Best Albums

Lest We Forget – TUTV’s 20 Best Albums Of 2024 – Today: No. 10

Posted on by JL

We’re on our way, slowly but surely, to the end of 2025.
Instead of starting to think about this year’s best LPs,
let’s go back to 2024 and listen to TUTV‘s 20 Best Albums
again and look back on what we wrote about each one
of them.

Today: No. 10 

Artists: LIAM GALLAGHER and JOHN SQUIRE
Album: Liam Gallagher – John Squire


Daft album artwork designed by John Squire

The Guardian (English newspaper) wrote: “Chippy hauteur meets six-string pyrotechnics.
On this textbook collaboration that’s anything but, the Oasis singer and Stone Roses guitarist rearrange the DNA of their former bands to intriguing effect”

TUTV: This first Mancunian collaboration sounds as if it was made about 30 years ago.
Most tunes could be leftovers from The Stone Roses‘ 2nd and final 1994 LP Second Coming, the one on which Squire played his guitar exactly the way Jimmy Page did in Led Zeppelin for years. And Liam is Liam. Arms together on his back and letting his pipes do the talking. The two heroes just did what they wanted to do, making an album together and having fun doing it.

Before I was aware of it I had played the album about 10 times in 2 days.

Mind you, this is not a masterwork whatsoever, but all 10 tunes are top-entertaining
and stick faster than I can say “The Stone Roses should support Oasis on their reunion tour”?

SINGLE

ALBUM


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Liam Gallagher – John Squire

Lest We Forget – TUTV’s 20 Best Albums Of 2024 – Today: No. 14

Posted on by JL

We’re on our way, slowly but surely, to the end of 2025.
Instead of starting to think about this year’s best LPs,
let’s go back to 2024 and listen to TUTV’s 20 Best Albums
again and look back on what we wrote about each one
of them.

Today: No. 14

Band: FONTAINES D.C.

Album: ROMANCE
Their 4th LP

Pitchfork: “On its fourth album, the Irish group trades steely post-punk for stadium-sized
alt rock with a hefty dose of Y2K nostalgia. It’s an unexpected shift, but they handle it with panache.”

TUTV: The young Dubliners have become first-class songwriters (which they already
proved with confident style on previous LP Skinty Fia– still my favourite one). Frontman Grian Chatten‘s lyrics show (again) his observative view on this modern-day, confused world and how it affects his inner-self.

This is not their masterpiece yet to my ears, but it’s only a matter of
time that they will come up with a longplayer that will blow us all away.

SINGLE

ALBUM


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Instagram – Website

Lest We Forget – TUTV’s 20 Best Albums Of 2024 – Today: No. 15

Posted on by JL

We’re on our way, slowly but surely, to the end of 2025.
Instead of starting to think about this year’s best LPs,
let’s go back to 2024 and listen to TUTV’s 20 Best Albums
again and look back on what we wrote about each one
of them.

Today: No. 15

Band: AMYL AND THE SNIFFERS (Australia)

Album: CARTOON DARKNESS
Their 3rd one.

Pitchfork: “A defensive, chip-on-shoulder tone dominates the Australian punks’
third album, threatening to overshadow their freaky experimental flourishes and
newfound melodic sophistication.”

Turn Up The Volume: Old skool punk ‘n’ roll? Absolutely. Any good? You betcha!
Amyl and her loud buddies made another roasting riff-manic-monster of a hell fucking
hell yeah record. Pogo madness is back. Sturm un drang from start to finish. HOLY MOLY!

SINGLE

ALBUM


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Instagram – Website

Lest We Forget – TUTV’s 20 Best Albums Of 2024 – Today: No. 20

Posted on by JL

We’re on our way, slowly but surely, to the end of 2025.
Instead of starting to think about this year’s best LPs,
let’s go back to 2024 and listen to TUTV’s 20 Best Albums
again and look back on what we wrote about each one
of them.

Today: No. 20

Band: SHELLAC (US)
Album: To All Trains
Released: 24 May 2024.
Their 6th one.


(Photo by Turn Up The Volume – Belgium 2017)

TUTV: It’s vintage Shellac/Steve Albini with its wayward song structures, its
capricious and minimalistic approach, its broken riffs, edgy hooks, sinewy
drumming, Albini‘s firm vocals and the raw and rough post-punk dynamics.

Absolutely weird to listen to this record,
knowing that the noise wizard is here no more.

He passed away on May 7 (2024), following a heart
attack. Only 10 days before the album release.
Sad loss.

ALBUM


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R.I.P.

Instagram – Bio – Albums

5 BEST ALBUMS OF THE MONTH – JULY 2025

Posted on by JL

1 August 2025


Album artwork

Artist: MARK STEWART
Who: One of the most adventurous/inventive/original
post-punk & dub artists/performers ever, who passed away 2 years,
aged 62. He was a founding member of genre-bending new wave
group THE POP GROUP back in 1977. They recorded/released
a total of 4 albums.

As a prolific solo artist, he scored 7 LPs, collaborated with countless
other artists, and caused poignant waves with his Mafia outfit.

New Album: THE FATEFUL SYMMETRY
Released posthumously by Mute Records,
3 weeks ago.

Mute Records: “Mute is extremely honoured to announce Mark Stewart’s new solo
album ‘The Fateful Symmetry’, a vital masterwork completed early 2023. Testifying to
his prolific, unrelenting ingenuity, and signifying one of his most intimate, empowering statements, The Fateful Symmetry is a fierce and beautiful manifesto for a better world. “

TUTV: Posthumous releases of favorite artists have two sides. One, you’re reminded
of the passing of a beloved musician, and two, you get excited as new material is released.  In this case, very good new material. No archives dump, or out-takes, weird rarities, and other low-quality stuff. The Faithfull Symmetry is a splendid, final opus by a unique musical mind.

