Sundays & Cybele – Chaos & Systems. First new album of the year. Competent Kraut/psych from Japanese crew, starts strong, but a bit lightweight overall.

Running On Air – s/t. Still enjoying this homage to the 90s IDM scene.

Hawkwind Zoo – Demo. Heard these tracks individually at various times, but not together before. ‘Hurry On Sundown’ is still very busker-y here, ‘Cymbaline’ is a robust enough cover, and ‘Kiss Of The Velvet Whip’ is pretty atypical compared to what they would go on to do, but is actually rather good in a psychy VU-esque way.

VA – Heavy Nuggets 4. MOJO freebie to accompany their Sabbath cover feature (which is worth a read). Previous volumes have been drawn from the past, but the songs here are mainly from the past few years. Not bad, though am I the only person immune to the charms of Charles Bradley’s cover of ‘Changes’? Track by The Skull (ex-Trouble members) is particularly good, reminds me a bit of early QOTSA: https://the-skull.bandcamp.com/track/the-door And seeing as we’ve been talking about them, the Elephant9 track is also cool in the vein of Atomic Rooster: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwPzX2-IjDc

Listen With Father:

Stealing Sheep – Not Real. Thought I’d play them a more recent example of a girl group, which went down pretty well. Love this track, the lazy Scouse drawl works a treat… https://soundcloud.com/heavenlyrecordings/greed

Siouxsie & The Banshees – The Best Of… I reckon at least one of them will be a teenage goth at this rate.

Queen – Greatest Hits. Blimey, they love this.

A is for…

So, bit of a cheat, as I didn’t listen to a whole album, but have been revisiting arty 90s indie sounds this week, some of which begin with an A:

The Auteurs – ‘Unsolved Child Murder’. Macabre Beatles pastiche from Mr Haines: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0A4EAjPUZQM

A.R. Kane – ‘Sea Like A Child (Underwater)’. From their final album, cool oceanic pop: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSbp94y87cY

AMP – ‘Soft Stone Soul’. Stalwarts of the Bristol post-rock scene, love the ecclesiastical vocs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4CTNWG8yHs

Arturo – ‘Former’. The guitar hook is pretty irresistible: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OL3hSpymLxg