04-03-2021 alter:MiX # 33 alter tracks in PRSNT_PRFCT_MiX [from recent past] # Sneaks, Urlaub in Polen, Free Nationals, Lee Scratch Perry, Axis: Sova, The Young Sinclairs, Mamalarky, Henrik Appel, Palberta, Cursive, Galactic, The James Hunter Six, Sunwatchers
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Ecstasy
Holy Cow Never Saw a Girl Like Her
from Highway Hypnosis 2019
Depending on your point of view, 2019's Highway Hypnosis is either the third album from post-punk artist Sneaks, or the first. Sneaks, born Eva Moolchan, has two previous releases to her credit, 2015's Gymnastics and 2017's It's a Myth, but those clocked in at 14 and 18 minutes... While no one would ever accuse Highway Hypnosis of sounding busy, producers Carlos Hernandez, Tony Seltzer and Moolchan have greatly expanded Sneaks' aural palette on this material. The beats have a greater swing, and the grooves are funky in a sneaky, roundabout way her previous work was not, and if her truly memorable bass work isn't as prominent, when it lands on "Holy Cow Never Saw a Girl Like Her," it's powerfully effective... Sneaks sounds justifiably confident on Highway Hypnosis, and this suggests any number of new directions where her talent could travel.
T.H.D.T
Proxy Music
from All 2020
Germany's Urlaub in Polen has always been a hard band to pin down. At their core, they are a two-man guitar-and-drums unit, though both members also handle the myriad synthesizers and ambient electronics that shimmer and buzz through their hypnotic songs. Just after the release of 2011's Boldstriker, the Cologne-based duo of Georg Brenner and Jan Philipp Janzen called it quits, having logged a decade's worth of interesting albums that merged post-punk, Krautrock, and propulsive electronic experimentation. Reuniting after a nine-year gap, they return with their sixth album, All. If anything, the ten-song set feels even tighter than the band's earlier releases, paring away some of the harsh and cavernous sounds of Boldstriker and presenting a leaner, cleaner sort of minimalism that plays to their strengths...
Obituaries feat. Shafiq Husayn
On Sight feat. JID, Kadhja Bonet, MIKNNA
from Free Nationals 2020
T. Nava (keyboards, vocoder vocals), Callum Connor (drums), Kelsey Gonzalez (bass), and José Rios (guitar) took the name Free Nationals after they formed a tight bond with Anderson .Paak... The L.A. band's distinct identity came into focus with extensive touring in support of their chief collaborator... For the most part, the band zeroes in on their hip-hop-minded approach to reconfiguring polished late-'70s/early-'80s fusions of jazz, soul, and funk. Hints of synchronous Herbie Hancock and Stevie Wonder, the Blackbyrds and the Brothers Johnson, and even a little Steely Dan/Donald Fagen, are in the mix...
Mindworker feat. Gaudi
Above And Beyond
from Heavy Rain 2019
Rainford, Lee "Scratch" Perry's 2019 full-length co-produced by Adrian Sherwood, found the Jamaican legend as playful and mystical as ever, and was easily one of his most well-received 21st century releases. Heavy Rain is the album's dub companion, and it pushes the original's sound to the furthest limits while maintaining its character and enlightening spirit... Rainford highlight "Makumba Rock" is further warped by Brian Eno (in the right channel) and transformed into, what else, "Here Come the Warm Dreads." Gaudi's stylophone and whooshing, bubbling keyboards transport "Mind Worker" into deep space, as Perry rises out of the ether as a spiritual guide, declaring himself a soldier and a soul collector... "Above and Beyond" is a stirring duet between Samy Bishai's cascading violin and Paul Booth's harmonious saxophone. More than just a remix album, Heavy Rain stands out on its own merit, demonstrating that Perry's inspiration and creative drive haven't dulled in his advanced age.
