Oct 19 - Oct 31 listening

Betty Davis - Betty Davis (1973) - ”a petite figure with an oversized afro, [Betty] was the true innovator of punk-funk beats as well as vulgo queen style, and this album is genre-defining”

Lindstrøm - It's Alright Between Us As It Is (2017) - “pleasant but powerful dance workouts”

CTMF -  Brand New Cage (2017) - “Wild Billy Childish tries once again to recapture the spirit of 77 with CTMF, and succeeds for the fifth time in a row”

Ariel Pink - Dedicated to Bobby Jameson (2017) - “Refining the gonzo pop-collages of his previous work, Ariel Pink crafts an immersive, intimate record, marked by solitude”

Vagabon - Infinite Worlds (2017) - “28 minutes of uncompromising and effortless genre-bending”

All Them Witches - Sleeping Through the War (2017) - “continues to showcase their southern swagger of bluesy, soulful, hard psychedelic rock charm”

Girl Ray - Earl Grey (2017) - “The influence of shambly 1990s indie such as Pavement and, most obviously, Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci is clear on their winningly gauche debut”

Corridor - Supermercado (2017) - "upfront, dissonant guitars upheld by minimal beats and syncopated bass lines ... Supermercado leans on repeated strong melodies, slow progressions, bolstered by two distinct voices, yielding a more hypnotic, sharper, and strangely, poppier result."

Supersister - To the Highest Bidder (1971) -  “full of imaginative playing, cute melodies, erotized nursery rhymes, soft flute grooviness and atmospheric keyboards.”

Heldon - It's Always Rock 'n' Roll (1975) - “The band investigates the possibilities of tortured synthetizers and dissonnant Frippian guitars.”

Jem Targal - Luckey Guy (1978) - “The sparsely arranged, squeakily sung, barely “rock” songs on this album show a surprising pop sense.”

Third Power - Believe (1970) - “The band's power trio sound is reminiscent of Cream, with Targal's vocals a match for those of the late Jack Bruce”

Dr. Philter Banx - Insertion In Middle "C" ‎(1975) -  “Mad experimental cosmic rock LP"

Oct 3 - Oct 18 listening

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers (1976) -  “The songs are cute, the riffs executed with more dynamism than usual, and the singing attractively phlegmy.”

Max Richter, Various ‎– Behind The Counter With (2017) -  “a refined mixture of canonical classics, post rock and contemporary electronic composition”

The Clientele - Music For The Age Of Miracles (2017) - “The gauzy seductive songs feel like euphoric conjuring, chinks in the doors of perceptions that reveal another hidden capital, a misty tapestry of late-night idylls, laced with a rapturous melancholy magic.”

Mogwai - Every Country's Sun (2017) - “brash, gritty, unpretentious, and thrillingly claustrophobic”

Joni Mitchell  - Court and Spark (1974) - “her bridge of sighs between folk-rock singer-songwriter and neo-jazz experimentalist”

Various Artists - Darker Than Blue: Soul From Jamdown 1973-1980 (2001) - “a collection of 18 covers of American soul tunes by the famous Jamaican label's finest '60s and '70s artists”

Various Artists - Warfaring Strangers: Acid Nightmares (2017) - “Lifted from the ashes of the acid rock hell fire are 18 distorted tales of dope fiends, pill poppers, and the baddest of trips.”

Dinosaur L - 24→24 Music (1981) - “alluringly ugly and unkempt ... it's disco at its loosest, warmest, and weirdest”

Messthetics # 1: UK '78-81 "D.I.Y." - Bands R-to-Si - “the holy grail of post-punk compilations … A barrage of D.I.Y. madness that will keep you enthralled from beginning to end.”

Godspeed You Black Emperor - Luciferian Towers (2017) - “The Canadian apocalypticists take aim at a familiar set of targets (money, environmental destruction, warfare), the usual trigger for their scorched-earth symphonies.”

MFSB - Love is the Message (1973) - “a landmark LP for Philadelphia's early to mid-'70s soul movement”

Jens Lekman - Life Will See You Now (2017) - “Although Lekman's voice sometimes sounds like Morrissey doing a Kermit the Frog impression, he revels in strong songwriting and brilliant hooks played on steel drums, funky horns and hip-hop bells.”

Courtney Barnett / Kurt Vile - Lotta Sea Lice (2017) - “an album, of scraggly, lackadaisical, and compulsively listenable rock”

Sept 14 - Oct 2 listening

Max Richter - Taboo Soundtrack (2017) - "textural greatness, a fabric woven of dark shades and thick strings"

Neil Young - Hitchhiker (2017) - "a dusted-off portrait of an artist near his peak."

Twin Peaks - Music From The Limited Event Series  (2017) - “a triumph of musical programming, mood, and David Lynch’s strange reality."

Twin Peaks: Limited Event Series Soundtrack (2017) - "Takes us back to beautiful experience of mystic and wonderful episodes of my favourite show ever"

The National - Sleep Well Beast (2017) - "full of abandon and quiet contemplation"

The Fall - New Facts Emerge (2017) - "ever nastier, ever greasier, ever more hypnotically righteous."

Six Organs of Admittance - s-t (1998) - "a collection of mostly-instrumental meditations"

Garden of Delights (BIg Chill Folk Album) (2006) - "basically a compilation of artists on The Transatlantic Record Label, which specialised in signing offbeat Folk orientated act"

Laraaji - Bring on the Sun (2017) - "an immersive experience, one that shimmers and glistens and throbs in all the right places"

Jhené Aiko - Trip (2017) - "Aiko's odyssey rises to levels metaphorical and metaphysical as her quest turns further inward over the hour-and-a-half span of dreamlike, meditative grooves."

Bonobo - Migration (2017) - "pensive ambient electronica from a nomadic soul"

Peter Green - The End of the Game (1970) - "a far looser strand of improvisational rock comprised of wholly instrumental outings"

Brix and the Extricated - Part 2 (2017) -  "Blondie meets Patti in the half light simultaneously on Manchester back streets and catwalks everywhere."

Santana - Festival (1976) - "As a salsa band they're still OK, but a ten-tune format and the sincere desire for AM proselytization don't make them a pop band."

Santana - Inner Secrets (1978) - "probably insures continued airplay but doesn't mean sheep-dip in the larger scheme of the band's discography."