Wait, it’s July already? Damn. That was fast. I’d say time flies when you’re having fun, but I don’t know anybody who’s really having any. But even if the world is a dumpster fire being towed straight to hell by a clown car, at least we’ve got some decent music to hear while we plunge into the abyss. Here are more of my favourite albums from 2024’s first half, listed in alphabetical order. Will any of them make the cut six months from now? Who knows? Hell, who knows if any of us will be here six months from now. So carpe those diems, bitches. Enjoy.
Fu Manchu
The Return Of Tomorrow
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Return Of Tomorrow is Fu Manchu’s first new album in six years, and the veteran desert-rock stoners made sure that it was worth the wait. Their 14th album, fittingly released on June 14, is their first double LP of new material, and it was conceived of as a vinyl listening experience.
The first LP features seven songs in their iconic heavy-fuzz sound, including the title track and the relentlessly catchy Loch Ness Wrecking Machine. The second LP sees the band mellowing out with six slower tempo jams, including the synth inflected Solar Baptized and the title track. Like the band’s most recent album Clone Of The Universe, and their three-part Fu30 EP series, The Return Of Tomorrow was recorded at The Racket Room in Santa Ana by Jim Monroe (Adolescents, Ignite) and co-produced with Fu Manchu. Says founding guitarist and vocalist Scott Hill: “When I listen to music, it’s either all heavy stuff with no mellow stuff mixed in or just softer stuff with no heavy stuff. I know a lot of bands like to mix it up and we have done that before, but I always tend to listen to all of one type of thing or the other. So, I figured we should do a double record with seven heavy fuzzy songs on one record and the other record six mellow(er) songs fully realizing that maybe I’m the only person that likes to listen to music that way.”
Bingo Fury
Bats Feet For A Widow
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Bingo Fury’s noirish, furiously inventive music — marrying Scott Walker-esque balladry, poised jazz and agitated no-wave — has marked him amongst the U.K. avant-garde’s most exciting young voices. Bats Feet For A Widow is the multi-instrumentalist and madcap producer’s debut album.
The album was recorded in a local church in Bristol and inspired by Fury’s tangled feelings towards his strong religious upbringing. You can hear the old building everywhere amidst the rich jazz performances of his band: Meg Jenkins (bass), Henry Terrett (drums), Harry Furniss (cornet) and Rafi Cohen (guitar, glockenspiel, piano). You can also hear tossed house keys, wine glasses and strange acousmatic experiments — all channelled into a powerfully cinematic, deeply romantic album. At its heart is Fury’s crooning bass vocal, lending a vivid and slyly humorous voice to universal themes of love and pain. Bats Feet For A Widow is an album of extremity. In all respects — its sonic palette, strange experiments, obscure references, offbeat one-liners, heart-breaking sentimentality and surging creativity — it is astonishingly full. Fury duly ends it on a note of maximalism: “you know I’m trying to give you everything / It all gets in the way.”
Future Islands
People Who Aren’t There Anymore
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Future Islands were never meant to last. But after 18 years and 1,400 live shows, Future Islands show they’re not only still here; they’re making the most powerful music of their fascinating but unexpectedly long and storied career.
For Future Islands, albums aren’t a static reflection of a moment in time; they are a fluid chapter in their lives that can change and mutate. People change and pull away. The band are no different, coming up against their future while staring at their past. They’re not the same people they were when Future Islands began nearly two decades ago. They are now spread about, some settled down and some still moving. People Who Aren’t There Anymore reflects the transience of a band’s existence; the rare privilege of travelling all over the world contrasting with the sadness of fleeting moments in and out of people’s lives. Being everywhere but also nowhere. Remembering the lives lost and the living they’ll never see again, cherishing the present and being grateful for the past. The seventh album from the band — Samuel T. Herring (vocals, lyrics), William Cashion (bass, guitars), Gerrit Welmers (keyboards, programming) and Michael Lowry (drums) — follows 2020’s As Long As You Are. People Who Aren’t There Anymore heralds a new chapter for Future Islands who, despite having formed nearly two decades ago, continue to challenge themselves and each other.”
