It's another list of our favourite things to hit the 4ZZZ Music Library and our last for the year. If you see anything you like you can request it: requests@4zzz.org.au

You can also SMS a request: 0416 281 220

Or call: 07 3252 1555

Thanks to Lonnie Gilroy, Krishan Meepe and Ian Powne for their contributions to this list.

Australian Artists:

All India Radio: Fall Remixes (Indie/MGM)
- An unusual thing: AIR’s Martin Kennedy decided to reach into his back-catalogue and rework the 2007 album he did with vocalist Leona Prue. A very strong triphop vibe is, perhaps, more timely now than it was then and the changes that Kennedy works are surprisingly subtle: a fuller swell here, a booming echo there. Something very personal about all this. You may or may not get it. (Chris Cobcroft)

Carrie Phillis and the Downtown 3: Let's Go (Single) (Conquest of Noise)
- Last year, Carrie Phillis and her Downtown 3 released a great EP of retro rock’n’roll. At the time her sound was more Shangri-Las than Suzi Quatro, I reckon, but on this newly minted number for the increasingly stylish Conquest Of Noise, things get all Joan Jett. There ain’t a bit wrong with that: throat-tearing goodness. (Chris Cobcroft)

Client Liaison: Free of Fear (Single) (Indie)
- Unless you’re Client Liaison, your ‘80s revival is not extremely authentic enough. This new single, Free Of Fear, should speak to that, eminently. With a Pet Shop Boys elegance that stirs the mid-tempo beats, this is one smooth dance anthem. (Chris Cobcroft)

Damen Samuel: The Whisper (Single) (Indie)
- The second single we’ve had from the Melbournian singer-songwriter. The folk-rock is very easygoing, to the point of being MORish, but, once again, Samuel’s superb voice, which really does sound like the love-child of Nick Drake and Antony Hegarty, erases all other concerns. (Chris Cobcroft)

Emma Russack: You Shouldn’t (Single) (Spunk)
- More emotional knives are lovingly woven in to this advance single from Emma’s forthcoming record. Soft and sad rock, no-one does it quite like Emma Russack. (Chris Cobcroft)

Foam: All My Friends (Single) (Indie)
- Starts out sounding a bit like Pearl Jam / Nirvana unplugged...actually a lot like. Soon everything gets reassuringly loud and fuzzy. It would not be inaccurate to say that they’re fricking obsessed with the ‘90s. Culled from a split 7” with that rather good band, Puck, Foam don’t do a bad job of holding up their end. (Chris Cobcroft)

Gutter Gods: Innersense (Cool Death)
- If the title Innersense seems a strange mismatch for the rabid frothing of frontman Alan Cowie’s punishing and messy hardcore delivery, I can understand. It’s like there’s a competition between some kind of freaky mysticism and frighteningly uncontrollable rage. Get this cognitive dissonance mastered by Mikey Young and you’ve got a record. (Chris Cobcroft)

Harmony: Carpetbombing / Carpetbombing - Deconstructions (Poison City)
- We’ve waited for an awfully long time for Harmony’s new full-length, but the wait has, as you may know, been worth it. The old 7”s click into place as part of a nuanced whole of lo-fi noise rock, screamed soul and, as always, beautiful close vocal harmony. One of the reasons that it took so long, is that the band have been curating their own covers album, featuring a who’s who of interesting Australian musos, like rockers TV Colours, Adalita and Spinning Rooms or producers and beat makers like Mikey Young, Qua and Heinz Reigler. I’m not sure more was needed just yet: Carpetbombing is a huge thing to digest. Nonetheless it is most welcome. (Chris Cobcroft)

Hayden Calnin: Comatose (Single) (Create/Control)
- A grandiose, polished sound from Melbourne songsmith Hayden Calnin. The song has an emptiness about, the kind you get when you break up with someone which is of course what the song’s about. In a similar vein to some of the more sparse moments of Volcano Choir, this track is poignant yet simple. (Krishan Meepe)

