Iron & Wine: Kiss each other clean (4ad)

Quite a few rabid Iron & Wine fans have shaved off their beards in disgust at all the extra instrumentation on this album and the fact that Sam Beam is actually managing to hold a tune on this one. I can sneer at those fools because I'm only a casual fan but i know exactly how they feel - us obsessional fans hate it when our heroes diversify from the path we expect.them.to.take. I was similarly arsey when tindersticks and lambchop attempted to get funky and, typically, these are the albums by the great mumblers that i rarely played and thus never gave a chance (and still wont!) The only difference to this great culty equation was when swans (© the greatest band in the world, ever) discovered tunes and the ability to turn the volume down - i, and many other obsessives, loved it. Perversely, it was king swan Michael Gira who hated the new direction and after 3 albums of tunes he returned to hitting us over the head again. And made their worse album.

So, what about this album? It's chock full of fabulous tunes, great lyrics, moments of occasional stunning beauty ('Godless brother of beauty' is breathtaking) and the sometimes strange addition of horns that don't always work. In short, it's less country but more upbeat - but still very wry and clever.

Power Tools: Strange Meeting (Antilles)

Utterly ferocious power trio featuring Bill Frisell (killer guitar screamer from Naked City), Melvin Gibbs (Rollins Band's heavy fingered bassist) and Ronald Shannon Jackson (indisputably the greatest free jazz drummer in history, having held his own with Ornette Coleman, Albert Ayler, John Zorn etc) rock out like only three master fusion improvisers know. Generally screamingly loud and relentlessly noisy, this is also beautifully played and a huge hour of fun. Free jazz and free improv are rarely enjoyable in the classic sense, and can even more rarely be described as a 'fun listen' but this surpasses all preconceived notions and is a perfect example of why people like me have been fighting the good free jazz fight for years. The interplay between the instruments is phenomenal and the respect and space shown by each of the three to the others is heartwarming - as well as sonically amazing. The album ends with an improvisation around 'Unchained Melody' which is astonishing in the way that they attempt to remain faithful to the original for a minute or so but the force of personalities pummel the fucker into the ground.

Automatic Man: Automatic Man (Island)

Matt the hat chucked this in free when i bought a load of records from him last month as i was admiring the embossed cover of an android. I thought it looked interesting as it was a black four piece from 1976 who played synths and dressed like glam futurists and so i deduced it could sound like a funky krautrock prog based piece of glam psychedelia. Hmmmmmm. Imagine if Jimi Hendrix wasn't half as talented but still insisted on soloing all over the shop, and team him up with Phil Lynott on vocals. Only Phil has a bit of a poorly throat and sounds a bit strained and thus has issues with certain notes. Add to them a drummer who only plays session drums on shit disco records and a talented bass player who has had a row with the producer, and who has therefore buried him in the mix. Finally add a guy on synth who has slept with the producers wife and belittled him to such a degree that said producer cuts up his tracks and scatters them all over the album, making no sense at all.
That's what this album sounds like. Sort of.

Contriva: Separate Chambers (Morr)

A very light, airy and positively Summery record. Contriva are a German instrumental 4 piece trading in troublefree inoffensive guitar based pop music. Sounding not unlike a modern update of a funk-free fire engines or a poppier Durutti Column, this is all very pleasant and easy going - only becoming dull on the two overtly ordinary sounding tracks that feature a vocal. Being neither melancholy nor overtly positive, it sits firmly betwixt the two, and is thus a perfect metaphor for how i'm feeling today - the sun's out and i neither want to destroy the world nor embrace it wholeheartedly. But that's me all over i s'pose, and you shouldn't hold it against Contriva.

Deaf Centre: Owl Splinters (Type)

Cello and Piano, two of my most favoured instruments, both have the ability to create a mood of despair and longing that can move the most hardarsed motherfucker to tears. On this album they up the atmosphere to build in a sense of contemplative dread that has you frequently listening on the edge of your seat. Do not make the mistake of lumping this with similarly instrumented ambient works - this is an album that should be listened to and requires your full attention to experience the shifting patterns and depth of beauty. The piano occasionally shows shades of prettiness but there is often something swooping underneath, quietly, that threatens to slam the lid on the pianist's fingers. 'The day i would never have' being a case in point, where the opening solo piano is slowly subsumed by the metallic roar of the cello until it is evaporated by the sweeping, crashing, chords - until nothing remains and all is dark, by which time the darkness crashes, leaving a simple piano melody to leave the side on a sense of beauty again. Sometimes this record scares me but always this record encompasses me.

