"Sunset Dreams" #120 ALTER.NATION.MiX - weekly favtraX 10-03-2021 (15trx 59m)

 ALTER.NATION #120 (15trx 59m)

Jane Weaver, Bernice, Gretchen Parlato, duendita, Judith Hill, Painted Shrines, Alex Bleeker, Floatie, Ron Gallo, upsammy

weekly favtraX 

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"Sunset Dreams"

English singer/songwriter, guitarist, and record label head whose solo works shift from woodsy psych-folk to dreamlike synth pop...  2021's Flock expanded it while adding funk and '90s alternative sounds. No matter the setting or style, Weaver's heartfelt singing and trenchant songcraft come through strongly on every release.

Jane Weaver - Flock  / Sunset Dreams / Pyramid Schemes

Throughout the second half of the 2010s, Jane Weaver hit her musical stride, releasing two albums that combined shimmering synths, alternately propulsive and languid tempos, and Weaver's trilling vocals into something magical. 2014's Silver Globe and 2017's Modern Kosmology are both mini-masterpieces of dream-meets-synth pop and showed that she basically had mastered that style... Where her work in the 2010s flowed from song to song like a masterful DJ set, 2021's Flock comes across more like a greatest-hits album as she bounces from style to style... She could have kept making the same wonderful dream pop albums over and over until the world ended and that would have been fine. For her to take the template she had perfected and apply it to slightly different styles of music is a daring move and it works out very well, to say the least. Flock is the work of a daring artist, a crafty writer and performer, and someone who is always worth following to see what kind of great things she might do in the future.

Whimsical, genre-defying group led by Toronto singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Robin Dann... Bernice craft weightless experimental pop that is equally elegant and filled with wonder. Rounded out by some of Toronto's most in-demand musicians, the group's imaginative fusion of indie pop, jazz, and R&B...

Bernice - Eau de Bonjourno / Groove Elation / Personal Bubble

An album as delicate yet present as a perfume, Bernice's Eau de Bonjourno makes the most of its relatively swift creative process. Arriving three years after 2018's Polaris Prize-nominated Puff: In the Air Without a Shape (a relatively quick turnaround, considering the seven years that separated that album and the group's debut What Was That) and recorded in ten days, its spontaneous songs highlight the band's sophisticated, inquisitive blend of indie, jazz, and R&B. Leaving traditional song structures in the dust, Bernice revel in unexpected harmonies and chords and syncopated rhythms that give them a dragonfly-like ability to flit wherever they choose... Though Eau de Bonjourno's musical mindfulness demands active listening, it's well worth paying close attention -- this is experimental music driven by emotion, with frequently exhilarating results.

Young American jazz singer with a nuanced style, equally influenced by Brazilian music and scat singing.

Gretchen Parlato - Flor / É Preciso Perdoar

...Flor is it: a compelling synthesis of originals, pop covers, Brazilian standards, and classical music performed by a new international quartet. It includes Brazilian guitarist and musical director Marcel Camargo, Brazilian drummer Leo Costa, and Armenian cellist/bassist Artyom Manukyan. Parlato produced the nine-song set... She references the past immediately on opener "É Preciso Perdoar." A hit for João Gilberto in 1973, Parlato's world changed when she first him singing at age 13. She fell in love with his simple, intimate, yet intricately detailed delivery and laid-back style. She presents the song with North African harmonic and rhythmic overtones from open-tuned guitars and droning cello atop a spectral percussion line. Her delivery adds drama, sensuality, and pathos to its lyric of unrequited love... Parlato and her collaborators dig under and through stylistic and genre conventions, then emerge with a jazz language of their own that embraces the world's sounds and emotions, and translates them flawlessly with warmth, intimacy, poetry, and humor. Flor is a masterpiece.

Born and raised in Queens, New York, the Afro-Latinx artist channels a sentimental blend of life experiences in her work. The vibrations of her identity, faith, and enduring familial lineage anchor the foundation of duendita’s art....

duendita - Open Eyes

“Open Eyes,” a new song by duendita for Mexican Summer’s ongoing Looking Glass series, moves with its own logic. Leading a small jazz ensemble—Endea Owens on bass, Paul Wilson on keys, and Austin Williamson on drums—the Brooklyn and Berlin-based soul artist sweeps from her stirring lower register to a lush falsetto, accompanying the wave-like movement of the arrangement: With each line, she may sound like a choir, a string section, or a quiet voice in a dimly lit room, singing only for herself. ..