Iggy Azalea: Fancy Ft. Charli XCX (Single) (Island Def Jam / Universal)
- Pretty shamelessly commercial, and it’s kind of hard to think of her as Australian in most meaningful ways, but also pretty damn good. (Chris Cobcroft)

Jackie Onassis: Juliette EP (Sony)
- Jackie Onassis manage to be a thing to quite a lot of people. A long way from backpack rap, but not too commercial; not too broadly Australian but with plenty of local flavour; not so slickly produced that there’s no grit, but this is pretty damn smooth. I’m reminded of the easy accomplishment of Bliss N Eso, although I think this may be more unassuming, and the better for it. This is a recipe for Australian hip hop that tastes just right. (Chris Cobcroft)

The Love Junkies: Chemical Motivation (Single) (Siiick Records/MGM)
- The Love Junkies set affable indie-rock on fire as a tribute to their heroes, like Mudhoney and The Pixies. Strangely, the straight-up indie bits still feel kinda ‘safe’, but when they go for it, they explode. (Chris Cobcroft)

Mudlark: Zimdahl (Wood and Wire)
- This Perth duo combine the fairly traditional pairing of guitar and drums to sound - much less traditionally - like a mix between instrumental hip hop, math rock and jazz. As hip hop breaks go, these are pretty savage and this isn’t exactly Dilla, but it’s pretty intriguing. (Chris Cobcroft)

The Night Party: Get to You (Rum Jungle Recodings)
- A great, raw, lo fi, groovy, soul infused record from Melbourne's The Night Party. The best tracks (including the first, Love In Vain and Such A Fool) are forlorn love songs, soulful numbers which sound as if they were recorded after a long, sad Saturday night (and who are we to say they weren't?) The bass begs you to dance and the crooning vocals invite you to sing along. (Lonnie Gilroy)

Piotr-Heslin: Piotr-Heslin (Wood and Wire)
- Derek Piotr and Paul Heslin are email collaborating producers (isn’t that the thing to do, now?) and their collection of arty techno beats, DIY instrumental sounds and collages of found sound are pretty cool. There’s a similarity in approach and playfulness of intent to Matmos’ last album, The Marriage Of True Minds. That was pretty good and so is this. (Chris Cobcroft)

Pollen Trio: Wreck (Wood and Wire)
- Pollen Trio sometimes sound like a bootleg of a bass music gig. Extreme low-fidelity sub-bass shudders threaten to overwhelm what would otherwise be pleasantly ambient synth treble loops. Here they sound like they’ve been stuffed in a canvas bag and are sinking towards the ocean floor. At other times PT sound like Zach Hill and The Boredoms having an argument over who blew the PA. If that sounds like your sort of thing, great! (Chris Cobcroft)

Rainbow Chan: Milk (Cassius Select Remix) (Single) (Silo Arts)
- Rainbow Chan gets the treatment from one of my favourites, Lavurn Lee, aka Cassius Select. Employing his now trademark style, Lee transforms Chan’s single Milk into a propulsive techno tune, with subtle but infectious African influences working their way into the syncopation. Excellent. (Chris Cobcroft)

Reverse Polarities: Desensitised (Single) (Big Village)
- Single in support of the tour. Consistently one of my favourite Australian hip hop crews. They bring a great balance of conscious hip hop, great skills & a complete lack of b-s in their approach to music.The soulful chorus in this is pretty hard to beat, too. (Chris Cobcroft)

Scenic: Ride The Thrill (Single) (Future Classic)
- You may have felt the ripples of the international waves these Perth kids have been making. Previously signed to Tigersushi, their latest stuff is on FC, and it is brim full of psychedelic beats. They give a big thumbs up to Jagwar Ma, but you’ll also hear snatches of other folks they like, such as Air and Primal Scream. However, while this pays homage to the past, there’s something unique in the way the psych meets electronica here, and it’s pretty exciting. (Chris Cobcroft)

