95 / 114
095
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
for a mannered reading
that’s a strange fit with
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)
STREAMYOUR FAVOURITE ALBUMS AT JBHI-FI NOW... NOW!
MUSIC
REVIEWS
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
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.
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
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.
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.