Grammy-winning, soul-inspired vocalist who has worked with Prince and Michael Jackson, among many others, and starred in 20 Feet from Stardom. Gutsy and nuanced as a vocalist, and an accomplished songwriter, arranger, and pianist as well, Judith Hill is likely the only musician who can cite Elton John, Spike Lee, Prince, and Michael Jackson among those who have sought out her talent.

Judith Hill - Baby, I’m Hollywood! / Americana / Burn It All

Considering Hill’s monumental career thus far—she was mentored by Prince, competed on The Voice, provided songs for a Spike Lee film and has played in live bands for the likes of Josh Groban, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson and more—it certainly seems that she’s living the dream. Yet, Hill has her demons too... Now, on March 5 via Regime Music Group, she’s releasing Baby, I’m Hollywood!, a soulful, introspective, funky, toe-tapping and head-bobbing journey through Hill’s life and times. Looking at everything from interpersonal strife to the legacy of Black and Asian culture in America, the record is a brilliant encapsulation of Hill, her talents and all of the iconic musicians who helped shape her....

Collaborative psychedelic jangle pop project between Skygreen Leopards' Glenn Donaldson and Woods' Jeremy Earl. Painted Shrines is a collaboration between Skygreen Leopards' Glenn Donaldson and Woods' Jeremy Earl that balances each of their distinctive sensibilities for creating wistful yet psychedelic pop. After knowing each other and working together in less official capacities for years, the duo released their debut album, Heaven and Holy, in 2021.

Painted Shrines - Heaven and Holy / Heaven and Holy / Fool

Already distinctive powers on their own, the combination of Jeremy Earl and Glenn Donaldson as Painted Shrines strikes a fantastic balance of their respective sonic identities throughout the project's debut album, Heaven and Holy. Since the early 2000s, Earl has been an integral part of rootsy indie folk band Woods, and Donaldson has brought his songwriting and production perspectives to the airy psychedelic rock of Skygreen Leopards and more recently his wistful and jangly solo project the Reds, Pinks and Purples... The songs are great on the level anyone familiar with either player has come to expect, and the extraneous sounds of the instrumentals keep the album moving along in an interesting fashion. Not every collaboration is as strong as the sum of its parts, but Painted Shrines is a wonderful example of two like-minded artists bringing out the absolute best in each other.

Bassist of indie band Real Estate whose side projects tend toward the more cosmic, jam band-inspired end of the rock spectrum.

Alex Bleeker - Heaven on the Faultline / AB Ripoff / Reach for My Brain

Alex Bleeker quietly, steadily worked on solo music of his own in tandem with the earliest days of his acclaimed indie band Real Estate, trickling out albums and EPs that bent a little more toward the stoney, country-fried side of things than the reliably poppy material Real Estate was known for. After releasing several strong albums with a rotating cast of characters under the banner Alex Bleeker and the Freaks, Heaven on the Faultline is Bleeker's first solo outing under his own name, and its 13 songs represent the different avenues of his specific musical identity... The album elevates an already solid solo catalog with some of Bleeker's most varied and memorable songs to date, bringing out more of the disarming sweetness and hazy beauty that's been the core of his music since the start.

Sam Bern- guitar, vocals / Joe Olson- bass vi, vocals / Will Wisniewski- guitar, synths, vocals/ Luc Schutz- drums

Floatie - Shiny

Last month, the Chicago rock band Floatie announced their debut album, Voyage Out... Today, they’re sharing a new track called “Shiny,” which is nervy but gliding and which the band says is about “finding the drive to make choices that will give you self-assurance and help you to feel worthy of others’ companionship [and] forcing your own luck by committing to your decisions.” “I will try/ Even if my brain says so,” Sam Bern sings on it and in what must be a Dune reference: “I’ll take all the spice in front of me/ I’ll go to another show.” 

Witty and street-smart singer and songwriter who evolved from a roots rocker with Toy Soldiers to a garage punk on his own.

Ron Gallo - Peacemeal / CANCELLED!!!

