In order to not miss a beat Turn Up The Volume scans the musical
horizon daily (doing it for years now, actually) to stay in touch with
all new things sonically great and shares the results on a weekly
basis.
Check the 10 new rad tracks just
added to this rad 2023 playlist.
1. ‘Gorilla Guerilla’ by MANTRA OF THE COSMOS (UK)
The smoking punk-disco debut by new supergroup with Shaun Ryder
and Bez (Happy Mondays/Black Grape), Andy Bell (Ride/Oasis) and drummer Zak Starkey, yes Ringo‘s son, who played with Oasis and The Who among others.
Party time!
2. ‘Road To Joy’ by PETER GABRIEL (UK) Gabriel keeps on dropping singles from his upcoming i/o
(release date still unknown). This one is a funktatsic upper.
3. ‘Gilla Monster’ by KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD (Australia)
Dragonic slam dunk from the Aussies 24th LP in 13 years (!) out next Friday.
4. ‘Undergrowth’ by SQUID (Brighton, UK)
Top piece from the British post-punks’ second,
highly lauded, LP O Monolith.
5. ‘This Town’ by VALA (Manchester, UK) British gunslingers who infuse pop melodies and lyrics with indie riffs
and a nu-wave feel. On This Town – a bang-on cut from their debut EP I Love The Sound – the swagger of NYC’s darlings The Strokes‘ comes
to mind.
6. ‘They Live In My Head’ by BUSH TETRAS (NY)
Tense and feverish serpent of a track, going forth and back, from NYC’s
indie heroes BUSH TETRAS (1979–1983, 1995–1998, 2005–present). It’ll
feature on their new longplayer out, named Things I Put Together, landing on 23 July.
8. ‘Mine’ by CLAUDIA CAPPELLETTI
With this captivating vocal pearl, Italy-born songstress Cappelletti wants to inspire and unite all the people around the world to fight for the rights for women to live free from violence and discrimination, to enjoy the highest attainable standard of physical.
9.‘I Inside The Old I Dying’ by PJ HARVEY (UK)
The title track – a mesmeric reverie – from PJ’s 10th LP,
coming up on 7 July.
10. ‘Otherworld’ by CELESTIAL NORTH (Scotland)
The life affirming and glorious dreamscape title track from this
compelling artist’s debut album Otherworld, out on the 7th of July.
For the occasion, the prog-rock eccentrics from down under will let us hear their
metallic trash and crash side. We already had a first taster with the demoniac lead
single Gila Monster and here’s another draconian behemoth of a torpedo track.
An almost 10-minute escapade that shifts from speed-death-metal to familiar
prog-rock sequences and back, trashing stuff along the way. KGTLW rules!
VERY LOUD AND VERY CLEAR!
The accompanying video was directed by the band’s close collaborator Jason Galea, matches footage of King Gizz playing Dragon interspersed with some computer-animated lizardry inspired by the original Sony PlayStation.
1. ‘Twitchin’ in The Kitchen’ byWARMDUSCHER (London)
This punky-funky disco corker is the perfect pick-me-up tune for all the wacky
weirdos who are always in the kitchen at parties waiting for free drinks and waiting
for Warmduscher to come in and kick their lazy asses. Big stroke, big chorus, big fun!
The Scottish dance-funk-punk trio YOUNG FATHERS launch
their 5th LP called HEAVY HEAVY on 3 February.
Ahead of hit came this ridiculously sticky stunner I SAW.
A master blaster that makes your blood stream faster
through your veins. The addition of a choir in the back
works on the spot.
This London post-punk team unleashed their 2nd scorching album Beware Believers, last April. One of TUTV’s best full-lengths of 2022.
Slowly Separate is a schizo sonic serpent generating a mind-blowing backwash
while chainsaw guitars turn up the decibels to an illegal peak, and vox-in-the-middle James Fox rages and blazes through his teeth.
The by now legendary passion rockers from Cincinnati, Ohio with mastermind Greg Dulli leading the troops. Their new 10th LP How Do You Burn? was voted Best Album Of 2022 on Turn Up The Volume.
