You’ve got a month’s worth of music to get through next week. And you’ve got it easy — I’ve got to get through it all right now. So let’s skip the blither-blather and get down to the nitty-gritty. Here are your plays of the week:
Taj Mahal & Keb’ Mo’
Room On The Porch
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “It’s been nearly a decade since Taj Mahal and Keb’ Mo’ teamed up for their collaborative debut TajMo, and though the album was a runaway success — it won a Grammy, garnered rave reviews, and spawned a massive joint tour — neither artist ever expected to record a followup. “That first album turned out so great that part of me wondered if maybe we just got lucky,” Keb’ says with a laugh. “I always figured it was a one-time thing. But when we got back into the studio together, I felt that same magic again, and I realized it wasn’t luck at all.” Recorded in Nashville with Keb’ and Taj co-producing, Room On The Porch finds the pair in peak form, playing to each other’s strengths and opening up new creative horizons more than a half-century into their storied careers. The songs are warm and inviting here, rooted in the joy of human connection and the power of positivity, and the performances are as timeless as they are adventurous, incorporating the full spectrum of American roots music from blues and jazz to folk and country. “The two of us collaborating has always been a very organic thing,” Taj reflects. “We have different skill sets that go well together, and even though it’d been a while since we’d played together, it was easy to get back to that same creative place we landed with the first album.”
MDC
The Last War
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Notoriously radicalized punk provocateurs MDC — which stands for Millions of Dead Cops, Multi-Death Corporations, or one of a few other handles the band reverse-engineered from their acronym — return with a full-length album that marshalls their musical heroes in an all-out assault on your ear drums! Band leader Dave Dictor unleashes MDC’s hardcore aesthetic on politically potent tunes by Motörhead, UK Subs, Woody Guthrie, Stevie Wonder and many more!”
Midnight
Steel, Rust & Disgust
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “One-man-army Athenar has been spewing out an ungodly racket, dropping countless demos, splits, EPs, and LPs and ultimately slaying the metal/punk underground with his own addictive brand of lust, grime, and sleaze for over two decades. The Steel, Rust And Disgust collection follows last year’s chart-topping Hellish Expectations full-length and features 10 unique cover tracks alongside two new cuts. Athenar comments, “The idea to record an album of all cover jams with a certain theme is nothing quite new. The original title for this album was gonna be Throw Ups as an homage to the David Bowie’s Pin Ups album, also of covers. Although Throw Ups is only two syllables and I need six. I guess I could’ve called it Throw Downs Throw Outs Throw Ups, but that would be just fucking stupid.”
Morcheeba
Escape The Chaos
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Trip-hop royalty Morcheeba make a blistering return with a stunning 11th studio album Escape The Chaos. “This whole record is a process of trying to reconnect with what really matters. whether it’s what in your heart or with the world, putting your feet on grass and feeling the earth beneath you” says Ross Godfrey. Formed in London in 1995 the legendary band have extensively toured the globe, sold over 10 million albums and left their mark as one of the most influential acts of recent times. Releasing their acclaimed debut album Who Can You Trust? in 1996, the band have gone on to release a string of successful studio albums, including 1998’s platinum selling Big Calm, produced an album for Talking Heads’ David Byrne and produced soundtracks for Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh. In their 30th year Morcheeba are as relevant as ever — and set to celebrate in style.”
Most Things
Bigtime
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “With an eccentric, poetic line in minimal rock, London bass and drums duo Most Things release their debut album Bigtime. Marrying the compassionate observational wit of Richard Dawson with a sound somewhere between Minutemen and Television Personalities, the album’s 10 songs explore family relationships, mental health and life in the city. The project of London bassist/vocalist Tom Phillips and New York drummer Malachy O’Neill, the pair met as students in London after being introduced by Phillips’ then housemate Sabrina Fuentes — singer in acclaimed punk band Pretty Sick. Bigtime is a London album. Chronicling Phillips’ experiences growing up in the city, as the only child to his single mother, it illustrates its shops, pubs and bustle with humour and warmth, but also considers its troubles: from violence to threadbare public services.”
Onslaught
Origins Of Aggression
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Origins Of Aggression is a special double album celebrating the formation of the band and the 40th anniversary of Onslaught’s debut album Power From Hell. Origins Of Aggression will feature a total of 22 tracks. CD 1 contains 10 re-recordings of the most important Onslaught tracks from the early years, while CD 2 consists of 12 punk and metal cover versions that have made Onslaught the band they are today: Songs that were jammed during rehearsals, songs that inspired the musicians to play an instrument. The result is a fascinating musical journey through the origins of the band.”