Stewart‘s expresses again his mixed emotions about humanity and its messy planet. Both pessimistic and optimistic reflections, but always with sparks of hope. Musically, it’s a very accessible pop record with several crooning musings, This Is The Rain, Twilight Child, Crypto Religion, and the wonderful, goosebumps closer A Long Road (made me instantly think of his good friend and fan Nick Cave).

His characteristic, captivating voice, both heartrending and heartwarming at the same time, feels so real, so close, and as always, engaged and genuine. Mark Stewart was one
of a kind and will always be in my book. Thank you, Mute Records, for this posthumous treasure, one to cherish

SINGLE

ALBUM


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Facebook – Mute Records
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New album artwork

Band: WET LEG
Who: Isle Of Wight (UK) pop sensation, Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers, who
attracted tons of attention with their prizewinning self-titled debut LP from 2022.

New album: MOISTURIZER

The Independent (English newspaper): “Far from being burned out, or being
bullied into selling out, by the sudden wave of global fame, they’ve doubled down
on their own weird energy. Moisturizer’s uncanny electricity is off the voltmeter.”

TUTV: The girls and band fabricated the album in an isolated, remote house
in the countryside, written in a creative frenzy, diving into themes of obsession
and all-consuming love. A record mostly inspired by Teasdale falling in love, in
her first queer relationship, in 2021. Again, her lyrics are witty, sarcastic/cynical,
double-edged and at times quite absurd. There’s a lot of love and lust involved.

“I can make you sticky / Make you hot screaming for after sun.
I can make you beg / Can make you wet like an aquarium”

“Would you still love me if I was a worm?”

“You’re the rock to my roll / You’re the sand between my toes /
Sweet baby girl, we go like salsa and Doritos”.

Teasdale‘s new look: dyed hair, dyed eyebrows, and sexy lingerie outfit fit
her sultry mindset. Sonically, they sound somewhat heavier here and there,
but overall their effective formula – sticky, edgy, upbeat tunes – colors
also this 2nd effort.

SINGLE

ALBUM


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Instagram – Spotify
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Artist: GINA BURCH
Who: Co-founder/bassist of British post-punk outfit The Raincoats (1977-1984).
One of the top indie bands in the UK back then. They released 3 LPs, then called
it a day.

In 1993, they reunited, fabricated another album (1996),
launched reissues and rarities, and gigged now and then.

Birch was/is very active as a film/videomaker, working
for big names such as The Libertines and New Order.

In 2023, she released her critically acclaimed solo debut
LP I Play My Bass. It was released through Jack White’s
Third Man Records.

New Album: TROUBLE
Her 2nd one, again released via the
former white stripe’s record label.

Birch: “It’s a bit out there, a bit off the tracks, and I always like to go there. I unofficially subtitled the album ‘Trouble I’ve Caused and Trouble I’m In’, so the songs are based around
that feeling—that dangerous place to be.”

“These songs came to me like a radio tuning, the airwaves going along, and I just plucked them out of the air. Something just clicks in the atmosphere, and I just take it. I’m not writing an opus about one thing. I’m writing an opus about being me.”

TUTV: Hey, all you people in trouble out there (the whole planet, I guess, each one in his/her own way) close your eyes and let your ears get massaged by this introspective, soul-searching record. You’ll feel like being in the middle of a gratifying dream with no intention whatsoever to wake up soon. Well, that’s what my troubled inner ego experienced.

Birch moves and grooves in dub bass motion juiced with swollen, resounded orchestrations here and there, while reggae echoes add a party feel. Most of all
Trouble entertains your confused 2025 state of mind. Its slow/fast trippy swagger
has a hip-shaking impact, and her expressive vocals match the full picture like a
glove. Stay yourself, stay in trouble, doom monger. I’m sure the late great dub
wizard Lee “Scratch” Perry would have digged this kind of sonic trouble too.

SINGLE

ALBUM


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Instagram – Linktree – TROUBLE on Spotify
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📸 @renfaulks

Band: PANIC SHACK
Who: 4 pop punkettes from Wales. In 2022 they
released their 6-track debut EP Baby Shack.

Album: PANIC SHACK
Their debut.

Press info: “Across the album, the lyrics are conversational, often stemming from
in-jokes, while the subject matter spans the full range of the feminine experience.

Irresistible because of their simplicity and charming because of their familiarity,
The sonic equivalent to a coming-of-age film unfolding over a single night, Panic
Shack takes the shape of a bender, beginning by approaching a bar and ending
with an impassioned speech at sunrise about how much you love your friends.

Swerving the expected topics of sex and romance, the entire
album revolves around the ionic bond between the four girls.”

The Guardian (British newspaper): “Panic Shack’s music the same effect as
popping a bottle of Prosecco – explosive, intoxicating, and delightfully chaotic.”


Album artwork

TUTV: Panic Shack are Bikini Kill 2025. Less political but straight in your face anyway, with
a similar screamy riotousness and an afire appetite for perky parties in pubs and booze bars. Their power-pop-punk blitz causes effervescent waves of lust for life, full of joy and ahoy. The loud and clear opposite of The Stooges ‘No Fun’.

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ALBUM


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Instagram – Linktree – Bandcamp

Artist: YUNGBLUD
Who: English singer-songwriter celeb born, named Dominic Richard Harrison 27 years ago.
He released his debut EP in 2018. From there on it he headed to stardom in a straight line.

New album: IDOLS
His 4th.

