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AUDIO Andrew Lambert Killian Barry Zar Jack O’Hig
gins Jack O’Higgins Killian Barry Zara Hedderman Andrew Lambert Michael McDermott Mika Heddermane McGrath-Bryan Mike McGrath-Bryan FOUR WE MISSED IN 2018: Deerhunter Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared? [4AD] Lily Allen No Shame [Parlophone] Earl Sweatshirt Some Rap Songs [Tan Cressida/ Columbia] Incredibly, at the age of 24, Earl Sweatshirt is already a rap veteran. The man, born Thebe Neruda Kgositsile to a law professor and influential South African poet and activist Keorapetse Kgositsile, has been rapping since the 8th grade and has grown throughout the last decade – from early moniker Sly Tendencies turned Odd Future wunderkind into introverted conscious rap prodigy. It’s been a remarkable evolution that has resulted in some modern rap classics over the past five years with versatile 2013 studio debut Doris and the brooding I Don’t Like Shit… in 2015. Earl returns on Some Rap Songs, leaning deeper into the experimentation of IDLS on an album populated by raw chopped samples and avant-garde beats with a series of visceral rhymes to match. His father’s recent passing and their unresolved relationship set the tone for an album even darker than its predecessor as Sweatshirt’s frantic mental state is conveyed through his stream of consciousness flow, that pours out with a sense of cathartic release over the relentless, rapid production. All of this combines for an unprecedented ing atop calypso-ska and electropop broadens to embrace grime and tropical flourishes. Introspective ballads unexpectedly occupy a mellow midsection, while restrained dancehall numbers offer a link to the album’s predecessors. En route, the familiar stamp of producers including Mark Ronson and Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig catches the ear. By flipping the script and rejecting the Lily Allen brand, the 33-year-old has not only outlasted her mid-aughts peers, but issued a retort to the sceptics who had written her off. Accessible without being punchy, No Shame is admittedly hampered by a lack of obvious singles and less immediate payoff. Nevertheless, one must admire Allen’s non-mercenary insistence on making the music she wants to make. Even in the absence of bangers or her brash persona, Lily Allen remains defiant and unapologetic as ever. KB Like this? Try these? Ms Dynamite - A Little Deeper Kate Nash - Yesterday Was Forever Mark Ronson - Record Collection departure from modern hip-hop and an intense attack on the senses that will leave a long lingering impression in listeners minds. It’s an uncomfortably vivid portrait of the artist, but a vital and unique work with a hypnotic power that will draw you back for progressively rewarding rewinds. AL Like this? Try these: Madvillain – Madvillainy Tyler, The Creator – Cherry Bomb Vince Staples – FM! In distancing herself from 2014’s poorly received Sheezus, Lily Allen’s follow-up is a disarming change of tack. The Londoner hasn’t entirely dispensed with her patented streetwise truculence, but true to its title, No Shame is a candid and sometimes jaded concoction that dials down the acerbic sideswipes to reflect on self-destructive behaviour, motherhood and the end of her marriage. Admirably steering clear of mawkishness, Allen even concludes No Shame in open-ended fashion, outlining the promise of a new relationship. Musically, Allen’s template of pithy shade-throwIf that title isn’t enough to issue any long-running Deerhunter fan with a massive headache, this album might perhaps serve as a convenient exit point from such full-time devotion, as Bradford Cox and his revolving door of collaborators have elicited over the years. A pop album in the weird, spacey sense that one could imagine the Georgian creating. The band find themselves in strange spaces; alternately of contemplating the precarity of existence, in the wake of the death of former bassist Josh Fauver late last year, and of simply putting the whole rabbit-hole of existential questions out of mind. Such fretting over themes and circumstance quickly go out the window as the album kicks into gear, though, and an expanded palette of tones and instrumentation unfurl themselves before the listener. Album highlight What Happens to People? is a thoughtful contemplation on ageing and the transition from rebel to reactionary that seems to be a recurring theme in US pop-culture more so than ever, while Futurism luxuriates in a lush, yet knowing psych-rock sprawl at its breaks. A front-to-back excursion through the band’s eighth album finds Cox and crew curious to explore whilst getting up to sonic mischief. They live in a sort of comfort with themselves and the constant assault of ideas that Cox always seems to be under. MMGB Like this? Try these: Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion Ariel Pink - Mature Themes The Altered Hours - In Heat Not Storry Zaska It Takes a Village [Zaska Music] Snail Mail Lush [Matador] Ought Room in the World [Merge] While her peers prepared for end of year exams, eighteen-year-old Lindsay Jordan released her group, debut album Lush through the label that both a diverse line-up tha s included Hozier among thirty-eight minutes sees Snail Mail power through Zaska ribbon-cut the year in Irish music with their outrageously groovy, feel-good, debut. The superled by founder Max Zaska and featuring Room in the World sees Ought abandoning the raw sound of their previous LP for something more deliberately paced. The rhythm section now consists of propulsive bass lines and jittery drums. Frontman Tim Darcy has transformed his punk drawl into a quivering melancholy timbre. A somber atmosphere hangs over the entire tracklist. And yet, the band still retain their ability to surprise and thrill; album highlight Desire starts as an indie ballad before becoming a