Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Rough Trade Album of the Month - November 2016 Pack

A superb month! Core Album: Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions - Until the Hunter + Bonus Disc. 8/10. Dream Pop amplified with added Kurt Vile and Marie Sioux. The Rest: Honeyblood - Babes Never Die. 10/10. Excellent 90's alt. Great choruses, great energy, a fantastic album. Palace - So Long Forever. Great heart tugging tunes. 8/10. December: Thee Oh Sees? January: Rose Elinor Dougall February: No Idea March: No idea April: The Big Moon

Monday, October 31, 2016

Rough Trade Album of the Month Club - October 2016 batch

Since I received my pack in the last week of October, I still haven't gotten 100% used to them. Anyway: Core album: D.D. Dumbo - Utopia Defeated + Bonus Disc. 8/10 feel good guitar pop. Douglas Dare - Aforger + Bonus DIsc. Intricate pop. Still need to get used to it. 7/10 Vanishing Twin - Choose your own Adventure. 8/10. Fun Stereolabesque tunes. Next Up November: Hope Sandoval (I found out today) December: ??? January: Rose Elinor Dougall

Thursday, October 6, 2016

Rough Trade Album of the Month Club: September 2016 Pack

A sterling month! Sore Album: Angel Olsen - My Woman + Bonus CD. 10/10. Best I've heard this year! The Rest: The Allah-La's - Calico Review - 8/10. I received their debut two years ago. Laid back VU grooves. Factory Floor - 25 25. 8/10 Their debut was album of the month in 2014. This new one is more or less the same, but I don't mind. Next Up The Website has undergone changes so it will be difficult to predict next month's core album (good!): October: D.D. Dumbo? Douglas Dare?? November: Hope Sandoval?? December: Slowcoaches???

Sunday, August 28, 2016

Rough Trade Album of the Month Club: August 2016 Pack

An ok month. Core Album: Wild Beasts - Boy King & Bonus Disc.. This is the second time have received a Wild Beasts album. The last one was their second album, Two Dancers, back 2009. An excellent record stuffed with weird sounds. 10/10 Peter Broderick - Partners: Now it takes me a long time to get used to modern composition as the record consists of piano compositions but it grew on me, it worked more as a sunrise/sunset album. Heavy on atmosphere. 8/10 DM Stith- Pigeonheart - an album which was a clattering mess but then after some spins morphed into an electronic pop record and stayed a long time in my discman. 8/10 September: Angel Olsen?? Cymbals eat Guitars?? October: D.D. Dumbo?? November: Honeyblood?

Sunday, July 31, 2016

Rough Trade Album of the Month Club - July 2016 Pack

Wow what a month! My July pack was pretty good!, which means for the second month in a row the album club delivered the goods. Core album Beyond The Wizards Sleeve - the soft bounce + Bonus cd. An absolutely fantastic album! BTWS consist of dj Erol Alkan and Richard Norris ( Psychic TV, The Grid) and they delivered one hell of a record. The first half is pure psychedelic pop while the second half is more experimental, dabbling with modern composition, Afrobeat and Spoken word poetry. A must listen -9/10. The Julie Ruin - Hit reset. Although she's in her mid 50's Kathleen Hanna's feminist agenda has not changed and she still spits out her lyrics with venom, however she has embraced her melodic side so the end result is a catchy indie pop album that echos Hanna's heroes like Sleater Kinney and Huggy Bear. Total energy - 8.5/10. Metronomy - Summer 08 + Bonus Disc. During my album club membership, this will be the third Metronomy album I have received. In 2008 I got their third album, Nights Out. In 2014, their fourth album Love Letters was a core album. Five albums in and Metronomy is still consistent. Summer 08 is a bit different as this time there it's just Joseph Mount on his own and yet the album is eclectic. 80's hip hop, mid 00's new rave, some post punk funk. It's sunny, fun and maybe his best offering yet- 8.5/10. August - Wild Beasts (Hurrah!) September - Angel Olsen??? October - Goat???? November - Honeyblood????

Monday, June 27, 2016

Rough Trade Album of the Month Club June 2016 Pack

une was a fantastic music month! my album selection was excellent! Max Jury - Self-titled + Bonus cd. Definitely one of the best records I heard this year. When I first heard Jury's recordings two years ago, I wasn't too impressed but for his debut he added a soul element to his music, roped in a hip hop producer and gave everything a pop sheen and it suits him. Each track is a pop nugget, maybe he is better at more poppy songs than the ballads but that's just slight nitpicking. 10/10. Minor Victories - Self-titled + Bonus cd. This was the core album. For those who don't know Minor Victories a supergroup consisting of members from Slowdive, Mogwai and Editors. This debut one was EPIC. Total panoramic music and tons of sounds to please audiophiles. Sometimes broody, sometimes catchy and a bit weird. This was a satisfying listen. I didn't like about two tracks and I sincerely hope that this is not a one off as there's a ton of untapped potential here. Whitney - Light Upon the Lake. Another excellent debut! Whitney's sound has got a country element with a 90's indie rock feel. Think of Pavement's Range Life. Oh and the group love brass as nearly every track has got a flurry of trumpets chucked in. Again I found this album to be perfect - not one track out of place. Great for the summer months July - Beyond the Wizard's Sleeve August - Wild Beasts (YES!!!) September - Angel Olsen

