Dreamweapon - Ars Moriendi

Up In Her Room | Little Cloud | Infinite Spin

Released: 6th October 2023

Ars Moriendi is the ninth album from Porto's Dreamweapon, the brainchild of former 10000 Russos bass player André Couto, and is intended to complete an anachronic trilogy initiated in 2016 with Rites of Lunacy (finally released in 2021) and continued in 2018 with Sol. Recorded between the end of the pandemic and the beginning of the Ukranian war, Ars Moriendi adds to the bleakness of its predecessors and achieves the almost impossible feat of becoming the darkest Dreamweapon recording of all. Inspired by Spaceman 3, from whom they took their name, and the industrial masters such as Cabaret Voltaire, Throbbing Gristle, Einsturzende Neubauten and The Young Gods, the band describe their music as minimalist, drony and hallucinatory and here they offer up four long pieces each referring to a different station in the preparation for a good death, the album title taken from the Latin name for late Middle Ages texts that outline the protocols and procedures for so doing. Originally intended as a message of hope, this is not something that fits easily into Dreamweapon's world. The band exist on an eternal dark spiral down which they slide into the bleakest of voids where their senses are snared in a relentless whirlpool of emptiness. Their songs are joyless mantras with ghostly vocals that are buried in dense drones and repetitive, hypnotic rhythms. The album opens with the huge 'Innocense' which stretches well over ten minutes where an almost static drone and unapologetic drum loop are battered by wailing guitars as the distorted vocal pulses in and out. Couto features on synths, bass, guitars, drums and vocals on all four tracks, but here extra guitars are thrown in by Edgar Moreira who clearly appreciates the mood as his playing bounces off the monolith without having the means to break through. Near nine minutes of 'Danse Macabre' follows, suitably faster in rhythm as the vocals chant. A Danse Macabre calls upon a personification of death to summon representatives from all walks of life to dance along to a graveside. Dreamweapon capture the mood perfectly, their sound both chilling and bereft of redemption. The shortest track here, 'The Kiss' still stretches over seven minutes, with Luis Barros featuring on drums which are suppressed so much they appear as aural shadows while the other instruments scratch remorsefully over the top. Closer 'Profundis' breaks thirteen minutes, Jaoa Campos Costa adding guitar. Taken from Psalm 130 the meaning is to be freed from the depths of misery, and we presume that is achieved here only by death. This is intense and punishing, running along at a decent pace, scratching and wailing and pulsing. It's not easy to capture despair in sound, but Dreamweapon are the masters of doing so. This is a dark, dark record yet it succeeds in being hugely fascinating and deeply addictive, pulling you back into the shadows time after time. There aren't many of these about, so get hold of one quickly. The release is a joint venture between Up In Her Room (UK/EU), Little Cloud Records and Infinite Spin Records (US) and has been pressed in a very limited run of 300 on red transluscent vinyl. It is available on the label's Bandcamp.

Volume - Requesting Permission To Land

Weird Beard | We Here & Now | Echodelick | Worst Bassist | Ramble

Pre-release: 6th October 2023

Another combined effort from Weird Beard (UK), We Here & Now (CA), Echodelick (US), Worst Bassist (EU) and Ramble Records (AU) sees the release of Volume's Requesting Permission To Land on vinyl for the first time, some twenty years after the album first saw light of day in a CD-only release. Volume were formed by Patrick Brink (vocals and guitar) way back in 1993 as an outlet for his own psychedelic leanings; he had previously sung in other bands yet was keen to walk his own path. Recruiting Jay Chistensen on lead guitar, the duo brought in an assortment of musicians to record this album with them including James Scoggins of Final Conflict on bass and Scott Reeder (Fu Manchu) on drums. Requesting Permission To Land features just five tracks over thirty-three minutes of heavy fuzzed-out psychedelic rock which owes a debt to The Stooges, MC5 and Black Flag amongst others. Indeed the debt to MC5 may be the most obvious from the first seconds of 'Habit' which opens in an explosion of percussion with guitars bending every which way and spaced-out keyboards throwing the odd pointed observation. This is archetypal stoner rock which could have emerged from any era and is punishing throughout, with 'Colossal' and 'Don't Look Around' both packing mighty punches, the latter infused with some stunning guitar work and a metal vocal as heavy as any of the music that envelops it. 'Makebelieve' is the same but treated with wild distortion that shudders as the lead guitar dances all around. The closer here is the longest track, 'Headswim' stretching over fourteen minutes and jumping between measured heavy rock, wild space distortion, a very stoned interlude, a feast of drums and the eventual return to the purposeful sound that opened it. The album is available in a very limited run of 250 copies pressed on translucent blue vinyl and split between the participating labels, so you will have to be quick to get hold of a copy. In the UK, you can pre-order your copy from the Weird Beard webshop on 6th October.

