Emily Edrosa – Another Wave Is Coming

If you’ve managed to miss the boat on Emily Edrosa from her days with the band Street Chant then all you’ve gotta do is have a listen to the opening track of Edrosa’s first full length solo album, She Agreed, to realise the calibre of talent we’re dealing with here. It’s a heartbreaking tale of a first love gone awry amidst a journey of discovering one’s own identity that’ll leave you just a little stunned before the upbeat rocker NCEA kicks in as track two... also a great song but with a very different tone. At which point you’re happy to go wherever Emily Edrosa is gonna take you. Aotearoa has a great lineage of hyper-literate indie rock but Another Wave Is Coming is more than that, Wade Thru is one of the most irrepressible rock and roll tunes you’ll hear all year and Action isn’t far behind it. All sung in a distinctive kiwi accent too, right on.

Chris Stapleton – Starting Over

On first listen it’s another selection of quality tunesmanship from a master country craftsman. By the third or fourth listen those tunes have unveiled themselves, revealing so much depth, to the point where this album might be a bit of masterpiece. Stapleton’s voice is enormously commanding, wringing every necessary emotion from his subtle lyrics. And this is a sneaky great guitar album too... the real ones know that the line that separates country from blues is just an arbitrary (and racially motivated) one. Chris Stapleton is definitely a real one. Starting Over is a lovely Jason Isbell type folk country ditty, Devil Always Made Me Think Twice absolutely rages with rockin’ power, Cold serves up blues on ice, Joy Of My Life is romantic purity, Worry B Gone is a reefer-totin’ strut, You Should Probably Leave is an ingeniously written country-soul jam. If you’ve never wanted to go to Arkansas before then you will after hearing what should now be the state anthem. This record is STACKED, mate. Just, ah... maybe skip over Maggie’s Song. It might even be the best song of the lot but it’s an ode to his dearly departed dog so safe to say you’ll need the tissues on hand.

Russ - Chomp

Perhaps you want rhymes, bars and flows of the highest quality to help you find a zone to take your forth into 2021? Russ tends to dabble in that vibe and has taken a deep dive into that vibe for his latest project ‘Chomp’ which has him teaming up with KXNG Crooked, Ab-Soul, DJ Premier, Busta Rhymes and Benny The Butcher for a hefty dose of hip hop. There are only six jams on offer and each has Russ sharing the track with a respected hip hop wordsmith, except for ‘Inside Job’ where DJ Premier handles the production. This is a clear move from Russ to work with a certain type of artist and it works out pretty damn well, perfect for the rewind button.

DJ Blackpower - BLP2020 King of the Night

Fresh off an underground smash ‘Weight of the World’ MIKE pops up late in 2020 under his producer alias dj blackpower for ‘BLP2020 King of the Night’. Naturally, that means that Weight of the World was predominantly produced by dj blackpower and the vibe is continued as dj blackpower lays down a jerky-minimalistic sound for MIKE/dj blackpower to work over. Fans of Earl Sweatshirt will peep the similarities and while you’ll struggle to find an up-tempo wave to ride here, dj blackpower provides immense variety in his production and maintains a darker overtone throughout the project. Then there’s insightful poetry laid on top and you’ll find your mind wandering into various thoughts from the introspective words on offer.

Na Noise – Waiting For You

More kiwi rock and roll and anyone who digs a bit of jangly, reverberating guitar is gonna love the grooves that Na Noise nestle into. Think Allah-Las and La Luz, that kinda sound. Shuffling beats, strutting bass lines, smooth vocal harmonies, and electric guitar leads as twisty and sharp as shells on the beach. Apparently the first side of the album is the newer stuff and the second side is the older stuff (the album was recorded over two years)... there’s not a huge difference though. More organ sounds in the newer ones, maybe. Doesn’t matter - they’re all good tunes. Long live the glory of fuzz pop.

Larkin Poe – Kindred Spirits

Larkin Poe have come up in the last few years on the back of a few really fantastic blues rock records, bringing a modern sensibility to interpretations of old classics mixed with some really great originals. They’ve also got a bit of a reputation for their really excellent homemade cover videos on YouTube and over lockdown they expanded that idea into a full on covers record. There are some obvious candidates here (Neil Young, Moody Blues, Bo Diddley, Allman Bros) and some not so obvious (Phil Collins & Post Malone). All of them do something innovative with the source material, Megan Lovell’s gorgeous slide guitar working wonders as sister Rebecca croons. Fly Away, Rockin’ In The Free World, and Bell Bottom Blues go fantastic though not all of the tunes are as successful as those. Still, the biggest problem is that there are only eleven tracks. Larkin Poe could easily have served up triple that and still kept it entertaining. Definitely a few gems amongst this lot.

Roc Marciano - Mt Marci

Consider Roc Marciano the best rapper you don’t know about and if you do know all about Roc Marciano, you deserve control of the homies’ aux cord. A veteran of independent New York music, Marciano is back in his excessively smooth word-play and bars pocket with ‘Mt Marci’ while also taking charge of a simple yet extravagant production style. Marciano calls in Schoolboy Q, Action Bronson and Kool Keith as notable features as well as opening the ears to the likes of Stove God Cook$ and Trent Truce in this 16 jam album and it serves as a mandatory listen, best suited for when you wanting to groove on out.

