shows by Swans, Twilight Singers and No Age among others, while the month started spectacularly with the first ever Black Mountain gig in Greece.

The Canadian psychedelic rockers took over the controls of the Gagarin 205 sound-ship and led us on a journey beyond time, in a land where the spirit of pure rock reigns supreme. Their last two albums, 2010’s "Wilderness Heart" which expertly mixed heavy '70s rock with folk and blues influences and 2008’s more psychedelic and spaced-out "In the Future", had an equal share in shaping up the evening’s terrific set list.

Black Mountain's Amber Webber and Stephen McBean (Athens, April 1st, 2011)

The trip started out with the driving, heavy grooves of "Wilderness Heart"’s title track and "In the Future"’s "Evil Ways", and hit an early high with two of the band’s best tracks played back-to-back, the majestic "Old Fangs" and the entrancing space-rock of "Wucan". Other highlights of Black Mountain’s dynamic 90-minute set included Amber Webber’s imposing vocal performance in "Queens Will Play", Stephen McBean’s raging guitar in the astonishing "Let Spirits Ride", the storming "Stormy High", the roller-coaster ride of new single "Rollercoaster" and "The Hair Song" with its great vocal interplay between Amber and Stephen. The band’s eponymous debut album from 2005 was not forgotten and it provided no less than three of its outstanding tracks, the anti-war "Set Us Free", the playfully funky, mind-freeing "Druganaut" and the show’s epic closer "Don't Run Our Hearts Around".

This definitely wasn’t an April Fools’ Day joke but one of the best rock shows we’ve seen here for quite a while - a truly great performance that both the audience and the band hope it will be repeated sometime in the near future.

Black Mountain, live @ Gagarin 205

Black Mountain - Old Fangs, live@Gagarin 205 (April 1st, 2011)

Black Mountain - Druganaut, live@Gagarin 205 (April 1st, 2011)

Listening Habits 09-10.10

In the last couple of months we had the opportunity to listen to several exceptionally strong releases and I feel it’s time for a couple of nice lists that sum up our favorite albums and tracks for the fall season.

At the top of the pile of discs that weigh down the desk of Cool Music Central (yes, I still buy cds) we find "Everything In Between", the third and easily the best album by LA noise duo No Age. Over the past decade we had several examples that the two-member, guitarist-drummer, band line-up could work wonders. No Age is certainly a fine example of that, producing a wholesome, thoroughly satisfying racket using just the bare essentials.

With its latest work, No Age goes beyond its previous achievements by finally managing to master the fine art of balancing melody and noise. The drum beat that threatens to explode in the opening "Life Prowler" is kept under control, giving propulsion to the melancholic vocals and the restrained guitar melody instead of crushing them underfoot. The fury is gradually unleashed in the tracks that follow: "Glitter" is a perfect slab of noisy power-pop in the spirit of early ‘90s Sebadoh, while in "Fever Dreaming" and "Depletion" the amps are turned up to 11 and the punk-rock fireworks light the sky Husker Du-style.  "Common Heat" resets the album to melodic mode and the cycle that eventually leads to even more controlled noise explosions and spectacular sonic demolitions - reconstructions starts all over again. In short, No Age comes of age and delivers the noise-rock masterpiece it had promised all along.

Grinderman’s 2007 debut marked Nick Cave’s surprising return to the primitive blues-punk sound of his wild Birthday Party days. The mean, lean sound of Grinderman carried over to the next Bad Seeds record, making "Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!" one of the best in the group’s remarkable history. With "Grinderman 2" it seems that the two separate projects have sonically merged, making this album sound more like the follow up to "Lazarus", in places violently noisy and chaotic ("Mickey Mouse And The Goodbye Man", "Evil"), in others more subtle and broodingly melodic ("When My Baby Comes"). In other words, another exemplary work for Nick Cave and his crew, which may be a few men down in the Grinderman vessel but it’s no less willing and able to deliver the goods.

As I was saying in our Primavera Sound festival coverage here, a place in punk-rock Valhalla is already reserved for Les Savy Fav thanks to all their incredible shows and amazingly powerful records, with 2007’s "Let's Stay Friends" being their crowning achievement. "Root for Ruin" is its highly anticipated sequel and it’s finally here to provide further proof, if anyone still needed it, of the unique ability of this band to create killer punk-rock tunes. Of course a near perfect record like "Let's Stay Friends" is hard to be surpassed, but the new effort carries enough punch to come close to it and possesses plenty of new material ("Appetites", "Dirty Knails", "Let's Get Out Of Here") to add fuel to the band’s live extravaganza. Book your tickets now!

Speaking of killer punk-rock tunes, here comes Superchunk with its first record in 9 years. "Majesty Shredding", as the title suggests, provides shredding guitars and majestic shout-along noise anthems in the vein of the band’s early '90s best work. The long absence seems to have renewed the enthusiasm and reenergized the band who once again is able to admirably combine speedy, urgent punk with memorable melodies like no one else has done since the heyday of Buzzcocks.