Emma Anderson - Pearlies

Sonic Cathedral

Released: 20th October 2023

The Lush reunion ended up as a bit of a car crash, lasting about a year, and producing just one EP and a tour. Whatever the reasons for its failure, the band's second break-up appeared to affect Emma Anderson far more than her bandmate Miki Berenyi. The latter was quickly into action with new band Piroshka, formed of three of the remnants of Lush at the time of their final gig, with Moose McKillop stepping in to replace Anderson. Piroshka released two albums in quick time and Berenyi has been busy on the road with both that outfit and now her trio. Meanwhile, very little was heard from Anderson until the announcement this year that she finally had a solo album on the way. The songs here largely grew from demos she was working on during 2016 with the singer stating, "I thought we were in it for the long term, so some of these songs – or even just parts of them – were actually going to be for Lush." Inevitably the finished articles sound differently from how they would have done in the band scenario; it seems clear that Anderson's confidence was knocked by the break-up and she was reticent about pushing herself into the limelight, planning to build her song snippets into film soundtracks rather than step out as a solo performer. She needed some encouragement, which came from Robin Guthrie in particular, before she finally took the plunge, with the ten-track, thirty-eight minute Pearlies being the result.

Two things are immediately obvious from this record. First, that there is more Lushy goodness here than in either of Berenyi's albums: the construction of the songs, the intonation and timing are so redolent of Lush in their mid period that there is a welcome familiarity which is both warming and heartening. Second, despite having the courage to step out as a solo performer, the whole thing does seem a little apologetic; clearly Anderson is unsure that she really should be doing this. All of the promotional photographs have been blurred as if she is worried about being the focus of attention, and sonically the record is gentle to the extreme with the singer seemingly unwilling to give free rein to her emotions. It's desperately English, a little endearing and a tiny bit disappointing.

Not that the songs Anderson has produced are not lovely in the extreme; this is a beautiful record containing some quite exquisite songs, only occasionally getting over-sugary. In style it borders on psych folk and is far less guitar-orientated than might have been expected, though the preponderance of electronica may have had something to do with producer James 'Maps' Chapman. Suede guitarist Richard Oakes does play on four of the songs and he adapts his playing style to fit the album's mood perfectly. He hugs the margins on the gentle 'Xanthe', and plays some lovely acoustic on 'Willow And Mallow', but he shines on opener 'I Was Miles Away' which is album highlight, full of Lush melodies, and the second track, 'Bend The Round', which is equally stunning. The closest Anderson gets to urgency is on the excellent 'The Presence' which reveals the singer on defence, "I can't see you but you're there | I can feel you under my skin | Try to find my weakest points | But I'm fortified from within." It's a common theme. "Can I, in the open fields | Be abandoned without a friend?" she asks in 'Tonight Is Mine' and it's difficult not to imagine that some of her words are aimed at the Lush fallout. "And now the party's over | The music's at the end | The chaos of another day | Too much to comprehend," she muses in 'Clusters', while 'I Was Miles Away' states, "Been in the warming sun alone | Swimming through space when time's postponed | See if I make it on my own." From the evidence here, Emma will have no problem at all in making it on her own and hopefully these first steps will boost her confidence and see her shake away some of this record's softer focus. Step into the light. We are yours.