I’ll Make You See God was the lead single. A sturdy steamroller, a red-hot-heated juggernaut, an unstoppable cannonball going everywhere fast. Manic blitzkrieg
guitars, ruthless drum/bass attacks, Greg Dulli‘s rush of blood vocality, and a brutal
finish. Flabbergasting.
Dulli: “That’s one of the hardest rock songs we’ve ever done.
It was written and performed on sheer adrenalin.”
This frenetic Brit force hit big time with their dazzling
debut album The Great Regression last March.
Single I Am Kate Moss is a cast-iron brainbreaker. It’s a poignant, biting, and
anxious uppercut. I’m pretty sure Moss would love this hit-and-run drone when
it would hit her ears. She is, after all, the Femme Punk Fatale of fashion.
The Prophet progresses like a vicious viper sliding to its prey until a horrific explosion strikes you in the face. Next is a titanic bass riff that keeps the roller coaster turning with scary speed. This flabbergasting monster is part of their 2nd notable longplayer Trust No Leaders.
About: “As a story or metaphor, we are all ‘Frankenstein’s monster’ – made up of
other people’s opinions and parts that don’t belong to us. That we were born
perfect but people, in their own conditioning, come along and can make us feel
undesirable/inadequate/the monster. But we can choose to be real instead.”
This is without a shadow the best debut single of 2022.
A towering tune going low, high and back. A sickly sticky pop gem wrapped in
a big-boisterous wall-of-sound. And up front, Sianna Lafferty‘s phenomenal voice
causes goosebumps when she reaches for the sky on the chorus. The ardency of Porridge Radio comes to mind.
“I am not what you want me to be
Uncle Sam won’t even point at me
Even the eyes of the Virgin Mary wall
hanging won’t even stare at me.”
Kill Me Again, one of three pieces shared so far, is an infectious groove
propelled by a pounding synth/bass riff, spiced with Coxon on saxophone
and mesmerizing (duet) vocals. Splendid stuff. Bring on the LP.
This power pop sensation impressed big time with their self-titled debut album. The outstanding dingle Chaise Longue – catchy, funny and witty caused choirs of thousands of sing-along people at festivals this past summer as I experienced myself, not at Glastonbury (below), but in Belgium at Hear!Hear! fest.
After releasing her sterling debut LP last year, songstress Ilayda Cicek and her band
came back this year for a series of riveting concerts (I saw 5 of them) and this sublime single. Her passion, her vivaciousness and vocal fervency push this electrifying pearl
way up to the stars.
Where We Sleep is the alter ego of Beth Rettig,
former front force of electro-rock band Blindness
On this boiling groover Rethig rants non-stop with anger and frustration.
A nasty bass riff is the backbone here, while layers of menacing guitar
electricity augment this ripper’s rowdy roll.
A crystal clear statement, a menacing projectile.
“They Don’t Want The Truth / They Just Want The Power”
12. ‘Nothing Good Comes Easy’ by DEAD LEVEE (Canada)
What a wowzer! This uplifting motherrocker boosts your state of mind with
fired-up dynamism from the get-go. Rapid-fire rawk and roll riffs switch on
a fervent feel of euphoria. It did it in the past, it does it in the present and
it will do it in the future.
Despite all the BS we have to endure (pandemic, Ukraine, natural disasters,
and other threats) it’s never too late to get back on track and why not start
with 4 and a half minutes of heart-warming guitar-fueled boogie-woogie
that triggers hope and assurance.
Stoogefather IGGY POP still wants to be your dog.
He has his new – 19th – LP, named Every Loser
lands out next week, on 6 January.
Lead-single was the perfect harbinger. A motherfucker of a punk bomb
featuring an all-star band including Watt, Guns N’ Roses‘ Duff McKagan
and Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ Chad Smith.
I’m in a frenzy
Fucking prick
I’m in a frenzy
Goddamn dick
It’s been two years since these Scottish hound dogs made
my speakers tremble with their furious Johnny single.
But on their steamy comeback stomper they still have the same barnstorming groove and move drive. Something Good is a nasty rip-roaring-riff jackhammer,
annex agitated vocals, rotating in your head in an ear-blink. Think NYC’s darlings Interpol playing The Fall. Something good? Way better, something ace!
