Stinky Jim - Spacial Awareness

As 'Spacial Awareness - The Remixes' dropped in July, this delivered us to the original 'Spacial Awareness' projected from Stinky Jim last year. The Remixes may get Monthly Jukebox treatment next month and while this isn't a fresh release, this celebration of dub-roots-reggae commanded a spotllight this month. There isn't much better than 12 tracks of disgusting dub with an Aotearoa flavour and Stinky Jim calls on additional vocals from Nazamba, otherwise conjuring reggae tunes from the deep roots of Aotearoa. Picking a favourite jam is impossible as the blend perfectly together with each jam offering different pockets to enjoy, probably best enjoyed with a healthy serving of Aotearoa vitamins.

Guardian Singles – Feed Me To The Doves

Following on from their 2021 self-titled debut, Feed Me To The Doves captures Auckland alt/punks Guardian Singles in prime form. Lots of sharp and topical tunes aiming for the political state of play which is cool but it’s the sound of this album that thrills the most. Even working within the usual rapid-fire realms of punk rock (and all its genre progeny) they’re able to take these tightly-packed songs in unexpected directions plus they really seem to have honed their craft off the back of a few years of sturdy touring. Extra shout out to the production here too. Lovely mix. Lovely richness. Still with some lovely scrappiness where it’s needed.

Oxbow – Love’s Holiday

It’s been a six years since industrial rock avant garde kings Oxbow released their 2017 masterpiece Thin Black Duke. That album in turn came a decade after their previous release. A new Oxbow release is an event. A new Oxbow album is also an absolute trip, with the way they’re able to range from metal-adjacent sounds to dark croonerisms to Bowie-in-black-boots struts to experimental jazz rock. Damn, mate, there’s even a vocal chorus in a couple spots. Despite the range and despite their abrasive tendencies (particularly in the early days), Oxbow have always been tasteful. They don’t skew things too far in one direction or another. Love’s Holiday often dips into maudlin territory befitting it’s title but tunes like Dead Ahead and Million Dollar Weekend still rev things up. Above all, it goes where lead vocalist Eugene Robinson goes and that’s the most important thing. A singular album from a singular band. Righteous stuff.

Chief Adjuah – Bark Out Thunder Roar Out Lightning

Formerly known as Christian Scott, Chief Adjuah’s music has expressed a long-term journey of rediscovering his ancestral African roots. He’s also a New Orleans jazz guy, hence previous albums have delved into the obvious melodic links between those two cultures... but this album treads a new path. It’s still grown out of the same fertile soil but the tree is something fresh and unheard. Like for starters he dumps his usual trumpet and instead his main instrument is something he designed and made himself referred to in the credits as “Chief Adjuah’s Bow”. It’s fascinating stuff. Lots of vocal grooving with hand-played percussion. At times it actually parallels the desert blues rock of a band like Mdou Moctar – at least it’s closer to that than it is to the inner city brass of Miles Davis or Charlie Bird. Very much in the Black & Indigenous New Orleans tradition, going all in on a legacy that is usually only alluded to with such prominence. It’ll be Kyrie Irving’s favourite album of 2023... and it could be yours too. The reworked classic Iko Iko is a particular joy.

Balu Brigada - Find A Way EP

In a wavy dose of Aotearoa music, Balu Brigada deliver their Find A Way EP. Six tracks that takes the listener on a journey of wholesome journey of electricity. The versatility and variety is a standout in this brief project as there are pockets of quintessential indie rock on tracks like 'Designer' and '2good' mixed with a Frank Ocean vibe on 'Another Day'. The final track 'Find A Way' sends the project off with a celebratory note and the wraps up this EP in a funkier, groovier fashion. Get uplifted during your kiwi winter or get to know Balu Brigada before belting out the summer anthems.

Colter Wall – Little Songs

They may be Little Songs, but Colter Wall possesses the deepest voice in music since Barry White died so they still pack a punch. Similar to old Baz, sometimes the deepness of Wall’s vocals feels limiting... but he also has that same flair for sneaky flourishes (albeit in veeery different ways and genres). Colter Wall sings cowboy songs. There are mentions of prairies and sagebrush waltzing... and that’s just in the title of the opening medley track. All but two songs are originals, those being The Coyote & The Cowboy by Ian Tyson and Evangelina by Hoyt Axton – as always his choices of covers are impeccable. It’s a laid-back record with gentle country flavours and a vast western landscape. If Colter Wall sounds like a man out of time that’s because he kind of is. But he’s alright with that, perfectly happy to live in that Saskatchewan breeze singing his Little Songs to whoever will listen.

Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway – City Of Gold

Bluegrass guitarist Molly Tuttle’s been on a steady rise with her prodigious picking and tidy songwriting, delivering tunes that touch on much more modern themes than this genre is used to. Crooked Tree was the breakthrough album for Tuttle as a solo artist but City of Gold (which is co-credited to her band) feels like the one with which she found her sound. There are banjos and mandolins and all them down-home front porch instruments but Tuttle lets them groove as well as stomp. She’s never been averse to a psych-rock cover in the past, she’s an accredited Deadhead, and one of the songs here – Alice in the Bluegrass – is a retelling of one the original sacred texts of psychedelia: Alice in Wonderland. There’s also a song – Downhome Dispensary – about legalising weed. Another called El Dorado. This is psychgrass. Chuck in the work of Billy Strings and we’ve got ourselves a movement going. You already know that Jerry Garcia would have approved.

Haz & Miloux - Brunette

The powerful voice of Miloux cuts through produdction from Haz on their latest collaboration project Brunette. This is another wee offering, just six tracks and every jam hits the soul. 'Three' will have you nodding along thanks to Haz's drums and the combination of this with how Miloux works through the musical pockets from Haz is delightful. 'Tiger Would' and 'March 12' also highlights the perfect chemistry between these two as neither over-runs the other, allowing each other to shine as a duo. The final track 'Peace' is especially enticing as the drum loop delivers folks to a peaceful ending, towards the light.

Various Artists – The Endless Coloured Ways: The Songs of Nick Drake

Nick Drake died a very long time ago after a career which only spanned a few years. Yet the English folkster’s music has resonated throughout the generations and this fresh tribute album sure tells that tale. 23 covers courtesy of mostly modern artists, many of them updating the tunes with a twenty-first century sensibility. Frankly, those ones don’t work nearly as well as those that play it down traditional lines. Ben Harper does a lovely Time Has Told Me. Fontaines DC do jam it up but their ‘Cello Song kicks things off on a sharp note. And honestly the best track of all is kiwi songwriter Nadia Reid’s version of Poor Boy. As with most tribute albums there are hits and there are misses – these things are absolutely meant for shuffle play with the skip button in service. But the hits are gorgeous and even the duds will leave you craving the original thing which when guiding you back to Nick Drake is a godly path.

Slackeye Slim – Scorched Earth, Black Heart

Seems to be a bit of a country theme to this month’s efforts. This is another upon those lines... however Slackeye Slim is to country music what The Exorcist is to religious programming. The album title gives that away before the first track has even kicked in. Slackeye Slim has made a habit for more than a decade of bringing young Nick Cave energy to americana music with concept albums about tortured gunslingers who do bad things. Despite an eight year hiatus since the previous Slackeye record, nothing much has changed here – although it does perhaps seem to be less indulgent in its gothic-western fantasy, instead focusing on childhood trauma and family rifts. It’s dark and it’s heavy. It pulls no punches. It peaks with the two-parter title track at the very end. When you’ve absorbed all this one has to offer, make sure to check out 2010’s El Santo Grial, La Pistola Piadosa which is the Slackeye Slim magnum opus.

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