Please get to hear the new OSEES album this week, their blazing ‘SORCS 80’ including not only their trademark guitar bursts but a load of brass too! I’m getting hints of heavy ska-hardcore from the 00’s as well as the obvious and welcome psychedelic garage groove. Another particularly prolific outfit that have another album out this week is the ‘something-for-everyone’ Australian powerhouse, King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard. As far as the actual music goes, the feel good 70’s influenced blues-psych of ‘Flight B741’ is definitely my favourite sounds I’ve heard from them in a while. It’s definitely got less of a concept than some of their recent work, but the band sound like they’re having as great time and the scuzzy-psych-blues soar works so well with KG’s whole slacker aesthetic, leaning into the swagger and crafting a raucous, feel-good whole.
Singer sonwriter Beabadoobee has a new album out, this new one is a beautiful slice of indie-pop perfection. There are more than hints of the sweetly sung melodic synth from ‘Beatopia’ but once again, it’s matured into something that’s both undeniably addictive to listen to and brilliantly written and produced.
Paul Weller’s 2003 rarities compilation is reissued as a 3LP vinyl set.
Paul Weller’s 2003 compilation “Fly On The Wall” is a triple vinyl compilation that includes B-sides, remixes, and rarities from Paul’s time at Go! Discs and subsequently Island Records between 1991 and 2001. This compilation has been unavailable since its original release. Notable tracks include “The Loved,” “Fly On The Wall,” and “The Riverbank.” The set also includes Weller’s take on classic tunes like Lennon’s “Sexy Sadie” and “Instant Karma,” and Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released,” as well as a blistering version of Crosby Stills Nash and Young’s “Ohio.” It also features a remix of “Wild Wood” by Portishead.
Beabadoobee – This Is How Tomorrow Moves
‘This Is How Tomorrow Moves’, the latest album from Beabadoobee, recorded at Shangri-La, Malibu, with renowned producer Rick Rubin and long term collaborator Jacob Bugden. Born in the Philippines and raised in London, Beatrice Laus, known as Beabadoobee, has emerged as a British indie icon.
‘This Is How Tomorrow Moves’ captures Bea’s confidence and introspection, with themes of self-acceptance and personal growth woven throughout. It stands as a testament to her artistic evolution and resilience, marking a significant milestone in her career.
Osees – Sorcs 80
This album was a self imposed ambitious project for us. Something to kick in the creative flow. The last few years, having been a challenging time in general, felt like a good time for a pivot. The last two albums were so guitar and keyboard centric, I wanted a weird and fun set of parameters for us to work with. I demo’d everything at home on cassette 4 track (harkening back to simpler times) using drum loops, and just had at it ’til I had a pile of “songs”.
Tom and I chose one sound each using synths and created a range of 3 octaves of that sample, then loaded them into Roland SPD-SX samplers and learned the transcribed songs using drum sticks. The idea was to change the way we wrote and to have 4 people along the front of the stage essentially playing percussion. So no guitar, no keys.
As we were recording I kept thinking how the sounds, when paired up, sounded a bit like brass. So, we added a saxophone horn section to round out the horniness of the sound with a bit of reedy bell tones. Thanks to Cansfis Foote & Brad Caulkins on tenor and Baritone saxophones 🙂 Sort of a Dexy’s Midnight Runners meets Von LMO meets The Flesh Eaters meets the Screamers kinda punk junk.
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard – Flight b74
The band set aside all genre tripping and conceptual detours, crank up the guitars, and let loose with some straight-ahead classic rock jamming
Quivers – Oyster Cuts
“Oyster Cuts”, the Merge Records debut of Quivers, finds the Melbourne, Australia–based outfit awash in the kind of emotions people tend to fear losing themselves in. Finding love after grief, the outsized guitar pop of Quivers gleams like the surface of an ocean, beneath which lies a reef that is at turns beautiful and painful, its features alien and sharp enough to wound. Propelled by melodies that at times recall Galaxie 500 and The Pretenders, Quivers make music that is tender and tough, compelling the listener to dive in again and again, each song a new angle on all of your feelings.