With #1 albums in seven countries and a reputation for defying
convention, Yungblud describes Idols as “a project with no limitations.”

Kerrang says: “It’s a go-getter of a record that pays homage to the greats whilst
still feeling brand new. Yungblud’s outlandishness makes him a hard pill to swallow
for some, but his guts, drive, and devotion to his craft cannot be denied.”

TUTV: His best. Whether he unleashes uptempo, slow tempo or mid-tempo tunes
on your speakers, Yungblud scores. Half the album contains singles and worthy tracks. Wowzers.

His passionate, dynamic and vitalized performances, juiced with some drama, bombast and lost of rhapsody lift this new record to hit status. Ladies and gents, we have a pop-ular winner.

SINGLE

ALBUM


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Instagram – Website

10 BEST ALBUMS OF 2024 (So Far)

Posted on by JL

9 July 2024

We’re halfway 2024.
These 10 LPs were TUTV’s ears favorites
over the past 6 months.

Band: FRANK CARTER & THE RATTLESNAKES (UK)
Album: Dark Rainbow
Their 5th

TUTV said: “With tensely emotive singles Man Of The Hour and Brambles, tattoo artist
Carter seemed to let his angry punk days behind him and move towards classic rock.
This album confirms that surprising, bold move.

And it’s a truly staggering record, filled with several melodramatic power ballads that generate goosebumps and some stoner rock ebullitions. Carter sings his heart out with monumental vivaciousness. A vocal tour de force throughout, dealing with mixed love emotions. Dark Rainbow will impact your ears for a very long time.”

SINGLE

ALBUM


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Linktree

Band: FAT WHITE FAMILY (UK)
Album: Forgiveness Is Yours
4th one

Lias Saoudi, voice/face/wordsmith/poet/writer, about the LP: ‘Forgiveness Is Yours,’ is about life as eternal contingency… about no longer suspecting, but knowing that this shit will never get any easier… in fact, it’s about to get a whole lot worse, your body’s going to go into decay and the people you love will slowly start dropping dead around you…but somehow, you’ve smashed enough of your expectations thus far in life, you’re sort of fine with it…you accept it.The overarching aesthetic themes at work here are torpor and further torpor still.”

TUTV: Without a shadow of a doubt their best, most startling, and most inventive accomplishment. Sounds like FWF have written/recorded the bone-chilling soundtrack
for Doomsday. Poignant vibes, ominous reflections, dark ballads, and frontman Lias Saoudi as the foreboding messenger and sinister poet. It’s the end of the world, as we know it, and it feels like Fat White Family.

SINGLE

ALBUM


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Instagram
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Band: THE BLACK KEYS (US)
Album: Ohio Players
Their 12th

TUTV said: The star duo made an album with lots of bright pop tunes and some light
blues ones. The licks/riffs and hooks, about a thousand of course, haven’t that BK’s raw
and rough edge as we are used to.

The overall sonority leans more towards power guitar pop (slow, mid-tempo and only
a couple of fast ones). I never thought that the tandem would come up after 23 years (yes, twenty-three years!) with a different sounding, coherent longplayer, without ignoring their blues roots that is. Ohio Players will be the album that I’ll play more than their whole catalogue together.

SINGLE

ALBUM


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Instagram

Band: LIAM GALLAGHER & JOHN SQUIRE (UK)
Album: Liam Gallagher – John Squire
Their first collaborative album

TUTV said: It sounds as if the two rock stars made this record about 30 years ago when Oasis and The Stone Roses had both a glorious debut LP out. It sounds as if the 10 songs here, didn’t make those masterpiece albums, because they’re somehow lazy tunes. That’s what my ears told me at first. Two famous Manchester lads had some time to kill.

But I’ve played it countless times by now. All tracks are infectious and electrifying. Liam & John didn’t look back in anger and may be adored for this easy-peasy, but oh-so-effective psych-rock-blues longplayer. Touchdown.

SINGLE

ALBUM


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Instagram
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Band: THE MYSTERINES
Album: Afraid Of Tomorrows
2nd LP

TUTV said: The charismatic Lia Metcalfe‘s singular voice, both anxious and soul-stirring,
is all over this awe-inspiring new record. So instrumental for the band’s sound that resonates more poignant, gloomier and spine-chilling than on their debut.

It fits Metcalfe‘s introspective reflections on her turbulent past terrifically well,
with haunting and goosebumps-causing songs that have an imposing impact.

There’s always a light shining at the end of the Mysterines tunnel.
The 4 scousers are ready up for a triumphant future.

SINGLE

ALBUM


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Linktree
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Artist: JEEN (Toronto, CA)
Album: Gold Control
Her 4th one

TUTV said: The three main elements that make this album special are Jeen’s remarkable
voice, her high-quality songwriting expertise, and the heart-and-soul passion that streams throughout the record. Whether Jeen rocks out, muses, or swings moods, she always holds your aural attention.

The cliché is accurate here, ‘no fillers, all killers’. 10 intoxicating, 10 solid gold songs.
This first-rate longplayer should get at least the same attention as Sheryl Crow‘s
new one.

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ALBUM


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Instagram
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Band: RIDE (UK)
Album: Interplay</
7th one

TUTV said: With Interplay the shoegaze past goes into the dustbin as the present Ride are fabulous. They come up with some terrifically arousing tunes, alternated with pepped-up reveries.

All songs are sublimely orchestrated and bathe in a psychedelic jacuzzi, while vocalist Mark Gardner‘s velvet vocals match the sonic atmosphere exquisitely. Ride have mixed emotions about today’s restless times, me too, but not about this record. Lots of five-star stuff.