Sticky Fingers: Gold Snafu (Sureshaker / Tone Defeat)
- Touring around the country in support of this new single and, presumably, raising the hell they’re known for, Sticky Fingers continue to make it worth it by being excellent musicians and songwriters. The trippy vibe of this track blends excellently with a strong pop sensibility, which is a very pleasingly long way away from the cookie-cutter indie-pop sound of most of the current crop. (Chris Cobcroft)

The Water Board: Silver Surfer (Single) (Indie)
- Heavy psych / stoner from this Sydney band. A euphoric wall of sound to lay your out-of-head experience on. (Chris Cobcroft)

The Vainglories: The Visitor (Wood and Wire)
- You could use the nightmarish ambience of The Visitor to re-score all the scariest bits out of Lost Highway or Mullholland Drive, or just listen to it the next time you walk through an abandoned oil refinery at midnight, if you want to permanently freak yourself out. Throw in a few piano chords, isolated glitches and a vocal loop that sounds like the recursive voice of madness and you’re set. Apparently this was the score for a dance piece, but I bet it couldn’t have been as scary as the things this makes me imagine. (Chris Cobcroft)

The Woods Of Desolation: As The Stars (Northern Silence)
- The third album from the black, doom bloke out of the ‘Gong. Known only as D., he is far and away the loudest one man band I’ve ever heard. Gimmicks aside, if you’ve been enjoying the crossover sounds of doom, black metal and post-rock exemplified by a band like Deafheaven, then The Woods Of Desolation is surely one for you. The sound is less doomy murk and more an almost unbelievable shimmer, like the inspirational apex of a post-rock epic, or as though a horizon wide wall of fire were rushing toward you. (Chris Cobcroft)

Local Artists:

Brenda Kelly: Hibiscus Kave (Indie)
- Pleasant melodies and surprisingly clever lyrics from Brisbane based country singer/songwriter Brenda Kelly. Definitely a (lo-fi) indie production, but that's not necessarily a bad thing at all. The melancholy Lonesome Girl is a highlight from the three songs provided; a sad tale about a lonesome girl (surprisingly), complete with ukulele and harmonica, which still somehow brings a smile: "He took the colour from her TV" is the smartest and most bittersweet lyric I've heard in awhile. (Lonnie Gilroy)

Four Zero One Four: CBD (Indie)
- This has been out for a while, but we just got a hard copy. The extremely lo-fi presentation makes Four Zero One Four seem more ‘punk’ than their US, melodic style would otherwise suggest. It’s an interesting clash of different eras in punk and one that the band pull off, largely because they’re bloody good at what they do. (Chris Cobcroft)

Inside The Whale: Manifest (Indie)
- An interesting blend of sounds that you don’t hear too often out of Brisbane. Inside The Whale bring together styles as diverse as melodic-punk, indie-rock, folk-rock, post-hardcore and post-rock. It’s a range of talents that gives the band a wide palette, with which they achieve surprising things: like they were City And Colour, Mogwai and Fucked Up all at once, but without alienating anyone. Its quite impressive to arrive at those goals and they do so with an admirable subtlety and restraint. Many things to many people. (Chris Cobcroft)

Jakarta Criers: Alright For Me (Single) (Indie)
- These guys have got their blues-rocking down, they’re real tight. Following in the footsteps of The Black Keys, they know what they’re doing. (Chris Cobcroft)

Nonsemble: Byegone (Single) (Indie)
- The post-rock / classical crossover group have cooked up another cover, this time it’s Volcano Choir’s Byegone, which fits their piano-led, string-section heavy style admirably. (Chris Cobcroft)

No Sister: Portrait In A Rearview Mirror (Single) (Indie)
- Just a coupl’a tracks we snarfed up from the web. No Sister have all the bored cool and arty depth of Sonic Youth in their prime and, let’s face it, there are a whole mess of bands it would be worse to sound like, than Sonic Youth. (Chris Cobcroft)

Roku Music: Collider (Sonic Masala)
- Pretty great shoegaze. Collider sometimes threatens to submerge everything in truly doomish guitar, but they always hang on by a fingernail to the melody that lilts pleasantly through. Crushingly wonderful. (Chris Cobcroft)