Sunday, May 29, 2016

Rough Trade Album of the Month Club: May 2016 Pack

An excellent month. Core album: LUH - Spiritual Songs for Lovers to Sing + Bonus Disc. 9/10. Probably my fave album of the year. Margo Price - Midwester Farmer's Daughter. 8/10. Gotta love country music. Incidentally ever since joining the club I've never bought a country album. Woods - City Sun Eater in the River of Light. Next up: June - Minor Victories or Max Jury. July - Beyond the Wizard's Sleeve???? August - Wild Beasts???

Monday, May 2, 2016

Rough Trade Album of the Month Club: April 2016 Pack

A very good batch!! Core Album: Black Mountain - IV + Bonus Disc. Although not as good as the self-titled debut I really liked the heavy psychedelia of IV. Definitely going in my top ten of 2016. 8.5/10 Cullen Omori - New Misery + Bonus Disc. A good solid album with some pretty catchy tracks. This is the kind of album that I'll revisit now and then and like it more with each spin. 7.5/10 Richmond Fontaine - You Can't go back if there's nothing to go back to. Five years ago I received RF's previous album from the club, the High Country. This new album is just as good with top lyrics. 8/10 PLUS - now subscribers receive a monthly magazine rather than the tiny fold out pamphlet. Hurrah! Next up: May - LUH (Hopefully) June - Max Jury?? Minor Victories?? July - Beyond the Wizard's Sleeve?? ( oh please!!)

Sunday, March 27, 2016

Rough Trade Album of the Month Club: March 2016 pack.

An unusual month but rewarding. Core Album: Unloved - Guilty of Love + Bonus Disc. A collaboration between David Holmes and Keefus Cancia aka the guy who soundtracked True Detective. At first I was a bit ambivalent but this album grew on me big time. It's full of sixties sounds, swirling instrumentals and catchy tunes. 8/10. The rest: Cavern of Anti-matter - Void beats/invocation trex. Cavern of Anit-matter consists of two members of the now defunct Stereolab and that influence shows, there's those jangley moments mixed with beats. However there's a keyboardist with them and at times a lot of the tracks sound like something off the Warp label. The album is an hour long and a lot of tracks go over the 9 minute mark so this took about two weeks for it to work its magic but I was rewarded for this is an interesting record. 8/10 Andrew Weatherall - Convenanza. I liked this one instantly. Bouncy post punk grooves mixed with brass and dub. It's melodic and took me by surprise. 8.5/10. April - Black Mountain May - Luh (YES!!!) June - Minor Victories?? Max Jury??? Palace Winter??? ( my money's on Max Jury)

Monday, February 29, 2016

Rough Trade Album of the Month Club - February 2016 Pack

A very good month!!! Core album: Sunflower bean - Human Ceremony + Bonus cd. 8.5/10. I've been eagerly waiting this debut and it does not disappoint! jangle-pop with a hint of Spiritualized gospel style harmonies. The rest: Diiv - Is the is are 7/10. This took a while to sink in as it is over an hour and spread over 17 tracks but a lot of the songs did click. There is some filler though. Tindersticks - The Waiting Room + Bonus DVD. 9/10. Excellent! great songs all around. A surefire album in my personal top 10. March: Unloved, Tiga?? ( I think it will be Unloved) April: Black Mountain??Suuns?? (I think Black Mountain May: No clue yet. June: Minor Victories?? Palace Winter?? Max Jury?? (I think it's Max Jury)

Monday, February 1, 2016

Rough Trade Album of the Month Club: January 2016 Pack

Quite a multicultural month - good way to start the year. Core Album Hinds - Leave me Alone + Bonus CD 8.5 Very good! Catchy indie tunes with a DIY feel. Bill Baird - Earth into Aether + Bonus CD - 6 I probably listened to this one the most but I found it difficult to get into. It's 80 minutes long and varies in musical style. As always by the end of the year this rating could change. Baaba Maal - The Traveller - 8.5 . I enjoyed this one. Now and then the club sends me music from Africa and I always find it a treat. I spent a lot of time walking listening to this album. February - Sunflower Bean (very excited about this) March - Unloved ?? Tiga??? April - Black Mountain???