Vinny Peculiar - Other People Like Me

Early 70's inspired observational and skewed Britpop from suburban Manchester. Crack open the Watneys Party Seven!

Alan Wilkes AKA Vinny Peculiar is in a nostalgic mood. For his latest studio album, the Salford maverick is taking a wry and wistful look back to the era of art infused glam-rock. With references to Bowie, Alice Cooper, Page Three Stunnas, Wigan Casino and Mott The Hoople throughout it's part celebration of those times, but one which is tempered by the confessional and painful adolescent regrets retold in the lyrics. The effect is like a more melancholy Jarvis Cocker. Stories of stealing Cream Eggs from the Post Office, signing on, and dodgy haircuts abound.

Click over the jump for more on Other People Like Me.

The Witch And The Robot - Fear Of Mountains Part I

First part of high concept rock opus from Cumbrian freak-folk misfits, and a good excuse to visit the Lake District.

The Witch And The Robot is an apt name for a band whose music is two parts pagan freak folkery and one part electronic krautrock. Much like their friends and fellow Cumbrians British Sea Power, doing things differently is their modus operandi.

So what we have is a loose concept album featuring songs based on characters who all have connections with the Lake District, some fictional, some factual. Parts two and three will no doubt follow in due course. Despite such localism, it's an album which by sheer force of its passion and uniqueness should have wider appeal and contains many inspired moments.

Click over the jump for more on Fear Of Mountains Part I.

The Amazing - Gentle Stream

Rightfully boastful name, beautiful album. Laurel Canyon spirit re-locates to Scandinavia.

Picture the scene – Laurel Canyon, 1969, the sun's hazy heat shimmers the air, heavy with reefer smoke. A few half dressed kids chase dogs round the legs of rock royalty as they work out the extended coda to their latest mid-tempo gentle folk rock opus. The guitar lines spiralling and intertwining, relaxed yet exploratory. The drums and bass pushing in all the right places. It's all too beautiful, man.

That's the image that comes to mind while listening to Gentle Stream, the title track of the second full length album from Sweden's psychedelic folk rock collective The Amazing. Though that's not the full picture, there's more. The song is lent an icy European coating courtesy of lead singer and songwriter Christoffer Gunrup. It's a bit like a modern day take on Wooden Ships, played by Crosby, Stills Nash & Nico, albeit a male Nico.

Click over the jump for more on Gentle Stream.

The Waterboys - An Appointment With Mr. Yeats

Mike Scott & co return with a collection of WB Yeats' poems set to music. And it works too!

If anyone's qualified to turn such mystic and romantic poems into songs it's Mike Scott. It's not the first time he's set a Yeats poem to music; “The Stolen Child” was for my money at least, the stand out track on the 1988 Fisherman's Blues album. This time round there's a full album of such material, with titles including “A Full Moon In March”, “The Lake Isle Of Innisfree” and “An Irish Airman Forsees His Death”.

Click over the jump for more on An Appointment With Mr. Yeats.

Charles Packy Axton - Late Late Party 1965-67

Mighty Memphis soul. Forgotten sax hero's first and long overdue anthology.

You may not have heard of Charles Packy Axton, though things could, and should have been so different. Born into the all conquering soul dynasty of Memphis based Stax Records, (Packy's mother Estelle Axton and his uncle Jim Stewart were the label founders), he was perfectly placed and talented enough to have capitalised on his advantageous position. Packy took up the saxophone at a young age and formed The Royal Spades, with Steve Cropper and Donald “Duck” Dunn, both later to have greater success as members of Booker T & The MG's, the legendary Stax house band. The Royal Spades became The Mar-Keys. Axton's partying was to eventually cause a split with the band along with a career damaging rift with Stax Records.

Axton continued to record though and had a national hit with 1965's “Hole In The Wall”, credited to The Packers is basically Booker T. And The MG's in all but name, featuring Axton, Cropper, Booker T, and drummer Al Jackson. Only bassist Dunn is missing from the line-up. It's at the heart of this new compilation which features seventeen mainly instrumental tracks.

Click over the jump for more on Late Late Party 1965-67.

Orchestra Of Spheres - Nonagonic Now

Time to go global for pick 'n' mix purveyors of afro-tribal beats, electronic dance, Mali blues, funk, & psych.

Cosmic, infectious, hypnotic, playful and fun. Just some of the words that spring to mind while listening to the debut album from Orchestra Of Spheres. As part of the Frederick Street Sound And Light Exploration Society in Wellington, New Zealand (see link below), the band are well placed to make music that is not tied down by genre restrictions or audience expectations. Part Fela Kuti, part Can, part George Clinton, with hints of psych and avant jazz.