ROTH: Blo Mo Ft. Dead Wolves (Single) (Indie)
- On this single ROTH aka Race Of The Harridan bring together oldschool power-pop and garage with splattery, punk overtones, maybe sounding a bit like The Jam? They add local thunderers Dead Wolves on the chorus for extra laddish vocal power. One thing I can say, it sounds good. (Chris Cobcroft)

Sampology: Show Me (Single) (Indie)
- Sampology brings the bass music on this imperiously banging number. Fuzzy synth brass slams against tribal beats. It’s not like it hasn’t been done before, but it’s pretty bloody entertaining. (Chris Cobcroft)

The Steady As She Goes: Dangerous And Dead (Indie)
- Anybody who lists Morphine and Chelsea Wolfe as influences can’t be all bad. Tal Wallace’s one man band certainly has a bit in common with the burning swamp rock of the former and the necro-folk of the latter. The inexorable thud of the kick drum underwrites the chiming guitar and Tal’s lyrical baritone, murmuring dark, heretical truths into your ear. (Chris Cobcroft)

Transvaal Diamond Syndicate: Estranged Blues (Indie / MGM)
- The field’s a lot more crowded with fuzzy, heavy, blues-rock bands than when I first came across Transvaal Diamond Syndicate, but on their latest, Estranged Blues, the boys still hold their own. They also imbibe a lot more of that speedy-pickin’, nu-roots vibe than some other bands, so there’s a nice crossover potential there. (Chris Cobcroft)

Tincture: Similar Circles (Single) (Silo Arts)
- An absorbing wash of BoC / John Carpenter / Vangelis synth sheen backgrounds the trap snares and a river of r’n’b-ish vocoder runs through the middle. This track is both finely crafted and epic, one that would impress on the dancefloor or through the headphones. Get the **** in my Delorean and let’s cruise. (Chris Cobcroft)

Young Franco: FUTUREFUNK (Indie)
- Nu-disco and electro-funk join hands in this sweaty EP. As pumping as this is, Young Franco also displays tasteful restraint, placing his vocal samples with care and constructing a sound of admirable efficiency. From one so young, very impressive. (Chris Cobcroft)

Overseas Artists:

Actress: Ghettoville (Werkdiscs / Ninja Tune)
- Actress’ last album, R.I.P, was one of the prime-movers of the techno / house revival, fusing oldschool dance with all sorts of other strange things. His new one, however, dips back into his own past: a boneyard of sparse and unforgiving mid to downtempo beats, laid up against dark and ominous backgrounds. In a way this is another fusion record, but this time it’s downbeat / dance / industrial / ambient. It may not be as rewarding as R.I.P, but it certainly seems uncompromising. (Chris Cobcroft)

Against Me!: Transgender Dysphoria Blues (Total Treble Music)
- Very personal records can make for difficult records and not necessarily great listening. You might guess from the title that this is Laura Jane Grace’s insider’s guide to being a girl in a boy’s body: a job which is not without its complications.
Fortunately this is one of those cases where inner turmoil produces storming musical results. This is loud Americana that easily rubs shoulders with the better moments of The Gaslight Anthem and even Springsteen. In the style of The Boss, Grace is also telling a story that should be told. (Chris Cobcroft)

Alcest: Shelter (Prophecy Productions)
- French band Alcest’s fourth full-length record is their most accessible to date. The warmth of the fusion of post-rock, indie and folk could never really be mistaken for black metal...there may possibly some post-metal yearning in there. It is, for the most part, a warm and enveloping sound that will engage anyone with even a passing regard for post-rock. (Chris Cobcroft)

Angel Olsen: Burn Your Fire For No Witness (Jagjaguwar)
- An anticipated new record, the first for Jagjaguwar by the former Will Oldham collaborator. Stylistically varied - from anti-folk to indie-rock to retro-country-rocking and slow-burning singer-songwriter balladry. It’s all united by her Oldham or Niblett-esque sadness and a lyrical gift the equal of either. (Chris Cobcroft)

Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks: Little Fang (Single) (Domino / EMI)
- Unlike the murky, water-damaged sounds of his last little trip away from all things Animal Collective, Avey Tare’s new advance single for his next solo record is, quite listenable. Like Animal Collective at its poppiest? Maybe even poppier than that. At the very least it makes you interested to hear what the record is like. (Chris Cobcroft)

Behemoth: The Satanist (EVP / Rocket)
- The tenth album by the veteran, Polish, death / black metallers. Nothing short of a tour-de-force, receiving stellar reviews across the board. I don’t know if I’d describe this echoing engine of destruction as cross-over material, but you never know, give it a go. (Chris Cobcroft)

Bryce Dessner: St. Carolyn By The Sea (Single) (Deutsche Grammaphon / Universal)
- The National’s Bryce Dessner has long liked to mix it up with classical music. From work with crossover groups like Clogs or, more recently, The Kronos Quartet, Dessner has also written quite a bit of orchestral music, like St. Carolyn By The Sea, which mixes up elements of minimalism and Morricone-esque spaghetti western soundtrack, performed here by the Copenhagen Phil. under Andre De Ridder. This ‘single’ will be included with several other works and the Suite From There Will Be Blood by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood, on a release due in early March. (Chris Cobcroft)

Cheatahs: Cheatahs (Wichita / Pias / Mushroom)
- You may well be able to hear echoes of your favourite fuzzy, alt. band of the ‘90s somewhere in Cheatahs debut full-length. From My Bloody Valentine to Heatmiser they wear their influences on their sleeve, but, as everyone will tell you: who cares? A thoroughly enjoyable blast from the past.
(Chris Cobcroft)

Cuban Brothers: So Sweet (Single) (Central Station / Universal)
- You may have heard this sugary little slice of neo-disco before and the version with the nice guest spot for Diafrix, and now you have a smashing trap remix from new hype kids Slumberjack. Not subtle and that’s fine. (Chris Cobcroft)

Crosses: Crosses (Sumerian)
- Deftones’ Chris Moreno, Far’s Shauen Lopez and Chuck Doom in this synth-rock outfit’s first full-length that’s a little bit electro-pop and a little bit industrial. The band don’t spend a million dollars a month on eye-liner but sound like they should. (Chris Cobcroft)

Culted: Oblique To All Paths (Relapse)
- Relapse never fail to deliver, Culted have created an interesting piece of stoner/doom/black/fucking cool metal. The five piece are partly Canadian, partly Swedish and have never been in the same room, all collaboration happening through the magics of the internet. Crushing guitar work is the driving factor here, the riffs sound like if Tony Iommi died and was resurrected through some pagan ritual and had to play slower and louder to make up for being undead. Distorted vocals and a touch of experimental noise and synths are littered throughout this thing, culminating in a crushing barrage of sound. (Krishan Meepe)

Damon Albarn: Everyday Robots (Radio Edit) (Single) (Parlophone / EMI)
- If this single is anything to go by, Damon Albarn’s first real solo outing (outside of a grab-bag of collected, early demos) seems like it will be more introspective and sample based (like a downer Gorillaz?). An intriguing and complex piece of music, Everyday Robots opens with a snatch of someone muttering about people not knowing where they're going before a eastern flute sample provides an odd melody. Backed up by some minimal piano and and a downtempo drum loop. The minimalism forces you to look at yourself to give the piece some meaning, if you find it you'll probably find this single beautiful in a way you're not used to. (Krishan Meepe)

Dolly Parton: Blue Smoke (Dolly / Sony)
- Her forty-second studio record. Just roll that around in your head for a while. There’s a fair old chance you don’t get to have that many records without actually being pretty good. Despite her trashy reputation (which she relishes) Dolly is an excellent musician. I loved her 1999 bluegrass record, The Grass Is Blue. Blue Smoke is great too, combining the best elements of bluegrass: easy accessibility, intense virtuosity and wonderfully manipulative hooks. Not sold? There’s a blue-grass / country cover of Bon Jovi’s Lay Your Hands On Me. Hey, come back! Really, it’s great!! (Chris Cobcroft)

