SINÉAD O'CONNOR / The Lion and the Cobra (1987)

Years before a media shit-storm (involving a torn photograph) thrust Sinéad into people's homes, her début album, released when she was just twenty-years-old, established her as a formidable force in the minds of people who were there for the music. Right from the get-go it attempts something greater than simple Pop/Rock songs, and, although oft-times hidden in the lyrical composition, a heartfelt honesty is nestled in each and every track. But it's her remarkable voice that gives them real power. Whether being soft and airy or tragic and yearning, it's the element that binds the shifting moods together and prevents them from fighting each other. Some of the music may sound dated today, but the conviction that drives them is something that won't ever be diminished by time.

Songs of Note: Jackie; Troy

5 ghostly tears out of 5

SUM 41 / 13 Voices [2016]

After a second brush with death, Canadian rock act Sum 41 made a full sober recovery (with a new drummer and the return of guitarist Dave Baksh) to release their sixth studio album, 2016's 13 Voices.
For a guy who had to relearn how to walk, talk and nevermind play guitar, frontman Deryck Whibley has managed to put together a pretty solid record brimming with passionate urgency and furiously harsh melody.  It starts out with seething anger that rivals Screaming Bloody Murder's finest moments but slowly morphs into suspicious hope as the record comes to a close, making it feel almost as if were a concept album.  The Sums, with their fusion of hard rock and melodic metal, have no interest in re-living in their goofy Beastie Boys-esque pop-punk past and it's a very welcome addition to the sudden 2016 pop-punk revival.

4 phony friends left in the dust out of 5

Songs of Note: Fake My Own Death; War

GEOFF BARROW & BEN SALISBURY / Drokk: Music Inspired by Mega-City One [2012]

2012 was a busy year for Portishead's Geoff Barrow with his side-projects Beak> and Quakers releasing full-lengths I don't know where he found the time to work with composer Ben Salisbury as well. 

Drokk: Music inspired by Mega-City One is what I suspect Barrow & Salisbury intended to be the score for Pete Travis' Dredd film before Paul-Leonard Morgan took over composing duties.  Rather than acknowledging the film, the duo opted to draw inspiration from Mega-City One of the comic books with a cold-hearted John Carpenter-esque blanket of menacing synth cues.  Drokk does nothing to hide it's '80's darkwave influences and relies heavily on throbbing arpeggiators, fuzzy synth strikes and stroboscopic drones spiraling in and out laying down an immensely unsettling atmosphere that threatens to suffocate with paranoid claustrophobia.

3½ Escapes from drokking Mega-City out of 5

Songs of Note: Helmet Theme; Exhale

SKIN CHAMBER / Wound (1991)

Ugly, abrasive Industrial music that takes absolutely no prisoners as it overcomes your senses. It's the work of Chris Moriaty and Paul Lemos, who you may know from the more prolific and better-known Controlled Bleeding. They draw influences from a number of extreme genres, including Doom and Grindcore, and mesh them together into one gritty, poisonous whole. It's the kind of thing that'll appeal to fans of early Godflesh or the more unforgiving side of Swans.

Songs of Note: The Nails of Faith; Healing Time

4 flayed minds out of 5

SAY ANYTHING / Hebrews (2014)

Max has a few things on his mind. Mostly, his new daughter and gaining weight. He also chastises those who want him to suffer in the service of writing better songs. Max, I’m not upset because you’re happy. I’m upset because for a decent chunk of this album I have NO. FUCKING. IDEA. what you’re even talking about.

Song of Note: …I thought there was a good one, but upon second thought, nah.

0 Tom DeLonge Appearances Next Time, Please out of 5

VARIOUS ARTISTS / Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics (1999)

I’m no great fan of Christmas and albums that go well out of their way to subvert it are unsurprisingly something I can get behind. Still, much like South Park itself, I’ve found myself liking this far less over the years. The price of hyper topicality is an abbreviated shelf life if that tightrope isn’t tread very carefully. I tend to enjoy the less pointed songs here, as a result.

Am I going soft? No. It’s simply that pitchfork waving isn’t enough on its own, anymore. I need there to be enjoyable substance related to the property in question when I look behind the torchlight.

Songs of Note: Christmas Time in Hell; Swiss Colony Beef Log

2 Summer Sausages Eaten Like Henry VIII out of 5

SANCTUARY / Refuge Denied (1987)

I recently pulled Sanctuary's début from the archive (i.e. dusty shelf) and fell in love with it all over again. Vocalist Warrel Dane hits the kind of uterus-shuddering high notes that would give King Diamond a boner. It'll make many people cringe, but the lover of quality, straight-up, no-frills Heavy (er... Powerish) Metal or Thrash should be able to recognise the strengths. Although, you'll probably need to do some careful tinkering with whatever equalisers you have at your command in order to overcome a weak production job that doesn't hit as hard as it should. Refuge Denied deserves a full, proper, non-Mustaine remaster.

