Cate Le Bon – Pompeii

There are very few artists who had a stronger streak through the 2010s than Welsh psych-folker Cate Le Bon did. Deliciously weird tunes with her fantastic bouncing guitar lines... so good. After taking a year off from music to learn how to build chairs and tables (no kidding), CLB returned in 2019 with Reward, which signalled a distinct shift in her sound, adding saxophones and synths and 80s production vibes (think Kate Bush) to the mix with her electric guitar spending more time on the rack. Reward was cool but it felt transitional. Pompeii, meanwhile, feels like the link between her old stuff and her new. The sonic connection. And, mate, it is so bloody good. David Bowie has always felt like a touchstone for CLB but that influence has never been so explicit as it is here – we’re talking Berlin Bowie too, top shelf. Her countryman John Cale has to get a shout out too. However most of all this record sounds distinctly Cate Le Bon. She’s overflowing with creativity here, ideas all over the show from the profound to the absurd, and it’s an absolute delight. Literally every single song is superb.

Mild Orange - Looking For Space

Dunedin’s Mild Orange dropped their third album ‘Looking For Space’ and the 11-track project serves as a light, yet poignant journey. Mild Orange have a low key global audience and like all Aotearoa music that catches international listeners, there is a mellow Aotearoa vibe that permeates through their music. Looking For Space ties in healing emotions on top of wavy instruments that move between the stripped back simplicity and tapping into more expansive sounds, never losing that chill undertone regardless of how intense the lyrics might feel. This album is perfect to jam while cruising around Aotearoa or out in the garden, even more so when you stumble on a pocket of nifty guitar combos and drum patterns that brighten your day.

Drug Couple – Stoned Weekend

This is not a particularly subtle album. Miles and Becca Robinson are a married couple who make music together. Their band is called Drug Couple. The cover art for their debut record sees them in tuxedo and wedding dress puffing on a joint. The album itself is called Stoned Weekend. Again, not particularly subtle. Which is cool, it doesn’t need to be. Drug Couple simply gets the job done serving up DIY produced hazy strummers, mostly in that garage psych realm though with a country and folk influences. Like The Lemonheads with a hint of Willie Nelson, as well as the obvious touchstones of Wooden Shjips and Wilco and them sorts. It’s not particularly original or groundbreaking but it’s a smooth, rewarding listen with several silky earworms. Very much enjoyed it.

T.F. - Blame Kansas

Having heard T.F. tracks over the past few years with a distinctly west coasty gang-banging vibe, 'Blame Kansas' provides a fresh vibe and further growth with production from New York's Roc Marciano and Mephux. This combination delivers a stripped back, grimey east coast production style and those who know the Marciano vibe will enjoy his style intertwined with the LA tales from T.F.. 'Olathe' puts T.F. on a track with Marciano and Conway The Machine, highlighting a bridge between coasts and the sounds that headline independent hip-hop on either coasts. For those who have heard T.F. before, Blame Kansas is far more intricate and gritty than his previous work which also serves as a lovely entry point to a darker Los Angeles sound than most deliver.

Mitski – Laurel Hell

Mitksi writes a ripping tune, no doubt about it. Not too many in the indie rock world (whatever that term means in 2022) can engorge a song with as much raw emotion as she does. Her new album plays up even more to the new wave and electronic elements that were on display in 2018’s Be The Cowboy which, to be entirely honest, does kinda nullify the bombastic glory that lit up previous albums Bury Me at Makeout Creek and Puberty 2. So that’s a tad annoying. There’s nothing on par with Your Best American Girl here. But, again, Mitski is a superb songwriter so there’s plenty else to enjoy. Valentine, Texas is a great song. Heat Lightning has some delightful Velvet Underground things going on. Love Me More is a quality pop song. After reading that she previously conceived of this album as a punk and then a country record, pretty curious to see which direction she goes in next.

Molly Lewis – The Forgotten Edge EP

The idea of a specialist whistler sounds like a gimmick until you hear Aussie/American virtuoso Molly Lewis. This six track debut collection is utterly joyful. It’s laidback and funky, equal parts Ennio Morricone and David Axelrod with maybe just a hint of, like, Herb Alpert or something. Dunno. It’s very much an album that fits into that mysterious exotica label. Lewis refers to whistling as a “human theremin” and her music has a similar eeriness to that gloriously odd instrument. Gotta highlight the fantastic, almost cinematic, arrangements that Lewis has designed here too. The whistling brings you in but the vocal harmonies, the gentle rhythms, the tasteful brass, the almost dreamlike serenity of the album... that’s what seals the deal.

Luke Stewart & Jarvis Earnshaw Quartet – S/T

Ever wondered what sitar-based modern jazz sounds like? Of course you have. Well, wonder no more because sitar player/bandleader Jarvis Earnshaw’s teamed up with bass extraordinaire Luke Stewart – with drums and alto sax filling out the quartet – to create a rather remarkable piece of work. This thing is trippy and transcendental and virtuosic and all them things that jazz should be. There’s a loose melodic grounding but it’s probably a bit too loose to hold onto so let yourself flow with the tides instead. Might also help to find yourself in an altered state, to be fair.

Big K.R.I.T. - Digital Roses Don’t Die

When soul food is required, Big K.R.I.T. is the bloke to go to. Don’t overthink this project is what came to mind when pondering the funky love jams with the diversion away from bars, rhymes and hip-hop ideals providing a more basic musical package to enjoy. K.R.I.T. always has some heavy bass and southern thump to his jams which opens Digital Roses Don’t Die up to be played loud when cruising, although tracks like ‘Southside Of The Moon’ and ‘So Cool’ are delightful when tapping into a more intimate vibe. Don’t overthink this, just jam on out with some funky tunes.

Maria Elena Silva – Eros

The Ancient Greeks had words for several different types of love. Philia is about deep friendship. Ludus is a flirty or playful kind of love. Agape is selfless, universal love, the Latin translation of which (caritas) being the origin of the word ‘charity’. Pragma is a mature long-standing love like that between old married couples. Philautia is self-love (which varies from the negativity narcissism to the overwhelming positivity of self-compassion). And then there’s Eros: passionate love. This album, which came out several months back but only got onto the radar recently and deserves a shout out, is titled Eros. Maria Elena Silva has a voice that travels like a summer breeze, signing gently over these carefully arranged tunes offering a deeply vulnerable insight into a deeply vulnerable emotion (one of the reasons that the stoical Greeks differentiated all these different loves is that, apparently, the uncontrollability of Eros was kinda daunting to them). With subtle jazz touches (Jeff Parker plays some guitar on it) to go with a vaguely avant-garde approach - coalescing in a brilliant Frank Sinatra cover in the middle - this is a record best heard late at night via loud headphones. Hell of a listen.

Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros – Live In Colorado

Must be some Deadheads out there amongst y’all. If there are then here’s real treat, the first properly released collection from Bob Weir and the Wolf Bros (Don Was on bass & Jay Lane on drums) and it’s a belter of an album. Culled from four shows recorded in Colorado in June 2021, these are eight tracks (nine songs including the closing medley) which deliver that particular groovy groundedness that the Wolf Bros are able to provide. As far as Grateful Dead references go, Wolf Bros are way more Workingman’s than Aoxomoxoa. Emphasising the country/folk side of things – which was always a Bobby speciality to be fair. It’s laid-back but it’s not lazy. Mostly Dead tunes, though there’s an excellent Bob Dylan cover (Hard Rain) as well as Only A River from Weir’s very underrated 2016 solo album Blue Mountain. Great fun. Particularly dig the opening rendition of New Speedway Boogie.

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