Being stuck all by yourself can change how a person does things. Ron Gallo has learned a bit about that; he was planning to stay in Italy with his new bride to make music and enjoy life when the COVID-19 lockdown of 2020 forced him to go back to his home in Nashville, which meant a lot of time spent in an empty house with only his home studio for company. While most folks would have gotten seriously bummed out under these circumstances, Gallo somehow got happy...well, kind of. 2021's Peacemeal, cut in bits and pieces before and during quarantine, is a significant departure from the scrappy but rootsy garage-influenced sound of 2017's Heavy Meta and 2018's Stardust Birthday Party. Though guitars still play an important role in the arrangements, Peacemeal is at heart a pop album, with the artist embracing electronics in a new way and absorbing the influences of contemporary R&B and hip-hop...

Dutch DJ and producer Thessa Torsing, who fluidly switches between various styles of dreamy experimental techno and electro.

upsammy - Flutter

Following 2020’s debut album ‘Zoom’, upsammy returns to Dekmantel with a dualistic four-tracker called 'Bend', incorporating familiar sonic palettes and novel paths carved out in times of isolation. Where Zoom channelled upsammy’s conceptual depth, Bend leans into artistic intuition, juxtaposing the floral and martial, propelling along her signature sound of textured electronica. Lilac chimes rise and fall along the melodic Flutter...

Jane Weaver, Bernice, Gretchen Parlato, duendita, Judith Hill, Painted Shrines, Alex Bleeker, Floatie, Ron Gallo, upsammy

19-05-2020 alter:MiX # 33 alter tracks in PRSNT_PRFCT_MiX [from recent past]

Joe Bisirri, Dylan Sevey, Ron Gallo

19-05-2020 alter:MiX # 33 alter tracks in PRSNT_PRFCT_MiX [from recent past] # Ron Gallo, Overlake, Salad Boys, Steve Mason, Of Montreal, El Michels Affair, Duster, The Liminanas, Elf Power, Sacred Paws, M. Ward, Liz Brasher, Sore Eros, Mr. Elevator, Shopping

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Witty and street-smart singer and songwriter who evolved from a roots rocker with Toy Soldiers to a garage punk on his own.
Ron Gallo
Young Lady, You're Scaring Me 3:40
Put the Kids to Bed 2:54
from Heavy Meta 2017
Ron Gallo spent close to a decade exploring the boundaries of his blues, country, and roots rock influences with his band Toy Soldiers, but when he jumped ship to go solo, he left all of that behind. At least that's the very strong impression given by Gallo's second solo album, 2017's Heavy Meta. Gallo's first solo effort, 2014's Ronny, was a step away from Toy Soldiers' sound into a brighter and poppier direction, but with Heavy Meta, he's done an about-face into raw, wiry, guitar-based rock & roll. Backed by bassist Joe Bisirri and drummer Dylan Sevey, Heavy Meta is a gritty, energetic exercise in punk-informed 21st century garage rock, with Gallo's buzzy, rough and ready guitar figures and high-attitude vocals front and center in the mix at all times...

Big guitars and emphatic melodic hooks define this indie rock trio from Jersey City, New Jersey. Overlake are a trio from New Jersey whose music combines the hooky melodies of indie pop with the big guitars and crashing drums of vintage shoegaze outfits.
Overlake
Unnamed November 3:58
You Don't Know Everything 6:52
from Fall 2017
Shoegaze is alive and well and living in Jersey City, New Jersey, where it has adopted the name Overlake. On the group's second full-length album, 2017's Fall, Overlake have taken the usual tropes of classic shoegaze -- the big, billowy guitar figures, the murmur-y vocals, the thick undertow of bass, and the languid but crashing rhythms -- and transformed them into something that sounds fresh, engaging, and honestly exciting. With a band like this, good tunes usually make all the difference, and Fall shows that Overlake has them to spare... Fall is big music with an intimate heart, and Overlake will give you the contemplative ride you've been looking for with this splendid album.

Fuzzy, melodic indie rock trio from Christchurch, New Zealand whose pop hooks recall the Flying Nun heyday.
Salad Boys
Psych Slasher 2:50
Scenic Route to Nowhere 3:37
from This Is Glue 2018
The Salad Boys' 2015 debut album Metalmania was a fine update on classic jangle pop, full of ringing guitars, hooky melodies, and a mix of uptempo and more relaxed tunes. They don't deviate much from their winning formula on This Is Glue, the 2018 follow-up. Unlike the previous album, which was a more collaborative effort, this time the band's songwriter Joe Sampson took control. With drummer James Sullivan in tow, he recorded the album in various locales around his hometown of Christchurch and gets a much less polished sound than on Metalmania. This approach fixed one of the main problems that album had, which was how sleek and shiny it was. Jangle pop can easily come off as too polite if there isn't some grit under the chiming guitars, and This Is Glue has just enough scruff and lo-fi appeal to avoid this pitfall...