Liam Gallagher & John Squire
Liam Gallagher & John Squire
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Collaborations don’t get much more biblical than this. Solo star, Oasis legend and force of nature Liam Gallagher has teamed up with John Squire, one of the most influential guitarists and songwriters of his generation via his time with The Stone Roses.
“I think John’s a top songwriter,” says Gallagher. “Everyone always bangs on about him as a guitarist, but he’s a top songwriter too, man, no two ways about it as far as I’m concerned. There’s not enough of his music out there, whether it’s with the Roses or himself. It’s good to see him back writing songs and fucking good ones. The melodies are mega and then the guitars are a given. But I think even when you take all the fucking guitars off, you can play the songs all on acoustic and they’ll all still blow your mind.”
Kim Gordon
The Collective
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “There was a space in Kim Gordon’s No Home Record. It might not have been a home and it might not have been a record, but there was a space. Boulevards, bedrooms, instruments were built played, recorded, the voice and its utterances, straining a way through the rhythms and the chords, threaded in some shared place, we met there, the guitar came too, there fell a peal of cymbals, driving on the music. We listened, we turned our back to the walls, slithered through the city at night. Gordon’s words in our ears, her eyes, she saw, she knew, she remembered, she liked. We were moving somewhere. No home record. Moving.
Now we’re listening to The Collective. And thinking, what has been done to this space, how has she treated it, it’s not here the same way, not quite. Really, not at all. On this evidence, it splintered, glittered, crashed and burned. It’s dark here. It’s dark inside. Haunted by synthesised voices bodiless. Planes of projections. Mirrors get your gun and the echo of a well-known tune, comes in liminal, yet never not hanging around, part of the atmosphere, fading in and out, like she says — Grinding at the edges. Grinding at us all, grinding us away. Hurting, scraping. Sediments, layers, of recorded emissions, mined, twisted, refracted. That makes the music.”
Gossip
Real Power
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “On Real Power, their first album in 11 years, beloved indie pop/rock trio Gossip reunite with acclaimed producer Rick Rubin, who helmed the band’s pivotal 2009 album Music For Men. At the coaxing of Rubin, the band started recording in 2019 after completing a tour for the 10th anniversary of Music For Men.
Recorded at Rubin’s home studio in Kauai, the process was temporarily halted by the pandemic and resumed when restrictions lifted. The result is an 11-track celebration of creative expression, and the power of chosen family in the aftermath of collective and personal trauma. The timing is ripe for a Gossip reunion, and Real Power heralds a new era and renewed sense of purpose for the trio. “When we began, so much about Gossip was about running away — that was always in the music,” says Ditto. “We survived. We came from nothing, and we got the fuck out of there. And to be here 20 years later and still making music together is just incredible.”
Laura Jane Grace
Hole In My Head
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “A musical force since Against Me!’s debut in the late ’90s, Laura Jane Grace has never shied away from themes of political commentary, environmentalism, social critique, and candid self-exploration.
Following the 2012 public announcement of her gender transition, Grace racked up accolades. Against Me! released its most acclaimed record to date, Transgender Dysphoria Blues in 2014, which was followed by an Emmy-nominated 10-episode companion documentary, True Trans with Laura Jane Grace. In 2016, Grace teamed up with journalist Dan Ozzi to co-write her acclaimed memoir Tranny: Confessions of Punk Rock’s Most Infamous Anarchist. Hole In My Head is Grace’s 12th album and an exciting hallmark in her colorful and extensive career. Recorded at Native Sound in St. Louis with David Beeman and mixed and mastered by Matt Allison (engineer for acts such as Lawrence Arms and Rise Against), the album is a sonic curio cabinet containing multitudes. Hole In My Head features warm ’50s-rock-influenced guitar riffs, saved-for-later lyrics, love letters to St. Louis, dysphoria apparel, and thoughtful reflections on a punk life lived.”