SINGLE

ALBUM


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Instagram
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Band: SHELLAC (US)
Album: To All Trains
6th LP


(Photo by Turn Up The Volume – Belgium 2017)

TUTV said: It’s vintage Shellac/Steve Albini with its wayward song structures, its
capricious and minimalistic resonance, its broken riffs, edgy hooks, sinewy drumming, Albini‘s firm vocals and the raw and rough post-punk dynamics at play. Absolutely weird
to listen to it, with the incredible knowledge that Albini is here no more.

He passed away on May 7, following a heart attack.
Only 10 days before the album release.
Sad, really sad.

The album closes with the ominous track I Don’t Fear Hell, including these lines
“I don’t fear hell. Their baseball team is undefeated. If there’s a heaven, I hope they’re
having fun. ‘Cause if there’s a hell, I’m gonna know everyone.” Sounds quite bizarre and macabre at this very moment. Maybe, just maybe, Albini is happy, wherever he might
be. Rest in peace.

ALBUM


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Instagram
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Band: MONOSCOPES (Italy)
Album: Endcyclopedia
Their 2nd full lenght

TUTV said: Monoscopes made an ideal record for the midnight hours, to relax
and escape from the daily rat race and lose yourself in your thoughts of choice.

Heavy-hearted lullaby pearls such as ‘The Electric Muse (I Wanna Know Why?)’, Hey Atlas and The Things You Want To Hide should be hits in a normal world. Imagine the moody musings of Evan Dando (The Lemonheads) interwoven with the shadowy electricity of NYC’s celebs Interpol.

And when they turn up the temperature and the amps, now and then, like on top-tier tracks ‘It’s A Shame About You’ and ‘Quite Life‘ you feel the mixed emotions coming through your speakers making their way to your heart and to your soul. Top!

SINGLE

ALBUM


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Instagram
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Artist: T BONE BURNETT (US)
Album: The Other Side

TUTV: As a solo artist, he recorded/released several LPs. As a producer, he worked
with Los Lobos, Elvis Costello, Brandi Carlile, and Robert Plant & Alison Krauss and so many
more. He toured with Bob Dylan and other famous friends and he won a bunch of Grammys.

The Other Side is a concept record about a “mysterious couple” having adventures
in an otherworldly America. The by-now 76-year-old Burnett translate their mixed
emotions experiences in lovey-dovey lullabies, heartfelt musings, and nostalgic
ballads.

This is the perfect record for daydreaming and relaxation. Soft, mellow, and tender.
His slightly hoarse Americana voice enchants and entices all through this sepia-colored album. 12 bittersweet serenades for the midnight hours, away from our hyperbenthic reality. Pure compassionate romanticism. Pure songsmith.

SINGLE

ALBUM


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Instagram

5 BEST ALBUMS OF THE MONTH – MAY 2024

Posted on by JL

31 May 2024

Artist: BETH GIBBONS
Who: The voice/face of renowned British trip-hop outfit
Portishead who released (only) 3 LPs between 1994
and 2008.

Album: LIVES OUTGROWN

Gibbons about the album: “I realised what life was like with no hope. And that was
a sadness I’d never felt. Before, I had the ability to change my future, but when you’re
up against your body, you can’t make it do something it doesn’t want to do. People
started dying.

TUTV: Gibbons processes her pains of loss on this shadowy solo debut.
She still has that ghostly vocal vulnerability, as if she wanders, in slo-mo,
in a thick fog far away from the real world, to to get away from her
harming demons.

Musically, the tone is both delicate and tender, mysterious and introspective, with an overall sense of disturbing catharsis, accompanied by mourning strings, big drums and acoustic melancholia. You need several spins to connect with Gibbons‘ enigmatic world, but in the end, the result is truly affecting.

– SINGLE –

ALBUM


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Instagram
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Album artwork

Two months ago renowned noise rock producer STEVE ALBINI
announced a new LP with his band SHELLAC, titled TO ALL TRAINS.
Their 6th and first in 10 years.

Unfortunately, Albini couldn’t experience its release (May 17)
as the fatal news came in, on May 7, of his passing following
a heart attack.

It wasn’t really certain if the release would go ahead or not. But here it is,
featuring his long-time, faithful friends/musicians Bob Weston (bass) and
drummer Todd Trainer.


(Photo by Turn Up The Volume – Belgium 2017)

The recordings already started in 2017 featuring several songs
the band used to play live for quite some time by then.

TUTV: It’s vintage Shellac/Steve Albini with its fractured song structures, its capricious and minimalistic resonance, its broken riffs, edgy hooks, sinewy drumming, Albini‘s poignant vocals and the raw and rough post-punk dynamics at play. Absolutely weird to listen to
it, with the incredible knowledge that Albini is no more.

The album closes with the ominous track I Don’t Fear Hell, including these lines
“I don’t fear hell. Their baseball team is undefeated. If there’s a heaven, I hope they’re
having fun. ‘Cause if there’s a hell, I’m gonna know everyone.” Sounds quite bizarre and macabre at this very moment. Maybe, just maybe, Albini is happy, wherever he might
be. Rest in peace.

– ALBUM –


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Instagram

Band: RONKER
Who: 4 noise junkies
from Belgium

Album: FEAR IS A FUNNY THING, NOW SMILE LIKE A BABY

Info: “FIAFTNSLABB is not only an ode to celebrating naivety, the record is
deliberately kept very raw and playful. The band plays a kind of duplo-metal
that opts for simplicity and a wide color palette.

The band sounds hungry, nervous and exaggerated in its bipolar nature: the je-m’en-foutism of post-punk and the concrete character of 90’s alt-metal both contribute equally to their DNA. In their brew where chunks of hardcore are mixed with noise, indie, prog
and punk, no house is sacred anymore.”