20-04-2020 alter:MiX # 33 alter tracks in PRSNT_PRFCT_MiX

Sunwatchers

20-04-2020 alter:MiX # 33 alter tracks in PRSNT_PRFCT_MiX [from recent past] # Sunwatchers, The Heliocentrics, Wire, En Attendant Ana, Shadow Show, Leslie Mendelson, Jim Noir, HXXS, Overlake, Ron Gallo, Salad Boys, Steve Mason, Of Montreal

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Intense New York-based free rock ensemble led by Jim McHugh of Nymph and Dark Meat.
Sunwatchers
New Dad Blues 6:16
Psychic Driving 4:59
from Illegal Moves 2019
New York quartet Sunwatchers make instrumental music that exists where the spiritual reach of free jazz and the screaming chaos of psychedelia intersect. Bandleader Jim McHugh was a founding member of the late-2000s freaked sounds collective Dark Meat, and he carried on their deep-fried blend of structure and skronk when he uprooted from Athens, Georgia, to New York City in 2010 and began working towards what would become Sunwatchers. Wildly prolific, the band quickly established their untethered sound over the course of multiple releases captured both in the studio and in live performances. Illegal Moves is their third studio album, and its seven selections capture the group at their tightest and most electric state of sonic and psychic connectivity yet...

Eclectic U.K.-based ensemble blending influences such as hip-hop, jazz, soundtracks, Ethiopian funk, outré electronics, and more.
The Heliocentrics
Human Zoo 4:49
A World of Masks 7:45
from A World of Masks 2017
After 2016's From the Deep, an excellent summation of all their previous musical directions, the Heliocentrics go -- as the banner on Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters bus proclaimed -- "Further." While the Malcolm Catto-led outfit has been digging through many varieties of jazz, psych-funk, hip-hop, library grooves, and international sounds (having worked with Mulatu Astatke and Lloyd Miller) for over a decade, A World of Masks presents an intergalactic take on many of the above.
Added to the band's personnel on this date is Slovakian vocalist Barbora Patkova, who has been working with the outfit live since 2013. Like her fellow Heliocentrics, she is an explorer. While June Tyson is a reference point, Patkova is so versatile that other comparisons are equally apt: Urzula Dudziak, Julie Tippetts, Jeanne Lee, and Patty Waters also come to mind...

The most innovative of British punks, an art band with a penchant for dissonant, minimalist arrangements and lyrical abstraction.
Wire
Be Like Them 3:52
Primed and Ready 2:43
from Mind Hive 2020
One of the great joys of Wire's music in the 2010s and beyond is how brilliantly they reinvent their enduring strengths in equally timeless and timely ways. On Mind Hive, the band's legendary skill at writing concise songs filled with layers of meaning comes to the fore. Even its title is compact yet complex, flipping a statement of shared knowledge -- and perhaps conformity -- into one of restless intelligence. Wire don't waste any of the album's terse 35 minutes; instead of the ruminative approach they took on Silver/Lead, they immediately spring into action... The issues Wire grapple with are evergreen, and as they persevere in the face of stupidity and apathy, Mind Hive's unflinching, poetic songs prove maturity is a weapon they wield just as deftly as outrage.

05-03-2020 alter:MiX # 33 alter tracks in PRSNT_PRFCT_MiX

Sharon Jones

05-03-2020 alter:MiX # 33 alter tracks in PRSNT_PRFCT_MiX [from recent past] # Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Bahamas, FIDLAR, Courteeners, Cursive, Whyte Horses, Gladie, St. Vincent, Nina Kraviz, Jacco Gardner, The Heliocentrics, Ron Gallo, Sunwatchers, Wire, En Attendant Ana, Shadow Show

