FOO FIGHTERS – MEDICINE AT MIDNIGHT
DAVE Grohl is, arguably, the best man in the world, so I don’t want to be rude about his new album. Sadly, it’s not very good.
The “na-na-nas” and handouts of Making A Fire are just the beginning, just augmented by Shame Shame funk-pop footage. This last one is probably the stand-out album of the nine presented here and, along with the title table, they somehow remind us of the second album from a side project. Biffy Clyro / Sucioperro Marmaduke Duke.
Of the other singles, No Son Of Mine is just Motorhead cosplay – although it packs the best riffs on the record – while the Waiting On A War winner is a weird disappointment.
The theme of the ballad – American political unrest – and Grohl ‘s desire to allay his daughter’ s fear for something with emotional emotion might rival the classic Walking After You class, but it doesn’t. the bland siege just coming to earth.
There is a lack of offer and motivation in this optional offer.
Rating: 2stars
Tom White
BLACK HOMES, NEW ROAD – FOR THE FIRST JOURNEY
“I HAVE to think I could have left the festival with my complete secret / And fled the stage with the best Slint obedience act in the world,” mocking the singer Isaac Wood at the recent single Science Festival.
This is one of many familiar lyrical nodes to the attention that has been circulating in Cambridgeshire sextet in the past year or so, but describing BCNR as a derivative was not. it can be wider than the mark.
Okay, The Fall, Art Brut and – yes – Slint all as if they were somewhere. But BCNR manages to create something completely different. Taking care through post-rock and free jazz through Klezmer (Jewish party music), their debut LP For The First Time is erratic, epic and teeming with more ideas than many artists in their lives .
“I’m looking at you and you can’t tell I’m more than the sum of my parts,” the rejection goes on to sing the Sunglasses’ beautiful satirical and elegant song. The thing is: they really are.
Rating: 4stars
Stephen Jones
JOHN CARPENTER – LOST THEMES III: GETTING ONE
ACCLAIMED director John Carpenter is also an electronic music pioneer who has recorded most of his films and has now released four studio albums.
Following the excellent Anthology: Movie Themes 1974-1998, this is the third in a series of soundtracks to imaginative films. Opener Alive After Death directs the spirit of Halloween, perhaps his most famous writing, the first of 10 suspense-filled instruments that lie somewhere between the 1980s and nearby.
The titles – Weeping Ghost, Dead Eyes, Turning The Bones – reflect the kind of imaginative film Carpenter envisions: ‘rom-coms’ are not available here.
Dead Eyes features a frozen wash of synths, Vampire’s Touch has another epic guitar solo, and Graveyard builds from a simple piano pattern to sleek keyboards, falling guitar and squeaky drums.
Slower tracks like Dripping Blood and Carpathian Darkness sum up the sad morning after the end of the night, metallic dry ice moving across the imaginary screen.
Hit play and sink into the darkness.
Rating: 4stars
Matthew George
FEMI AND MAKING KUTI – LEGACY +
Fela Kuti’s son and grandson come together for a double album offering an overview of the Afrobeat pioneer and the legacy of the Nigerian political activist. Together, they offer two versions of Afrobeat, the complex mix of jazz, rock, funk and Ghanaian highlife born out of West Africa in the 60s and 70s.
Femi’s tour, Stop The Hate, is a creative and creative vision that stays close to the established template, with plenty of political flavor. Fans of the genre won’t find much new here but nonetheless these tracks offer a punch of two that should not be underestimated.
More interesting is Made’s offer, titled For (e) word, which shakes the Afrobeat genre back to 2021. From the outside, his work explodes with creativity, with motirik rhythms rubbing shoulders with parping horns and all kinds of electronic equipment.
Of the two, this is more likely to be enjoyed.
Rating: 3stars
Alex Green