040 ALTER.NATION: weekly favtraX 10-06-2019

ALTER.NATION #40

Vanishing Twin, Silversun Pickups, Rickie Lee Jones, Peter Perrett, Santana, Concha Buika, Yeasayer, Pixx, Perry Farrell, Plaid, Froth, Nicole Yun, Vanishing Twin

weekly favtraX 

1 0 - 0 6 - 2 0 1 9

ALTER.NATION #40 on deezer

Vanishing Twin is songwriter, singer and multi-instrumentalist Cathy Lucas, drummer Valentina Magaletti, bassist Susumu Mukai, synth/guitar player Phil MFU and visual artist/film maker Elliott Arndt on flute and percussion; and on this album they have made their first artistic statement for the ages.
Vanishing Twin - Planète Sauvage from The Age of Immunology
...The magical Morricone-esque lounge of ‘You Are Not an Island’, the blissed-out Jean-Claude Vannier style arrangement of ‘Invisible World’ and burbling sci fi funk ode to a 1972 cult French animation, ‘Planète Sauvage’, were all recorded in nighttime sessions in an abandoned mill in Sudbury....
Fantastic Planet: Vanishing Twin And The Age Of Immunology
On their new album, The Age of Immunology, the group hasn’t really switched up their sound, but instead has expanded the fabled lore encompassed in their body of work. Though only a couple of songs on the new album were born out of the aforementioned Sudbury sessions, the overarching result seems to highlight the group’s strengthened bond with each other and their vision. Vanishing Twin is a large group, blending together a range of backgrounds, languages, tastes and influences.

L.A. alternative rockers who weave layered guitars and effects around surging, melodic tunes. 
Silversun Pickups - Neon Wound from Widow's Weeds
Turning inward on their fifth full-length, Los Angeles four-piece Silversun Pickups shifts away from the pulsing synths and thrills of their previous effort, amplifying the drama and tension with the moody Widow's Weeds...

Singer who gained fame combining folk and jazz styles with lyrical songwriting populated by bohemian characters. 

Rickie Lee Jones - Bad Company from Kicks

Like Willie Nelson, Rickie Lee Jones is a singular American songwriter with an eloquent soul and a melodic sense that spans a number of genres. And like Nelson, Jones' muse seems to visit only so often these days, so a few decades into her career, she often records other people's songs rather than her own...  Kicks is an album devoted to her interpretations of a variety of rock and pop tunes as well as a few old standards, and even when the material is familiar, Jones inarguably finds something very much her own in this material...

As leader of the Only Ones in the '70s and as a solo artist in the 2010s, Perrett makes sly, hooky guitar rock spiced by his inimitable vocals. 
Peter Perrett - Love Comes On Silent Feet from Humanworld
After years spent in the wilderness of addiction and recovery, Peter Perrett made a stunning comeback with 2017's How the West Was Won. The former Only One returned with a set of songs that re-established him as one of the great punk romantics, possessed of a timeless voice and a gimlet eye for a hooky melody...  the rollicking "Love Comes on Silent Feet" is a brilliant slice of guitar rock...

Pioneers of Latin rock who successfully married elements of blues, rock, and Latin music, and enjoyed international acclaim for decades. 
Santana - Blue Skies from Africa Speaks
...Throughout, the Santana octet is on fire, fronted by Spain's inimitable force of nature Concha Buika, a singer, songwriter, poet, and producer. She is so versatile, she's been nominated for Latin Grammys in several genres, and is equally adept at flamenco, jazz, soul, funk, and Anglo-Latin and Afro-pop...  Laura Mvula guests on the simmering jazz-blues nocturne "Blue Skies," trading verses with co-composer Buika...

This Brooklyn band's eclectic, offbeat indie rock encourages listeners to don their thinking caps and dancing shoes. 
Yeasayer - Ohm Death from Erotic Reruns
In a return to their earliest days as a band, Yeasayer's fifth album, Erotic Reruns, was written and produced by the core trio of Chris Keating, Ira Wolf Tuton, and Anand Wilder. It was even recorded in their respective home studios (along with a few guests and engineer Daniel Neiman)...

A thought-provoking singer/songwriter, Pixx questions conventions of all kinds with her shape-shifting music. From the folky beginnings of 2015's Fall In EP, she quickly moved to idiosyncratic electro-rock on later releases including 2019's Small Mercies... Born Hannah Rodgers, Pixx hails from Chipstead, a town just outside of South London. 
Pixx - Bitch from Small Mercies
Hannah Rodgers assigned herself a daunting task by delivering her debut LP as Pixx, 2017’s Age of Anxiety, with such aplomb... In Rodgers’ case, she simply used it as a yardstick to dig deeper and build taller on Pixx’s second offering. While she positioned herself as small vessel amidst the tumult of the world’s rocky ocean on Age of Anxiety, Small Mercies finds her assaying her personal relationships.