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By the sound of them, you would have thought Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings started making funk-threaded soul music together in the 1960s. Few devotedly retro acts were as convincing. Few singers as skilled as Sharon Jones at stuffing notes with ache and meaning would be willing to invest in a sound so fully occupied by the likes of Bettye LaVette and Tina Turner in the Ike years, too. But what Jones brought to the funkified table had legs of its own -- eight of them, to be exact -- and they belonged to Binky Griptite, Bugaloo Velez, Homer Steinweiss, and Dave Guy -- her Dap-Kings.
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
Matter of Time 3:22
Just Give Me Your Time 2:29
from Soul of a Woman 2017
Sharon Jones was 45 years old when she cut her first single with the retro-soul combo the Dap-Kings in 2001. She'd been trying to find a way into the music business for years before her partnership with the Dap-Kings unexpectedly made her a star, but it was obvious that once the right people heard her, they knew she one of the great R&B singers of her generation. Once the door opened for her, she didn't look back for a second. While Jones had beat cancer once, she wasn't as lucky when the disease reappeared in 2015, and through 2016 she played shows and recorded session in between rounds of treatment, with cancer finally claiming her life in November of that year. Some artists, knowing they have only so long to live, use their final recordings to sum up their lives and careers, but that was clearly not the case for Jones. Soul of a Woman, recorded during the last months of her life, is not an album about mortality; instead, this is the work of a woman who was determined to make the most of every moment allotted her. Soul of a Woman is a superb exercise in deep soul big-city style, and if Jones was ailing when she recorded her vocals, you would never guess to listen to the finished product...

Bahamas is the solo project of Toronto-based guitarist and musical gun-for-hire Afie Jurvanen. With a carefully trained ear for melody that he's honed during his time playing with the likes of Feist and Howie Beck, Jurvanen's solo project has a stripped-down and contemplative sound that focuses on doing more with less, allowing his voice and guitar to do most of the heavy lifting on his quiet indie folk meditations.
Bahamas
Alone 3:24
Bad Boys Need Love Too 3:41
from Earthtones 2018
Afie Jurvanen's fourth Bahamas LP, Earthtones finds the guitarist/songwriter joined by the all-star rhythm section of Pino Palladino and James Gadson. With decades of legendary albums to their individual credit, the bassist and drummer happen to have played together on none other than D'Angelo's Black Messiah. It's not a trivial recording note, as Jurvanen sought them out due to that album and wrote much of Earthtones with these particular collaborators in mind. The result dials up the soul and slow-boiling funk while retaining Jurvanen's laid-back demeanor, all to steady, head-bobbing effect...

Channeling classic skatepunk, thrash, and surfy lo-fi indie, Los Angeles combo FIDLAR emerged in the early 2010s, rising from the D.I.Y. underground to make a surprising run on Billboard's Heatseekers chart with their eponymous full-length debut, which was also a critical favorite.
FIDLAR
Get Off My Rock 3:17
Almost Free 2:15
from Almost Free 2019
---Their spotty sophomore release, 2016's Too, wrestled with frontman Zac Carper's newfound sobriety in the face of the group's chosen lifestyle and typical subject matter; on Almost Free, they further complicate things by introducing some politics and social commentary into the mix. To their credit, FIDLAR have made legitimate attempts to get out of their creative comfort zone and go somewhere new. That said, Almost Free is somewhat of a mess. Recording at Hollywood's legendary Sunset Sound with Ricky Reed (Jessie J, Twenty One Pilots), FIDLAR strike out in a variety of different directions, landing some new tricks but slamming a lot more...

002 ALTER.NATiON: weekly favtraX / 23-10-2018 (52')

ALTER.NATiON #002
All Them Witches, Beak>, Doyle Bramhall II, Exploded Wiev, Ian Siegal, John Sofield, Jon Batiste, Mudhoney, Ron Gallo, Toe, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Iceage

DOYLE BRAMHALL II

weekly favtraX

23-10-18

ALTER.NATiON #2 on DEEZER

 Austin, Texas-based guitarist who gained fame in the '90s as Eric Clapton's right-hand man and who pursued a blues-rock career of his own. 
DOYLE BRAMHALL II - Love and Pain 4:10
It took Doyle Bramhall II 15 years to deliver Rich Man, the sequel to 2001's Welcome, but only two to follow that 2016 record with Shades. Appropriately, Shades feels looser than its predecessor and more direct, too. Where Rich Man was dotted with epics, Bramhall keeps things generally concise on Shades, and he also firmly grounds the album in soul. The first sounds on Shades may recall the thick, heavy blues grooves of the Black Keys but by the time Bramhall gets to the chorus of "Love and Pain," he spins the song into classic '60s R&B...