“Oyster Cuts” is sunshine pop with blood in the water. The losses and loves that have informed Quivers’ music since their inception the sudden loss of a brother in the cracked optimism of “We’ll Go Riding on the Hearses” (2018) and the life in and after grief of “Golden Doubt” (2021) ripple into “Oyster Cuts“, which is committed to moving forward while accepting that some feelings, like grief, are a cycle. Crucially, Quivers committed to moving forward with each other. Paring away the choir and strings of “Golden Doubt”, “Oyster Cuts” is a showcase for what’s still possible when four people Sam Nicholson (guitars), Bella Quinlan (bass), Michael Panton (guitars), and Holly Thomas (drums) make music together.
Justin Townes Earle – All In: Unreleased and Rarities (The New West Years)
Justin Townes Earle – All In: Unreleased and Rarities (The New West Years) is a fitting tribute to Justin’s legacy – The collection features many never heard before songs, demos, and cover tunes, spanning his time as a New West Records recording artist.
“Kids In The Street“, his first record on New West Records, in May of 2017 – The album received critical acclaim and further cemented Justin’s legacy as one of the best active songwriters in music – Songs like, “Champagne Corolla” showcased his wry sense of humour as well as his deft ability to build upon the music that came before him while at the same time creating something unique and new.
Familiar, inventive, creative, and clever. Justin would release his second album with New West Records in May of 2019. “The Saint of Lost Causes” was hailed as one of the best albums of 2019 by Rolling Stone Magazine with “half a dozen or so career classics.” “I was trying to look through the eyes of America,” Earle says. “Because I believe in the idea of America – that everybody’s welcome here and has a right to be here.” Earle tells these American stories in detail and without judgment. While some songs cite historic events like “Flint City Shake It,” and “Don’t Drink The Water,” other tracks present fictionalized narratives that are no less harrowing, or true-to-life, as heard in “Appalachian Nightmare,” “The Saint Of Lost Causes,” and “Over Alameda.”
Justin Townes Earle was always a champion of the underdog and All In features in depth looks at the hopeful, and the hopeless. Fueled by empathy, baked in the blues, Justin was never without something poignant or humorous to say. Sadly, Justin passed away in 2020 at the age of 38.
Steve Kilbey – Bespoke Wheels and Winged Heels (An Anthology 1987-2023)
A stylishly designed anthology of solo and collaborative recordings curated into a deluxe gatefold sleeve double album. Spanning the years 1987 to 2023, the album moves through varying styles and moods all of which are a pleasure to listen to, whether in your car on a long country road or through the city at night or sitting down and absorbing the lush audio experience. Songs taken from 20 albums (one song from each album) all of which will be made available once more. Deluxe gatefold sleeve with full colour printed inner bags. Photos courtesy of Toby Burrows, includes arguably some of the best songs Steve Kilbey has written (and co-written). The very first album of its kind dealing with Kilbey’s not unimpressive solo career.
Drop Nineteens – Delaware
“Delaware” is one of the classic shoegaze records. Formed in Boston in 1991, Drop Nineteens instantly attracted much attention from the UK media and record companies, eventually signing to Hut records. Their debut “Delaware” is a beautiful record, noisy and melodic in equal measures, a record that is full of youth and innocence. The mix of the predominately english shoegaze style with a more american style akin to the Pixies and Sonic Youth gave Drop Nineteens a distinctive sound. The album has instant pop thrills such as ‘Winona’, rambling lsd influenced lo-fi epics such as ‘Kick the Tragedy’, indie pop gems such as ‘Your Aquarium’, with a cheeky and full blooded cover of madonna’s ‘Angel’ thrown in for good measure – yet it still hangs together as a coherent album.
The Fat Angel Sings 