Alt-rock godfather who wears many hats: promoter, provocateur, and indelible frontman (Jane's Addiction, Porno for Pyros, Satellite Party). 
Perry Farrell - Machine Girl from Kind Heaven
Alt-rock godfather Perry Farrell is best known for his pivotal role in Jane's Addiction, but in the years between breakups and reunions for his best-known band, the singer always kept active with other projects. In addition to more traditional bands like Porno for Pyros, Farrell sporadically worked on solo material. Kind Heaven is his third solo album...  Farrell duets with his wife, Etty Lau Farrell, on several tracks like the high-tension ode to lust "Machine Girl."

Long-standing British duo whose innovative brand of warped electro-techno is filled with playful melodies and tricky time signatures. 
Plaid - Maru from Polymer
Plaid's tenth studio album is inspired by environmental concerns, as well as humanity's relationship with synthetic objects and how they affect the planet. Similar to many of Plaid's past albums, the duo weave acoustic instrumentation throughout their tricky compositions, fusing machine precision with warmth, humanity, and wonder... The clanging rhythms of "Maru" sound like a warped variation on the sound of experimental club labels like Timedance, yet the serene organ pads and twinkling melodies add a gentle touch.

"Fake band" from El Segundo, California turns into a real powerhouse of indie rock-infused garage psychedelia.
Froth - Laurel from Duress
...On the majority of the album, guitarist/vocalist Joo-Joo Ashworth, bassist Jeremy Katz, and drummer Cameron Allen sound like they were bunkered in a laundry room, huddling around an old four-track tape machine and gently picking their way through the songs so as not to bother anyone else in the house... and "Laurel" almost gets a head of steam going but is content to grind away happily in second gear...  Froth may have lost some potential fans by shrinking their scale of operations, but the move allowed them to deliver a truly interesting, totally unique version of shoegaze and experimental pop.

Along with being in Eternal Summers, the singer/songwriter crafts nostalgic '90s alterna-rock on her own. As a member of Eternal Summers, Nicole Yun was part of a trio crafting dreamy shoegaze and indie rock-flavored music. On her own, her tastes run more towards the mainstream of '90s alternative, as evidenced by the sounds captured on her debut solo album, 2019's Paper Suit.
Nicole Yun - Tommie from Paper Suit
After a decade spent playing with Eternal Summers, guitarist/songwriter Nicole Yun was ready to try something other than the dream pop/shoegaze mix that band did so well. Working on Paper Suit with talented teams in NYC and Philadelphia that included members of Maxïmo Park, Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Guided by Voices, and Bleeding Rainbow, she crafted a love letter to the various forms of alternative rock that she grew up on in the '90s... Yun and Paper Suit stand head and shoulders above 99 percent of those acts, and anyone seeking a record that not only revives the guitar pop of the '90s but brings it fully up to date should waste no time giving this a spin.

Vanishing Twin is songwriter, singer and multi-instrumentalist Cathy Lucas, drummer Valentina Magaletti, bassist Susumu Mukai, synth/guitar player Phil MFU and visual artist/film maker Elliott Arndt on flute and percussion; and on this album they have made their first artistic statement for the ages.
Vanishing Twin - You Are Not An Island from The Age of Immunology
...The magical Morricone-esque lounge of ‘You Are Not an Island’, the blissed-out Jean-Claude Vannier style arrangement of ‘Invisible World’ and burbling sci fi funk ode to a 1972 cult French animation, ‘Planète Sauvage’, were all recorded in nighttime sessions in an abandoned mill in Sudbury....
Fantastic Planet: Vanishing Twin And The Age Of Immunology
On their new album, The Age of Immunology, the group hasn’t really switched up their sound, but instead has expanded the fabled lore encompassed in their body of work. Though only a couple of songs on the new album were born out of the aforementioned Sudbury sessions, the overarching result seems to highlight the group’s strengthened bond with each other and their vision. Vanishing Twin is a large group, blending together a range of backgrounds, languages, tastes and influences.