Aaaarggghhhhh (photo by TUTV)

TUTV: No pop tunes, no songs about the bees and the trees. This record is stuffed with manicial mind-fuckers and badass brain-breakers that trash and slash your poor stereo relentlessly and mercilessly. The maddening man in the middle, mental vocalist Jasper, screams and howls, and spits and sneers, with bone-chilling and psychotic horsepower.

Think Kurt Cobain with 4 lungs, fronting a hellish hardcore gang featuring 3 other ruthless punks on an ear-splitting mission. No brakes, no breaks. No rest for the wicked. Ronker is
a barbaric force, their singer is an out-of-this-normal-world performer, their debut is a flabbergasting monster.

All you loonies out there, get out of your straitjackets, escape from the asylum
and jump up and down on your way home like post-punk kangaroos on speed.

The four mustache horsemen of the Apocalypse have arrived.

– SINGLE –

– ALBUM –


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Linktree
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Act: LEG PUPPY
Who: EBM fabricators of the third kind.

Album: HUMANITY 2.0
Their 8th longplayer

TUTV: Ever heard of politically and society-caring techno?
Well, thematically, it’s what this record is about. And the
alarming music is its perfect soundtrack.

As theoretical physicist Einstein said (1879-1955): “Blind belief in authority is the greatest enemy of truth” and English modernist novelist D.H. Lawrence (1985-1930) wrote: “Ours is essentially a tragic age, so we refuse to take it tragically“. Two quotes, so relevant in 2024, meaning that nobody, especially all power-greedy world leaders/politicians, ever listened carefully to what these geniuses had to say. No wonder these two masterminds show up on this record.

As Leg Puppy states about his UK country: “This used to be a hell of a great country.”
Again the narcissistic Tories fucked up. Brexshit is their awful work. Unfortunately,
they get away with their bullshit.

Sonically, Humanity 2.0 is heavily influenced by Puppy‘s natural musical habitat:
the 90s techno/acid house revolution, developed around the mid-1980s by DJs
from Chicago and British trance-dance and (il)legal rave-orientated acts such as
Chemical Brothers, The Orb, Leftfield, The Prodigy and lots of other e-tastic
crusaders. Throw all this together and you get Humanity 2.0.

Again LPI (Leg Puppy Intelligence) created an intoxicating
roller coaster with mind-exploring, electronic symphonies
for a 2024 space Odyssey.

Leg Puppy 1.0 is canceled, welcome to Leg Puppy 2.0

– SINGLE –

– ALBUM –


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LP 2.0: Linktree
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Band: SEADOG
Who: The project of Brighton (UK) musicians
Mark Benton and Tom Chadd

Album: INTERNAL NOISE
2nd LP following their 2018 debut
Cabin Fever Blues.

Info: “The album explores the dichotomy between an inner turmoil that can plague a fragile mind and the euphoria of letting go and tuning out the outside world. The heavy burden of insomnia is a recurring theme while the album also celebrates the static hums and pulsating rhythms which contrast humans and machines.”

TUTV: Seadog alternate trippy synth dream-pop symphonies with delicate and subtle acoustic musings and with inventive, compelling compositions. Stylishly crafted melodies and crystalline harmonies are omnipresent, but in different tones and timbres, which makes Internal Noise a sonically multi-colored record.


📷 Zara Pears

Its production is spot-on, not over or underdone, the arrangements and orchestrations match the overall sparkling sonority. It’s obvious that a lot of work, creativity, energy and love went into this album. Give it a couple of spins and you’ll discover a high-songwriting-quality opus.

– SINGLE –

– ALBUM –


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Linktree

5 BEST ALBUMS OF THE MONTH – January 2024

Posted on by JL

1 February 2024


Album artwork

Band: FRANK CARTER & THE RATTLESNAKES
Who: The musical vehicle of British arousing
songsmith and tattoo artist Frank Carter.


Press photo

Album: DARK RAINBOW
Their 5th

TUTV: With tensely emotive singles Man Of The Hour and Brambles, tattoo artist Carter seemed to let his angry punk days behind him and move towards classic rock. Now the album confirms that surprising, bold move.

And it’s a truly staggering record, filled with several melodramatic power ballads that generate goosebumps and some stoner rock ebullitions. Carter sings his heart out with monumental vivaciousness. A vocal tour de force throughout, dealing with mixed love emotions. Dark Rainbow will impact your ears for a very long time. Top-tier achievement.

KEY TRACK

ALBUM

Instagram – Linktree
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Album artwork

THE SMILE featuring two radioheads – Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood – and
drummer Tom Skinner — launched their new album WALL OF EYES, only 11 months
after their compelling debut A Light For Attracting Attention.


Press photo by Alex Lake

TUTV: With less pressure than that’s on that mega band called Radiohead, the pair
of Yorke and Greenwood seem to feel more at ease to do what they want to do without
any expectations whatsoever. Wall Of Eyes sounds less complex than the last Radiohead albums, but still echoes that band’s work here and there (Teleharmonic / Friend Of A Friend / I Quit). And Yorke‘s familair falsetto voice is omnipresent.

Then again, capricious tracks like Road The Room and Under Our Pillows resonate more directly and less polished than a lot of the multi-layered Radiohead symphonies as we know them. All that said, it really doesn’t matter if there are comparisons or not. What matters is that this record features (only) 8 paramount songs, 8 first-rate quality tunes,
8 mesmeric compositions.

