Albums, more albums and I suppose that yet again you’re going to require some kind of editorial introduction to this page? You always do, why is that? Next you’ll be demanding we proof read the damn thing or telling us we keep repeating things. Here’s some more album reviews, some cherry picking, some working our way through the inbox and some questioning as to why maybe?

Michael – Nite Salad (Crackedankles) – Michael brood, they have a menace, an uneasy tension, Heavy Life is where it comes to the fore (is it reminding me of some TV advert from sometime somewhere, a Tonka Toy or something like that, a big metal truck that I would have needed?), it is a mean mean (mean) song, the kind of song you wouldn’t want following you home on a dark evening. So tell me about the size of crime? Nothing to see here? There is time, there will be a time, you know what to do (or maybe you don’t and anyway who cares what we say). Someone said it was darkly psychedelic, doesn’t feel like that to me, not in a musical sense anyway. Trickle back, trickle back, down to a trickle. Science. Talk talk talk, there needs to be some kind logic to this so called review. So tell me. They do like to wind it tight, tense, can’t stop, won’t drop. He is concerned, see his concern, you can watch and you can learn, he;s a figures man, that figures man, there is time, there will be a time, you’ll know what to do…  Drop anchor -“Nite Salad, the second offering…  One studio fire, several collapsed spinal discs, two swapped out axemen and a couple o’ kids, all dragged through a taste-battering pandemic. A seriously good bedrock recipe primed for the unwanted A-road that is Nite Salad, Michael’s  second full lengther….”  Ohhhh, ah, bad guys and such, Michael, one of London’s finest, they sound like Fight Club, or one of those fight clubs where men in suits go the box the crap out of each other, I imagine they have great fights in the studio, or maybe they don’t maybe they get it all out in the music, they make Me think of men in white shirts, tight ties, punching each other, they do take you the full twelve rounds, I have said that before – Michael at Helgi’s, Hackney, East London – Michael play with you, they want to take you the distance, they spar with you, they jab, they call you on, they’re not there to administer the knockout blow and end things early, they want to take you all the way, go all twelve rounds…

Is this a review? Not really, there’s nothing to see here, not darkly psychedelic, lots of moody colours though and always standing on your toes, right there, right in your face, telling you how it is, toe to toe, face to face if you let them, The Jogger is even better when you notice what the song is called. And then you got pay to park, pay the congestion charge, put in the fuel, it always was the way, where we gonna stay? It was a witch in Glasgow, but that was us not them, we’ve all done it and talking of costs the man says “The time has come to open thy heart/wallet” so i guess that is that, flipped if I’m buying it just to review it, they used our last live review often enough, it is a damn fine album, they’re one of the leanest meanest bands around right now, if it is metal then we’re talking the good sort and not all talk talk talk, you need to be concerned about those potatoes of theirs, their potato plan, their data plan their bad seeds sown, stay in your lane, it is some kind of house of pain, you don’t need album reviews is this day and age, go listen on Bandcamp and make your own mind up before they start going on about hearts and wallets on you, that and the rights and wrongs of it all, it is a thankless thing, I don’t know why we do it… Damn fine album, let’s all go down with the good ship Mike, world of moan and the rest of it…

 

Henrik Meierkord – M​Ö​RK (Audiobulb) – “November is here and winter is showing its first signs” so it says here, it was dark in London not longer after 4pm, it really does feel like Winter is here today and yes this instrumental album does fir the mood today, “Henrik Meierkord is a Swedish musician based in Stockholm, experimenting with different genres. With the cello as his main instrument, he also masters viola, double bass, guitar and numerous other instruments. His keywords in making music are pause, vacuum of time, the unconscious, consciousness, dream, meditation, a way of avoiding direct thoughts and reality”.

The title of the album means darkness in Swedish, we’re told Henrik Meierkord is exploring the deeper meaning of dark tonal depth together with his both classical cello as electric cello and other strings instruments, this time injected with his pedals, electric guitar and synthesizers as a unique sound. Not sure how unique it is, we do seem to get so much that tastes something like this, we seem to have some kind of dark atmospheric instrumental album landing here at least a couple of times a week, not to say that this is a bad album, far from it, but then very few of them are. This is beautifully painted, vivid, full-bodied, rich, it would make for the prefect thing to play at the current Ken Currie exhibition. It is something you need to hear in full, to let it unfold properly, you can’t judging on a could of the pieces, you need the full experience, you need that vacuum of time (and you need to call it something more than just neoclassical for heaven’s sake). This is a beautiful album, a dark album yet, but not darkly disturbing, it you allow it then it really is a rich state of unconscious warm. And that is a rather fine album cover as well, Ithink we said that abouthis last album cover, it doesn’t seem that long ago that we did review his previous album – he’s done it again

Bandcamp

previously – ORGAN: Albums, more music – Bed Maker, Babe Report, Scott Collins, Die Verlierer, Henrik Meierkord, London Underground and…

Bye Bye Tsunami – Eating (Nefarious Industries) – The real deal? Give me more, like my shit, these people are either insane or insanely good. Look at me, I’m the real flipping deal. We did cover them a few days back, we threatened to come back with more, we now have our hands on the whole album, the whole wholesome album, the details, the price of fish and everything else you are going to need. Although we might not be able to make head not tail of the fish, not that we’re saying there are any fish involved you understand. Give me your money, then I will have money and you will have less money, there’s a real art in sounding like no one else and still sounding good, these people are unhinged and so is their drum machine or whatever is providing the percussion for the closing track of seven that is Epilogue/Byebye Señor Tsunami!¡. And back around we go again, you take care, I take what? It is surely the neighbourly thing to do to say hello, I want more, tell me more, sell me more? Eating what for breakfast? “You take care, I take speed” – damn motorheads – follow me, look at me, I’m the real fucking deal – they are as well, follow them, like their shit. They sound like a SkinGraft band, that’s another compliment, they might just be telling the truth when they say they’re from another planet, “Nefarious Industries welcomes the return of Bye Bye Tsunami – the meth-metal, post-mental, future jazz trio from planet 無 – for the release of their new Eating EP here on planet Earth”.
 
