Dusan Jevtovic – Am I Walking Wrong? Album Review
While most ultra practitioners continually punctuate bold statements with speed and excess, Dusan tickles the ears with an overabundance of surprises and restraint.
In a soundscape where strange time signatures abound and a series of unique tones are produced of an almost revisionist nature, there is little that remains static and forward motion is a welcome constant. The music is out there but it is also grounded by a humanistic sense of humour and discovery.
Dusan is on to something ...
Willie Nelson – To All The Girls Album Review
His delivery has changed little in all these years and that’s just fine. The thought of him continuing to fall out of the tour bus amid a cloud of green smoke and then take the stage to deliver one of his laconic sets still warms the heart.
Returning to the duet formula for his latest release also fits just fine in these ears. It also helps getting your country on first thing on a lazy Sunday morning after a previous night of working an Aussie hip hop show. If definitely helps to ...
Dewa Budjana – Dawai In Paradise Album Review
This collection of songs (the first release of an upcoming trilogy) sees Dewa indulge in his most esoteric nature and the end result makes one happy, very happy.
His phrasing is sublime and the variety of tones he unleashes from a wide selection of guitars is remarkable but what most impresses is how uplifting this music actual is. Utilizing a wide range of guest artists and their unique instruments (to most western ears) also gives the work a travel log vibe filled with the treasure of ...
Lovelace (Music from The Motion Picture) Album Review
There are even times when it can inform on a period that wasn’t even experienced first hand. That ramble brings us to Lovelace, it’s not a film score but a collection of tracks that evidently will be included in the not yet released movie about the porn star Linda Lovelace and the movie Deep Throat.
If taken as a sampler of the radio of the day (Deep Throat was released in 1972) it shows how constricted and formatted modern day radio has become and how wide open and fun it used to ...
Karnivool – Asymmetry Album Review
The new long player Asymmetry more than lives up to those expectations with its expansive take on progressive rock.
The work screams with passion when the mood strikes but also whispers with precision. The band creates a musical world with all the bombast and idiosyncratic behaviour that marks the best in the genre. It’s minute attention to detail also gives clues to the band’s less than vast recorded output.
It’s a dense work that is best left to wash over you as it reveals ...
Tedeschi Trucks Band – Made Up Mind Album Review
With the amazing talent pool in the Tedeschi Trucks Band, one could be forgiven for thinking it would result in music aimed squarely at fellow musicians. Made Up Mind sidesteps this concern most spectacularly.
It’s an earthy workout with band co-leader Susan Tedeschi delivering just the right amount of grits and gravy in her vocals while husband and Allman Brothers Band alumni Derek Trucks spits fire when it’s completely appropriate while laying out and comping extremely tasty fills ...
Yagull – Films Album Review
This sunny Sunday morning that perfect aural pleasure is Films by Yagull. The group, the project of composer/guitarist Sasha Markovic blends beautiful acoustic instrumentation with forward thinking arrangements and playing.
Don’t let the acoustic tag impact your mindset on this either, for there is as much power in these grooves as a Marshall stack on 11, it’s just more cerebral and only slightly less physical. There is also a superb use of space that allows the listeners to add ...
Sufjan Stevens – The Age Of Adz Music Review
Gone now are most of the comforting folk music embellishments and in their place are foundations of electronically and synthetically created backing tracks. Opening track Futile Devices eases the listener into this new world with remnants of past sounds but from then on it’s a brave new world.
Lacking the sanctuary of warm acoustic backdrops, Sufjan weaves vocals into these eclectic mixes to surround the listener with a human element so not all is zeros and ones. Using this approach ...
Marbin – Last Chapter Of Dreaming Album Review
From the spaghetti western feel of Breaking The Cycle to the cinematic shuffle of On The Square or even the daytime television cheese of Café de Nuit these crazy cats know how to conjure up a vivid experience.
With impeccable influences and moments like the eighties era King Crimson riff that opens the track Inner Monologue or the Dixie Dregs hoe-down meets Zappa wah-wah of Redline these Chicagonians also demonstrates a tip of the director’s hat to some of the forbearers to all ...
Miles Kane – Don’t Forget Who You Are Album Review
Let the bold glam wash over you, the chugging rockers kick you in the backside and the lock step sixties lo-fi seep into your consciousness. It’s all good fun and a serious moment is not to be found. It’s the kind of album you want to crank up when the workday is over and your mind needs no further games of challenge.
Not letting intellectualism interfere with simple word play has the effect of making the songs insanely easy to sing along to. The production also leaves everything on ...
