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Happy ... er ... new year, it's the 2023 album recommendations thread!

braindancer said:
I went to see Shirley Collins at the Brighton Dome last weekend which was rather nice.

She was struggling a little - she said she's waiting for a hip operation, she had to be wheeled on stage in a wheelchair and lifted into a chair. She said her health was affecting her voice too. I don't imagine she'll be playing too many more gigs :(.

The gig was ok, but possibly to give Shirley some rest, the set was peppered with tracks sung by other members of her band and these were of a totally different vibe - amusing ditties about being caught with yer breaches down - which I wasn't into at all. There were also long instrumental sections so that a bunch of Morris dancers could flail about with their hankies. I know Morris is all part of the folk tradition - but hmmm - I went to the gig to see Shirley Collins!

She played a lot of the tracks off this new album - but I almost enjoyed listening to it more this morning, unsullied by the singing and dancing of others :D.
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:D

To be expected given her age I guess. I'd like to try and see her while she's still doing gigs, but might be tricky as I guess they'll mosty be in/near Sussex.
 
neonwilderness said:
:D

To be expected given her age I guess. I'd like to try and see her while she's still doing gigs, but might be tricky as I guess they'll mosty be in/near Sussex.
Click to expand...

There were rumours circulating that the gig might have been her last - but I've no idea whether there's any truth in that...
 
New Arlo Parks was out last week, nice stuff if you like that kind of thing (I do, and actually think this is an improvement over 2021's Collapsed In Sunbeams):

 
Finally, as excitement built to fever pitch levels, it's here. The record you all know you've all been waiting for - for longer than you even realised! Yes, it is the ultimate Teardrop Explodes collection Culture Bunker 1978-1982, including rarities, oddities and many livities (liveties?). And it is even better than you hoped not could be.

Okay, the first 2 discs are just compiling at the b-sides and 12" extras that most purchasers will already own, on vinyl if not CD, as they have been added to the various album rereleases over the years. Still, it's nice to have them all neatly compiled in one place.

Disc 3, From Drug Puritan to Acid King, is where it starts getting really interesting. The Band on the Wall show is rather scrappily recorded, but it sounds okay and those early versions of the Kilimanjaro songs are very interesting, as well as various never recorded songs that either developed into something else (Jury Service/Second Head) or were dropped cos they were only okay. It finishes with the second of four versions of Sleeping Gas. Followed by studio sessions for the album itself, it ends up being an interesting reworking of the whole thing that makes a good companion piece.

4 The Great Dominions. Now this, is fucking fantastic. An entirely reworked Wilder that really brings through the tunefulness and, in a couple of places, actually improves upon it. Plus a few more never released tracks - and why the Not My Only Friend was never released I don't know, absolutely brilliant.

5 is The Club Zoo. Copey & co performing a residency at said club for the entire month. We get most of the final show and an early one. For some reason it's that way round. The other way would make more sense and it would end on a phenomenal version of Sleeping Gas - although it is a slightly extended version that was on the Tiny Children 12", so perhaps they did it how they did so that the record would finish with a previously unheard version of Sleeping Gas. It's also excellent, tho twenty minutes of said song on one disc is edging towards a bit much.

Finishing off with 6 Death Rattle. The songs from the unrecorded third album, eventually cobbled together as Everyone Wants to Shag the Teardrop Explodes. The songs stand up much better than I remembered - I must admit it's the only TE I never play. The orchestration is thin, its clearly. not much more than demos, but they could have been worked up into a really interesting album.

The only annoyance is that the vinyl doesn't include the Club Zoo recording - but does have an extra version of Reward on it. Most annoying for completist gets like me (though I'd probably have bought both anyway). (aah, turns out it is the US album version with a slightly different intro. Quite why they included that instead of the one song (other than Club Zoo) they have skipped from the CD version...gawd knows)

That is far more than you care about - but you're wrong. It is the best record released this year.

 
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The new one from Jitwam is a nice easy listen. No stand out tunes on my first listen, just lovely jazzy, soulful, laid back grooves

 
And similar from Theo on his new one. Much less of a 'lounge' feel, though. More beatdown, with skittish jazz drums and lovely vocals.

 
New album from New Orleans indie-pop types Generationals:


One of the tracks is listed as "feat Sarah Jaffe", which after some head-scratching I'm pretty sure refers to a Texas singer-songwriter I'd never heard of before, I was briefly really charmed by the idea that the Sarah Jaffe I knew about had just taken a break from writing about unions and work to do guest vocals.
 
billy_bob said:
Albums from Lankum, Dawn Ray'd and Liturgy out today.


Just been listening to the Lankum album - excellent dark, droning, medieval-sounding folk: if killer b isn't already a fan I'll eat my hat. They're touring later in the year and early 2024 - it's in the diary.
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Saw them last month at Band on the Wall, last chance in a smaller venue I reckon next Manchester gig is at the Albert Hall so over 3x the size.

They credit first hearing Monday Morning to my mates band Sallows.


 
I'm enjoying the new Clark album which has Thom Yorke as executive producer, unsurprisingly it sounds rather like a Thom Yorke solo album in places, they have similar voices but the electronics here are a lot beefier.
Clark - Sus Dog
 
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