“Bye Bye Tsunami are a group of individuals who thrive in uncertainty and find delight in the entropy of noise. Based in Copenhagen, Denmark (while visiting our planet), the trio employs disrupted rhythms, unique self-built futuristic wind instruments, and heartbreaking cyborg screams to expand the musical language beyond its wildest horizons. With their second EP, Eating, the band promises massive meth-metal beats, dehumanized hopeless voices, eclectic noisy influences, glitchy electronics, and various other innovative elements, all appropriately complimented with exclusive artwork created by illustrator Frances Lili Farmer. The futuristic perspectives and hidden mystical layers contained within this peculiar narrative explore a realm of absurd hypothetical faraway planets, weaving a subtle double meaning that surprisingly mirrors the realities and issues of our times”.

They do keep saying EP, seven relentless tracks, around twenty-five minutes of music, kind of sounds and feels like an album to me, at least a mini album? Actually itsounds like a very big album, you’re not want to this to go past the half hour mark, this is more than enough.  

“In this work Bye Bye Tsunami delve deeper into their distinctive sound signature anchored by the Flaubosax. By generating new soundscapes through a personal asymmetrical tonal system and intertwining them with intricate and powerful drum rhythms, they guide the music through disrupted forms and post-industrial spiritual textures. In a collaborative endeavour for this project, the band has joined forces with other avant-garde artists proficient in vocals, guitar, electronics, and visual arts. This synergy of talents results in a truly unique audiovisual package, setting the stage for a captivating and boundary-pushing musical experience”.

Embodied by Nathan L. (flaubosax, flute, electronics), Søren Høi (drums), and Uldis Vitol (bass), Bye Bye Tsunami infuses guest guitar from Manlio Maresca on one song, and guest vocals from the likes of Sigurd Neimann, Francesco Colocci, Neker, and Sabiwa throughout the record. Eating was mixed and mastered by Marco Colocci, and features art by Frances Lili Farmer, with the design/layout handled by Yunyen Chuang.

The group reveals, “On the planet WU無, human infants are intentionally bred to represent power within a select circle of elite Dog-God oligarchs. These influential figures participate in public esoteric rituals, providing entertainment for the drug-controlled baby boomer population. A scarce minority, opting not to entirely adhere to societal norms, move discreetly in the guise of mannequins. Identified solely by their unique trait, these individuals can emit a potent rainbow laser beam from their buttocks. Now awakening, they arm themselves with the goal of fulfilling the Tsunami prophecy, aiming to reclaim access to the elusive fruits of control.”

The first course from the EP reaches the population through a video filmed and directed by Yun Yen Chuang for its title track, the band noting, “With the incredible collaboration of Manlio Maresca on guitar and Sigurd Neimann on vocals, ‘Eating’ is a visceral complaint about all the challenges we are forced to endure every day for the rest of our lives.” 

It is some kind of splatter movie or at least some kind of splatter gun attack, disrupted rhythms, entropic noise, stolen words, some kind of experimental attack on all you’re senses at one, those rhythms are different, they do sound like an onslaught of paintball guns fired at your front door, they do sound like they’re not going to let you out, they do have a piece of music called Good Morning Faust and another about their dog not liking them, can’t say I agree with their dog, not sure about that album cover…  (sw) 

Bandcamp

The Smile – Cutouts (XL Recordings) – The threesome that are The Smile back again with their second album of 2024, we’re we expecting that? I wasn’t fully tuned in, seems they are. Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood combined with the exceptional drummer (and producer) that is Tom Skinner, back with more already. Do kind of like this whole Smile thing, kind of like it more than Radiohead, it all seems a little less stiff, a little more relaxed, a touch less formal. Kind of like that Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood don’t want to spend years obsessively completing another ‘perfect’ Radiohead album, I like that they want to keep moving on (although The Smile do kind of sound rather perfect to these ears). Jonny Greenwood has in the past said that he’d prefer it if Radiohead records were 90 percent as good as they are, but came out twice as often. I like the way these things from The Smile almost happen without any big fanfare. They’re not really a Radiohead spin off, The Smile are surely something more than that? Similar palette, same colour range, just something a little less pressured. Their second album of 2024 then, pulled together from the same sessions that produced Wall of Eyes, too good to be dismissed as out-takes or things not good enough for the previous album though.

There’s something gently, something almost effortlessly electrifying about these songs, about the way they work, about the way they’re formed. There’s all kinds of colour in here, different flavours, all instantly identified, experiments contained, some of it feeling like Discipline era King Crimson, exotic rhythms, all talk, regal. Rather beautiful, there is talk of menace, not getting that though, creative tension, positively so. A chemistry that these three musicians have developed over a couple of years of constant touring and recording – they were excellent last time we saw them, I suspect they’ll be even better next time. They’ve built themselves a fine back catalogue already. There’s bits of 5/4 here, hints of things hip hop people would use is a second, bits of things that may have been in sketchbooks or hinted at before. Let them colours fly, there’s some seriously good music here, dare I say life changing music or at least life changering in terms of your musical outlook… 

The Smile                   

And well, albums, we, do cherry pick, we do…