Album opener Hypercube is a fantastic statement of intent, a call to arms for like-minded souls to fly their freak fly high, polyrhythmic drums fighting with call and response chanted vocals, possibly in a made up language. There Is No No follows with desert drone guitar and gamelan giving way to hyperactive bingo-caller vocals. There's even a Celtic folk influence to be detected on Spontaneous Symmetry, its twangy guitar lines courtesy of a biscuit tin guitar. As the album progresses the pychedelic and free jazz elements come to the fore as on the trippy Hypershere and Eternal C Of Darkness, basically Nina Simone meets Delia Derbyshire on the set of The Magic Roundabout.

They come across as a band that takes having fun seriously, as demonstrated by their stage costumes which are as bizarre as their home-made instruments. Mind-expanding and with no comedown.

Click here for Orchestra Of Spheres on Bandcamp.

Spindrift - Classic Soundtracks

Dust down your ponchos! Time for some spoof spaghetti western soundtracks with a dose of heavy west coast psych.

Somehow the music you hear in your childhood stays with you all your life, so if you spent your early years glued to the TV showing Sergio Leone spaghetti western re-runs, those wonderful soundtracks by the likes of Ennio Morricone are going to have an effect on the music you make as an adult. And so it is with Kirpatrick Thomas, front man with Los Angeles band Spindrift, self-proclaimed leaders of the neo-cosmic cowboy revolution.

So what we have here is a concept album of sorts, songs and instrumental pieces taken from movie soundtracks that don't (though possibly should) exist. The song titles are evocative in themselves; “Japexico (Flute Theme From Treasure Of The Black Jaguar)”, “Legend Of The Widower Colby Wallace”, “Showdown (From The Legend Of God's Gun)” and so on. 

Click over the jump for more on Classic Soundtracks.

Nat Baldwin - People Changes

Unique and awesome 4th solo album from Dirty Projectors bassist. Spiritually yearning mix of strings & woodwind with a hint of free-jazz.

Let's be honest, if you're a singer-songwriter it's difficult to get noticed in the crowd, such is the saturated market. Originality helps, as does taste, honesty, believability, and genuine warmth. All those qualities are present on this release. And then some!

Although the songs were composed in 2007, Baldwin wisely allowed them room to breathe, letting them evolve naturally, letting the arrangements settle in over time before finally recording them in 2010. Using a deceptively simple palette of vocals, bowed double bass, violin, clarinet, alto saxophone, trumpet and one track added drums and guitar, Baldwin hand picked a small, trusted group of musicians, including some childhood friends to record with.

Click over the jump for more on People Changes.

Hanni El Khatib - Will The Guns Come Out

Best get tooled up, here comes some raw and dangerous garage punk-soul.

For folks that needed to phone a helpline when The White Stripes confirmed they'd split, a new gunslinger's in town. LA musician Hanni El Khatib takes his inspiration from the greasy underbelly of the great American songbook, those lesser celebrated R&B, soul, blues and doo-wop songs from the 50's and 60's whose sinister sentiments marked a time when rock and roll was truly dangerous. When gang fights, hot rods and cheap kicks were all the kids needed for a good night out.

You may be familiar with his cover of Funkadelic's “I Got A Thing” from a recent Nike commercial, featured on the album as a bonus track. The song is stripped down to a raw and ready garage rocker, all fuzz guitar, snapping drums and throat stripping vocals. 

Click over the jump for more on Will The Guns Come Out.

Phantom Buffalo - Cement Postcard With Owl Colours

 

Daydream guitar pop? Indie-psych? College rock? Art-rock? Who cares, it's bloody ace!

I had no expectations before I listened to this album, having not heard of the group before, but wow, what a treat! It reminded me of why I love guitar based indie music before it became synonymous with the dreaded landfill tag. What it represents is a truly alternative and enlightening listening experience. A real ragbag of styles and moods, melodically inventive with cryptic lyrics and more twists and turns than a mountain road. Instrumentally it's a lo-fi guitar, bass and drums affair but it's what you do with that template that counts.

Hailing from Portland, Maine, USA, the band were originally called The Ponys until a similarly named band from Chicago were booked to play SXSW the same year. Hence a name change and Phantom Buffalo was born.

Lead vocalist Jonathan Balzano-Brookes possesses a pure tone, not rock in the slightest but extremely likeable and perfect for carrying the band's brand of dazzling and beguiling pop tunes. (I've found myself waking up a couple of times this week unable to get their song “Atleesta” out of my head. Kylie would no doubt approve!)

The problem may be that it will prove too esoteric for a lot of people's tastes; the band's previous two albums have all been released to large critical acclaim offset by the public's indifference, which is a shame as there's some stunning stuff on here. Investing a little time with this album reaps huge rewards. A real gem.

Click here for Phantom Buffalo's website.