Crime & The City Solution - The Killer

Mute

Released: 20th October 2023

Simon Bonney and Crime & The City Solution are becoming mythical, disappearing from the face of the earth only to appear like King Arthur when the world needs them the most. We thought they had gone for good when they split in 1991 and we hadn't expected them to be reborn in Detroit in 2011, throw out an album, and then disappear back into the mists of time. Now they have resurfaced in Berlin a decade later and we certainly hadn't expected them to be offering up an album of such elegaic grace as The Killer. We always believed that 1988's Shine would be the band's major legacy, a record almost unmatched in its riven beauty. Yet in seven songs and thirty-seven minutes here, Simon Bonney and his new collaborators have produced a collection that will not only touch your heart, but embed itself into your very soul. If 'Angel' left you emotionally shaken, then 'River Of God' is every bit as affecting. It's clear Bonney values the voice above the music. He's a storyteller, a narrator, a preacher. Often he will double- or triple-track his vocals so he appears to discuss ideas with himself, or contradict what one voice is saying, or offer a new perspective from a tangent. Here, he uses harmonic voices to emphasise his lyrics, singing with an emotional delicacy that makes his words all the more touching. And the music that frames the vocals is utterly bewitching, merging with their meaning, underlining them, aching emotion. Like on all of the album the accompaniment rarely stretches beyond the minimal yet here it is perfectly pitched, having just the right texture and weight, the guitars turning you inside out while the most beautiful keyboard refrain celebrates their work. "You can be anything you want to be," Simon finally drags from the darkness. If you think anybody has written a more beautiful song this century then you need to think again.

This is an album that marks the death of a dream. As the singer revealed to Paul Evangelista in an interview in Louder than War, he had spent a lot of his life "trying to find this one thing to really believe in, and then be all in with that thing." But he had come to the realisation that he was never going to get to that place. "So this record is about giving up on that one big thing and accepting that the world is about change, or at least my world is about change, so each situation I will determine on its own merits." It's both a bitter disappointment and a welcome release, and The Killer reflects the mood of both. And though this was a genuine collaboration with a new group of musicians, including Frederic Lyenn (piano, bass, synth), Donald Baldie (guitar), Georgio Valentino (synth, guitar), Chris Hughes (drums, percussion) and Joshua Murphy (piano, guitar), their sensitivity to Bonney's frame of mind shows the singer's ability to convey his ideas powerfully and their own impressive restraint. Of course, each song is underscored by Bronwyn Adams' voice and violin that are an essential part of any Crime collective.

Every track here is built around Bonney's narrative, the music adopting his mood and not intruding into the tale being told, yet clearly empathising. It is done so beautifully that the joins are invisible. Opening with the affecting 'Rivers of Blood' Bonney's expressive voice is at one with the plangent strings and sombre keyboard runs. "My love turns rivers to blood / And flowers to blackened buds / But I am the one who will love you / 'Cause I am the one who understands you." Nobody can capture sadness as well as Bonney. Nobody can make you feel that sadness and adopt it as your own as well as he. 'Hurt You, Hurt Me' sees multiple Bonneys building the vocal, a choir of lamentation, "Reach across that canyon space / Lay bare that selfish heart / Place your hand upon my face / I know you are alone." 'Brave Hearted Woman' opens to a smouldering keyboard refrain that somehow feels as old as time as Bonney relates a tale of universal truths and personal truth. The river again runs through the song; it appears symbolic of Bonney's own life experiences where he is fuelled by its flow whatever grim certainties its power may uncover. "I am a harvest born of madness / She is ecstasy furled in sadness." Bonney's poetry is always gothic and deep. 'Killer' is typically wordy, Bonney's voices weaving and challenging, the song reminiscent of Crime past. 'Witness' is a slow ballad opening to a mournful piano refrain which is topped by a solemn violin and though the song epitomises sadness, it is laced with possible outcomes and welcome redemption. Closer 'Peace In My Time' mirrors the solemnity, piano and violin framing an almost theatrical soliloquy where Bonney bids farewell to his dreams as a military drum plays out the last post.

In 'Hurt Me, Hurt You', Bonney declares, "The colour drains from my eyes" and there could be no better metaphor for this record. It is shrouded in darkness, hence the cover and the collection's title. Dreams are being killed, dreams that have been an intrinsic part of a long life. Is what's left a world devoid of colour and free from hope? This is a question that Bonney is now exploring. He hints that he will take on the challenge with his current band, play more live dates and give flesh to the transient nature of Crime. We wish him luck in his exploration and his aim. If all fails we look forward to his reappearance in some far-flung corner of the world with a new album a decade from now. We think the world will be calling. We need him. And you need this record ...