Grateful Dead
From The Mars Hotel 50th Anniversary Edition & The Angel’s Share
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Fifty years ago, the Grateful Dead were cooking with gas. It was spring 1974, the band had successfully emerged from a series of hectic, harrowing times, and would soon follow their transformative Wake Of The Flood with the second acclaimed album release on their very own Grateful Dead Records: From The Mars Hotel.
During the eight months that had passed between those two beloved LPs, the group also played some of their most exploratory music and largest venues to date, famously amplified by the homemade, 75-ton Wall of Sound that they debuted on March 23, 1974, at their hometown Cow Palace in Daly City, CA. Eternal staples such as Scarlet Begonias, Ship Of Fools and U.S. Blues would first be introduced into setlists along that season’s tour, before the Grateful Dead spent two months recording and honing them in the studio for From The Mars Hotel. Not to mention classics like China Doll and Loose Lucy, or Pride Of Cucamonga and Unbroken Chain — the final two tracks Phil Lesh would sing on a Grateful Dead studio album. Now, as Grateful Dead members and tributaries continue to celebrate and bring so many of these formative songs to the masses, From The Mars Hotel has been remastered and expanded with newly unearthed material and rarities, in honor of its 50th anniversary.”
Guided By Voices
Strut Of Kings
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Guided By Voices (the ever-evolving act led by prolific indie-pop wizard Robert Pollard) build on 40 years of history with the majestic and triumphant Strut Of Kings, the indie-rock icons’ 41st (!!) album.
Largely recorded in Kings County, N.Y. (aka Brooklyn), the album is perhaps a gesture towards the malevolent “kings” on the world stage. As The Serene King waltzes across the battlefield, Emperor Pollard evokes castles, King Kong and strutting roosters, a surreal yet regal journey. Believe it or not, Pollard and co. claim Strut Of Kings will be the only new Guided By Voices album of 2024. Either way, it includes some of GBV’s hookiest nuggets in recent memory.”
Hans Condor
Big Breakfast
Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day. But only a loser believes it has to be the healthiest. In the capable, callused, coffee-stained hands of Nashville noisemakers Hans Condor, your morning repast can be gritty, greasy, groovy, gargantuan and gloriously guilt-free — as long as it includes their latest album Big Breakfast.
True to its title, this sucker is a tasty home-cooked feast for musical gourmands of all stripes — assuming those stripes include sludgy ’70s-style boogie-rock a la Black Sabbath, scorching mosh-pit salvos stright from the valley of 1984, Ramones-style punk-pop charges, chugging country-punk firecrackers, crunchy roots-rock anthems and hard-twangin’ heartland-rock raveups. Naturally, everything is served up hot ’n’ nasty, straight off the grill — and covered / smothered with more fuzz and muck than last week’s leftovers at the back of the fridge.
High On Fire
Cometh The Storm
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Grammy-winning hard rock power trio High On Fire — now celebrating their 25th anniversary — recorded Cometh The Storm at GodCity Studio in Salem, Mass., with producer Kurt Ballou. The 11-song effort — the band’s ninth studio album and first new music since 2018’s Electric Messiah — is the first to feature drummer Coady Willis (Big Business, Murder City Devils) alongside bassist Jeff Matz (Zeke), and singer-guitarist Matt Pike.
Adds Pike: “I think this band’s always had a really good drive. It’s a different entity. It’s its own thing. Which, I think, makes all of us very proud to be a part of it. It’s not an average band.” Shares Willis: “Being a fan of each other’s bands for a long time, it feels like all bets are off and anything goes, which is a liberating feeling. That feeling of making something out of all of these imperfect parts and it becomes this magical, weird, new idea that none of us ever anticipated. Against all odds. That’s the joy of it.”
Hot Mud
Rehab Rock
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “I guess you could say Hot Mud was an alter ego of a man named Muddy Watters. It was a self-proclaimed nickname for his wild intoxicated personality.
