A to Z
ACID MOTHERS GURU GURU
Tokugoya BAM BALAM
7/10
Japanese psych meets krautrock legends: a face-melting wipeout
There was something inevitable about the eventual mind-meld of Japanese psychlords Acid Mothers Temple and krautrock lifer Mani Neumeier of Guru Guru: they share a similar love of sensory overload and extension-through-repetition. Tokugoya is their third album proper, after a number of Guru Guru Fest collections early last decade. It’s a curious collection that cleaves more to the monolithic mantras of Neumeier’s host outfit, no doubt reinforced by the versions here of two Guru Guru classics. “Next Time See You At The Dalai Lhama” is particularly thrilling, Makoto Kawabata’s guitar an unruly, storm-bringing force, drilling through the changes. JON DALE
ALABAMA 3 Step 13
SUBMARINE CAT
8/10
More acid country grooves from Brixton ragtags
Thirteen albums in, Alabama 3 find themselves releasing their first without founding member Jake Black AKA The Very Reverend Dr D Wayne Love. However, despite nods to death and rock’n’roll tragedies throughout, the party still rages here with aplomb, with the opening “Whacked” merging acid-house grooves with gravel-voiced tales of hedonism. The band’s Happy Mondays-meets-Hank Williams shtick still proves a successful combo throughout – from the tender “Everytime I See A River” to the stomping “The Lord Stepped In (Taking Back Control)” – and finds the band sounding potent and energised. DANIEL DYLAN WRAY
MARISA ANDERSON & WILLIAM TYLER
Lost Futures THRILL JOCKEY
8/10
Wandering guitar soli join forces
Separately, Marisa Anderson and William Tyler have carved their own deep furrow in the field of roots guitar music. On Lost Futures, they team up for a joint piece that shows their close artistic affinity. The body of the album is given over to gorgeous, baroque instrumentals such as “Hurricane Light” and “Pray For Rain”, the pair moving together with the grace and intimacy of seasoned tango dancers. But there is variety here. “Something Will Care” is a droning raga that thrashes darkly for six minutes, while “At The Edge Of The World” is vulture-pecked Mexicana with wailing strings courtesy of Gisela Rodriguez Fernandez. LOUIS PATTISON
GASPARD AUGE
Escapades GENESIS/ED BANGER
6/10
Debut solo album from French electronica aesthete
The crunching intensity of the music that Gaspard Augé made as one half of Justice may have blinded some to the fact that these Frenchmen had quite the grasp of melody. Escapades is hardly subtle, but by toning down the impact a notch, Augé’s personal aesthetic – a breezy blend of European electropop, cinematic symphonics and prog rock pomp – slides into focus. The result is an exquisitely polished music that sometimes strays a little into fromage. But where it works, as on the epic “Force Majeure” or “Belladone” – think ’80s erotic-movie score given thumping piano house makeover – it can sweep you off your feet. LOUIS PATTISON
AZURE RAY
Remedy FLOWER MOON
7/10
Omaha folk-pop duo end long hiatus with further loveliness
After a flurry of releases in the early 2000s, Omaha scene mainstays Orenda Fink and Maria Taylor have reconvened to harmonise with much less regularity – indeed, nine years have passed between 2012’s gentle-hearted As Above So Below mini-album and this successor. While the new songs’ whispery delicacy is not such a rare quality now that even Taylor Swift follows the same winsome path, Remedy still proves why Azure Ray remain special. Their fealty to Troubadour-era songcraft is one reason why, with the gorgeous “Phantom Lover” and “The Swan” evoking the most heartrending moments of Judee Sill and Carole King as heard through a dream-pop gauze. JASON ANDERSON
BIG BIG TRAIN
Common Ground ENGLISH ELECTRIC RECORDINGS
7/10
Prog history buffs turn an eye to current events
This neo-prog institution has a reputation for extrapolating skilfully turned, multi-part prog yarns from obscure historical episodes. Common Ground’s opener instead takes a more contemporary focus, as “The Strangest Times” places us in March 2020 waiting for “the PM’s 5pm address”. The accompanying piano-led romp is stirring and immediate, but the scene is set a little too prosaically. They’re on stronger form elsewhere as “Atlantic Cable” weaves vocal harmonies and instrumental flourishes around the story of the first transatlantic phone lines. “Black With Ink”’s meditation on the destruction of ancient libraries is similarly powerful, while “Dandelion Clock”’s lament to ageing, gorgeous piano reverie “Headwaters” and shapeshifting instrumental workout “Apollo” show three more sides to a versatile creative force. JOHNNY SHARP
JADE BIRD
Different Kind of Light GLASSNOTE
5/10
Smoother second outing for US-focused Brit songwriter
Any singer-songwriter with streaks of Americana in their musical DNA would surely love to record in Nashvillefrom “Punchline” come to the fore, reflecting a charismatic performer capable of more than just radio-friendliness.