Cut Worms – Nobody Lives Here Anymore

It’s long. Let’s get that out of the way with first, this is a true double album with 17 tracks dragged across 80 minutes and that can be a lot. Maybe attack it in shuffle mode first. But it’s worth the attempts because Max Clarke’s country-psych infused melodic throwback rock goes pretty great. Think Gram Parsons if he spent more time listening to The Grateful Dead and Harry Nilsson. Maybe chuck some early Neil Young in there too, why not. And a bit of early Sun Records. We’re talking about old fashioned stylings and that’s the whole point – familiar ideas baked fresh, lean back in that ol’ rocking chair and let the sheer catchiness of tunes like All the Roads, The Golden Sky, Veteran’s Day, and Last Words to a Refugee ease you on into the evening.

Goodie Mob - Survival Kit

Having risen through the Atlanta scene to blow up alongside Outkast as part of the legendary ‘Dungeon Family’, Goodie Mob’s latest offering Survival Kit serves as a timely dose of funk, thumping bass, and a variety of delivery styles. You’d be wise to roll back to Goodie Mob’s first album ‘Soul Food’ from 1995 to acquaint yourself with the Goodie Mob style and then pop back to Survival Kit where Cee-Lo Green, Big Gipp, Khujo and T-Mo are obviously much older, wiser and perfectly poised to offer commentary on various 2020 matters. Both Andre 3000 and Big Boi make separate appearances (on consecutive tracks) and Chuck D sparks the album off as only he can. For fans from the Soul Food days, this album has more than enough juice to keep you engaged and for those just tapping into the unique Goodie Mob vibes, Survival Kit contains all the Goodie Mob bits that we love along with an interesting perspective from Atlanta’s veterans.

Wyndham Earl - Epoch

Not sure if this dude should get credit for being named after a Twin Peaks villain of if they should lose credit for picking a season two character. S’pose you can’t really call your project BOB though can ya? Anyway, this ain’t an Angelo Badalamenti covers band, Wyndham Earl (aka Andrew Wilkins) plays some mean jams. Hardly a word is spoken until the excellent final track Crossing Bridges, instead it’s an open-minded swirl of instrumental wobbliness and funky production. On WE’s Bandcamp it calls the album: “a psychedelic trip through dusty, downbeat, cosmic compositions that bridge the synaptic gaps between hip hop, prog, jazz and everything in between.” And that sounds about right. Modern rhythmic sensibilities with a wide variety of dense, melodic sounds to keep you tuned in and turned up and dropped out.

Osees – Metamorphosed

They’re still one of those if you know you know bands but these last five years have been one long winning streak for Thee Oh Sees (or whatever John Dwyer’s calling the group these days). Only problem is it’s hard to keep up as album after album is fired off. Metamorphosed is sort of an outtake record from the Face Stabber sessions (2019), a heavier more proggy take on Dwyer’s garage rock roots. Expect a few more synth noises to go with the churning guitar and unstoppable drumming (Oh Sees are truly one of the all time great air drumming bands), also expect some jammier territory to be traversed. Only five tracks here but The Virologist is 14 minutes long and I Got A Lot is a 23 minute epic... all emblematic of the mile-a-minute way that Dwyer composes his tunes. Dunno that there’s anything here for the casual listener but for those of us constantly enthralled by the relentless creativity of one of the best in the business... well, there are no bad Osees albums so it goes without saying, really.

Statik Selektah - The Balancing Act

When he isn’t collaborating with any number of hip-hoppers for albums or mixtapes, Statik Selektah drops a project every few years that serves as a marker of hip-hop and a roll call for all sorts of different artists. This year we get ‘The Balancing Act’ and it follows the same formula for such Statik Selektah projects where a wide range of artists (usually rappers) join forces with the producer and Statik Selektah somehow finds a way to provide a suitable sound for each artist mixed in with an overall level of cohesion that would be tricky to navigate. There is also value in having artists from different locations and age-brackets to ensure that there is variety in the perspectives used; from Nas, Method Man, Bun B and Evidence to KOTA The Friend, Jack Harlow and Haile Supreme. Splash in some Gary Clarke Jr and this is well worth the play as a collection of funky tunes.

David Nance – Staunch Honey

David Nance became a bit of a Bandcamp hero a few years back with his ramshackle track by track renditions of a couple classic albums (Beatles For Sale & Lou Reed’s Berlin) which are absolutely worth a crack and his last album, Peace and Slightly Pulverised, got him some more buzz on top of his earlier lo-fi offerings. But it’s this one right here where he’s finally come into his own. You can tell he’s got that DIY background because the same creative construction still shines through with Staunch Honey, lending a slightly ragged edge these songs. That ragged edge isn’t how the Beatles woulda done it but Nance is aiming for something different (also, he’s not the Beatles, tbf). Tunes like Black Mustang, The Merchandise, My Love The Dark and I, and July Sunrise are fantastic, and they remain fantastic stretched out into longer jams like this. Old mate can certainly shred on the frets. He also sings with weary command. This one’s worth many a spin.

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