Pachyman
Another Place
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Pachyman is the musical project of Puerto Rican-born, L.A.-based musician Pachy Garcia. He has amassed an international following on the back of a dub reggae sound that pays homage to genre masters like King Tubby and Scientist not only via technique and form but through a kindred pursuit of bleeding edge, boundary-expanding sonics. Another Place is his fifth and most daring project to date, one that builds upon its forebears by leaning into the idiosyncratic elements lurking beneath previous projects. In doing so, it synthesizes the myriad scenes that have recontextualized the methods and aesthetics of dub — from pioneering synth-pop weirdos like William Onyeabor and Yellow Magic Orchestra to Basic Channel’s amniotic dub techno — into a sound that, while still anchored in dub reggae’s glorious walls of sound, is undeniably Pachyman’s own. “I was trying to understand who I am as a musician — not just operating in a distinct lineage but how I’ve metabolized and expanded upon it,” Pachy explains. “Who am I behind all of this? It’s a very personal, vulnerable journey. I wanted to build my own world and create these new connections in my brain, incorporating everything: vaporwave, chillwave, soul-jazz, James Brown, Kosmiche musik and krautrock, the driving repetition of drum n bass.”
Pan Amsterdam
Confines
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Pan Amsterdam is the musical persona of Leron Thomas, a Houston-born, New York-based musical nomad. Rapper, jazz trumpeter, producer, musical director, thinker, often all at once, Thomas’ music traverses a woozy, nocturnal world where his many musical disciplines morph and merge into a deeply odd yet consistently coherent sound. His forthcoming album Confines exemplifies his improvisational style, mixing calculated ideas with spontaneous creativity. He describes his approach as organic, reflecting life’s unpredictable nature, and likens his sound to a fusion of George Clinton and Bootsy Collins. Confines explores diverse themes, from racial politics and identity to pop culture references. With a stream-of-consciousness style, Pan Amsterdam raps about everything from cultural observations to food. This mix of humour, social commentary, and introspection is an exploration of the world through a childlike, almost alien perspective and his background in gospel, jazz, hip hop, and even The Grateful Dead shapes this eclectic sound.”
Post-Death Soundtrack
In All My Nightmares I Am Alone
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Post Death Soundtrack‘s fifth album In All My Nightmares I Am Alone is an eclectic collection of carefully loved bastard children who live in the basement on a diet of scrap. Having grown up loving albums like Nirvana’s Incesticide and Smashing Pumpkins’ Pisces Iscariot, Stephen Moore has always had a love for B-sides, outtakes, covers, and raw expression. He merely asks himself ‘Is it good?’ Although this album has both brutish expression and beautiful pieces, the themes are difficult to unpack. Says Moore: “This album is in some ways a complete breakdown in audio format. I find it beautiful and powerful to express what often is not acknowledged or communicated. I learned that from Kurt Cobain and I’m very proud of this work.”
Duffy Power & Argent
Hell Hound: The Lost 1971 CBS Album
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Lost albums don’t get much better than this disc — recorded when British blues powerhouse Duffy Power joined forces with members of Argent in 1970-’71 for what should have been his CBS debut. Produced by Rod Argent and Chris White fresh off their Zombies success, these sessions capture lightning in a bottle, mixing Power’s raw soul with stellar accompaniment from Danny Thompson, Terry Cox and guitar wizard Ollie Halsall. Whether breathing fire into Robert Johnson’s Hell Hound or crafting his own soul-searching originals, these sessions capture Power at his most potent — backed by some of Britain’s finest musicians in top form. Now lovingly restored from the original tapes and expanded across two discs, you’ll hear this lost gem exactly as its producers intended, plus a wealth of demos, alternates, and fresh 2024 mixes that reveal new facets of these remarkable recordings.”
Psychic Pigs
Psychic Pigs
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Rock ’n’ roll lifer Brandon Welchez is back with 10 tracks of grimy, unhinged punk with new band Psychic Pigs. Primarily known as one half of psychedelic-bubblegum warriors Crocodiles, the new self-titled LP finds him in a similar mode to his previous projects Flowers of Evil and Xenu & the Thetans. The tunes range from driving Wipers-esque ruminations on our sick society to swaggering scum-rock that would make Sonny Vincent and his Testors proud. Or as one keen ear noted: “It sounds like if Machine Gun Etiquette was recorded in Hermosa Beach.” The record, however, was not recorded in Hermosa Beach but in London with superstar producer Jonah Falco (Fucked Up, Career Suicide, Boss). Fueled by strong beer and Jamaican food, the duo (Jonah on drums and production, Brandon on guitars and vocals) cranked out the album over the course of four days. If speedy, manic punk is your thing, it’s time to get down in the dirt with the pigs.”