Over time Hot Mud completely took over and eventually found himself in very dark places, in his surroundings, and in his own mind. A rocky road (to say the least) thankfully led him to rehab. Hot Mud spent over a year in treatment facilities, where he became sober and healthy. He did recovery work, attended meetings, found hope, and settled into second-stage sober living. He crammed musical instruments, recording equipment, and cameras into this tiny room the size of your mother’s closet. He covered his wall with green bristol board to make trashy music videos. He taught himself basic recording techniques while performing each composition, layering one track at a time onto a broken computer with broken instruments, some found in the rehab facility’s basement. He huddled in the farthest corner of his room and sang as quietly as possible, trying not to bother the other recovering tenants. Hot Mud created a record of songs he wrote during his struggle with addiction and the early stages of recovery. Rehab Rock is packed full of many musical styles and sounds, changing from song to song. Each composition is accompanied by lyrical content that is gritty and real (maybe a little too real) yet occasionally charming, silly, and fun… and it all sounds damn good!”
Brittany Howard
What Now
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “There’s a double meaning to the title of What Now, the revelatory new album from singer-songwriter Brittany Howard. “With the world we’re living in now, it feels like we’re all just trying to hang onto our souls,” says the Nashville-based musician and frontwoman for four-time Grammy winners Alabama Shakes. “Everything seems to be getting more extreme and everyone keeps wondering, ‘What now? What’s next?’ By the same coin, the only constant on this record is you never know what’s going to happen next: Every song is its own aquarium, its own little miniature world built around whatever I was feeling and thinking at the time.”
With five Grammy wins and 16 nominations, Howard follows up her massively acclaimed solo debut Jaime — a 2019 LP that landed on multiple year-end lists — with an album that draws its immense and indelible power from endless unpredictability. Over the course of 12 tracks, Howard brings her singular musicality to a shapeshifting soundscape encompassing everything from psychedelia and dance music to dream-pop and avant-jazz — a fitting backdrop for an album whose lyrics shift from unbridled outpouring to incisive yet radically idealistic commentary on the state of the human condition. At turns galvanizing, cathartic, and wildly soul-expanding, the result is a monumental step forward for one of the most essential artists of our time.”
Hurray For The Riff Raff
The Past Is Still Alive
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “With the release of their latest and hmost liberating album to date, Hurray For The Riff Raff (aka Alynda Segarra) open the doorway to a language and world that are finally their own.
The Past Is Still Alive represents a new beginning in Segarra’s lauded evolution as a storyteller. During a period of pain and personal grief, they found inspiration in radical poetry, railroad culture, outsider art, the work of writer Eileen Myles, and the history of activist groups like Act Up and Gran Fury. Discovering a stronger, more singular style of writing, Segarra uses their lyrics as memory boxes to process their trauma, identity and dreams for the future. They immortalize and say goodbye to those they have loved and lost, illustrate the many shapes and patterns of time’s passing, and honor the heartbroken and the hopeful parts of themselves, as they deliver a first-person telling of their life so far. It is both a memoir and a roadmap. And though The Past Is Still Alive was made in North Carolina and produced by Brad Cook (Bon Iver, Kevin Morby, Waxahatchee), the Bronx-born, New Orleans-based Segarra brings listeners to places far beyond: Vivid experiences of small shops and buffalo stampedes in Santa Fe, childhood road trips to Florida, struggles of addiction in the Lower East Side, days-long journeys to outrun the cops in Nebraska, and more across their most magnetic collection of songs yet.”
Hushmoney
Hushmoney
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Across their debut album, Hushmoney paint the ridiculousness of existence so very right.
Mixed and mastered by Grammy-nominated producer Will Yip (Turnstile, Mannequin Pussy, Title Fight) Hushmoney is a deft concept album about the faulty choices that bitter men nearing middle age can make, backed with the chances they have to redeem themselves if they know where to look. We’re all trying to figure out how to survive and make meaning — and to have a little fun in the process, too. If the band itself has been an escape hatch from mid-30s anxieties and disappointments for its members, its work here shows how much fun you can have and how good you can do when you start to turn that stuff on its head, to turn it all into a shout-out-loud rock song.”