There Will Be Fireworks - Summer Moon

The Imaginary Kind

Released: 3rd November 2023

If Crime & The City Solution shape beauty in dark metaphors, There Will Be Fireworks have produced an album equally as stunning, yet far more rooted in plain sight. It really is unusual for two such breathtaking records to be released in a single year, but unheard of for two to see the light of day in a matter of a fortnight. To be honest, we had largely forgotten about TWBF who have been in the shadows for a decade, their last release The Dark, Dark Bright appearing in November 2013, almost heralding the re-emergence of alternative music as a force in the world. Apparently work on this follow-up has been ongoing for some years now and whatever superhuman effort it took to get it over the line was obviously worthwhile as it is almost impossible to find the words to describe how lovely this is.

Where The Dark, Dark Bright (reissued in a limited run on vinyl this year) was the work of young men looking at the world with unknowing eyes, Summer Moon is the work of mature adults who have lived, loved, triumphed and failed. It's something the band have embraced; this record is so human it almost breathes, so personal you feel it should be kept secret. All of life is here in its sadness, complexity and splendour. "Where did the time go? The years have passed like birds in flight. One day you're young, the next you're not," Nicky McManus narrates in the achingly sad 'Old-Time Tunes' with a voice that remembers the pain rather than wallows in it. And the loss of old relationships weighs against the change in the enduring. "And we've changed in one hundred different ways, but my heart still beats the same ... Somewhere in deathless darkness waits every hope and prayer and plan," he states in 'Something Borrowed'. It's not the end but a recognition that the start has passed, the unmapped middle has raised fears, but there is still hope of an ending that may bring contentment. The theme of the album adopts this melancholy and sometimes borders on resignation. In 'Second City, Setting Sun' we are told that "we're not growing up, we're just getting old," as days change but the heart remains the same. But the light is never snuffed out and where the beautifully shaped music will often hide behind the mood, at other times it will shake it off as guitars soar and drums pound as if fighting against this downward spiral of despondency. It brings power, beauty, grace and light to the sadness, adding an epic grandeur to the songs that maybe belies the fact that these are intrinsically problems we all face in everyday life. People come and go, places diversify, and humans struggle to adapt. It's why we die; we cannot cope with the endless tides of change. We are ultimately small and isolated and that's why all this feels so important. Everything that matters is in flux.

Opener 'Smoke Machines (Summer Moon)' is a huge highlight. Opening gently with delicately patterned drums, it grows in passion and strength, with heavy bursts of guitar injecting the urgency. Secondary guitars sing in the background as the voice grows in desperation until McManus almost shouts, "Well this year is wearing thin. Can't believe the state I'm in." There are textures and layers that give the song a depth that you can only begin to appreciate after multiple plays. The same is true of 'Holding Back The Dark' which is beautifully framed with rough-edged melodic guitars playing over a gentle keyboard refrain as the vocal bends around their paths. It's quite breathtaking. 'Bedroom Door' is a little faster paced and is not the only song here that throws up memories of Flickerstick if anybody remembers the American band that should have dominated the alternative rock market for years. We hear it as well in 'Our Lady Of Sorrows'. 'Dream Song' is a crashing joy, while the vocal is so good in 'Love Comes Around' it needs little more than a lonely piano to sharpen its focus.

Summer Moon bleeds emotion; it channels pain and isolates hope. And it is all done so beautifully it really is one of the most affecting collections of songs you will ever hear. Available on double vinyl you can (should) buy it on Bandcamp and while you are there take the opportunity of investing in the band's Christmas songs. All proceeds from the sales of 'No Christmas Bells' and 'This Christmas Is Forever' will be donated to Social Bite's Festival of Kindness. The charity is looking to provide 300,000 meals, gifts and essential items to homeless and vulnerable people.