 Former Toy Soldiers frontman whose music evolved from roots rock to garage punk as he moved from Philadelphia to Nashville. Ron Gallo is the name of a Philadelphia-bred rock musician whose music embraces elements of both roots rock and garage punk with an abundance of smarts and passion.
RON GALLO - It's All Gonna Be OK 2:51
Leaving his well-mannered past as a roots rocker behind, Ron Gallo showed off a lean-and-mean sound and a lyrical style full of snarky wit on 2017's Heavy Meta, and he's dug in deeper with his second album from his eponymous band. 2018's Stardust Birthday Party is dominated by no-frills melodies rooted in Gallo's sharp, choppy guitar figures and the taut, efficient rhythms of bassist Joe Bisirri and drummer Dylan Sevey, which isn't that far off from the formula on Heavy Meta...

 Primarily instrumental post-rock quartet from Japan with an angular, guitar-driven sound. Bearing no relation to the short-lived Chicago-based group of the same name, Toe are a primarily instrumental rock quartet from Japan consisting of guitarists Mino Takaaki and Yamazaki Hirokazu, drummer Kashikura Takashi, and bassist Yamane Satoshi.
TOE - Dual Harmonics 3:13
Since 2000, Japanese quartet Toe have been making highly intricate post-rock music that sounds like it was produced by an advanced, ultra-precise machine, yet feels earthy and organic. Their songs are typically characterized by clean-sounding guitar melodies working in tandem with eternally fluctuating drumbeats... "The Latest Number" features a slightly stilted but danceable rhythm along with hushed yet alert vocals, with bits of electronics and vibraphones stitching the guitars and rhythm section together during the bridge. This is certainly Toe in pop mode, but even when they concentrate on showcasing their musicianship, they're still quite accessible.

Felirat hozzáadása

 A neo-psychedelic, dark blues quartet from Nashville. Though their '60s and '70s influences are plain, their sound is mercurial.  A versatile hard rock quartet based out of Nashville, Tennessee, All Them Witches draw from a deep well of musical inspiration that includes Blue Cheer, Black Sabbath, Sun, Moon & Herbs-era Dr. John, and the electric Delta swamp blues of Junior Kimbrough.
ALL THEM WITCHES - Diamond 6:09
2017's Sleeping Through the War saw the Tennessee-based psych-blues outfit drop a largely song-oriented set of cosmic stoner metal emissions that dialed back on some of the more exploratory aspects of their previous outings...  If anything, ATW feels like a product of pure instinct, and while it may take some patience to absorb, there isn't a single note that feels coerced.

Louisiana-born jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader known for his eclectic crossover music. Keyboardist, bandleader, singer, composer, and educator Jon Batiste is an adventurous, eclectic, jazz-based musician. 
JON BATISTE - Saint James Infirmary Blues 4:18
“There’s so much going on in the world that I wanted to respond to, and there’s not a lot of music where people can meditate, think, reflect, but also be uplifted by” says Batiste, calling from a car in the midst of a hectic day of press in Manhattan for his new album. “I wanted to get back to the basics of who I am as a musician but also the basics of who I am as a person.”... Produced by T Bone Burnett, the album is a sparse solo affair guided entirely by Batiste’s Jelly Roll Morton–inspired piano playing and, for the first time, his vocals. Across 11 tracks, Batiste traverses the entire history of 20th-century music,

Danish band who offer a smart and ambitious spin on punk that's still packed with emotional and physical power. 
Iceage - Catch It 5:45
...Lead singer Elias Bender Rønnenfelt was born to brood, and on “Catch It,” he delivers one of his most emotive vocal performances yet. Over a simple, lurching chord progression, he groans and seethes into the mic, telling his story as with the wrinkles in his voice as with his words. Because there are only a few notes in the new single’s vocal melody, Rønnenfelt has more of a chance to modulate the texture of his voice...

Born in the deep south (of England!) in 1971, Ian's earliest musical memories are of the likes of Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis and Chuck Berry, but it was on hearing the great Little Richard that he really caught the music bug and became nothing short of obsessive about it. This lead him into a life-long passion for the Blues and all of its various branches, and most of all, the man he calls "God" - the inimitable Muddy Waters.
IAN SIEGAL - The Sh*t Hit 5:39
A studio album from Ian Siegal is always a seismic event. Recent times have seen this award-winning British songwriter put untold miles on the clock, with the spit-and-grit of his shows bottled in several live albums. But in 2018, it’s tantalising to find his name alongside ten new original songs and to anticipate where All The Rage might take the man whose material was rightly trumpeted by Mojo as “awash with wit, lust and distraction”.