Vanishing Twin, Silversun Pickups, Rickie Lee Jones, Peter Perrett, Santana, Concha Buika, Yeasayer, Pixx, Perry Farrell, Plaid, Froth, Nicole Yun, Vanishing Twin

028 ALTER.NATiON: weekly favtraX 30-03-2019

ALTER.NATiON #28

Control Top, Perry Farrell, Ty Segall, White Denim, Sebadoh, Garcia Peoples, Joshua Redman Quartet, Sarah Tandy, Facs, Ela Orleans, Christelle Bofale, Billie Eilish
 
weekly favtraX
30-03-2019

Control Top - Covert Contracts
“Everything looks like a commercial/ It’s a brand to be controversial!” is Carter’s rallying cry on the album’s rampaging title track. From there she traces the oblivious steps toward fascism: “First step is to give up your attention/ Next step is to give up your intention/ Then one day you’re locked up for dissension/ It was all built into the invention.” Paired with surging pogo bass, an intense 4/4 backbeat, and a flurry of violent guitar stabs, it’ll raise your pulse...

Alt-rock godfather who wears many hats: promoter, provocateur, and indelible frontman (Jane's Addiction, Porno for Pyros, Satellite Party). 
Perry Farrell - Pirate Punk Politician
...Considering that the latest Jane’s Addiction album was released in 2011, and Farrell has not released solo material since 2001, “Pirate Punk Politician” should be a return to form. It’s more Porno For Pyros with its spiraling riffs and almost experimental nature, but if the title was any indication, this song is bizarre from start to finish. While a fast tempo, scratchy guitar and thrusting bass line are present, weirdly melodic synths cut in during the second verse. This only creates uneasy tension that’s alleviated by the sheer ruckus of the chorus...

California-based garage rock revivalist known for his prolific discography and his accurate recreations of '60s lo-fi. 

Ty Segall - Cherry Red from Deforming Lobes

...2019's Deforming Lobes was recorded during two January 2018 shows in Los Angeles, and the song list curiously omits any tunes from Freedom's Goblin. What it does deliver is Segall and his band laying into their music as if their lives depended on it. Deforming Lobes documents a tight, heavyweight rock & roll band turning up the amps and wailing hard for the fans, and if it doesn't have a subtle bone in its body, it proves beyond a doubt that Segall and his bandmates are still committed to the sweaty, passionate glory of The Rock Show. On Deforming Lobes, Segall is backed by the Freedom Band, the same core of musicians who helped him make Freedom's Goblin, and they sound like a force to be reckoned with. Emmett Kelly is a great guitar foil for Segall, matching and complementing the noisy majesty of Segall's soloing, Ben Boye's fuzzy keyboards lend force and color to the arrangements, and bassist Mikal Cronin and drummer Charles Moothart hit with the impact of a runaway cement truck...

Freewheeling indie rock combo from Austin, Texas whose exuberant, hard-hitting sound has charted in the U.S. and U.K. 

White Denim - Reversed Mirror from Side Effects

Though they are from Austin, and started out as a punk power trio, much of White Denim's ninth studio album, 2019's Side Effects, sounds like it could have been recorded by a psychedelic rock band in Los Angeles in 1969. That fuzz-tone, reverb, and echo-pedal sound is pretty much the aesthetic bandleaders James Petralli (vocals, guitars) and Steve Terebecki (bass) have been aiming for since at least 2011's D. While the lineup has gone through changes over the years (there are even at least three different drummers credited here), White Denim have remained remarkably consistent...

The quintessential lo-fi band of the '90s, centered around the neurotic observational genius of depressive-obsessive Lou Barlow. 

Sebadoh - Stunned

At the top of the month, Sebadoh announced their first new album in six years, Act Surprised, which sees Lou Barlow reconnecting with Jason Loewenstein and Bob D’Amico after a move back to Northampton, MA... This one builds on their panicked energy. “The incessant bombardment of the senses with media and advertising can lead to a kind of self-defensive paralysis,” the band’s Loewenstein said about the song in a press release. “I am completely stunned at this point.”

New Jersey band who took notes from a canon of classic psychedelic searchers to develop their jammy, cosmic rock sound. 

Garcia Peoples - High Noon Violence from Natural Facts

Arriving a scant eight months after their debut, Natural Facts already presents a distinct evolution in Garcia Peoples' exploratory guitar rock. With a name that references the late Jerry Garcia, the New Jersey combo honored -- to a certain degree -- the immutable jam band spirit of their forebears on 2018's sunny Cosmic Cash, which introduced audiences not already in the know to the crafty twin-guitar stylings of Tom Malach and Danny Arakaki. Rather than retreading the tired tropes so diligently trotted out each summer by countless noodling festival bands, Garcia Peoples filtered their more obvious influences (Grateful Dead, NRBQ, Little Feat, Phish) through a contemporary indie rock aesthetic that celebrated the present over the past. They accomplish this to an even greater extent on their 2019 follow-up, Natural Facts... The earthy, Dead-like harmonies of standout "High Noon Violence" are paired with a snaky riff that could have come straight from Television's Marquee Moon. 