Ibibio Sound Machine
Pull The Rope
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Pull The Rope, the new record by Ibibio Sound Machine, casts the Eno Williams and Max Grunhard–led outfit in a new light. The hope, joy, and sexiness of their music remain, but, further honing the edge of their acclaimed 2022 album Electricity, the connection they aim to foster has shifted venues from the sunny buoyancy of a sunlit festival to a sweat-soaked, all-night dance club. The atmosphere has changed, but you’re still having the time of your life.
Produced by Ross Orton (Arctic Monkeys, M.I.A.) and Grunhard, Pull The Rope finds Ibibio Sound Machine pushing beyond the sonic frontier established by their acclaimed 2022 album Electricity, with elements of post punk and Chicago house giving Williams’ rapturous vocals a timeless edge. New bangers like Got To Be Who U Are would be just as intoxicating in 1984 or 2044 as they are today.”
Idles
Tangk
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Tangk is the righteous and vibrant fifth album from madcap truth-seekers Idles. Pronounced “tank” with a whiff of the “g” — an onomatopoeic reference to the lashing way the band imagined their guitars sounding that has since grown into a sigil for living in love — the record is the band’s most ambitious and striking work yet.
Where Idles were once set on taking the world’s piss, squaring off with strong jaws against the perennially entitled, and exercising personal trauma in real time, they have arrived in this new act to offer the fruits of such perseverance: Love, joy, and indeed gratitude for the mere opportunity of existence. A radical sense of defiant empowerment radiates from Tangk, co-produced by Nigel Godrich, Kenny Beats and Idles guitarist Mark Bowen. Despite his reputation as an incendiary post-punk sparkplug, frontman Joe Talbot sings almost all the feelings inside these 10 songs with hard-earned soul, offering each lusty vow or solidarity plea as a bona fide pop song — that is, a thing for everyone to pass around and share, communal anthems intended for overcoming our grievance. Tangk is a love album — open to anyone who requires something to shout out loud in order to fend off any encroaching sense of the void, now or forever.”
Iron & Wine
Light Verse
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “When the pandemic began, and the world shut down, so did the process of creating for Iron & Wine’s Sam Beam. In its place was a domesticity that the singer hadn’t felt in a long time, and although it was filled with many rewards, making music was not one of them. Reflecting on that time, Beam notes:
“I feel blessed and grateful that I and most of my friends and family made it through the pandemic relatively unscathed compared to so many others, but it completely paralyzed the songwriter in me. While so many artists, fortunately, found inspiration in the chaos, I was the opposite and withered with the constant background noise of uncertainty and fear. The last thing I wanted to write about was Covid, and yet every moment I sat with my pen, it lingered around the edges and wouldn’t leave. I struggled to focus until I gave up, and this lasted for over two years.”
The Jesus And Mary Chain
Glasgow Eyes
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Marking 40 years of The Jesus And Mary Chain, Glasgow Eyes was recorded at Mogwai’s Castle of Doom studio in Glasgow — where Jim and William Reid continued the creative process that resulted in their previous album, 2017’s Damage and Joy, their highest charting album in over twenty years.
What emerged is a record that finds one of the U.K.’s most influential groups embracing a productive second chapter, their maelstrom of melody, feedback and controlled chaos now informed more audibly by their love for Suicide and Kraftwerk and a fresh appreciation of the less disciplined attitudes found in jazz. “But don’t expect ‘the Mary Chain goes jazz,’ ” Jim Reid cautions (and/or reassures). “People should expect a Jesus And Mary Chain record, and that’s certainly what Glasgow Eyes is. Our creative approach is remarkably the same as it was in 1984, just hit the studio and see what happens. We went in with a bunch of songs and let it take its course. There are no rules, you just do whatever it takes. And there’s a telepathy there — we are those weird not-quite twins that finish each other’s sentences.”