Geordie Greep (vocalist, guitar): “Almost everything I write is from a true thing, something
I experienced and exaggerated and wrote down. I don’t believe in Hell, but all that old world folly is great for songs, I’ve always loved movies and anything else with a depiction of Hell.”
A screwy zig-zagging haymaker it is.
From their head-spinning 3rd LP Hellfire.
“A paean to taking your foot off the gas and letting things slide, or a warning of the perils of procrastination, perhaps? It’s hard to tell whether ‘Mañana’ is meant to serve as a confessional regarding Domestic’s own perceived lack of willpower, or a celebration of idleness. It could be either of these things; and that’s one of its many joys.”.
A sirens intro, David Bowie‘s saxophone, and steel drums straight from Trinidad. Sounds like an exotic swing and shake ditty is coming up. No folks, it’s a lazy rap-sody you can play the morning after a booze marathon to get up and sober up, slowly.
Soul voice Clare Gillet takes care of the chirpy chorus.
These Welshmen released their new excellent album Druids and Bards
displaying mastermind Scott Marsden high-quality songwriting.
This impassioned hard-luck story is my fav cut. It grows slowly but surely into a soul-stirring and mesmerising heartbreaker with an epic finale. Glowing guitars, a steady drumbeat, and mixed-emotions vocals all come together for a poignant performance.
‘Love Is Cruel / The Hurt Within’. You can feel it.
This wholly charismatic and fast up-and-coming darkwave duo mixes Gothic Depeche Mode beats, with sonic Human League echoes, bass-synth-riffs à la German legends D.A.F. and spice it all up with spooky vocals. And it looks like 2023 will even be bigger than 2022.
After their eponymous bonkers debut EP (2020) followed by some staggering singles,
the high-decibels tandem nail it with another sucker punch. Leader is a funk-punk riff ripsnorter that kicks forth and back before a freakish guitar outbreak slashes and
trashes its way to the end.
Watch out for the pigman,
he looks like a meme in disguise.
“It’s a warning, an unflinching assessment of the vastness and insignificance of this
life, is precisely counterbalanced by their lesson, which models the resilience that this understanding demands. ‘Demolition Row’ is persistent, concise, and alarmingly physical.”
This blustery belter is vintage Metz. Full blast ahead. The track
featured on a split 7” with London-based group Adult Life.
From Dylan’s Desolation Row
to Metz’s Demolition Row…
Once I learned that this startling belter is about the horrible exploitation of human
beings by ferocious money sharks this jagged jackhammer blew my mind even harder than I heard it the first time before knowing about the band’s inspiration for this slam.
Expect rabid guitars, doom-and-gloom vocals, and frantic
twists and turns until the chaotic finale. Post-punk at
its razorblade best.
Jeen: “It’s about letting yourself drift in the flow of everything and hanging on as hard as you can to what makes the shitty parts more tolerable…I was thinking of that Hunter S. Thompson quote, “buy the ticket, take the ride.” It was written in April 2021, which was a rough part of last year for me. I needed to write something that reminded me to tread lightly, to forget about the heaviness of everything.
After only one spin, my ears told me that Chemical Emotion is an bewitching pop doozy. Jeen‘s emotive voice bewitches right away, the mid-tempo cadence emphasizes the meditative reflection perfectly, the compelling chorus brings Alanis Morissette to mind, and overall the orchestral sonority and the layered harmonies lead to a thrilling triumph.
Oscar Mic wrote this song after witnessing the horrific violence of
psycho Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine on the news. All proceeds of
the song weent to Save The Children’s Ukraine Appeal.
We Are Ukrainian is a vivid hp-rap-pop anthem featuring steel drums
and timpani balancing somewhere between Roots Manuva and Mr. Scruff.
“Fleeing people running scared, so tell me Where’s the justice? Our leaders say they care,
tell me can you trust this? Urban warfare, your home’s done and dusted, Aiming at the
public, they wouldn’t? They just did,”
I’m quite sure that days down under last for 48 instead of 24 hours. Psych-rock Aussies KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD canned a total of 25 LPs in only 10 years. That’s insane.