An adventurous, highly lauded jazz tenor saxophonist who initially rose to prominence after winning the 1991 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition. 

Joshua Redman Quartet - Stagger Bear from Come What May

The band at the core of saxophonist Joshua Redman's warmly engaging 2019 album, Come What May, has played together in various configurations for almost twenty years. Featured are pianist Aaron Goldberg, bassist Reuben Rogers, and drummer Gregory Hutchinson... "Stagger Bear" with its bluesy piano brings to mind the cabaret swagger of Bob Fosse.

“The music developed gradually through many years playing on London’s underground music scene, and immersing myself in the myriad musical languages surrounding me. In the album I’m seeking to find a continuum between the jazz music which I grew up listening to, and the multi-faceted, genre-melting sounds of present day London”, she says.

Sarah Tandy - Infection In The Sentence

...Tandy makes her solo debut here, with a concise (six tracks, 34 minutes) album featuring Sheila Maurice Grey of Neríja and Kokoroko on trumpet, Binker Golding of Binker & Moses on saxophone, Mutale Chashi of Kokoroko on bass, and Femi Koleoso of Ezra Collective (and a fellow member of Camilla George’s band) on drums. The music lays hard bop-inspired horn interplay over shuffling, soulful rhythms, occasionally settling down for an introspective ballad. On the album’s second half, Tandy switches from acoustic to electric piano. The closing “Snake In The Grass” is a thick funk groove with Tandy laying down dense organ as Grey takes a fierce, barbed solo.

Dark, propulsive post-punk trio formed from the ashes of Chicago's Disappears. 

Facs - Anti-Body from Lifelike

...we get FACS – a Chicago based post-punk band in the same vein as Disappears. Their 2018 debut album Negative Houses was well-received, and they’ve returned with its proper follow-up Lifelike almost exactly a year later... Despite the influences, they aren’t as derivative like Preoccupations, a good band for sure, but one that continuously struggles with the direction they want to go. FACS lean more experimental, there are so little pop attributes on Lifelike... 

Dreamy, sample-based experimental indie pop with ghostly echoes of '50s and '60s pop. 

Ela Orleans - In the Night from Movies for Ears

Polish-born musician Ela Orleans has released over a dozen LPs and EPs of haunting, exotic lo-fi pop since the late 2000s. For the most part, these recordings were put out by tiny labels in scant editions, and received nowhere as near as much attention as they deserved. Movies for Ears (itself originally a limited CD-R, later remastered by James Plotkin and given a wide release by Night School in 2019)... All of these songs are fascinating, wonderful, and unique, and they're just a small selection of Orleans' extensive catalog. Very much a collection of lost gems, Movies for Ears is an excellent introduction to a sorely underrated artist.

Christelle Bofale - U Ouchea

Christelle Bofale has a voice that could move mountains, that could change the tides. But the music that the Austin-based artist makes isn’t necessarily interested in such drastic overtures. It moves slow and circular, content to unfold incrementally... It glides along, guided by watery guitars and a pitter-patter of drums that sound like rain on a windowpane. It shifts from sunshine to twilight and back again. Bofale’s voice lilts into the backdrop, twisting up in it like a spell. It’s impressionistic and warm but steadfastly firm. She sings about figments of imagination and fears that glow and tightroping acrobats. It conjures up a world that feels at once peaceful and strained, at ease but at odds

Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter who blends ethereal indie electro-pop with dark thematic tones. 

Billie Eilish - bad guy from When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?

On her big-league debut, Billie Eilish makes a bold entrance into the mainstream, leaving the fringes behind to embrace her role as an anti-pop star for the disaffected Gen Z masses. With a youthful, hybrid blend that incorporates elements of indie electronic, pop, and hip-hop (assisted by brother Finneas O'Connell), When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? captures the late-2010s zeitgeist by throwing conventional boundaries to the wind and fully committing to its genre-blurring self. Like Lorde's devilish little sister, Eilish delivers her confessional lyrics in hushed bursts of breath, at times dirge-like in their sedateness and otherwise intensely threatening in their creepiness.

Control Top, Perry Farrell, Ty Segall, White Denim, Sebadoh, Garcia Peoples, Joshua Redman Quartet, Sarah Tandy, Facs, Ela Orleans, Christelle Bofale, Billie Eilish