STACK #126 Apr 2016

REVIEWS

MUSIC

Pokey LaFarge 6/4 Bluesfest (Byron Bay) · 8/4 Caravan Music Club, Melb · 9/4 Corner Hotel, Melb · 10/4 Theatre Royal Castlemaine (Vic) · 11/4 Manning Bar, Syd · 12/4 Cambridge Hotel HEAR: Something in the Water Rodrigo Y Gabriela 4/4 & 4/4 Bluesfest (Byron Bay) · 7/4 Palais Theatre, Melb · 9/4 Sydney Opera House HEAR: 9 Dead Alive Courtney Barnett 24/4 Wrestpoint, Hobart · 1/5 Gov, Adelaide · 2/5 Bakery, Perth 8/5 Metro, Syd · 9/5 Hi-Fi, Brisbane · 15/5, Forum, Melb · 16/5 Forum, Melb HEAR: Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit Sam Smith 25/4 Brisbane River Stage · 27/4 & 28/4 Hordern Pavillion, Syd 30/4 Margaret Court Arena (Vic) · 1/5 Adelaide Ent Centre · 4/5 HBF Stadium, Perth HEAR: In the Lonely Hour ON TOUR Hear it... Before you see it

Drenge Undertow They’re back! A couple months shy of two years since their blazing self-titled debut, UK’s two brothers of deep rock offer up a more layered approach to losing one’s self in darker grooves. It’s almost stoner as opposed to the previous Beasts of Bourbon-esque nastiness, yet never any less intense. It’s all psyche-meets-cocky-mud with Never Awake ; so many roads in the one grandiose

offering with Culty-agression underneath haunting pop/grunge vocal excellence. It really shouldn’t sound this amazing, but it does. Then We Can Do What We Want is like QOTSA covering the Ramones, in the best possible way. Urgency and confidence delivered with a vibrant and exciting ‘to hell with it’ attitude has served this immersive and action-packed offering brilliantly. Educated fists pounding at the punk in all of us to "Wake up!" Their swagger is no more evident than on The Snake, a track not afraid to embrace smart musicianship and deliver with a firebrand instead of that ‘please play me on radio, sir?’ attitude lesser outfits drop the ball on. A fan of anything mentioned above, with a dose of Jeff The Brotherhood, Thin Lizzy (and a touch of Kurt)? Then you’re going to adore the crap outta this. Chris Murray (Liberation/Universal)

AlbumsThat Should Live in Every Collection

STREAMYOUR FAVOURITE ALBUMS AT JBHI-FI NOW... NOW!

Steely Dan Can't Buy a Thrill Dan fans debate for days over the best album. The discussion will revolve around when they may have become too clinical, when the jazz manoeuvres out-smarted the rock, when the lyrics became too obscure. Avoid that punishment and start at the start – with this, one of the most slick, slippery, seductive and smart debuts in rock, which also sprung radio- friendly songs in Do It Again, Midnite Cruiser, Reelin' in the Years and Only a Fool Would Say That . Walter Becker and Donald Fagen were on their way, bringing sophistication into post-hippie rock. Very cool. Macy Gray On How Life Is Her recent albums must have barely recouped expenses but with this debut selling in excess of six million, Gray probably has a wedge of cash as a backstop. This remarkable album introduced her distinctive sandpaper blues'n'soul, r'n'b voice to the planet, and it still stands up.

Young Fathers White Men are Black Men Too Just months after taking home the Mercury Prize, this Scottish hip hop trio are back with a new album. It says a lot about their urgency, productivity and creativity. Far from basking in acclaim, they’re adding to their already impressive discography with an even more incisive record. It draws from their adventurous hip hop origins, but with a stronger rock and pop leaning. Rain or Shine , for instance, is driven by a rhythmic break, dissonant organ stabs and fast paced lyrics. Overall the tempos are higher, and so are the stakes it feels; Young Fathers deliver an enjoyable but uncompromising succession of avant-pop compositions and experimental rap sounds. SimonWinkler ( Inertia)

Sufjan Stevens Carrie & Lowell

Sufjan Stevens is known for ambitious concepts, but his new album hinges on the very personal subject of his late mum and his stepfather. Cue intense lyrics about childhood and grieving, albeit delivered with breathy lightness via double-tracked whisper. That repeated approach to singing, along with stark banjo, makes the lyrics. Stevens needn’t resort to tortured drama, but these songs feel only half- realised in their stiff, samey renderings. They work better as confessions than as actual songs. DougWallen (Inertia) for a mannered reading that’s a strange fit with

Laurie Anderson Big Science It was a time when art and rock culture

intersected in the US (e.g. Talking Heads) but performance artist Anderson's hit O Superman – included here – was a real surprise. Even today this emotionally cool, mostly spoken word and delicately electronic album contains pieces to stop you in your tracks. Sit-down listening, for thinking adults.

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