Ivan The Tolerable - Autodidact

Up In Her Room

Released: 17th November 2023

London's Up In Her Room Records have been building a reputation for releasing fascinating collections in the psych field for around three years now and hot on the heels of Dreamweapon's Ars Moriendi comes this extended EP from Ivan The Tolerable, the name under which Oli Hefferman of Year Of Birds, King Champion Sounds, Detective Instinct and Shrug releases his solo work. This is in fact a reissue of a disc that first saw light of day in February 2018 as a ten-inch lathe-cut pressing on Ack! Ack! Ack! Records, of which only a handful were produced. Declaring the release to be "the product of impatience and a restless mind," Hefferman states that "I recorded the bulk of this record over a weekend in January 2018, in the midst of a very minor breakdown that was to last for pretty much the entire year. It was tracked in my back room using two questionable microphones, a broken HH 100 amp, my friend's drums and a Tascam DP08 (that wasn't to see the year out). When I was done, Robbie Major came round and recorded a ton of violin drones through my amp and then Ben Hopkinson recorded his saxophone parts at home and sent them over. It was mixed and mastered the same night. I released it myself a month later and then promptly moved on. I listened to the album for the first time in years recently and I think it is possibly the closest I've ever got to capturing the sound I hear in my head; I love how grubby and cavernous it sounds, claustrophobic and swirling. The track 'Autodidact' I have recorded four more times since this version and I've never got that sound back." Two tracks have been added to the original four and they turn the EP into a proper album, stretching over thirty-six minutes. The whole collection has been remastered and a limited run of 200 have been pressed on khaki vinyl. New songs 'Fractures' and 'Shiv' were bonus tracks on the original download and add some fourteen minutes to the running time. They fit perfectly into the languid mood of the EP songs, the former having an eastern air, but heavily weighed down, like a snake dance on opium, and the closer, 'Shiv', oppressive, throbbing and buzzing uneasily, lacking the will to drag itself off the floor. The general mood is one of uncertainty and uneasy perception. The strolling 'Oxblood Walls' operates as the only relief valve as 'Lulworth Skipper' is underpinned with menace and 'Phantom Limb' is spectral and undefined. This is part a series of ITT releases that are finding their way on to vinyl where before they have only been available as lathe-cuts, CD or tapes. They are going to build into an absorbing collection for those who find solace in drone and leftfield psych. You'll need to get in quick to grab a copy from the UIHR Bandcamp.

Servo - Monsters

Dirty Filthy Records

Released: 1st December 2023

It is two and half years now since Rouen-based three-piece Servo released their fantastic second abum, Alien, on Fuzz Club, a record that found itself in third place in our albums of the year list. It was a glorious dark collection, more in the post-punk field than pysch, and we have been waiting eagerly for the trio to follow it up with some new songs. These have now arrived, courtesy of Dirty Filthy Records in partnership with Le Cepe and EXAG, consisting of nine tracks over thirty-seven minutes, and being released in a limited pressing on black vinyl.

More vocal-heavy than their previous album, Monsters appears to be a cross between dark, heavy punk rock and some sort of infectious pagan religious ritual. It's as black as you like; the light doesn't touch here as guitars scrape and howl through feedback and distortion, drums hammer relentlessly and the empty vocals are coveyed by guitarist Arthur Pierre, deep and unpitying, occasionally raised into a howl. The music hits like a hammer blow, though occasionally gentler touches decorate its borders, as in the very punky 'Day And Night Monsters' where a light melody fixes itself to the outside edges of Louis Hébert's driving bass. In 'Peaks' choral backing vocals attempt to soften another driving punk tune, but fail to hinder its implacable charge. 'Who Else Likes Surprises' sways between an uneasy narrative, dirty melodies and Armageddon, while the short 'Interlude' is pretty much a religious chant. Guitars stretch to breaking point on opener 'Island' which appears to be the very definition of "pounding" and not for the only time the vocals throw up hints of Dara Kiely of Gilla Band. 'Stadium', one of just two tracks that touch on five minutes, is one of the more measured here, built on Hugo Magontier's relentless drumbeat, with vocals crossing, merging and searching while the guitars pick out a stark melody. It is undoubtedly a highlight as is the gothic 'Thank You Maniac' which hammers to be let in at your door and hypnotises you to open it eagerly. It shows that Servo at their best can utilise the power of darkness to entrance and conquer. 'Glitch' is also a winner, almost shimmering in its certainty, while closer 'Giants' bends and sways and taunts.

Servo create music with live performance in mind; they are looking to create a punishing but immersive show and the songs on Monsters will be immense in the live arena. If you go and see them just don't expect to be walking in a straight line when you leave the venue. This is a dark, unstable, explosive collection that won't fail to leave an impression. If you like being smacked round the head and thrown into a muddy ditch in the woods, then you will love this. Available from the DFR website. Happy Christmas.