Black Mountain goes for a different blend in "Wilderness Heart". The Canadian rockers mix heavy '70s psychedelic rock with serene folk and the end result is a wonderfully delightful concoction that should earn them a wider audience. "Let Spirits Ride" combines Black Sabbath with Hawkwind and is easily the best hard rock track of the year, while "Radiant Hearts" is a fine example of the tender folk that also occupies a special place in the band’s heart. The majestic title track and the powerful "Old Fangs" where Stephen McBean and Amber Webber trade vocals in perfect harmony are two further examples of the album’s many irresistible charms.

A different strain of folk resides in the electronic rhythms of Glasser’s excellent debut "Ring". Cameron Mesirow’s solo project turned band creates futuristic folk melodies based on tribal percussion and spooky synthesizers reminiscent of Fever Ray (with whom she shares the production team of Van Rivers and the Subliminal Kid) and Bat For Lashes. The end result sounds like the soundtrack to a magical trip through an enchanted forest where Cameron’s ethereal voice acts as your guide to safety.

Our Top 8 for September-October also includes the self-titled Interpol LP (more about it here) and Blonde Redhead’s eighth full-length, "Penny Sparkle", where the former no-wavers abandon the intricate guitar work of their past in favor of icy electronica. In this transformation we once again find the fingerprints of Swedish production duo Van Rivers and the Subliminal Kid who have co-produced the album with the band. The synth-wizards have helped Blonde Redhead to brilliantly execute the magic trick of making the guitar, the foundation of their sound so far, disappear from sight while managing to retain intact the elaborate and fragile sound sculptures that they construct around it. The end result is as breathtaking and achingly beautiful as ever.

Top 15 Albums

1.  Everything In Between - NO AGE
2.  Ring - GLASSER
3.  Grinderman 2 - GRINDERMAN
4.  Wilderness Heart - BLACK MOUNTAIN
5.  Root For Ruin - LES SAVY FAV
6.  Majesty Shredding - SUPERCHUNK
7.  Penny Sparkle - BLONDE REDHEAD
8.  Interpol - INTERPOL
9.  Phosphene Dream - THE BLACK ANGELS
10. The Hundred In The Hands - THE HUNDRED IN THE HANDS
11. Transit Transit - AUTOLUX
12. Absolute Dissent - KILLING JOKE
13. How I Got Over - THE ROOTS
14. Rough Trade Shops Psych Folk 10 - VARIOUS ARTISTS
15. Surfing The Void - KLAXONS

Top 20 Tracks

1. Mirrorage - GLASSER
2. Barricade - INTERPOL
3. Everybody's under your spell - THE DUKE SPIRIT
4. Glitter - NO AGE
5. Worm tamer - GRINDERMAN
6. Let spirits ride - BLACK MOUNTAIN
7. Let’s get out of here - LES SAVY FAV
8. My gap feels weird - SUPERCHUNK
9. Not getting there - BLONDE REDHEAD
10. Ashes to ashes - WARPAINT
11. Pigeons - THE HUNDRED IN THE HANDS
12. How I got over - THE ROOTS
13. Bad vibrations - THE BLACK ANGELS
14. Census - AUTOLUX
15. Sleep forever - CROCODILES
16. Stiff little fingers - DUM DUM GIRLS
17. The great cull - KILLING JOKE
18. Seed, crop, harvest - PRINZHORN DANCE SCHOOL
19. Slow - TWIN SHADOW
20. Veronica Sawyer - SUMMER CAMP

Glasser - Mirrorage

Everything Goes Black

Now that we’re back from our summer vacations and we’re trying to re-adapt to the daily grind, there’s nothing better than a couple of strong rocking tracks to help us get back on our feet - sort of like a double dose of black coffee to reawaken the system. The first one is "Next Girl" from The Black Keys’ recent "Brothers" LP, a track that gets my vote for Summer Anthem 2010 (the video certainly helps a lot), and the second one is "Old Fangs" by Black Mountain, a first taste from the forthcoming, highly anticipated, "Wilderness Heart" LP (I wonder if this is their answer to Them Crooked Vultures’ "New Fang"):

The Black Keys - Next Girl

Black Mountain - Old Fangs

Did I mention that Black Mountain will be hitting the road this fall along with fellow psych rockers The Black Angels who release their new album "Phosphene Dream" on the same date (September 13 or 14 depending on your location)? Everything goes black…here’s a teaser for The Black Angels LP and here are the dates and tickets for The Dropout Boogie Tour (unfortunately there are no dates in Europe for this deliciously black combination except for one show in London...hmmm):

The Black Angels - Bad Vibrations