STACK #159 Jan 2018

MUSIC FEATURE

visit stack.com.au

years after Pink Floyd performed a concert documentary there for no audience beyond the film crew." Little Hurricane, Same Sun Same Moon Mavis Staples, If All IWasWas Black

somehow going from pleading to resigned to resolved with almost no discernable change of tone.” RVG, A Quality Of Mercy Pond, TheWeather

Each of our esteemed music writers reveals their top albums of the year just gone; you can read the full reviews online at stack.com.au. The BEST of MUSIC 2017

SIMON LUKIC Iced Earth, Incorruptible "Vocalist Stu Block delivers another outstanding

JEFF JENKINS Alex Lahey, I LoveYou Like A Brother

performance, one that I believe surpasses former lead vocalist Matt Barlow’s – a fan favourite. Much has been said of who will lead the genre when Iron Maiden, Judas Priest et al, retire. With bands such as Iced Earth releasing albums as strong as Incorruptible , heavy metal is in safe hands." The Doomsday Kingdom, The Doomsday Kingdom Paradise Lost, Medusa

"These are punk-tinged pop songs, sharp and sassy, with ripper rhyming couplets (“Who knew this turnaround would be so quick?” she spits in Awkward Exchange , “but I figured it out, you’re just a bit of a d-ck”). It’s not easy being young and restless when you have as many hang-ups as hook-ups, but Lahey has delivered a mighty debut. An album for our times."

Helen Shanahan, Every Little Sting Charles Jenkins & the Zhivagos, The Last Polaroid

DENISE HYLANDS Margo Price, All American Made

TIM LAMBERT Gang Of Youths, Go Farther In Lightness

"Margo Price carries the torch for the new generation of real deal women country singers. Like the greats – Dolly Parton, Tammy Wynette and Loretta Lynn – she writes it and sings it like it is." David Rawlings, Poor David’s Almanack

ALESHA KOLBE Lorde, Melodrama "Her almost spoken-word approach to production

JAKE CLELAND Ariel Pink, DedicatedTo Bobby Jameson

"Each song builds expertly, and tempos sway like tides… Le’aupepe’s emotional vocal is each track’s initial attraction, but what really shines is the intricate instrumental detail… Closer Say Yes To Life is the triumphant answer to lead single What Can I Do If The Fire Goes Out? , radiating bright-eyed optimism, humanism, and oozing life." Tired Lion, Dumb Days Loyle Carner, Yesterday’s Gone

gives her a sound many marvel at, and she’s right back in with the heavy hitters here… None of this 11-track foray wastes a moment." Bliss n Eso, Off the Grid Macklemore, Gemini

"The near-myth of a popstar and savant songwriter who rejects the mainstream for the radical underground is the kind of thing Pink’s music, with its photonegative skew on six decades of pop, implies. Dedicated To Bobby Jameson reiterates just what the mainstream is missing… [and] sits comfortably next to his previous three records as intricate modern classics." LCD Soundsystem, American Dream CableTies, CableTies

The Ahern Brothers, The Ahern Brothers

SIMON WINKLER Aldous Harding, Party

HOLLY PEREIRA RVG, A Quality of Mercy Jen Cloher, Jen Cloher

"It’s a rare artistic achievement to evoke these heightened feelings, and capture with poetry and precision something of our interior lives. But

ZOË RADAS sirWas, Digging ATunnel

Aldous makes it appear effortless with her finger- picked guitar melodies,

BILLY PINNELL David Gilmour, Live At Pompeii "This stunning 2CD/ DVD release documents

"On her self-titled fourth album, she’s more candid than ever as she reveals her journey towards personal discovery in the wake of some major life experiences… At its core, this album is a fierce battle cry from one of the most important voices in Australian music." CableTies, CableTies

“[Joel] Wästberg’s fascination with the world extends past his eclectic musical interests and into every crevice of artistry… [ Revoke is] a stunning track with a fluttering shuffle beat, stomp-climbing staccato piano way down

slow deliberate piano chords, commanding, uniquely-phrased vocals, strings, and subtle saxophone interludes. Midnight Sister, Saturn Over Sunset

David Gilmour’s 2016 concert at the Pompeii Amphitheatre, the first public performance at the venue since AD 79 when the gladiators headlined, and forty

in the bass register, and Wästberg’s voice

052 JANUARY 2018

jbhifi.com.au