Recently they explained in NME about the band’s philospy: “If an album is shit and nobody likes it, you just put another one next month”. Next month? Last October they had 3 albums out in 3 weeks. Insane, indeed.
And on one of those, named Omnium Gatherum, they start with a 18 minute jam called THE DRIPPING TAP. The longest song I heard all year. Supersonic guitar schizophrenia, like a jet at cruising speed. A maniacal mindfucker. Hallelujah!
British long-running music website LOUDER THAN WAR is, without a shadow of a doubt, my favorite one on the Internet. They support/challenge alt-rock, post-punk, guitar-pop and all related genres by as well, small indie artists as the big ones (old and new). My kinda stuff.
As we near the end of the year, best-of lists are coming in. LTW just published their, yes,Top 100of best 2022 LPs.
9th LP of the British glam heroes (1989–2003, 2010–present)
led by charismatic maestro Brett Anderson
Key single: 15 Again
Louder Than War: “An album to treasure for life. It really does contain all the bombast, swells and drama of the orchestral classical music so beloved by Brett’s father, but also an intimacy wrapped up in the intensity.”
TUTV: As much as I am a fan, this is too many Suede
by numbers. Except for one of the best singles of
the year with15 Again the LP doesn’t work for me.
Singer-songwriter from Chicago
with a vulnerable heart and soul.
His/her 6th full length.
Key single: Forever In Sunset
Louder Than War: “All Of Us Flames focuses on the resistance, the struggle, and the community of the threatened. Furman says the album is, “a queer album for the stage
of life when you start to understand that you are not a lone wolf, but depend on finding
your family, your people, how you work as part of a larger whole.”
DIY post-punks from Cheshire, UK with their 2nd longplayer.
Key single: Harmonia
Louder Than War: “This absolute scorcher of an album set alight the start of 2022
with a sonic bang of pure power that screams along at breakneck speed throughout,
one which burns but never crashes.
TUTV: To be honest I never heard of this band until now. Thank you Louder Than War. These guys are amazing. No brakes, no breaks. Bingo!
The hardest working band in the world. 23 albums in 12 years. Hallelujah.
Key single: The Tripping Tap (18-minute riff-manic psych jam)
Louder Than War: “Omnium Gatherum, a miscellaneous collection; eclecticism order of the day as they pull on every one of their strengths to create what just may be their least defined yet most defining record to date.”
The 7th day is one to be lazy, to relax, to walk in slow-mo
from your bed to your couch, to have a glass of wine and
to listen to musings/reveries/ballads that massage your
ears and mind gently.
Turn Up The Volume picked 10 new musings
to create a fitting atmosphere for a blissful Sunday.
Robert Baker (songwriter): “The song is about how when you are younger you don’t fully appreciate what you have – those intense connections and unique first-time experiences – you presume life will always be that way. And of course life usually isn’t like that – and you only realise this when it’s far too late”
Two stars Dave Stewart (Eurythmics) and Stevie Nicks (Fleetwood Mac)
get together with Russian musician Boris Grebenshchikov and Ukrainian
counterpart Serhii Babkin for a melancholic pearl.
A melodramatic beauty by this up
and coming British singer-songwriter.
Coupe: “I’ve always looked up to my grandparents and thought they had
the best love story ever. They’ve been together so long and my Grandad still
loves my Grandma no matter what — just as much as he did when they met,
and I thought that was so inspiring for someone my age.”
Sweet reverie from this affecting Texas born, Swindon bred South Londoner singer-songwriter. It’s the title track from his
brand new excellent debut LP. Stream ithere.
The hardest, most prodcutive band on the planet have another longplayer
(the 1st of 3 in 3 weeks) out, baptized Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms
and Lava. This track is a rare one from the Aussies. It’s soft, smooth and
no guitar solos!
DROWSE about the song: “Change and apprehension. Allowing negative segments of
the past to scatter as ashes in the air. How much space is too much space for the self-isolationist? ‘Mystery Pt. 2’ re-examines themes from my previous album, Light Mirror.