Kaiser Chiefs
Kaiser Chiefs’ Easy Eighth Album
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Almost two decades in the game, and armed with an extensive back catalogue of stadium belters and record-breaking success, Kaiser Chiefs return with their new album, the aptly titled Kaiser Chiefs’ Easy Eighth Album.
Produced by Amir Amor (Rudimental), the album sees the Kaiser Chiefs return with a fresh, bold sound. From the Nile Rodgers co-write of Feeling Alright to the frantic Beautiful Girl, the horn-laden throwback Job Centre Shuffle and the joyous gut-punch of Jealousy, these 10 tracks are a statement of intent from a band that continue to deliver the goods again and again. Where 2019’s Duck straddled the tide between Northern Soul euphoria and early ’00s antithesis, 2024 will see Kaiser Chiefs stepping into a renewed spotlight; a hook-heightened universe in which frontman Ricky Wilson, Andrew “Whitey” White (guitar), Simon Rix (bass), keyboardist Peanut and Vijay Mistry on drums, come together to once again create what they craft best; breakthrough belters for the world’s dance floor.”
Khruangbin
A La Sala
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The title makes it clear. A La Sala (“To the room” in Spanish), the fourth LP by Khruangbin, is an exercise in returning in order to go further, and do so on your own terms. It extends the air of mystery and sanctity that’s key to how bassist Laura Lee Ochoa, drummer Donald “DJ” Johnson, Jr. and guitarist Mark “Marko” Speer approach music.
Yet if 2020’s Mordechai, the last studio album Khruangbin made without collaborators, was a party record whose ensuing post-lockdown tour enhanced the band’s musical reputation far and wide, A La Sala is the measured morning after. It’s a gorgeously airy album made only in the company of the group’s longtime engineer Steve Christensen, with minimal overdubs. It is a porthole onto the bounties powering Khruangbin’s vision, a reimagining and refueling for the long haul ahead. A La Sala scales Khruangbin down to scale up, a creative strategy with the future in mind. It is also a response to the unique moment Khruangbin finds itself in now: Following a decade spent cultivating extraordinary music paths, beginning a year when they’ll perform for more people, in more iconic spaces, staging a live show that pushes a creative envelope peculiar to them alone. 2024 feels like both marker and pivot, cementing Khruangbin’s stature as a commercially and critically successful group that continues to be guided by creative possibilities.”
Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds
That Delicious Vice
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “It’s a new lineup,” landlord of the avant-garage Kid Congo Powers exclaims of The Pink Monkey Birds responsible for That Delicious Vice, the fifth studio full-length of their 19-year recording career.
“We’ve gone from a four piece to a three piece,” continues Kid, whose unique guitar style has been at the center of some of the most forward-thinking bands in punk and garage: The Gun Club, The Cramps, Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds and Knoxville Girls, to name a few. “Because Mark Cisneros (ex-The Make Up) is playing guitar, sometimes we have songs with two guitars. And then sometimes, he plays bass on a bass six (an electric bass version of the mariachi bajo sexto). So, that is a new development. We lost a member and decided to try to do it as a three piece — more space, you know? I’m not sure if living in the desert is making me want more space in music or not,” laughs Kid, a Tucson resident for a few years now. “Maybe I’m turning into a desert stoner rocker. But I’m not a stoner, so that’s not happening.”
Kid Kapichi
There Goes The Neighbourhood
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Kid Kapichi’s There Goes The Neighbourhood is their third album in as many years.
More to the point, it’s a statement of intent from one of the U.K.’s hardest-working bands — a band that preach a message of urgency. Even more to the point, it’s a record that does what Kid Kapichi does best — make a real connection in the here and now, running the gamut of love, loss, and what it means to be alive in Britain today. “I know it’s a cliche, but this really is our best work ever,” says frontman Jack Wilson. “We put everything into this record, but actively decided not to stray too far from the path of Here’s What You Could Have Won, as we felt there was still more ground to be covered and honed in on that vibe. Lyrically and musically, it’s more concise, meaningful, and deliberate, which ties everything together really well; it feels like a collection of songs from the same family.”
