NYC’s veterans NADA SURF showed up back in 1992. They changed their name
no less than 3 times – Helicopter, Caws and Lorca – in 3 years before they decided
to go for Nada Surf.
The buoyant foursome just launched their
10th album, baptized MOON MIRROR.
MOJO: “Nada Surf have always been close to greatness,
and Moon Mirror won’t win new fans, but it is wonderful.”
TUTV: NS keep it simple but effective again with a mix of uplifting and melancholic melodies embedded in a up/down reverberating sound of sparkling guitar lines, juiced with perky vocals. At times Scottish dreamers Teenage Fanclub come to mind, then again when pace and amps go up I hear Dinosaur Jr echoes. After all these years Nada Surf are still relevant and gratify. They glow brightly.
Press info: Tindersticks‘ 14th album “Soft Tissue” showcases their exploratory spirit,
mixing intimate songwriting with experimental soundscapes. The album evolves from
their previous work, balancing introspective lyrics with innovative musical textures.
The Guardian (English newspaper): “The music on Soft Tissue is understated and hushed
enough to conjure the feeling that the whole thing was recorded somewhere dimly lit, in the small hours of the morning, but it also feels warm, satisfying, and in places, rooted in 70s soul.”b
TUTV: Nothing new here. Tindersticks do what they do for 30+ years now.
They entertain your ears and mind with soundtracks for a lazy night in. Candlelight musings and shadowy reveries with Stuart A. Staples‘ midnight bar-room voice in the middle. It doesn’t work all the time, but enough to make you immersed in a state of restfulness.
Five London disco-punk cowboys teamed up during the awful 2020 lockdown year
(many bored youngsters decided to do so, to kill time inside) and started FAT DOG.
Last year, they showed up for the first time with bombastic knockout single King Of
The Slugs and now several whopping singles later, their debut LP WOOF. is out for
grabs.
Photo credit: Frank Fieber
NME: “London’s must-see live band justify the hype with a reckless and raucous debut album pumped full of adrenaline. unserious, unhinged and sensational. Unserious, unhinged and sensational. Scream the words and dive head-first into the Fat Dog experience, because ‘Woof.’ is pure, unbridled escapism – just what the world needs right now.”5/5.
TUTV: Expect a punk disco drone machine with a, yes, Eastern music inspired sultriness
on the orgasmic choruses. This turbulent record will create maddening moshpits around our planet with people who desperately want to escape their straight jackets and the exhausting rat race as we know it, at least in the weekends.
They build up their songs, zigzag their way to a mind-blowing refrain and smack them down afterward and start all over again. Chaotically awesome. One minus: almost all
of their sucker punches have that same structure. Down, up, down. There’s not really much variation, but who needs that when you’re drowning in a vortex of escapism.
No, it’s not the masterpiece, as the British press hyped it, yet.
But a razzle-dazzle start it is. And I’m looking forward to see
them live next month.
THE THE, the musical project of London‘s veteran psych-pop songsmith MATT JOHNSON started its journey 45 years ago. The Smiths‘ former
guitar hero Johnny Marr was a TT member for a long time.
Johnson is back with his first proper album, his 7th, titled ENSOULMENT.
The first full length in 24 years. Not that he was lazy inbetween as he scored
a couple of soundtracks and worked on other non-TT related projects.
Album artwork
Press info: “The The’s first studio album of new songs in a quarter century! The 12 songs on Ensoulment encompasses characteristic topics ranging from love and sex, war and politics, life &anddeath – to the meaning of what it is to be human in the 21st century.”
Classic Rock Magazine says: “Sound-wise there’s a gravelly, mature, post-punk bluesiness about The The in 2024, some of the blackness of Johnny Cash. But there are silvery moments
of hopelessness.”
TUTV: Johnson obviously has the blues. Most of the tracks are slowly and midtempo progressing reveries and contemplative musings about then, now and tomorrow. Funky
here and there (like opener Cognitive Dissident), but no sudden flare-ups.
Older and mellower, but still a sharp observer of all things happening around him.
Give Ensoulment a couple of spins and let your ears absorb the mood swings.
Press info: This new release is a raucous blend of anthemic rock ‘n’ roll, brimming with boogie, rage, forgiveness, and raw energy. The music is loud, fast, and bombastic, infused with lyrics that highlight our ongoing struggle for equality and the collective effort required to bridge the gap.
TUTV: Imagine MC5 have a headbutt fight with The Stooges, while Led Zeppelin are
waiting around the corner, armed with battleaxes, to have their go at the winner.
Gee wizz. Sounds fucking cool, right? You betcha.
Equator unleash uppercut after uppercut at your ears and poor loudspeakers. What you hear is what you get. Filthy garage blues-punk rock. Helter skelter. A non-stop tsunami of Herculean riffs, primal Wolfmother screams, berserk octopus drumming and voluminous choruses combine for a badass whopping record. Fasten your seatbelts for these manic hooligans.
Artist: JOHN LEGEND Who: Famous 45-year-old
singer/songwriter/producer
from Ohio.
New album: MY FAVOURITE DREAM
It’s his 10th longplayer. One with “sing-alongs and lullabies for children
and families.” It contains 9 new songs, 3 Fischer-Price covers and 3 bonus
tracks.