Maserati: Pyramid Of The Moon (Temporary Residence Limited)

The bass rumbles, the bass drum kicks in and then it's off on a 9 minute workout of sludgy riffs, thumping drumming and high end guitar flourishes. The bass is ever present and the nine minutes fly by and end far too soon. I love the way it has a sense of self propulsion that is relentless and one that would make me put my foot down if i was listening whilst driving. Like tortoise if they'd listened to psych as opposed to jazz. The remix on the other side loses the sludge, mixes down the drums and creates a meditative piece that seems to mix Steve Reich, acid house and Klaus Schulze. Both sides are essential listening in their own distinct ways. Brilliant. Now to order the new album...

Rolf Julius: Black (Westen vinyl)

A square clear vinyl flexi that came free with The Wire. Utterly unplayable, in keeping with all the other flexis i received 30+ years ago with smash hits, flexipop etc. The needle goes round the grooves but no sound comes out, save for the odd bit of surface noise. Unless that's the intended sound - in which case it's a "bold step for this pioneering alt noise minimalist maestro". Must cover all bases here, don't want to appear stupid.

September Collective: Always Breathing Monster (Mosz)

Geman 3 piece go into a church, record the tones of an organ and take said recording home. They then cut up said recording and feed said bits into a computer, adding some midi tones and various clunky found sounds. Post production and.....hey presto! This is the result. I make it sound so simple but the results are really effective in conveying the required sense of droney ambience mixed with elegiac darkness. Very easy to listen in that the grim mood is rarely sustained to excess and that there are tempting glimpses of melody all over the album, that seek to lift the blanket of desolation.

Holy Fuck: Latin (Young Turks)

Eschewing the prescribed route for modern day electronic music by using 'proper' instruments, as opposed to laptops and samples, and letting themselves run free and improvise onstage, Holy Fuck (GREAT NAME) rock out to fine effect. Occasionally reminding me of the chemical brothers, circa their mercury rev collaborations, this is electro dance music made by alt-rockers. The structure of much of this is played like they were guitar slingers, who had had their guitars confiscated, and who didn't know a fat lot about how dance music was supposed to work. It thrashes along at a (mostly)high bpm, that would probably cripple a lot of ravers (are they still called that???) in a manner that brings to mind that other lot of potty mouther's Fuck Buttons, but with a more melodic bent and less of all that screaming business. Sometimes really lovely ('Stay Lit' is particularly beautiful) but always an enjoyable experiment in electronic music for people who don't like electronic music.

Grails: Deep Politics (Temporary Residence Limited)

I've bought a few Grails albums in my time but they've always left me a bit cold - being rather formulaic in the post hardcore world of arty buggers with loud guitars. Bought this one after reading a few manic reviews and by god am i glad i did. Having listened to it at least 20 times in the last few weeks i can honestly say that it is the best thing I've heard all year, and will be a hard one to beat in the next 9 months. Their whole sound is hugely expanded with synths, samples, strings, piano and an atmosphere of elegance to such an extent that they sound like a whole new band and have developed into creating a sound that screws with any preconceived genre expectations. The guitar rarely roars and, when you do hear it (especially on the proto floyd 'deep snow') it blends rather than encompasses. A lot of this sounds rooted in the early 70s but then overlayed with gentle atonal instrumentation to create something which is almost futuristic in scope and intent. Each track sounds like (at least) 2 tracks bolted onto each other that compliment the others stylings and make this a genuinely exciting and sonically fabulous listen. I would be very hurt if i played this to someone and they didn't love it - i would take is as personally as if i had crafted it myself. If you're a huge music fan (and why else would you be bothering reading this?), then you'll know exactly how i feel. In short, if you don't love this....i pity you, as you obviously don't understand fine music.

Grinderman: Palaces Of Montezuma (Mute)

That cheeky old scamp, Mr Cave, releases another bloody ltd 12" and, of course, I've gotta buy the bastard as he locked me in with other 2. Nicely foiled lettering and puke coloured vinyl (looking like a plasmatics record from 30 years ago) make this quite a pleasant addition to the collection, but the 3 mixes are pretty pointless - being that they all sound pretty damn similar to the (admittedly, fantastic) original. I don't really see the point in remixing anything from this man's oeuvre, as they're never gonna improve on the originals, so the whole thing does seem like a bit of a cynical marketing exercise - in which case a successful one, me being a case in point. The 4th track - actually a radical version of 'when my baby comes', despite what the label tells you, is the best thing on here and probably the only recommendation for buying this thing. Apart from the pukey vinyl that is.

