KATATONIA / The Fall of Hearts (2016)

If I was in need of the post-BMD Katatonia sound but for some reason didn't have any of the better albums to hand, then TFoH would do, but it would be something of a compromise on my part. To be fair, it does deliver the usual mournful, warm, emotional-bandaging that they've perfected, but I often find myself drifting away from its overly-polished charms instead of being carried along with them.
I genuinely like the soft, pastoral moments, but the bulk of the album sometimes feels like it adheres to the established template a little too much. And yet, there are elements within the shifting structures that are wholly unexpected, that exist to break the rules. It's an odd feeling being stirred but still left wanting; it's like eating a heart-shaped cake that sates your taste buds but not your appetite.

Songs of Note: Old Heart Falls; Last Song Before the Fade

3½ residual thoughts out of 5

THE KILLERS / Day & Age (2008)

This is a well-executed album that assuredly means something to plenty of people. People who aren’t me. I personally find that this treads the exact same ground as Sam’s Town, to the point of having the same types of songs dutifully accounted for. When someone comes to this album, or the small nuances and lyrical variations, can make all the difference. Brandon et al. are as funky, creative, and acutely poignant as ever and I’m happy for those who found this outing first, or simply find it preferable to its predecessor.

Song of Note: Spaceman

3 Infectiously Charming Greys out of 5

KATATONIA / Sanctitude (2015)

It's basically the Dethroned and Uncrowned (2013) concept extended to include more of the band's back catalogue, as far back as Brave Murder Day (1996).
The reworking means the mood is changed but it's not compromised; the result is no less beautiful. Their being unplugged could just as easily be described as being uncaged; there's an airy freedom under the dark wings, carrying them to less cloudy climes. Katatonia's evolution has been slower and less extreme than Anathema's, but in this instance they're travelling under similar skies.
Silje Wergeland (The Gathering) joins the sausage factory for a memorable rendition of The One You Are Looking For is Not Here.

Songs of Note: A Darkness Coming; Day

5 memories of things out 5

KATATONIA / Kocytean (2014)

A Record Store Day exclusive E.P. released on 12" vinyl and limited to just 2000 copies. The six tracks on offer were previously available elsewhere, on hard to find E.P.s or as single B-Sides, but they'd never been collected together in such an easily accessible manner before. It's perfect for when you just want a short burst of the bitter-sweet emotion that is the band's forte.
Collectors will enjoy it for its rarity. Fans will enjoy it for its music. Both will benefit because vinyl is, was, and always will be sexier than CD. True story.

Songs of Note:  Why not have it all?

5 gravitations out of 5

MEIKO KAJI / Zenkyoku Shu (2004)

If you live far from the shores of Japan, then getting your hands on any of Meiko Kaji's albums can entail paying up to three, or even four, times what you'd normally fork out for a CD. That's wallet-pain, right there. However, if a 'Best of' compilation will suffice, then Zenkyoku Shu (or Zenkyokushu) will fit the bill nicely. It has her most famous works; i.e. the themes to the Lady Snowblood and the Sasori (Scorpion) films, both of which you'll find linked below. The remainder of the tracks float on similar musical waters, so if those two appeal to your secret sensual side, or your inner-samurai, then start saving your pennies.

Songs of Note: Urami Bushi; Shura no Hana

4 flowers of carnage out of 5

KING DIAMOND / The Spider's Lullabye (1995)

Unlike most of King's albums, Lullabye isn't one long tale. It's more akin to a collection of short horror stories, followed by a creepy novella. Lyrical themes include a haunting, sleepless nights, live burials (with a cameo from Missy!), eyeless children and, in the multi-part story, the dangers of succumbing to a phobia. There's plenty of drama and hilarity to please fans.
A few of the tracks sound like they were constructed from leftover parts of earlier albums, but even King's leftovers are of a high standard.
It's fair to say that most of it doesn't stray from the usual musical formula too much, but, really, would you want it to? He's the best at what he does.

Songs of Note: Six Feet Under; The Spider's Lullabye

3½ cold hands in the night out of 5

KATY PERRY / One of the Boys (2008)

I would love to say that this is simply an endlessly hypnotic pop album, but the fact is the majority of these songs have poignant, forceful, or (if nothing else) deliciously emo lyrics. Shit, even the surface novelty of I Kissed A Girl and Ur So Gay can’t bring this down. Katy is entirely adept at both exploring morose depths and soaring as high as her intermittent self-confidence and worth will allow. She’s not shy about cutting down chauvinistic and soulless men, either.

I can’t personally comment on her later, more popular work, but this is the truest definition of a gem completely hidden in plain sight.