KEY TRACK

ALBUM

Facebook – Instagram – Euro Tour
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Album Artwork

Band: WARM EXIT
Who: Experimental post-punk outfit from Brussels, Belgium. The band has been a driving force in its underground scene for 4 years. With only its founding member remaining, Valentino Sacchi, the band has gone through numerous mutations over the years

Album: ULTRA VIOLENCE

The album’s title is a reference to Stanley Kubrick’s 1971 brutal masterpiece
A Clockwork Orange. It marks a turning point in the band’s career. A vow to be confrontational to yourself, a rejection to being hesitant about one’s inner turmoil,
and to celebrate it. The music, and more importantly the band is driven by a tireless motivation that sources its energy from within; the good, the bad, the ugly. In short,
it’s human. Warts and all.

TUTV: You can feel a menacing tension in the vocals and in the piercing sonority throughout this record. Demons all around. No rest for the wicked. Anxious guitar riffage, spitting and sneering, maddening drumming, and roller coaster jams, fast-forward or in slo-mo, combine for a both nightmarish and blood-curdling experience. Post-punk at its jagged best. Dim the lights, put your headphones on, and try to find your way into your mind’s messy labyrinth.

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Album artwork

Artist: HAZE (Ghent, Belgium)
Who: Musical project of Belgian singer-songwriter Mirabelle van de Put.
After years of playing bass and doing backing vocals with several bands
she decided to pursue her own dream pop journey.

New album: OUT OF SIGHT
Haze’s second one

TUTV: Three elements make this album special. Mirabelle‘s crystalline voice, from
near-whispering to playfully sensual, the guitar play, whether acoustic or electrical,
with or without reverb, has a magnetizing impact with its rotating riffs and the subtle
but richly layered arrangements of the songs create an organically dreamy sound.

Out Of Sight is a sonic companion for relaxing winter
nights and will be one for summer sundowns.

KEY TRACK

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Album artwork

Band: SPRINTS
Who: Irish soon-to-be-the-talk-of-the-town
post-punk turbine.

Album: LETTER TO SELF
Order info: here.


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TUTV: These Irish indies burst with tremendous vehemence and sharp-teethed gusto. Their high-voltage jackhammers trash and slash along their build-up/break-down course. Breathtaking hullabaloo.

Psychotic guitars, unrestrained bass/drum forcefulness, and Karla Chubb‘s borderline vocals combine for exorcistic flare-ups. At times, Chubb‘s unbridled intensity brings Courtney Love‘s maddening cry-outs to mind. As I said, breathtaking hullabaloo. And the cliché no fillers, all killers can’t be more accurate here.

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Turn Up The Volume’s 20 BEST ALBUMS OF 2023

Posted on by JL

1. ‘Heavy Heavy’ by YOUNG FATHERS

This sizzling Scottish trio nailed it big time with their 3rd LP. Heavy Heavy is one of those rare remarkable records that arouses from start to finish, with the cliché no fillers, all killers all over it. You hear its sonic brilliance, you feel its dauntless vocality, you realise quickly that this album is special, very special.


(Photo by Turn Up The Volume – Antwerp 2023)

An undisputable first-class work where vitalizing soul, ecstatic pop melodiousness
and self-willed hip-hop come together in an organic way. A spiritual happening.

Funk-punk drunk virtuosity with astonishing vocal teamwork.

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2. ‘Sea Of Mirrors’ by THE CORAL (Liverpool, UK)

The seasoned psych-folk-pop-rock ramblers launched their 11th album, named
Sea Of Mirrors last September. Unquestionably one of their best in their succesful
career.


(Press photo via Maintain Perspective PR)

Expect a non-stop sequence of reflective pop fantasies, of tantalizing tunes
with a laid-back resonance and meditative musings that cause a welcome,
lazy state of mind.

Blissfully feelgood vocality, with a melancholic timbre, everywhere.

Gently weeping strings. A seamless sonic marriage of acoustic and electric guitars.
It’s vintage The Coral as we know them, but even more yearning for romanticism than before. So they left their island and travelled to their fictional Western reality where all
sorts of misfits try to survive. Americana, the Liverpool way.

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3. ‘Fronzoli’ by PSYCHEDELIC PORN CRUMPETS

The turbulent psych-rock team from Perth, Australia hit bullseye with
their 6th full lenght Fronzoli (meaning ‘something unnecessary added
as decoration’).


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Uppercut after uppercut, corker after corker, jackhammer after jackhammer and two breathers with Cpt. Gravity Mouse Welcome and the short acoustic beauty ‘Illusions of Grandeur’). Your ears need to be in great shape to absorb
this whirlwind record.

If PPC were animals they would be hungry wolves wandering in the deserts of Australia looking for prey. Their melting pot of glam metal, pithy punk, high-voltage pop and other noisy shout-outs results in an ecstatic body of infectious. Btw, am I the only one who thinks McEwan‘s voice resembles Arctic Monkey’s Alex Turner one (now and then) and vice versa, of course.

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4. ‘War Is Obsolete’ by THE BARBITURATES (Northern Island)

These Northern Irish political punk guerilla’s launched
a fully topical record titled War Is Obsolete
this year.

Here’s a message from their HQ in Londonderry.

“Some of The 1% are investors in the great big industrial war machine – the clearing / repairing of war torn cities / countries and rebuilding them along with there big pharma – food n supplies companies ect they make massive profits on all levels of war from the bullets n bombs fired to the food n medicine and everything you can imagine in between – this collection of sound scapes and anti war songs on this guerrilla ontological discordant meditation Ep are our SMALL way of trying to help raise money for the innocent human beings being punished and hurt because of other people’s ignorance – hate – fear – oppression!! ALL THE PROCEEDS OUR DIGITAL SALES NOW AND UNTIL THINGS INPROVE WILL GO TO THESE PEOPLE!!”