Various: Keys (A Comprehensive Collection Of Contemporary Piano Compositions)(American Typewriter)

Another of those 'look at the roll call and it wont disappoint' jobs. Peter Broderick,Nils Frahn, Library Tapes, Macinefabriek etc tinkle away on solo piano in a softly softly manner to enchant you in a beautifully ambient manner. Nothing here troubles you or wakes you from your soporific manner and, frankly, you wouldn't want it any other way. Only Mr Polymath Broderick complicates matters by adding violin and vocals, and this breaks the flow somewhat, but it's not as if it metaphorically kicks you in the balls - more like a gentle tweak on the left nipple. Which is nice.

The Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation: Doomjazz Future Corpses! (Denovali)

Mount Fuji are the doomier incarnation of The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble, who were already pretty dark and doomy so they really had to ramp up the sludgy grooves to take things down even further. And on the 9 tracks spread over 6 sides of 3 10"s they really turn in a dark ambient symphony with drones a-plenty and some riffs to match Sunn O))) towards the end of this album. Every now and again an occasional saxophone or cello pushes through the sonic mud but they rarely manage to lift the overall mood beyond suffocation and claustrophobia. Thankfully.

Les Fragments De La Nuit: Demain, c'etait Hier (Denovali)

This is another of those albums where you instinctively know that it'd be bloody hard to produce a shit album based on the musician role call - piano, cello, 3 violinists and a female choir. And it doesn't let you down. Each tune is based around a pulsating piano motif and wrapped with the strings to produce sounds that go from emotionally desolate to almost sonic violence in the space of a couple of minutes. Strings have this amazing power to evoke the full gamut of emotions and here they are shown off to devastating swings in intensity. Halfway through this exquisite album they decide to bring in the angelic choir and then........it just rises in quality even further. I listened to this album 3 times in a row and i still keep finding new parts to love. Like Godspeed without all those noisy electronic instruments and with the added bonus of European pretension.

Majeure/Sankt Otten: Split LP (Denovali)

Majeure (A.E Peterra, Steve Moore's partner in Zombi) has a problem. This problem is called 'The Dresden Codex' and it is the 14 minute first track from 'Timespan', his debut (and only) album. The Dresden Codex is so amazingly epic and so epically amazing that anything else he does struggles to stand next to it. The first 2 tracks on his side barely enter your consciousness, they are so slight and unimposing; but the 3rd track 'Aleph Institute' is mighty and really exciting - taking on his familiar Vangelis/KlausSchulze referencing sci-fi disco music and overlaying it with some horror movie tribal powerhouse drumming of the like that  made his album so exciting. It has a hypnotic effect second to none.  Sankt Otten have no such weight of expectation from me and so excelled at being compellingly atmospheric that they astonished me when their equally powerful drumming came into earshot - here was me expecting  a pretty little bit of electro ambience and they go and and drum all over it, running roughshod over my hastily assembled preconceptions. A beautiful heavyweight gatefold sleeve makes this album even more recommendable.

Simon Scott: Depart, Repeat (Seven Pieces/Sonic Pieces)

Sonic pieces is one of the premier boutique labels, whereby the creative design of the packaging is easily as important as the creative music within. This is their first vinyl release and the first in a series of seven 7"s - which fills me with the delight that only the addicted collector can feel, but also fills me with the inevitable future dread of missing one in the series as they are going to be increasingly bloody hard to get hold of. Simon Scott was the drummer in Slowdive and a guy i knew quite well 20-odd years ago and neither of these facts influence my utter love of these two tracks. The subtle simplicity of these basic guitar/vocals tunes accentuate the fragility of the lyrics and the clear production by Nils Frahm amplifies the spaces inbetween the notes. When Mr Frahm adds minuscule piano and Mr Scott taps away at a xylophone they prove that you can add more instrumentation and somehow make the songs sparser and even more emotionally affecting.

Alva Noto: Xerrox Vol 2 (Raster-Noton)

Constructed from samples of music originally recorded by Stephen O Malley, Michael Nyman and Ryuichi Sakamoto - as well as recordings from a 'Continental Airline Malfunctioning Airline Inflight Program', this double album is as close as experimental electronic music gets to a true modern classical symphony. Carsten Nicolai has taken immense trouble to craft beautiful melodies out of the sonic tools in his palette and, once he has achieved this amazing artistic feat, he has then created a sonic fuzz to overlay each piece of beauty. Sometimes the fuzz completely covers the melody and sometimes the melody ekes through the fog - like rubbing a filthy window, peeking through and seeing a room full of flowers. The moments when this happens amplify the gorgeous sounds as only a contrast between light and dark can.