Dum Dum Girls: Too True (Sub Pop / Inertia)
- After the heartbreak of the End Of Daze EP, where front-woman Dee Dee dealt with the death of her mother, it shouldn’t be surprising that their new album tacks in the opposite direction. The gothic tinges to the shoegaze and dreampop, the hints of eeevil lurking in the lyrics, are all cheered up by a pop lightness running across the course of the record. She’s quoted as saying she wanted to channel Madonna as much as Siouxsie, here. It may not be the most exciting thing the band has ever achieved, but, mission accomplished. (Chris Cobcroft)

Esteban Adame: Home Sick (ICAN / UR / Bodega House Records / EPM)
- All sorts of things boiling in this techno cauldron. Ambient, electro, idm, latin & disco too. Shifting mood with the capriciousness of a cat and the effortless grace. MGUN’s remix is as schizophrenic as the rest and just as welcome.(Chris Cobcroft)

Indian: From All Purity (Relapse)
- Truly smashing doom out of Chicago. Indian play off their crushingly bassy guitar rumble against the razor sharp shriek of their vocalist in songs that are often surprisingly energetic for a doom band. In fact there’s plenty to keep you guessing here, there’s a lot to like about Indian. (Chris Cobcroft)

Gentlemen: Night Reels II (First Love / Week Of Wonders)
- More lush but energetically paced psych pop from this London band. Thickly orchestrated with a great ear for rich harmony, there’s very little to dislike about these hypnotically retro sounds.
(Chris Cobcroft)

George FitzGerald: Magnetic (Single) (Double Six / Domino / EMI)
- The pulsating throb of drum and bass in this track lays the strong foundation for some phasey synths and low, mumbled vocals. Intriguing and irresistible, everything about this song reflects its title and makes you wanna grope someone who would fit the adjectives you use to describe the song. (Krishan Meepe)

The Glitch Mob: Can't Kill Us (Single) (Glass Air)
- This is almost like Apollo 440 for 2014. The snarling bro-step bass-drops and guitar-god antics are, potentially, a bit cringe inducing. On the other hand this is a fairly bad-ass bit of synth-rock. Meh, make up your own mind. (Chris Cobcroft)

Kevin Drew: Good Sex (Single) (Create Control/Arts and Crafts)
- A very inviting title, this is the leading single off the Broken Social Scene frontman's new album Darlings. It's all quite grown up and extremely easy to listen to, much like an epiphany. Thanks Kevin. (Ian Powne)

Lo-Fang: When We’re Fire (Single) (4AD / Remote Control)
- The genre jumping LA artist keeps us guessing: the latest advance single from his very soon to be released record is an addictive blend of equally propulsive electro-funk and synth-rock. Jamie Lidell seems to be my go-to-guy when searching for comparisons to this kind of stuff, these days, and this stacks up well against his stuff. Smooth and breathy vocals creeping amongst the pounding beats, there is an understated electricity playing through all of this. I’m looking forward to the record quite a lot. (Chris Cobcroft)

Marissa Nadler: July (Sacred Bones / Bella Union)
- Gothic echoes and disorienting wails of slide guitar wrap the latest album from Marissa Nadler. Her first for Sacred Bones, it is appropriately full of half-hidden horrors, lurking in the fey lilt of her voice. (Chris Cobcroft)

The National: I Need My Girl (Single) (4AD / Remote Control)
- Hardly need to recommend a National single, especially when the album has so thoroughly done the rounds. More darkly shining indie-rock from a band who are masters of their craft. (Chris Cobcroft)

Obliteration: Black Death Horizon (Relapse)
For those who like their death metal old school, underground and creepy, you might wanna check this out. Hailing from Norway, the production is raw, lending to the sound of 30 years ago when bands like Morbid Angel were cool. The guitar solos on this record even sound like Azagthoth was a major influence. There is the odd touch of black metal here, they are from Norway after all, but everything about Black Death Horizon still sounds like a band loving what they're doing in a time when metal has to be 'forward thinking' or contain 1.8 breakdowns per minute. (Krishan Meepe)