The Barbiturates care about our messed-up society, about humanity, about the weak, the poor and the outsiders, about tolerance, about inclusivity, about the desperate need for global peace. Couldn’t agree more.

Unfortunately, all the caring in the world can’t avoid (another) dirty war. After Russia invaded Ukraine early last year, Israel and Palestine started a filthy, deadly war in Gaza two weeks ago. Horrible, just horrible, again. One day a devastating world catastrophe will end it all.

War Is Obsolete is an intruiging, versatile and bone-chilling journey. Sonically with its experimental electronica psych jams and ambient, spacey orchestrations. The evil terror caused by war-and-power greedy scumbags needs to be stopped. The late great pacifist John Lennon never understood these murderous maniacs either, as we know it.

Purchase this record, digitally, 5£ or more.
All proceeds got to PCRF – Palestine Children’s Relief Fund.

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5. ‘Ignore Grief’ by XIU XIU (California)

This Californian experimental act, founded in 2002 by singer-songwriter Jamie Stewart surprise every time they come up with new music. Also with Ignore Grief, already their
13th full length, XX impress mightily.


(Press photo)

Ignore Grief is not happy music, it’s grim reality music, it’s mind-boggling music.
Inventive, capricious and ideal as the soundtrack for one of David Lynch‘s hallucinatory films. Although after a couple of spins, you’ll find out that Xiu Xiu‘s spellbinding sonic exorcism is more accessible than you thought at first. Their orchestral manoeuvres in
the dark are flabbergasting.

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6. ‘One Man Band’ by MILES KANE (UK)

British retro-mod rocker Miles Kane, half of The Last Shadow Puppets
(the other half being his great friend and Arctic Monkeys’ maestro Alex Turner)
released his 5th LP, titled One Man Band’ last summer.

As he said himself multiple times Kane loves the swinging 60s/70s pop, rock
and soul splendor. So again, you hear here those flamboyant influences from the past. And he always comes up with upbeat tunes that stick and put a big smile on your face. Guitar pop at its cacthing best.

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7. ‘Songs Of Silence’ by VINCE CLARKE (UK)

The synth-pop musician/songwriter who started his career with Depeche Mode,
who he left after their 1981 debut album to form Yazoo (1981–1983, 2008-2011)
with grand voice Alison Moyet and later on he started Erasure with singer/songwriter
Andy Bell launched his solo debut LP with Songs Of Silence.

TUTV: If you don’t pay attention to the author of this record when you’re listening
to it, there’s a great chance that you think that it’s another ambient Brian Eno album.

The relaxing ambient atmospheres Clarke creates (Cathedral / Passage / Imminent / Last Transmission) are similar to the ones Eno composes/composed (29 solo LPs, so far).

Clarke paints synth-scapes with an overall symphonic sonority, with both classical
and futuristic sounscapes. This is the sort of cosmic music that calms me down after a busy day. Its relaxing effect soothes my buzzing mind. Tranquillizing, instrumental (except for Blackleg which is infused with eerie chants) uncomplicatedness for dark winter nights.

Silent majesty.
Sonic ear-massage.

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8. ‘God Games’ by THE KILLS (US/UK)

Seasoned blues-rock duo THE KILLS – Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince – are finally back with a new longplayer, their first in 7 years, following the swirling Ash & Ice album in 2016.


(Photo by Turn Up The Volume – Amsterdam, 2016)

God Games features fewer fireworks than on previous LPs, but the pair still move and groove with sonic fervour and melodramatic tunes, as we know them. Sultry, delirious and passional.

When Mosshart sings the blues, her heart-and-soul vocality draws all attention. Her tantalizing timbre and her midnight hour tone combined with Hince‘s edgy riffs and roasting hooks are what made me a Kills fan from day 1.

This 12-track record is a slow grower. Take your time, it’s all worth it.

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9. ‘Praise Of The Iconoclast’ by MORLOCKS (Sweden)

Swedish post-punk-Goth turbo MORLOCKS were formed last century by mastermind J.Strauss, and had several line-ups over the years. The trio operate around the borderlines between the collective subconscious, paradoxical multiverses and the bad conscience of the world, as we know it.

They travel either like sinister prowlers through the shadows, or like a raging
bulldozer, sneaking and bolting through and between the Cold War, radioactive wastelands, the catacombs of Rome and unspeakable dimensions beyond
the Unknown Kadath.

They care about humanity, they haunt everybody who doesn’t care, and they
embed their anger, frustration and hope in titanic, intimidating and cast iron
industrial bombast with loud and clear messages. Think Rammstein and NIN
having a sonic fight with riot guns. Doomsday is just around the corner and is
orchestrated by Morlocks.

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10. ‘Islands In The Sky’ by DEATH VALLEY GIRLS (California)

The L.A. garage rock fury led by vocalist/guitarist/organist and natural-born
charismatic front-Amazon Bonnie Bloomgarden triumphed with their 5th LP
this year.


(Photo by Turn Up The Volume – Brussels, 2023)

Islands In The Sky is, without a shadow of a doubt, according to my trained ears, their
best achievement (so far). When you combine pop/rock songwriting quality, richly layered orchestrations, Bloomgarden‘s full-hearted vocal dynamism and tons of tunes (if anything else tunes are key) wrapped up in party-igniting vibes, you have a winner.

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11. ‘Good Busy’ by THE IRRATIONAL LIBRARY (The Netherlands)

Dutch humanistic rock unit The Irrational Library is a pretty special affair.

A band with its roots firmly planted in both the regional and international
counterculture. They produce a raw, dirty groove influenced by punk,
provo, punk icons and spiced with sultry saxophone here and there.