Songs of Note: Thinking of You; Fingerprints

4½ Fucks Not Given out of 5

KATE BUSH / The Whole Story (1986)

All of Kate's original studio albums to date can already be found on Nut Suite. I skipped over The Whole Story because it's a Greatest Hits collection, but there's a reason it deserves inclusion: it has one previously unreleased song and one track from her first album with a new vocal. That's not a lot of new content for your money, but you can pick it up for the price of a pint, so it's easily worth it.

Songs of Note: Experiment IV; Wuthering Heights (New Vocal)

5 meters in the red out of 5

KILLING JOKE / Laugh? I Nearly Bought One! (1992)

A compilation of Killing Joke songs that I hesitate to call a 'Best of…' because it really isn't; if you want that, then simply go pick up the first two albums. Laugh? is more like a retrospective of their first ten years as a band, cataloguing the ups and downs in quality. It does, however, include a few rarities that I'll mention simply because they never appeared on any of the studio albums. The first is the title track from their début single, Turn to Red, which is pretty damn good - I'll link it below. The second is an alternate mix of Wintergardens from Brighter Than a Thousand Suns (1986) that wasn't on that abomination of an album.

Songs of Note: Turn to Red; Requiem

3½ curtains drawn out of 5

KATATONIA / Last Fair Day Gone Night (2013)

If you've been neglecting your turntable lately (shame on you), then you'll need to blow the dust off it if you want to hear the Last Fair Day live album, because it's available on triple heavyweight 180gm vinyl only. But fear not, if you don't even have a turntable, because the Swedes have a habit of re-releasing the same album just a few years after the first release, so I'd bet money that it'll eventually appear on CD, if you prefer your music on shiny discs. It's a decent set recorded at the Koko in London. They deliver the Last Fair Deal Gone Down (2001) album in its entirety, and even treat us to a single track from Brave Murder Day (1996), which is something they rarely offer these days.

Songs of Note: Brave; Teargas

3 passing birds out of 5

Edit: It’s on CD sooner than predicted (Sept 2014) as a 4 disc set containing 2 CD = The Music / 2 DVD = Full Gig + Documentary.

KILLING JOKE / Extremities, Dirt and Various Repressed Emotions (1990)

Drummer extraordinaire Martin Atkins (PiL) joined the existing trio of Jaz Coleman, Geordie Walker and Paul Raven for Killing Joke's ninth album, a release that thankfully washed away the awful memory of Outside the Gate (1988). It was a return to the heavier sound, taking a slightly evolved form of the early riffage and putting more emphasis on the industrial side of things, all the while keeping the melodies and madness that underpinned much of that early work.
Taken on its own merits, it's a decent album from the era that'll please fans but will be unlikely to win KJ many new ones. From the other perspective, judged alongside past albums, it'd fit on the Not-Their-Best-but-Not-Their-Worst shelf.

Songs of Note: Money is Not Our God; Age of Greed

3 painful, painful truths out of 5

KATE BUSH / 50 Words for Snow (2011)

It took me a couple of years of on-and-off listening and a life-changing event to fully appreciate parts of Aerial (2005), so maybe 50 Words for Snow will be the same. Kate's voice is still bewitching, and I love that each song is a little story connected thematically to all the other stories, and I love the eerie sadness dancing between the complex silences, but like the snowflake of the opening track, when I try to grasp onto it, it melts away. Perhaps I'm not yet ready to accept the depth of relaxed maturity that's on offer herein. Maybe someday it'll click with me. I hope so, because I get the feeling it has a lot to offer the correct mindset.

Songs of Note: Snowflake; Among Angels

3 wet sheets out of 5

KATE BUSH / Director’s Cut (2011)

If we must have an album of reworked Kate Bush songs, then who better than Kate herself to do it? There's a valid reason for the genesis of the idea that I don't have room to explain, so you'll need to google it if you're interested.
The result is less appalling and pointless than most of the other re-recordings by other artists that I've heard over the years; that's not bias talking.
The songs, taken from The Sensual World (1989) and The Red Shoes (1993) are all great songs, and Kate's lower key gives many of them a significantly different feeling, as does the new arrangements on some, but in most cases the originals are still superior; that may well be bias talking, because it's difficult not to directly compare them when you're in love with the originals as much as I am.

Songs of Note: Flower of the Mountain; Deeper Understanding

3½ analogue hugs out of 5

KATATONIA / Dethroned and Uncrowned (2013)

An interesting reworking of the previous year's Dead End Kings album. It's not a typical acoustic album, although there are acoustic guitars heard. Instead, it's an album designed to accentuate the ambient and percussion aspects of the band's sound. It strips away the heavy guitar and bass, but doesn't detract from the paradoxical warm/cold beauty of the originals. Some tracks are almost too close to their source, while others are like new works entirely. It's not as stripped-back and naked as I'd have liked, but it's still a hugely enjoyable experience that I'd be happy to see continued, preferably with material from some of the earlier albums, because the softness of Jonas' vocals is perfectly suited to this kind of thing.