Off!: Void You Out (Single) (Vice / Warner)
- They might be a supergroup, featuring folks involved in certain, high-profile cluster-f***s, but this is still refreshingly, oldschool hardcore, to my ears: bulls*** free. (Chris Cobcroft)

The Notwist: Close To The Glass (Sub Pop / Spunk)
- Now in their 35th year, the German music-makers continue to mix-up indie with frozen, factory sounds that would please their machine masters, Kraftwerk. The balance of mood, between the warmth of the indie and the undeniable chill of those glitchy electronics is sometimes as pleasant as standing in front of a warm stove on a cold day and at others like being uncomfortably close to a tanker explosion in a snowstorm. (Chris Cobcroft)

Quantic: Duvido (Single) (Tru Thoughts)
- If you can unpick all the influences going into this advance single for the new album by British born, Colombian based producer Will Holland, aka Quantic, then you’re doing better than I am. African vox ride over Latin jazz and other dance rhythms (from...I don’t know where) and fuzzy synthesisers. I don’t know what style you would call this exactly, but in the vein of something like the Kuduro that Buraka Som Sistema do, this is almost uncontrollably dancey. (Chris Cobcroft)

Red Fang: Whales And Leeches (Relapse)
- Like a well groomed child of Mastodon and Queens of The Stone Age, there is something about Red Fang that is instantly attractive. The riffage is catchy but you can still bang your head to it and while there's the vocals trade in fury for smarts, they certainly carry more weight than Josh Homme being funny. Probably one of the more accessible acts Relapse is responsible for. (Krishan Meepe)

Senyawa: Sanepa (Sampler) (Dualplover)
- Experimental madness from Indonesia. Japanese instruments and tribal rhythms come together with extended vocal techniques and generally frantic energy in waves of tense builds into frenzied explosions. And repeat. Sorta like The Boredoms if they had a Gamelan. (Krishan Meepe)

Snowbird: Moon (Bella Union)
- Simon Raymonde (Cocteau Twins) and singer-songwriter Stephanie Dosen team-up for this full-length that probably sounds a bit like what you were expecting. The same pop sensibility that lurked in the gothic shadows of advance single, Porcelain, laces its fingers through the whole album. Again, it is that warmth of 70’s, AM pop, Dosen sounding something like a sepulchral Karen Carpenter. It brings a nice twist to the dream-pop and shows that Raymonde is not only a pioneer, but a master, capable of further developing his legacy. (Chris Cobcroft)

Tinariwen: Emmaarr (Anti-)
- The sixth album by the Malian outfit continues to make hypnotic grooves out of a combination of blues-rock and local Tichumaren music (Tuareg guitar music, sometimes translated as ‘unemployed’ music - African dole-queue rock?). It’s so mind bending, it’s almost like krautrock, on occasion. Sounds great and fits in nicely with the variety of blues-fusions that have been appearing in ever greater numbers. In a strange way this reminds me of Darkside - being reminded of that can only ever be strange - but also that can hardly be bad. (Chris Cobcroft)

Wake Owl: Candy (Single) (Vagrant / Create/Control)
- His performing moniker might lead you to expect bland indie-folk-pop, but US / Canadian singer-songwriter Colyn Cameron instead produces a subtle blend of indie, a latin groove, and with his gentle falsetto, a quite fragile, blue-eyed soul. Infectious. (Chris Cobcroft)

Weekend Nachos: Still (Relapse)
- Balls to the wall assault of intensity from this Chicago outfit. Part powerviolence, part grindcore, this never lets up for a second and will make you hurt. The sheer intensity is something to behold, all production values are extremely raw, all vocals are shrieked amongst a frantic chaos of rumbling bass and guitars that could feedback at any given moment. You might need to lie down after this one. (Krishan Meepe)