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Five albums to try this week: Allah-Las, My Brightest Diamond and more Five albums to try this week: Allah-Las, My Brightest Diamond and more
(about 3 hours later)
Music Go Music – Impressions (Thousand Tongues)Music Go Music – Impressions (Thousand Tongues)
Why you should listen: This second offering from the LA trio serves up bombastic, disco-laden pop in abundant quantities.Why you should listen: This second offering from the LA trio serves up bombastic, disco-laden pop in abundant quantities.
It might not be for you if … You find it hard to see past that name, and aren’t quite in the mood for this level of glimmering pop audacity.It might not be for you if … You find it hard to see past that name, and aren’t quite in the mood for this level of glimmering pop audacity.
What we said: “In these songs, love is overwhelming, an inferno, the blaze of every star; riffs are chugging, galloping, relentless; piano chords clang, while synthesisers replicate the lights whirling from mirror balls,” wrote Maddy Costa, in G2 Film & Music. What we said: “In these songs, love is overwhelming, an inferno, the blaze of every star; riffs are chugging, galloping, relentless; piano chords clang, while synthesisers replicate the lights whirling from mirror balls,” wrote Maddy Costa.
Score: 4/5Score: 4/5
Allah-Las – Worship the Sun (Innovative Leisure)Allah-Las – Worship the Sun (Innovative Leisure)
Why you should listen: If you like the sun, twangy guitar lines and road-trip, wind-blowing-through-your-hair tunes, look no further than the California four-piece’s second album. Why you should listen: If you like the sun, twangy guitar lines and road trip, wind-blowing-through-your-hair tunes, look no further than the California four-piece’s second album.
It might not be for you if … You’re convinced that no one has been able to add anything original to this brand of hazy, beach-pop for years. Pass.It might not be for you if … You’re convinced that no one has been able to add anything original to this brand of hazy, beach-pop for years. Pass.
What we said: “There’s a definite progression in the songwriting and the tunes are soaked in the kind of timeless California sunshine you just don’t get from Brits,” wrote Dave Simpson, in the Guardian. Kitty Empire also gave the album three stars, in her review for the Observer New Review. What we said: “There’s a definite progression in the songwriting and the tunes are soaked in the kind of timeless California sunshine you just don’t get from Brits,” wrote Dave Simpson, in the Guardian. Kitty Empire, writing in the Observer, gave the album three stars.
Score: 3/5Score: 3/5
Cannibal Corpse – A Skeletal Domain (Metal Blade)Cannibal Corpse – A Skeletal Domain (Metal Blade)
Why you should listen: If you like the sound of fret-melting, death growl-heavy metal with song titles like Sadistic Embodiment, Bloodstained Cement and Icepick Lobotomy, you have probably found your album of the year. Why you should listen: If you like the sound of fret-melting, growl-heavy death metal with song titles such as Sadistic Embodiment, Bloodstained Cement and Icepick Lobotomy, you have probably found your album of the year.
It might not be for you if … You’ve watched one too many episodes of Adult Swim’s parody animated show Metalocalypse to take this kind of metal as seriously as the bands might prefer. It might not be for you if … You’ve watched one too many episodes of the Adult Swim animated parody Metalocalypse to take this kind of metal as seriously as the bands might prefer.
What we said: “A Skeletal Domain only makes occasional left turns away from the Buffalo quintet’s long-established blend of straightforward brutality and lyrical grotesquery, but after 12 albums of this stuff, they can hardly be blamed for sticking to a winning formula on their 13th,” wrote Dom Lawson, in the Guardian. What we said: “A Skeletal Domain only makes occasional left turns away from the Buffalo quintet’s established blend of straightforward brutality and lyrical grotesquery, but after 12 albums of this stuff they can hardly be blamed for sticking to a winning formula on their 13th,” wrote Dom Lawson, in the Guardian.
Score: 4/5Score: 4/5
Jason Moran/Meshell Ndegeocello – All Rise: A Joyful Elegy for Fats Waller (Blue Note)Jason Moran/Meshell Ndegeocello – All Rise: A Joyful Elegy for Fats Waller (Blue Note)
Why you should listen: Before the Waller purists tut and shake their heads, pianist Moran and vocalist Ndegeocello (who joined poet Anthony Joseph on his album, Time) prove one can pay tribute to an artist while honouring their work. They do a collection of the jazz legend’s hits justice, revamping their sound. Why you should listen: Before the Waller purists shake their heads, pianist Moran and vocalist Ndegeocello (who joined poet Anthony Joseph on his album, Time) prove one can pay tribute to an artist while honouring their work. They revamp their sound and do a collection of the jazz legend’s hits justice.
It might not be for you if … Those Waller purists from earlier? Yeah, you’re one of them – you’ll happily stick to the originals. It might not be for you if … You’re one of those purists. You should happily stick to the originals.
What we said: “[Ndegeocello] stirs a gripping emotional ambiguity of fraught whispers and neo-soul defiance into this eerily visionary set, veering between swing-jazzy horn hooks, edgy sax lines … heavy funk drumming, and Moran’s blazing fusions of stride-piano stomping and free-improv,” wrote John Fordham, in the Guardian.What we said: “[Ndegeocello] stirs a gripping emotional ambiguity of fraught whispers and neo-soul defiance into this eerily visionary set, veering between swing-jazzy horn hooks, edgy sax lines … heavy funk drumming, and Moran’s blazing fusions of stride-piano stomping and free-improv,” wrote John Fordham, in the Guardian.
Score: 4/5Score: 4/5
My Brightest Diamond – This is My Hand (Asthmatic Kitty)My Brightest Diamond – This is My Hand (Asthmatic Kitty)
Why you should listen: As My Brightest Diamond, Shara Worden releases this fourth album of art-pop, showing off her classically trained voice and genre-hopping dexterity.Why you should listen: As My Brightest Diamond, Shara Worden releases this fourth album of art-pop, showing off her classically trained voice and genre-hopping dexterity.
It might not be for you if … You prefer a rawer voice coupled with this sort of frenetic and experimental pop.It might not be for you if … You prefer a rawer voice coupled with this sort of frenetic and experimental pop.
What we said: “These intense songs, sung with a crystalline elasticity, have located the mojo previously absent from My Brightest Diamond’s art,” wrote Kitty Empire, in the Observer.What we said: “These intense songs, sung with a crystalline elasticity, have located the mojo previously absent from My Brightest Diamond’s art,” wrote Kitty Empire, in the Observer.
Score: 3/5Score: 3/5