The former Pavement frontman's solo career has a broader musical palette, evoking British folk, '70s prog, psychedelia, and blazing guitar rock.
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - Middle America 3:31
...Melodically, “Middle America” sounds like it could have been hiding in a vault since Pavement's final 1999 album, Terror Twilight. Lyrically, it adopts more gravitas than Malkmus' irreverent former band ever attempted. Lines about growing older in the United States circle around his patented breezy guitar work...

 The quartet that defined Seattle grunge, a group with a penchant for heavy metal muscle, punk attitude, and garage rock primitivism.  Nirvana may have been the band that put an entire generation in flannel, and Pearl Jam and Soundgarden both sold a lot more records, but Mudhoney were truly the band that made the '90s grunge rock movement possible
MUDHONEY - Prosperity Gospel 3:48
Some bands mellow with age, as their youthful fury gives way to a more understanding frame of mind. Mudhoney are clearly not one of those bands. The grunge pioneers have long thrived on snark the way other folks require oxygen, but since they returned to the indie ranks with 2002's Since We've Become Translucent, lead singer Mark Arm has been more eager than ever to vent his spleen on the troubles of the world around him. Mudhoney have rarely sounded as flat-out pissed off as they do on 2018's Digital Garbage, an album that's a clear reflection of America in the year it was created

 The largely improvised post-punk-meets-Krautrock collaboration between Anika and Mexico City's indie luminaries. A kinetic mix of post-punk, dub, and Krautrock, Exploded View builds on the sounds of its members' other projects -- most notably vocalist/keyboardist Annika Henderson's work as a solo artist -- while creating its own identity with its stream-of-consciousness grooves.
EXPLODED VIEW - Dark Stains 3:25
On Exploded View's self-titled debut, the band's stream-of-consciousness post-punk drew a significant part of its impact from its live recording process, which emphasized the album's dreamlike flow and surprising tangents. The band -- now the trio of Annika Henderson, Hugo Quezada, and Martin Thulin -- brings a little more order to the proceedings on Obey. The trio tracked the album in a more traditional fashion at Thulin and Quezada's Mexico City studio, but fortunately, the more controlled environment doesn't diminish Exploded View's evocative power at all. If anything, Obey draws listeners into their lucid dreams more completely as they explore the costs of conformity and resisting it.

 A blend of Krautrock grooves and eerie atmospheres, featuring Portishead's Geoff Barrow. Featuring members of Portishead and Moon Gangs, Beak> is a trio crafting dense and atmospheric music inspired by dub, Krautrock, and the Beach Boys. 
BEAK> - Brean Down 3:51
>>>  "You don't like our music cuz it ain't up on the radio," Beak>'s Geoff Barrow sings on >>> with something approaching pride. This contrarian attitude defines the band's third album: Barrow and company could have easily made another album of sinister motorik-driven instrumentals like >>, but this time, they blow up their music.

A dazzling electric guitarist with a steely tone and fluid lines to earmark his distinctive post-bop style. Known for his distinctive, slightly distorted sound, jazz guitarist John Scofield is a masterful jazz improviser who has straddled the lines between straight-ahead post-bop, fusion, funk, and soul-jazz. One of the "big three" of late 20th century jazz guitarists (along with Pat Metheny and Bill Frisell), Scofield's influence grew in the '90s and continued into the 21st century.
JOHN SCOFIELD - Dang Swing 6:08
Scofield is on fine form here with a strong selection of tunes that, in their stylistic breadth, serve as a great introduction to the iconic guitarist's roots-based language. Scofield, like Bill Frisell, is perhaps more mellow in his sixties, luxuriating in every note, weighing every phrase, but there are still enough sparks here to satisfy his legion of long-term fans.

Guitarist John Scofield is one of the most respected contemporary jazz musicians. (johnscofield.com photo)

All Them Witches, Beak>, Doyle Bramhall II, Exploded Wiev, Ian Siegal, John Sofield, Jon Batiste, Mudhoney, Ron Gallo, Toe, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Iceage