Category: New Music Friday

New Music Friday 03 May – The pick of the latest album releases

Get your ear plugs ready, it looks like this week’s pick of the new releases could be loud. We’ve got former Gallows front man Frank Carter with the third studio release from his Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes project. There’s also a reissue of the impossible to find debut from post-punkers Protomatyr and a debut from Swedish noise outfit Viagra Boys. Other forms of music are available (and some even feature in the list below).

Spotify playlist at the bottom.

Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes – End of Suffering

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Protomatyr – No Passion All Technique

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Viagra Boys – Street Worms

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Flamingods – Leviation

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Versing – 10000

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Barrie – Happy to Be Here

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The Dream Syndicate – These Times

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Drahla – Useless Coordinates

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Saint Agnes – Welcome to Silvertown

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Wolfmanhatten Project – Blue Gene Stew

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Filthy Friends – Emerald Valley

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Here’s a playlist of all of the above if you want to listen to this week’s selected new releases.

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The best albums of April 2019

1: The Chemical Brothers – No Geography

Rating: 9/10 – Read full review

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2: Fontaines D.C. – Dogrel

Rating: 8/10 – Read full review

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3: JAWS – The Ceiling

Rating: 7.5/10 – Read full review

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4: Priests – The Seduction Of Kansas

Rating: 7.5/10

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5: W. H. Lung – Incidental Music

Rating: 7.5/10

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6: Josefin Öhrn + The Liberation – Sacred Dreams

Rating: 7.5/10 – Read full review

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7: Cowboy Flying Saucer– Travel Lodge

Rating: 7/10

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8: Ifriqiyya Electrique – Laylet El Booree

Rating: 7/10

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9: Lowly – Hifalutin

Rating: 7/10

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10: Various artists – For The Throne (Music Inspired by the HBO Series Game of Thrones)

Rating: 7/10 – Read full review

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26 April releases – Reviewed and rated

Josefin Öhrn + The Liberation beat the not-too-stiff competition this week, while Game of Thrones pulled off yet anther of its trademark shockers by not producing a complete disaster of a pop album.

Spotify playlist at the bottom.

Josefin Öhrn + The Liberation – Sacred Dreams

A psychadelic trip through the realms of electro-pop and lazy, hazy country blues desertscapes.

Rating: 7.5/10 – Read full review

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Various Artists – For The Throne (Music Inspired by the HBO Series Game of Thrones)

A collection of pop tunes based on the smash TV series. Provides an absolute shocker by not being a complete disaster.

Rating: 7/10 – Read full review

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Otoboke Beaver – Itekoma Hits

Spiky Japanese girl-punk. It’s sometimes tricky to follow the thread of the tracks but satisfyingly aggressive at times.

Rating: 6.5/10

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The Cranberries – In The End

Emotional farewell from the band that carries many of the sounds that made them famous, but with a more mature and sombre edge.

Rating: 6.5/10

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Mammoth Penguins – There’s No Fight We Can’t Both Win

Catchy indie-pop from this Cambridgeshire tiro, but the hooks and vocals fail to set the band apart from their many contemporaries.

Rating: 6.5/10

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Marissa Nadler & Stephen Brodsky – Droneflower

Initally promising sparse and atmospheric folk-rock, but the album fails to kick on as hoped.

Rating: 6/10

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Catfish & The Bottlemen – The Balance

Radio-friendly indie rock, not unpleasant to listen to, but hardly inspiring.

Rating: 6/10

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Guided By Voices – Warp and Woof

24 songs in 37 minutes on this soft alt-rock album with the occasional hint of Bowie and country.

Rating: 6/10

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Bear’s Den – So that you might hear me

Bland indie-folk, heard it a thousand times before.

Rating: 5/10

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Here’s a playlist of all of the above if you want to listen to this week’s selected new releases.

New Music Friday 26 April – The pick of the latest album releases

A few more items of interest here than last week. Really looking forward to the new one from Josefin Öhrn + The Liberation after being impressed by their performance at Mutations Festival earlier this year. There’s also an emotional release from The Cranberries, completed after the untimely death of lead singer Dolores O’Riordan. I’ve literally no idea what I’m going to make of the Game of Thrones-inspired collection of artists on For The Throne, but it may be good for a laugh. Hope Ed Sheeran‘s little ditty is on there.

Spotify playlist at the bottom.

Josefin Öhrn + The Liberation – Sacred Dreams

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The Cranberries – In The End

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Various Artists – For The Throne (Music Inspired by the HBO Series Game of Thrones)

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Catfish & The Bottlemen – The Balance

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Otoboke Beaver – Itekoma Hits

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Marissa Nadler & Stephen Brodsky – Droneflower

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Guided By Voices – Warp and Woof

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Mammoth Penguins – There’s No Fight We Can’t Both Win

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Bear’s Den – So that you might hear me

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Here’s a playlist of all of the above if you want to listen to this week’s selected new releases.

19 April releases – Reviewed and rated

Apologies, no full reviews this week, due to a lack of time and inspiration. Ultimately the albums released last week didn’t get me over-excited. I had high hopes for Loyle Carner‘s sophomore Not Waving, But Drowning, but ultimately it felt a little one-dimensional stylistically. If I were to pick out an album of the week, it would probably be Happy Now by post-punk veterans Gang of Four, but there’s not much in it to be honest. Hopefully this week’s batch will be better.

Gang Of Four – Happy Now

This is the ninth proper studio album from these post-punk veterans, feels a little tired but still has some good moments.

Rating: 6.5/10 – Album of the Week

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Leafcutter John – Yes! Come Parade With Us

Sometimes interesting electronica but failed to hit the spot consistently.

