Be Here Early: Choice Album Releases reviewed 9-2-16 – 9-8-16
MYWOMAN – Angel Olsen – Sure, I liked “Unfuck The World” and “Lights Out” , but the operative word is “liked”. I never really bought into the slowpoked Lilith gal tough without signifying stuff all that much. And then the three singles off MYWOMAN? I wasn’t crazy about any of them. So it might be worth mentioning that they sound better in context on an album that rattles its own cages, with a poppier yet powerful indie rock and rail against itself songs – B+
Messenger Of The Gods: The Singles collection – Freddie Mercury – Freddie took what he had learnt from fronting Queen on heavy metal and/or dance tracks, and put it on top of MOR ballads, with predictable results – C
We Move – James Vincent McMorrow – It wasn’t exactly a movement, but everybody from James Blake to James McMorrow seemed to be the scion of Bon Iver -dark mood singer songwriter with a falsetto leading and tech skills a gimme. McMorrow is one of the best, strange and strangely arranged singer songwriter songs that build inroads after a coupla spins. This is the equal of
Foreverland – The Divine Comedy – Neil Hannan’s new album is the one we were hoping ABC’s Lexicon Of Love II would resemble… some of the other time. At other moments, it is so overblown and over orchestrated, over-arranged and over-performed, it suffers from everything that makes The divine Comedy the band most likely to open the Old Grey Whistle Test Revival. But still you can hear the six years of effort between albums on every moment of this deeply arch and overreaching Brit Pop beauty – B+