gospel song by way of Joy Division. JOH Pusha T DAYTONA. [Getting Out Our Dreams, Inc./Def Jam Recordings] Kim Gordon and Kurt’ Vile are signed to. A concise others, have been making waves in recent times punchy guitar driven indie-pop songs akin to conrtemporaries Soccer Mommy and Girlpool, but with abundance,s. Highlights include the lo-fi lament of Intro and Heat Wave’s buoyant licks. Overall, a thrilling introduction that will surely garner a devout following. ZH better hook across 16 tracks that blend jazz, blues and funk to joyous effect. AL with their eccentric live shows. On their first official ecord, they bring that same soulful energy in On DAYTONA., Pusha T demonstrates again why he may be the most underrated rapper in the game during an exhilarating 21-minute exercise in minimalism, thanks in no small part to a major assist from long-time friend and mentor Kanye West. Ye tees up seven immaculate beats for Push to knock out of the park with an old school, no-nonsense mentality perfectly complimented by his signature intensity and ferocious delivery. AL Steve Gunn The Unseen Inbetween [Matador] Altered Hours On My Tongue [Art for Blind/Penske] In the opening bars of The Unseen Inbetween, Steven Gunn’s 15th release, there are traces of Fred Neil’s gleaming guitar licks. It’s a great start to a record which doesn’t disappoint but fails to amaze. As it progresses, Gunn’s style is shrouded by his contemporaries, namely Kurt Vile. On Stonehurst Cowboy, his vocal tones herald Josh Tillman. The wildness of Gunn’s, once instrumentally-led, albums (see Seasonal Hire and Boerum Palace) has been tamed. What’s left is sedate Americana melodies sweet enough to soundtrack Sunday mornings in spring. ZH After being together for the bones of a decade and whittling their Venn diagram of psychedelia, shoegazing and post-punk down to its essentials, The Altered Hours presented us with On My Tongue, a wiry and fast-paced piece of work. Over the Void could well be a crowd-pleaser over the coming years as the band’s presence and musical footprint grows, while Open Wide is cosmo-eyed, jangly and laden with atmosphere. A portent of what to expect from the band’s coming 2019 long-player, hopefully. MMGB Lykke Li so sad so sexy [RCA] Maggie Rogers Heard It in a Past Life Jar Jar Jr. Fallen Angel (self-released) [Capitol Records] Maggie Rogers’ bid for a wider audience lands with a weight of expectation rare in a major-label debut. The record seeks the space occupied by HAIM or Sigrid but is essentially her hit Alaska buttressed by tepid mono-tempo electronica. Rogers has bona fide songwriter chops; unfortunately, the leap from EP to full-length somewhat exposes the limitations of the Maryland native. The production team keeps busy applying a commercial glaze to her folksy leanings, but in Rogers’ calculated evolution from Americana to soulful indie-pop, each crisp electronic beat is too easily telegraphed. KB After racking up millions of views and listens for a strain of sample-heavy lo-fi that oozed musical knowledge and charm, Corkonian beatmaker Rob O’Halloran had a revelatory 2018. When not racking up production credits on Kojaque’s Deli Daydreams album and setting himself up for greatness alongside the other Soft Boys, Jar Jar Jr. tended to his own game with his debut tape. Released on wordsmith MF DOOM’s birthday, and available with or without some of the Villain’s finest acapellas, it’s a playful farewell (for now) to sampling and pop-cultural references. MMGB Fans of Lykke Li’s prior releases may find her fourth, so sad so sexy, unsettling. Li has undergone a drastic rebranding, swapping sweet earworm pop-songs (2011’s I Follow Rivers still soundtracks every DJ set, globally) for grittier R’n’B beats. Enlisting Skrillex and Rostam on production, these songs have been developed with Frank Ocean, Drake, Kanye West and Lady Gaga’s hit-making tempos in mind. It may not please her pre-existing fanbase but it will certainly find an audience. ZH Lost Under Heaven Love Hates What you Become [Mute Records] Tirzah Devotion [Domino Records] Kamasi Washington Heaven and Earth [Young Turks] When indie rockers Lost Under Heaven rely on screeching guitars and the pained vocals of Ellery James Roberts, the results can be somewhat… grating. Album opener Come will probably make all animals evacuate the room post-haste. The album is a much more pleasant listen on emotive ballads like The Breath of the Light, or even better, the tracks where Ebony Hoorn’s vocals take center stage. Sadly she’s frequently drowned out by Roberts, whose contrived rock star wail sounds like the mutant offspring of Jeff Buckley and Scott Weiland. JOH There’s a languid woozy swagger to this debut which cannonballs it into one of the best releases of 2018. Its sonic offbeat edge is aided by Mica Levi, who has scored soundtracks for the likes of Under the Skin and Jackie, on production. Tirzah Mastin claims these are “straight-up love songs” but the lyrics are deep fried to giddying effect by loops and layers, regular instruments such as guitar, piano and drums all have a Daliesque sonic traits. Holding On is the ‘pop’ moment which would not be out of place on a [Chris]tine and the Queens release. MMD Revered saxophonist, Kamasi Washington promptly follows last year’s Harmony of Difference EP with this double release, Heaven and Earth. Both albums evolved from Washington’s desire to examine the world he is part of, and which is part of him. These sixteen sprawling compositions are fantastically frantic free expressions of jazz. There are a few surprise solos throughout, notably Connections’ 1970s classic rock guitar riffs which feels a little out of place. Even to non-jazz fans, Kamasi Washington’s refined improvisation is accessible to all. ZH endless mimosas with brunch 10 Terenure Road East • Rathgar • Dublin 6 • T: 01-406 4104 • www.therevolution.ie Open 7 Days 80