Terminal Holiday
Stale Green
from Shampoo You 2018
The fourth album from Brett Sova's Axis: Sova project is the first to be recorded by a full-band lineup rounded out by guitarist Tim Kaiser and bassist Jeremy Freeze. Cut live to tape by the trio, the album is more focused and direct than past efforts, with a cleaner, scrubbed-up sound (the Stones-riffing title is no joke) and a greater presence of hooks... the album is filled with riff-happy boogie rock tunes framed by a primitive drum machine, but serving the same purpose as a motorik-style drummer, and embellished by shaker percussion. Opener "Terminal Holiday" settles on a chorus of "I feel so low, Romeo," and its mix of sunny and downbeat feelings is present throughout the rest of the record... Shampoo You is clearly a step toward accessibility, and it's easily the most cohesive Axis: Sova effort to date, but there's still enough weirdness to indicate that the group could never quite play it completely straightforward. This, of course, is precisely what makes them so interesting, and why Shampoo You is one of their most appealing albums.
Drifting Haze (Samuel Jones Lunsford)
Same Old Now (Samuel Jones Lunsford)
Come on Now (Give You All My Love) (Samuel Jones Lunsford)
from Out of the Box 2019
After spending a decade establishing themselves as a top-tier '60s revival band, forging a sound that lived in the sweet spot where jangling folk-rock, melancholy guitar pop, and fuzzy psychedelia meet, the Young Sinclairs dropped out of sight for a few years beginning in 2015. When they returned in 2019 with their third album, Out of the Box, things had changed. The band weren't just mining that fertile, if a little narrow, plot of ground anymore; this time they cast a wider net and rope in all kinds of new sonic influences... It will be interesting to see which of the new sonic avenues they pursue in the future or if they revert to being a known commodity. Out of the Box positions them well for either path.
Fury
Big Trouble
Hero
from Mamalarky 2020
Between their 2018 EP, Fundamental Thrive Hive, and full-length debut Mamalarky two years later, Mamalarky -- a band that includes onetime members of Cherry Glazer and White Denim -- tweaked their already trippy, sophisticated sound. Hanging on to the EP's distinctive mingling of hooky songwriting instincts and shifting rhythmic bases, the album embraces more-distorted textures as well as outright noise, essentially dialing up the energy and spontaneity a notch. .. Taken together, it's a fun, adventurous half-hour set that will likely leave those who stick with it wanting more.
Wake Me Up (Henrik Appel / Emma Lind)
Humanity (Henrik Appel)
Mrs. Spaceman (Henrik Appel / Emma Lind)
from Humanity 2021
Already a dedicated member of the Stockholm garage rock scene, Henrik Appel offered up an impulsive, catchy solo debut with 2018's Burning Bodies. While that album consisted of voice, electric guitar, and few extra touches (he imposed a three-instrument limit on each song), Humanity embraces fuller arrangements on the whole, even adding a horn section to the mix on tracks including the infectious "Wake Me Up." That song also employs drum kit, guttural bass, and backing vocals behind a snarling Appel while he churns out raw eighth-note patterns on the guitar. Another punk-derived, sax-bolstered entry, "Humanity," kicks up the tempo as it slides away from Mick Jagger toward Fred Schneider on the Appel vocal spectrum. .. Elsewhere, the understated campfire tune "Mrs. Spaceman" consists of solely voice and spartan guitar ("Today's troubles seem far away/There's no dwelling on yesterday") until a warbled electronic tone takes the song home, so to speak. .. While still irreverent and trippy at times, Humanity is a more mature outing overall, both conceptually and musically, and a destination for fans of primary '60s influences including the Kinks and the Velvet Underground.
No Way
Fragile Place
Before I Got Here
from Palberta5000 2021
...Palberta5000 still has plenty of tracks that only last a minute or two, but the songs seem more planned out, with much more natural-sounding transitions between parts. They still come up with unconventional riffs and twitchy rhythms, but it's all executed with a bit more finesse this time around, and the trio's vocal harmonies have never sounded stronger... Palberta5000 is more mature than anything they've done before but just as playful, and more accessible while impossible to mistake for the work of any other band.
