Osees – A Foul Form

Whatever John Dwyer is up to, it’s always worth a listen. Whatever name the band best known as Thee Oh Sees is going by, they’re always going to serve up something tasty. A Foul Form is a good old fashioned hardcore album. Unleashing the punk with savage distorted mania. An onslaught of guitar and bass and drums. You can’t hardly understand a word that Dwyer sings (unless it’s the title of a song, since at least then you’ve got a clue) but you don’t need to because it’s all about the molten DIY production and the frenetic energy of the band itself. 22 minutes of scuzzy, scummy untamed glory.

Recitals – Orbit I

When folks mention legendary kiwi record label Flying Nun, they’re usually invoking a sort of indie rock/pop sound from the 80s and early 90s. That’s all well and good, those tunes are iconic, but The Nun continues to serve up quality Aotearoa tunes to this day. In fact they’re on an absolute tear lately, releasing banger albums from the likes of Aldous Harding, Vera Allen, Reb Fountain, Sulfate, Wax Chattels and more in the last few years. This Recitals project is the latest and it keeps up the expected glorious standards. Recitals are a fascinating band with wide ranging ideas, most often settling on a kind of industrial rock sound but mixing it up from tune to tune. Closing track Tongue (Reprise) is a beautiful indie folk ditty with strings and finger-picked acoustic guitar. Angelpoise is a woozy synth instrumental that sounds a little like a mix of David Lynch and Frank Ocean’s Blonde. Rock Dove is an alt rock jam. Arrow is funky proggy expansion. You get the idea. Heaps going on and it’s all good. Shout out to Recitals and shout out to Nuns that Fly.

Mach Hommy & Tha God Fahim - Dollar Menu 4

Any chance to tap into with the Mach Hommy/Tha God Fahim combo is mandatory and their latest project 'Dollar Menu 4' is a sneaky monster. Don't let the light, agile production from Fahim fool you as there is immense head-boppin' generated from Hommy and Fahim trading flows impeccably. This project is only nine tracks long, packed with wise rhymes that require multiple plays and is perfect for a workout session, long walk or some background tunes to your next gathering.

Naima Bock – Giant Palm

You know you’ve got a quality album on your hands when there are a hundred ideas to write about it but none that seem to do the album full justice. Naima Bock used to be in Goat Girl, an excellent English rock group, but she left to get off the road. Now here’s a solo debut. Working with producer Joel Burton (whose tasteful yet ambitious arrangements are superb), Giant Palm sounds like everything and nothing. Bock kinda sings like Nick Drake and there’s definitely a British folk thread through the record but there are also distinctly modern touches. Bock has Brazilian and Greek heritage so there’s an exotic feel to some of the songs. There are also jazzy touches, there are ambient touches, there are indie touches. It’s a very difficult project to summarise but Naima Bock’s gently perceptive songwriting shines throughout on this fantastic debut release.

Thick – Happy Now

Distorted guitar, an up-tempo drum beat, a swaggering bass riff. That’s how Thick’s second album begins and that’s how it continues the rest of the way. Crunchy punk rock in the Year of our Lord 2022. Big choruses full of cathartic delivery. Plenty of noise. You know how it goes. A loose theme of happiness - and the anxieties/insecurities that keep us from it – runs through the album making for an easy fit within the genre of choice as this Brooklyn trio surge their way through 33 minutes of relentless tunage. There’s no reinventing the wheel here. Just high quality songs worth several re-listens. Standout tracks: Tell Myself, Her Chapstick, Montreal, and Something Went Wrong.

Madlib & Declaime - In The Beginning (Vol. 2)

Slide back in time with 'In The Beginning (Vol. 2)' from Oxnard's Madlib and Declaime. This is a fresh release of old tracks from the long time homies, stretching back to the mid-90s and while this serves as a funky insight into Madlib's earlier production, this collaboration is timeless. Declaime offers insightful poetry that shines over Madlib's typically excellent production and comes a year after the first volume which was also a collection of throwback jams. Move forward with some older jams.

Roc Marciano & The Alchemist - The Elephant Man's Bones

Combine two elite artistic forces and this is the result. The Alchemist is at his best in producing this 14 track project and his delicate production lays a canvas down for Roc Marciano to drop poetry. Marciano delivers compelling references that are delivered in fresh ways, wiggling between menacing and witty. The project maintains a steady pace throughout, not overly aggressive or upbeat but there is a bop-along thread throughout. Action Bronson and Boldy James are called upon as frequent collaborators to chime in, Ice-T also makes an appearance and most listeners will be introduced to Knowledge The Pirate for the first time.

Horsegirl – Versions of Modern Performance

If you’re one of those people who doesn’t understand why rock music these days doesn’t sound like it did in the nineties then you haven’t heard Horsegirl. The influences are pretty clear. Pavement. Dinosaur Jr. Liz Phair. My Bloody Valentine. Maybe a bit of Flying Nun Records in there too for an Aotearoa connection (despite Horsegirl being formed in Chicago). Hell, they even get a couple of Sonic Youth vets to play on a few tracks. It’s one thing for a young band, barely out of high school in fact, to draw from those influences. It’s another thing to produce an album that sounds like a contemporary rather than an imitation. There are some fantastic songs here with thrilling hooks and exciting instrumentation. Actually some of the best moments are noisy laidback instrumental tracks, really laying down some performance credentials. Versions of Modern Performance is definitely one that’ll stay in the rotation for a wee while.

Steve Lacy – Gemini Rights

Bit of a savege one here but the first impression of the new Steve Lacy album was that he really does have some kinda cringe/weak lyrics. When he works in collaboration with others (specifically with The Internet) that’s not an issue but he’s out on his own with Gemini Rights, his second solo album, so luckily songwriting isn’t strictly what you rock up to an album like this for. Nah, it’s the instrumental side of things where Steve Lacy really shines. So much funk on display as he melds genres and sounds, incorporating it all into his vision. Bad Habit’s already a massive hit and for good reason. Sunshine, Helmet, and Mercury are also great. It’s a fun album with plenty going on which should sound even better as the summer months roll in.

Gwenno - Tresnor

Gwenno Saunders’ particular blend of Kate Bush style art pop and Cate Le Bon style folk rock has a ghostly sort of feel to it, an effect which is amplified by her singing pretty much entirely in Cornish. A language considered “critically endangered” by the United Nations, apparently. Using this language of the ancients gives Tresnor an oddly comforting impact where although most of us can’t understand a word she’s saying a deeper sense of meaning instead permeates. The natural world feels close at hand. It’s a uniquely rewarding listen which requires no translation.

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