Songs of Note: Hypnone; Buildings

4 songs that make the hours go out of 5

KATE BUSH / Aerial (2005)

Kate took some time off after The Red Shoes (1993); it ended up being twelve years, but she came back with a double album that's structured similar to her masterpiece, Hounds of Love (1985), in that it's split into two distinct halves.
Disc One (A Sea of Honey) is a collection of eclectic and mesmerising songs about life and people. It's often cryptic and has many hidden depths. Contrast that structure with the simplicity and beauty of Kate's slightly deepened vocal delivery and you'll discover one of the album's great strengths.
Disc Two (A Sky of Honey) has nine tracks but needs to be experienced and appraised as a whole piece, like The Ninth Wave. It's a complex and multi-layered arrangement that tells the story of one twenty-four hour period, a single summer's day, which may take months or even years to fully appreciate.

Songs of Note: King of the Mountain; How to be Invisible

4½ spiders of time out of 5

KATE BUSH / The Red Shoes (1993)

The Red Shoes album seems to divide fans more than any of Kate's other more experimental releases. I find that odd because, while it's certainly a multi-layered work, it's not an overly complex album. It's layered in a very safe and organised way. The maturity in her arrangements, coupled with the confidence and belief in her own ability, give it the edge needed to overcome the 'Pop album' tag. For me, it's another strong release from a very unique talent. I heard it first during a turbulent time in my life, and even though listening to it stirs up those memories from time to time, it helps me to better appreciate them, too.
Kate made a short film to accompany the album, you can read about it HERE.

Songs of Note: Rubberband Girl; The Red Shoes

4 discs of golden light out of 5

ROBERT PLANT | ALISON KRAUSS / Raising Sand (2007)

A collection of covers from two giants in their respective fields. It's mostly English born Plant up front vocally, accompanied by some lush backing from the blue grass gal from Illinois. The harmony between the two works beautifully.
There are some upbeat tracks, but mostly it's a warm and luxurious sound that's comforting; the kind of music best enjoyed alone, late at night, with a drink.
The stand out tracks are superb. Everything else lends support in its own unique way. To my ears, it's much better than a Robert Plant solo album, but not as good as Alison Krauss' own most recent album with Union Station.

Songs of Note: Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us; Please Read the Letter

3½ echoes strung out of 5

THE KNIFE / Shaking The Habitual [2013]

Swedish electronic duo The Knife burn all their safety nets and put on a brave face to compose something insanely creative and rewarding on 2013's double disc album Shaking The Habitual.
Despite having some catchy pop music sensibilities, this album couldn't be any further away from the genre and instead confuses, disturbs, challenges and fascinates with it's bizarre textures and tones that are placed with exquisite care and thought.   Don't let the politically charged lyrics scare you away if it's not your thing, because this auditory work of art is worth checking out at least once to see if it's your thing.  It's essentially pop music, dissected, distorted and disturbed into something virtually unrecognizable, yet creepily familiar.

5 Foucault quotes out of 5

Songs Of Note: A Tooth For An Eye; Full Of Fire

KATE BUSH / The Sensual World (1989)

The problem with creating a masterpiece early in your career is how to follow it up. Kate wisely waited some time (four years) before making the attempt.
The title of her sixth album isn't just referencing one track, it's relevant to the entire work. It has a passionate and sensual sound, filled with flowing melodies and an atmosphere that's dreamy but never wispy and ineffectual.
Its often overlooked, perhaps because of its lack of the typical Kate-esque experimentation, but it deserves recognition for giving her the chance to let her vocal soar with real heartfelt emotion. It's an impassioned, beautiful album.

Songs of Note: The Sensual World; This Woman’s Work

4½ steps out of the page out of 5

KILLING JOKE / The Courtauld Talks (1989)

A recording of a lecture that Jaz Coleman gave two years previous, offering an insight into his motivations for recording the Outside the Gate (1988) album.
It's largely spoken word, but when Geordie Walker starts up with a repetitive acoustic riff, Jaz's delivery begins to resemble a lyric structure.
It would've been a fascinating experience to witness live, but I'm not sure it needed a separate release; a bundled second disc with the OtG album would've been more relevant. It's hard to apply a rating, because enjoyment is solely dependent on your feelings for Jaz and his system of beliefs, but I'll try:

Songs of Note: It's one track lasting 66 mins.

3 Lovecrafts out of 5