Their poetry is packed with social criticism. They drew my ears’ attention with their 2021 album We Are… Doomed. An open-minded-plainspoken-asskicking-anti-establishement-and-other-scumbags opus.

The same biting spirit is present on their brand new full-length GOOD BUSY. Moody reveries and blasting belters alternate creating an overall stirring/roaring record in the end with, once again, a main role for highly dedicated and caring America-born frontman-punk-rapper-poet-storyteller Joshua Baumgarten.

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12. ‘The Crack And The Light’ by CMON CMON (Belgium)

Belgian guitar pop/rock band CMON CMON started their second coming
about two years ago, driven by sheer love for music. Writing it, recording it,
sharing it, playing it live, and enjoying it along with their fans.

No masterplan whatsoever to conquer the world, no commercial pressure.
They restarted with one and only one goal. Making the best album their
experience and their hearts and souls could come up with.

A balanced mix of amplified guitar-infused dream pop tunes with a melancholic
and soothing touch. References? R.E.M, Dinosaur Jr., Teenage Fanclub, Sparklehorse
and The Chills, to name a few. I’m sure you get the sonic picture.

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13. ‘A Headlong Fall Into The Vast Ocean Of Anxiety’ by EYEMOUTH (Sweden)

Expect atmospheric synth-scapes for soundtracks of sci-fi movies, mellow Pink Floyd echoes, dark-electro-wave surrealism, and an overall synth-symphonic sonority.

All mesmerizingly orchestrated with both classical and venturesome music structures. Now and then composer Marcus Lilja‘s ghostly voice adds an extra mysterious touch to
the instrumental grandeur at play. The power of nature in selectronic motion. Cinematic music that triggers your imagination.

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14. ‘Back In The Room’ by THE DHARMA VIOLETS (Wales)

THDV embed 60s psychedelia in a blistering mix of flaming garage rock mania,
swaggering mid-tempo grooves, an impressive, amplified slo-mo jam right in the middle and a stunning opener with horns snippets of Primal Scream‘s e-tastic classic Loaded.

Overall I hear Beatles-like harmonies, multi-layered guitar extravaganza à la Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, steady drums/bass horsepower, sizzling six-string solos, psyched-out space steamrollers, 24 Karat riff-rushing rockers, some slow ones, and echoing vocals
from the eight miles high past. Final result: a hell of a must-hear record that I added to
my best-albums-of-2023 list. The Dharma Violets should be huge. FACT! Don’t miss them.

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15. ‘Secret Life’ by FRED AGAIN… and BRIAN ENO

Weird collaboration? No, certainly not. The very popular EBM/house/hip-hop/DJ Fred and the legendary ambient wizard Brian Eno complete each other here perfectly. They create a sonic labyrinth where Eno‘s hallucinatory ambient waves progress in slow motion, causing a trance trip in a foggy environment while Fred‘s phantasmal vocals seem to come from an unknown universe.

Secret Life is a hushed, soothing companion for late-night mind entertainment after
another busy day and too much noisy music. Soothing, calming and triggering lazy dreaming.

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16. ‘Shook’ by ALGIERS (US/UK)

With Shook this American/English outfit drew tons of critical praise. Rightly so.
It’s a tremendously varied work. They jump from zestful hip-rap-hop to forceful
post-punk-rock, to soulful lullabies, to arresting spoken-word protest, to sparkling
gospel. 54 minutes long, but you get sucked in every second. Wowzers!


(Press – FB Algiers)

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17. ‘Venom’ by WARGASM (UK)

London‘s nu-rap-metal sensation WARGASM – Milkie Way and Sam Matlock – shocked the indie punk world with their debut album, titled Venom.


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A vicious motherrocker of an album. A monstrous collection of left/right uppercuts.
A schizophrenic series pf brain-breaking slegdhammers you can win sonic wars with. Holy smoke!

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18. ‘The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons’ by THE HIVES (Sweden)

The Swedish amazeballs punk clowns The Hives are back in town. They unleashed
their new LP, called The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons (I have no clue who that guy is?)
last summer.


📸 Bisse Bengtsson

Be ready for a tsunami of Molotov cocktails, punk-o-rama riffage, and yell-along
refrains spit out by primal screamer Pele. No rest for the wicked. Beware, this explosive record can damage your speakers. On the other hand, it’s the ideal soundtrack for banging your poor head against the kitchen wall and/or jumping up and down like a kangaroo on ecstasy.

Alert your neighbours before you start the deafening razzmatazz
and watch out for the anti-decibels police. Lots of LOUD fun.


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19. ‘This Stupid World’ by YO LA TENGO (US)

Yo la Tengo is all things indie. They follow their own capricious path, for almost
40 years now. They create uncomplicated melodies and then give them an edgy touch
that guides them in different directions. From acoustic to electric and back.

Different moods, different sonic tones. It’s old news that we live in a stupid world where political me, myself, and I leaders use the 2000-year-old trick of divide and conquer. YLT know too, of course, but reality as it is, obviously inspired them to make another rad record.

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20. ‘Clear Pound Road’ by KRISTIN HERSH (US)

The stirring Throwing Muses legend Kristin Hersh released
her new solo LP, titled Clear Pound Road last September.


(Photo by Turn Up The Volume – Belgium, 2022)

Expect Krautrock dynamics with an acoustic guitar and a mellow cello. Song by song,
the repetitive/rotating rhythms have a magnetic power. 10 intro/outro-spective sparks glowing, like the lights on the LP’s cover. Hersh‘s voice is singular, a bit hoarser than before, think Marianne Faithfull. I love both voices

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