Aritomo: The Letter Raining Rainbow (self released LP)

As an obsessive record collector, this ticks all the right boxes - self released, limited numbers (200), hand made, hand painted.
As a fan of outsider art, this is a really beautiful labour of love - the heavy duty gatefold sleeve is adorned with  strange and interesting drawings, paintings and doodles and the insert sparks Japanese mystery.
As a fan great music, this really fucking sucks. Spindly instrumentation and a whispering whimpering psychedelic folk vocal singing bizarre incantations in Japanese. I can't handle it and i've really tried to persevere with it and so im going to file it away and pull it out in a few months to try again and will probably sell it on if it still evades me.

Various: Kero One Presents PlugLabel (PlugLabel double LP)

I can't resist a bargain hip-hop album and this baby was £2.99 and features such unknowns (to me, anyways) as Kero One, Aloe Blacc, Yosaku and Green Tea in a nice melange of laidback grooves and nary a gun toting bitch slapping muthafucka to be found. I mean i love all that bad boy niggatriggabigga shit as much as the next vicarious pinkie but love to hang back and enjoy some smokey grooves like these 16 chilled wonders. Admittedly, the quality control is a bit upsy-downsy but the tracks featuring Kero One (and that's 9 tracks here - either solo or collaborations) are of the highest smokiest jazziest quality that a lower middle class wine drinking whiteboy could ever desire.

Various genius musicians: Erik Satie et les Nouveaux Jeunes (Arbouse CD)

This double CD is an absolutely no brainer when it comes to guessing how fucking fantastic it sounds before you even hear it. We have Satie's wonderful minimalist music covered and re-imagined by godstars like library tapes, Eluvium, Rachel Grimes, Max Richter, Sylvain Chaveau, Goldmund, Pan American, Hauschka, Nils Frahm etc etc etc. To listen to it is only to reiterate what you already knew - that it is amazing music by amazing artists. I cannot recommend this highly enough and could only be improved by a vinyl edition,

Jim O'Rourke: I'm happy and i'm singing (Editions Mego CD)

6 tracks, 2 CDs and 105 minutes of laptop minimalist electronic twaddle by esteemed polymath O'Rourke. Normally i prefer Jim's guitar music to his electronic doodles but this is reasonably arresting stuff. The sparser tracks like '1,2,3,4' work better than the more obviously Terry Riley/Philip Glass/etc inspired pieces as they give the tracks atmospheric room to breathe and drift around - rather than poking their atonal fingers in your ears like a small child with a new keyboard and no hand coordination. I'd split this album thus: half very interesting and enjoyable mood music , a quarter good experimental noodlings and a quarter irritating nonsense. Not a bad hit rate i s'pose.

Natural Snow Buildings: Waves of the Random Sea (Blackest Rainbow)

Long sprawling 6 track double album of French acoustic drone music. Mainly played on (I think) Cello, violin, harmonica and acoustic guitar this gives over a similar vibe to Richard Skelton's myriad of releases. The tracks scratch seamlessly into each other, only really breaking the mood with 2 short vocal based pieces, showcasing Medhi's (the female half of the duo)  high pitched voice before you're slipping back into the dreamy droney netherworld. I like it very much.

The Focus Group: Sketches & Spells (LP)/ The Advisory Circle: Mind How you go (LP)Belbury Poly: The willows (LP)/Farmer's angle (10") (Ghost Box)

Four clever releases on Ghost Box. The Advisory Circle take direct influence from the spooky electronic sounds that soundtracked many a 1960's/70's public information film and successfully evoke the Government fueled paranoia that these films provoked. The Focus Group, probably the most successful of all the Ghost Box acts - given their amazing collaboration with Broadcast, have created an album filled with irritatingly short (there's 24 tracks over the 2 sides) sketches and samples from obscure library music. It's splendid stuff but the shortness of the tracks makes it hard to concentrate long enough before the next piece comes buzzing along. Sometimes lumped in with hauntological others, Belbury indeed invoke distant memories of half remembered British TV soundtracks. These are the soundtrack pieces that you think you remember but, when you come to actually hear them again, normally sound shit in comparison to your (false) memories. It's like Belbury Poly exist to satisfy our desires for a perfect past, when really our past's were a bit rubbish. The LP is the better of the two in that it it has a slightly sinister air - it's more Hammer house of horror to the 10"s Robin's Nest.

The Dipsomaniacs: Tremolo of her mind (Apartment)

Norwegian psych is not a famous genre at all, and not one that immediately fills your heart with hope but this is fine stuff indeed. 5 tracks in all but the two sub 15 minute jams are the main reasons for digging this great slab out. Obviously heavily influenced by early Floyd (shit, one of the tracks is called "in Syds garden" for gods sake — talk about wearing your influences on your sleeve!), these instrumental space jams lock you in and spin you out.