I Am Goddamn (Cursive)
Black Hole Town (Cursive)
Get Fixed (Cursive)
from Get Fixed 2020
It turns out that if you don't make an album for six years, you might end up with a lot of ideas for songs... But rather than send out a two-disc set, where they felt some of the material might get lost in the shuffle, they opted to split the bounty into two separate releases, and Get Fixed arrived 12 months after Vitriola.... Cursive are a bit less speedy than they once were, but the gravity and ferocity of their attack is as strong as ever on Get Fixed, and the angular shards of sound and precise volleys of guitar, keyboards, horns, strings, and drums are an ideal complement to the rage and confusion of these songs... Get Fixed is another bitter but meaningful State of the Union Address from Cursive, as well as evidence that when the band's creative process shifts into gear, they can deliver both quantity and quality.
Already 8Ben Ellman / Robert Mercurio / Stanton Moore / Jeff Raines / Rich Vogel)
Goose Grease (Ben Ellman / Robert Mercurio / Stanton Moore / Jeff Raines / Rich Vogel)
Ready Already (Ben Ellman / Robert Mercurio / Stanton Moore / Jeff Raines / Rich Vogel)
from Already Ready Already 2019
New Orleans' Galactic is one of the most restless acts to emerge from the jam band scene of the 1990s. With every album they've expanded their musical palette to embrace other sounds and styles while keeping the musical gumbo of their hometown squarely at the center of everything they do... Galactic juxtapose modern dancefloor and funk rhythms alongside electronic instrumentation in putting across their ass-shaking funk pop & roll... Where Galactic's live sets are chock-full of improvisation and surprise, their studio recordings tend to focus on tight songwriting and arranging; this offering is no different -- there are few solos on this set and there is no jamming... Already Ready Already is bookended by two of three high-powered instrumentals, titled appropriately enough "Already" and "Ready Already." While the former is under two minutes, and the latter is under three, they offer twin impressions of intro and outro to the proceedings... The instrumental "Goose Grease" delivers Galactic's post-midnight brand of Meters-inspired jazz-funk inside a sound-effects tunnel riddled with synths, gunshot samples, and swelling B-3...
I Don't Wanna Be Without You (James Hunter)
I Got Eyes (James Hunter)
Blisters (James Hunter)
from Whatever It Takes 2018
James Hunter has stubbornly been making retro R&B records since the mid-'90s... Whatever It Takes is the James Hunter Six's second outing for Daptone. It was produced by label boss Bosco Mann (Gabriel Roth) and recorded live in the label's California studio, direct to eight-track analog tape and pressed to an acetate. The sound is flat, immediate, and just a tiny bit muddy -- it's all it should be... After signing to Daptone, Hunter met his future wife Jesse after a gig in New York. They were married in New Orleans and moved to England. She is the prime inspiration for many of the songs here, and it's more than likely their marriage may account for the unusual tenderness in Hunter's singing voice. His songwriting is more ambitious than at any other time in his career to date. While these songs unabashedly reflect the early days of soul -- from the late '50s through the mid-'60s -- they do so with a sense of rhythmic invention we haven't heard since the early days of New Orleans R&B and pre-Motown Northern soul...
Nose Beers
Silent Boogie
The Works
from II 2018
The cover art for the second album by free music ensemble Sunwatchers consists of an embroidered tapestry boldly declaring that "Sunwatchers stand in solidarity with the dispossessed, impoverished and embattled people of the world." Along with the album, the group issued a manifesto declaring their status as leftists who feel that capitalism is endangering human existence. The group's core members recognize the fact that they are privileged white American males, and that they are granted more of a platform for expressing their views than those who aren't. As such, they do what they can to promote positivity and unity, and to show support for human rights. The music made by Sunwatchers is devoid of lyrics, however, so their work acts as a form of peaceful, joyous protest, operating under Albert Ayler's decree that "Music is the healing force of the universe."...
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