Will Kimbrough
For The Life Of Me
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Folkies, even the ones with a good dose of country in their sound, tend to create quiet, introspective songs that are designed to pack a subtle but no less potent punch. Revered, multi-talented folk-Americana artist Will Kimbrough doesn’t quite fit that mold, and it is most evident on the 11 tracks that comprise For The Life Of Me, his eighth solo album. Here, Kimbrough crafted a batch of anthems with engulfing choruses and stinging musicianship. These songs rush into your consciousness and rattle your insides.
Kimbrough, a longtime collaborator with the late legend Jimmy Buffett and the co-writer of his posthumous single Bubbles Up, produced For The Life Of Me and recorded it primarily at Blackbird Studio in Berry Hill, Tenn., with engineer John McBride. Additional recording took place at his own Kimbrough Super Service Studio and Skinny Elephant Studio in Nashville. Kimbrough takes care of vocals, guitars, and keyboards on the record, while Chris Donohue handles the bass and Bryan Owings is on drums and percussion. “This album is not afraid to closely examine the wreckage and ruin of the past and the present,” says Kimbrough. “But it also expresses gratitude for every breath, for those we love, those who are still here, and those who we have lost. In the end, it’s just another expression of love.”
Kronos Quartet & Friends
Outer Spaceways Incorporated: Kronos Quartet & Friends Meet Sun Ra
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Individually, Kronos Quartet and Sun Ra are two of the most groundbreaking names in contemporary music. The former are the legendary San Francisco string quartet that laid a blueprint for what concert music could become, working with the likes of John Cage, Tanya Tagaq and Astor Piazzolla. The latter was a singular jazz and avant-garde bandleader, as well as a philosopher and poet, who honed an extraordinary strain of cosmic experimental music from the 1950s until his ascension in 1993.
As a capstone to Kronos Quartet’s 50th anniversary, they have joined forces with the Red Hot Organization for the new album Outer Spaceways Incorporated: Kronos Quartet & Friends Meet Sun Ra. It’s stacked with some of the most innovative artists active today — everyone from multidimensional electronic musician Jlin, to Moor Mother and DJ Haram’s radical noise / rap project 700 Bliss, to abstract hip-hop luminaries Armand Hammer, to avant-garde hero Laurie Anderson, to minimalist pioneer Terry Riley.”
Kula Shaker
Natural Magick
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Kula Shaker’s new album Natural Magick finds the band harnessing the power to cast their most potent spell yet, incorporating blazing psychedelic sermons, raga rave-ups, stardust-coated pop pearls and mood-enhancing mantras. “This chapter in the band’s life is very much driven by live energy and that spiritual connection with the audiences which comes with it. We all agreed that the songs should be no longer than three minutes. There are no epics,” says Crispian Mills.
Reformed permanently in 2021 due to the return of keyboard wizard Jay Darlington, reuniting all four members of the band’s classic lineup for the first time since 1999. The band became U.K. chart-toppers with 1996’s debut album K; ’99’s followup Peasants Pigs and Astronauts saw them push the creative envelope prior to their premature dissolution. Having made a welcome return in 2007 with the self-funded Strangefolk, Kula Shaker have built towards the sonic summit. The band’s seventh studio album, Natural Magick finds the original four members — Mills on guitar/vocals; Darlington on organ and keys; Alonza Bevan on bass; Paul Winter-Hart on drums — delivering the wild energy that we know and love, while creating a technicolor sonic pathway towards a more enlightened state of mind. There is kinetic energy coursing through every second of Natural Magick that is planted firmly in the rolling 24-hour news-feed mind-mash that is today’s Planet Earth.”