Rating: 6.5/10

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Heather Woods Broderick – Invitation

Nice ethereal singer-songwriting here, but just nice rather than impressive.

Rating: 6.5/10

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Loyle Carner – Not Waving, But Drowning

An enjoyable slice of laid-back hip-hop but lacking in musical diversity.

Rating: 6/10

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Cage The Elephant – Social Cues

American indie-rock with a few quality tracks interspersed – but not enough to grab your attention long-term.

Rating: 6/10

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Fat White Family – Serfs Up!

An album of initial promise from these south-London rockers, but unfortunately soon disappears up its own arse.

Rating: 5.5/10

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Stealing Sheep – Big Wows

Fluffy electro and indie pop that didn’t really do it for me.

Rating: 5/10

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New Music Friday 19 April – What to listen to

Here’s hoping it’s a ‘Good Friday’ for new releases – natch. Hip-hop artist Loyle Carner releases the follow-up to his Mercury-nominated debut album, while Cage The Elephant and Stealing Sheep also look to have a bit about them. I’ll review and see if they’ve got any substance to their releases.

Spotify playlist at the bottom.

Loyle Carner – Not Waving, But Drowning

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Cage The Elephant – Social Cues

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Stealing Sheep – Big Wows

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Gang Of Four – Happy Now

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Fat White Family – Serfs Up!

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Leafcutter John – Yes! Come Parade With Us

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Heather Woods Broderick – Invitation

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Here’s a playlist of all of the above if you want to listen to this week’s selected new releases.

12 April releases – Reviewed and rated

No surprises that The Chemical Brothers take top slot this week, though it was surprisingly good. Also highly impressive was the debut from Dublin post-punk rockers Fontaines D.C.

Playlist at the bottom.

The Chemical Brothers – No Geography

The Chems are back at the top of their game with this corker of disco, soul, funk and acid-infused album.

Rating: 9/10 – Read full review

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Fontaines D.C. – Dogrel

A brilliant post-punk album with a hint of Irish folk to it, only let down on occasion by a slightly strained vocal.

Rating: 8/10 – Read full review

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Ifriqiyya Electrique – Laylet El Booree

Bonkers mix of traditional African music and heavy metal. Loved it.

Rating: 7/10

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Lowly – Hifalutin

Dreamy synth-pop with a bit of cleverness to it. Immersive and pretty impressive.

Rating: 7/10

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Glen Hansard – The Wild Willing

Interesting alt-folk with some soaring experimental flourishes. Worthy of a listen.

Rating: 6.5/10

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Big Business – The Beast You Are

Heavy alt-rock, that’s not really pushing any creative boundaries.

Rating: 5.5/10

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Here’s a playlist of all of the above if you want to listen to this week’s selected new releases.

New Music Friday 12 April – What to listen to

I’m pretty convinced that album of the week is a shoe-in this time around. Will anyone be able to sneak ahead of the mighty Chemical Brothers? On first listen, possibly not, but some albums can really take you by surprise. The challenge is on.

Playlist at the bottom.

The Chemical Brothers – No Georgraphy

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Fontaines D.C. – Dogrel

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Big Business – The Beast You Are

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Glen Hansard – The Wild Willing

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Ifriqiyya Electrique – Laylet El Booree

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Lowly – Hifalutin

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Here’s a playlist of all of the above if you want to listen to this week’s selected new releases.

05 April releases – Reviewed and rated

Despite the rather small shortlist this/last week, there were still some absolute crackers on display and album of the week could easily have gone any one of three ways. In the end I plumped for the classic indie sound of JAWS but I would also highly recommend checking out Priests and W. H. Lung

Playlist at the bottom.

JAWS – The Ceiling

Album of the week – Classic indie from the Birmingham trio that’s a joy to listen to.

Rating: 7.5/10 – Read full review

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Priests – The Seduction Of Kansas

Excellent female fronted post-punk pop that was a hair’s breadth from being my Album of the Week. Check it out for the sake of your own well being.

Rating: 7.5/10

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W. H. Lung – Incidental Music

Electronic-heavy indie pop that fans of last year’s storming TVAM album will most certainly enjoy.

Rating: 7.5/10

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Cowboy Flying Saucer – Travel Lodge

Occasionally bizarre psych rock with some nice squelchy electronic touches and a dash of The Fall in the vocals.

Rating: 7/10

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Circa Waves – What’s It Like Over There?

Anthemic pop with indie-EMO undertones. Enjoyable listen but a tiny bit too commercial for me to fall completely in love with.

Rating: 6.5/10

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Here’s a playlist of all of the above if you want to listen to this week’s selected new releases.

The best albums of March 2019

1: FEWS – Into Red

Rating: 9/10 – Read full review

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2: Foals – Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost – Part 1

Rating: 8.5/10 – Read full review

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3: Snapped Ankles – Stunning Luxury

Rating: 8/10 – Read full review

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4: The Comet Is Coming – Trust In The Lifeforce Of The Deep Mystery

Rating: 8/10 – Read full review

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5: Lower Slaughter – Some Things Take Work

Rating: 8/10 – Read full review

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6: Flight Of The Conchords – Live In London

Rating: 8/10 – Read full review

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7: These New Puritans– Inside The Rose

Rating: 7.5/10 – Read full review

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8: Little Simz – GREY Area

Rating: 7.5/10 – Read full review

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9: The Cinematic Orchestra – To Believe

More classy emotive and enveloping soundtracks from these damn-fine purveyors of blissful grooves and soundscapes.

Rating: 7.5/10

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10: Zefur Wolves – Truth Is In The Stars

Droning, drawly alt-indie rock with some pop undertones. A satisfyingly languid assault on your senses.

Rating: 7.5/10

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