A sequel? It’s one of the most direct songs I’ve ever written, though listen closely and
you’ll hear field recorded snippets of my life, organs, Moog synthesizer, Mellotron,
distant sheets of metal vibrating, hidden voices—always a world beneath a world.”
It’s the arresting new single from his upcoming album Wane Into It.
Out 11th November. Order info here.
A touching highlight from the 3rd longplayer, titled Privileged
by Danish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist (born Magnus W. Jespersen).
Messiah about the album: “I had 30 completely unfinished songs that I had to pick from.
So I found the vibe that was most present, together with good friend and bass player of the band Andreas, and then found songs that fit that vibe. I went on to finish and record them all at home, when the world was shut down during covid. It was a very liberating experience, and I am glad that I will have it with me throughout my life. I hope that the songs will also give every listener a liberating or enriching experience.”
Melancholic mellowness from this ukulele project from Chelsea Spear.
A wistful, yearning ballad in collaboration with cellist Marshunda Smith
and harmonic vocalists Trisha and Thara Iyer. It sets the tone for
her forthcoming 2023 album Notes From Undergrad.
Let’s listen to ICE , DEATH, PLANETS, LUNGS, MUSHROOMS AND LAVA
(who invented this title?), that hit the Internet last Friday. It’s an out-and-out KG a the LW record. From moody psych trippin’ to far-reaching, bluesy jammin’.
The hardest working band on the planet KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD
– 15 albums in 11 years – launch this month, not one, not two, but three new LPs.
First Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lave this Friday, Laminated Denim next
week and in two weeks Changes
I don’t know what these guys eat, drink, sniff or
swallow, but their production is off the charts.
To start their coming triple tour de force discover new single, and
the awesome, eye-catching accompanying video clip IRON LUNG…
Band: POSE Who: A trio having come from backgrounds covering indie pop, grunge, and post-punk, POSE have unearthed a collective sonic understanding that bridges elements of hard-hitting alternative rock, scintillating pop, and grandiose soundscaping. This culminates in
a sound which blends Ruby’s ‘hypnotic yet soulful’ voice over music which is full to the brim of ‘teeth and claws’.
Throughout the song the vocals vary from in intensity, sometimes floating airily
above the music while at other times digging in with aggression and emotion and eventually all out shouting. The lyrics offer a subtle introspection over the role schools
and societies play in sculpting children into teenagers, almost as though they’ve come straight off of a production line.
This is a spectacular stunner, an astonishing roller coaster, a staggering
mixed emotions hellraiser combining insane guitars with dream pop luster.
Lana Del Rey going Gothic? Yes, but via singer-songwriter Ronan Conray
who turns her gripping 2012 ballad Dark Paradise into a darkwavish Goth-pop
tune, inflaming emotions with a synth-symphonic chorus.
Artists: TFD Who: As they claim themselves “It was beyond time for a band
to form from the ashes of long-dead late-80s joy and now one has.”
“We wrote this tune in less time than it takes to listen to it.”
TFD love total fucking darkness, and I’m sure they love the shadowy side
of British synth-dream-pop icons Pet Shop Boys too. They sound brisk, ghostly
and romantic all at the same time, and also sensually catchy. Touchdown.
How do I hide that I still love you?
Headed blind into the light and you’re coming to,
to live in the clouds with the cherubim,
you can be an angel and I’ll be Him.
Stu Mackenzie (their multi-instrumentalist): “This recording session felt significant. Significant because it was the first time all six Gizzards had gotten together after an extraordinarily long time in lockdown,” the band’s Stu Mackenzie said in a statement, “Significant because it produced the longest studio recording we’ve ever released. Significant because (I think) it’s going to change the way we write and record music, at least for a while.
A turning point. A touchstone. I think we’re entering into our ‘jammy period’. It feels good.”
Turn Up The Volume: The 18-minute psych-o-delic marathon The Dripping Tap
(hear/see below) alone counts for an album. Holy smoke, these tireless Aussies are
razor-edged riff fanatics. I played it 3 times so far, which makes a total of 54 minutes,
I’ll listen to the other tracks, for a second time, tomorrow.
Be ready for that head-spinning and hair-splitting
18-minute brain-breaking jam played live here…