Legend about Stevens: “I just felt his musical approach would be perfect for building arrangements and soundscapes to complement the songs. When I was thinking about
who could bring these songs to life with me, he was the first and only choice. I’m so glad
he said ‘yes’.
The album resonates like it’s Xmas in Summer.
Heartwarming tunes for the whole family.
British seasoned rockers KASABIAN, one of the best bands of the past 25 years on
record and on stage in my book, unleashed their 8th longplayer, titled HAPPENINGS.
Pizzorno (songwriter/frontman): “‘Happenings’ is a pop record, in a way – it’s just
big song after big song. I wanted to make the point, then leave as fast as possible.”
NME says: “At just 28 minutes in length, Kasabian’s eighth studio effort is concise, precise and generally focused. This allows a vibrant emotional clarity to bleed through its swaggering fabric, adding up to Kasabian’s strongest album in some years.”
Frontman Serge Pizzorno – Werchter Fest 2023, photo by Turn Up The Volume
TUTV: Since former frontman Tom Meighan left the group in 2020, their wild drugs-fueled rockin’ days are over. Well, sort of. Yes, all 10 songs are disco-dance spiced stompers, but not the Taylor Swift way. Many decibels and pyrotechnics are still involved like on Call, How Far Will You Go, and Hello of It.
Half of the tracks are tailor-made for big festivals, stadiums’s and other mammoth happenings where fans want to forget the daily rat race for a while. As Serge puts
it : “Art, for me, is relaxation – I panic when I’m not doing it.”.
The late great country icon JOHNNY CASH recorded an LP’s worth
of self-penned songs in 1993 that weren’t released until now.
The 11 songs are collected on a new album, titled SONGWRITER and is
released on 180g black vinyl with a printed LP sleeve, and also digitally streamable/available. Order info here.
The Guardian (British newspaper): “This posthumous patchwork is a pleasant surprise
A collection of songs recorded before the Man in Black’s 1990s Rick Rubin revival and reworked by his son has much to offer. A collection of songs that he’d written over the preceding 30 years, the demos lay forgotten until his son, John Carter Cash, found them in 2023. Aware that the arrangements sounded dated, he stripped back the tracks until all that was left was his father’s unmistakable voice, and then assembled a crack band – some of whom had previously backed Cash – to complement it.” Score: 4/5.
TUTV: It’s always an aural pleasure to hear Cash‘s heart-and-soul warming Americana voice. Whether it’s a romantic ballad, a jaunty country tune or a
(rare) rocker his vocals/phrasing both stir and calm down my mind.
All 11 songs at play here are definitely no leftovers from some studio sessions.
Each track charms and endears. Imagine sitting on a swing chair on a cosy porch surrounded by green trees and a soft sun, with a bottle of red wine at hand and
the masterly Songwriter Johnny Cash as your musical companion.
82-year-old VU legend JOHN CALE is one of those artists who’ll never stop
making music until his final breath. Back in January 2023 he released one
of the finest records of that year with Mercy. It featured invitees such as Animal Collective, Weyes Blood, Sylvan Esso, Laurel Halo, and, yes, British
misfits Fat White Family.
Only 18 months later Cale has bagged another album. He named it POPtical Illusion and he will share it with world on June 14. The songs
were written around the time he worked on Mercy.
Press info: “Despite the album’s playful title, Cale’s second album in just over
a year still contains the same feelings of fierce and inquisitive rage that were
present in 2023 album MERCY. He remains angry, still incensed by the willful
destruction that unchecked capitalists and unrepentant conmen have hoisted
upon the wonders of this world and the goodness of its people.
But this is not at all MERCY II, or some collection of castoffs, as throughout his career of more than six decades, Cale has never been much for repetition. His vanguard-shaping enthusiasms have shifted among ecstatic classicism and unbound rock, classic songcraft and electronic reimagination with proud restlessness.”
Press photo
TUTV: This is the Welshman‘s 18th solo LP, only 18 months after the previous one, named Mercy. Cale is still facing his demons as he did on Mercy but here it sounds as if he knows how to beat them.
The layered-synths atmosphere and the rich orchestrations resonate more sanguine here and there, like on Davies And Wales, How We See The Light , and All To Good , songs you can hum along. and hypnotizing single Shark-Shark you can move and groove to.
But the overall tone still is pensive and meditative, no traditional rock ‘n’ roll for Cale,
with past/present reflections like on Calling You Out, Edge Of Reason, Setting Fires and the closing piano ballad There Will Be No River. At 82 his voice hasn’t aged whatsoever, still instrumental and a indispensable factor in his arrestingly crafted work. Remarkable.
Uncut (British music magazine: “Throughout his three-decade career, E has brought
a hushed beauty to the act of staring into the abyss, and his use of space on EELS TIME!
(all caps for added irony) makes this lonely guy seem that much more lost in space.”
TUTV: Sounds like Everett was all by himself in the studio to record this album with
its 12 tenebrific songs. Despite the exclamation mark in the LP’s title and E’s kicking
image on the cover, the overall sonic atmosphere is downcast and laid-back.
Moony lullabies, meditative musings, shadowy melodies, and a couple of half-lively tunes is what we get. Everett isn’t the happiest boy on the block, as we know him, and he reminds us of it for 41 mellow minutes. Sombre reveries for lonely nights.
Singles/clips: Goldy / If I’m Gonna Go Anywhere / Time