Songs of Note: Die for My Sins; Sanctuary

4 black plagues out of 5

SUUNS / Images Du Futur [2013]

Montreal's electro-hipster-rock act Suuns returns with their second album 2013's Images Du Futur.
They make no attempt to hide the fact that they think they're Clinic and mid-era Radiohead, only without the same sonic impact or thoughtful intensity of their English idols.   A blend of post-punk, art-rock and krautrock, Images Du Futur seems to run in one place never really melding together to create what should seem like a solid product.  Instead, even though it all sounds sleepily similar to each other, each song doesn't seem to have a place with the next one.   Like Ben Shemie's vocals, everything just sounds bored, uninspired and perfect for the snotty 20-somethings that drink Pabst Blue Ribbon in their Urban Outfitter's get-up.

2 songs that Save the album out of 5

Songs Of Note:  Minor Work: Bambi

SMASH MOUTH / Fush Yu Mang (1997)

My fashion sense derives almost entirely from 90s Steve Harwell. No, no, don’t walk away. It’s relevant. As hard driving and 4th-wave ska as this debut album can get in places, there’s ultimately a well-practiced, laid-back swagger running throughout. It’s a touch of the Rat Pack, a dash of self-admitted influence Louis Prima, and a lot of their own unique ability to make you think without dragging you too far down. The flavor of reckless abandon they preach is strangely responsible and there’s always something bigger on their minds that they aren’t afraid to share. A balancing act this classy never goes out of style. Neither will khakis and black shirts.

Songs of Note: Nervous in the Alley; Disconnect the Dots

3½ Hawaiian Shirts Also Welcome out of 5

SAY ANYTHING / Say Anything (2009)

Max has said aloud the darkest things I have ever thought. Not only on a few occasions, no, he brings them to light with almost every recorded breath. To say I’m embarrassed and ashamed of myself isn’t untrue but at the same time this is all undeniably part of who I was and consequently still am. Accepted, not embraced. This is Max’s most accomplished balancing act. Searing contempt meets harsh realizations. The most misogynistic song ever written stands literally beside the most sincere expression of love I have ever heard in song. Contradictions abound and last minute cries for mercy, release, reconciliation and understanding are issued repeatedly. This is me in album form.

Songs of Note: Eloise; Cemetery

5 Infected Band-Aids out of 5

SUGARCULT / Palm Trees and Power Lines (2004)

Natural Selection is a process that heartlessly and efficiently tidies up every sphere. This was released the same year as MCR’s Revenge and while I still find that album every bit as powerful as it originally was, I haven’t listened to this one in years. It’s clear that it’s repeatedly avoided the knife simply out of a sense of twisted nostalgia. I have been thoroughly reminded of just HOW insipid and deluded I was at the time. Tim and Marko are perfectly capable of punching out catchy clusters of power-chords and crooning with faux-sincerity when they absolutely have to, but I can’t abide these lyrics. No slick simile, no metaphor, I just cant.

Songs of Note: No.

0 Memories Worth Remembering out of 5

ASHLEE SIMPSON / Autobiography (2004)

Did Ashlee have help writing these songs? Yes. However, there’s enough charming, off-kilter wording to convince me that she was largely allowed to do exactly what she wanted. Those awkward turns of phrase and her various squeaks and off-key warbling would have been ironed out systematically if Joe and the record label were the guiding force behind this. Not every track hits the mark but the soul-bearing is nicely balanced with measured catchiness and sass. Perhaps best of all is the theme of embracing one’s flaws that’s loosely threaded throughout.

3 Girls Who Know They Like it Rough out of 5

Songs of Note: Autobiography; Love Me For Me

S.J. TUCKER / Witchy Ways: An October Mix-tape (2013)

Just in time for Xmas, it's an October Mix-tape. It was actually released in time for Hallowe'en, but I'm slow like that. Oh, well. It's a collection of songs from Miss Tucker's back catalogue (and two new songs) chosen by the artist herself. She has a beautiful and strong voice, able to channel the oral tradition of storytelling into complementary music that ranges from whimsical to enchanting.
Witchy Ways celebrates the Wiccian/Pagan side of Samhain, not the commercial and church-friendly version that's used to 'educate' the kids.

Songs of Note: Kashkash; Firebird's Child

4 hymns in the glade out of 5

SUB HUM ANS / The Day the Country Died (1983)

British anarcho-punk that isn't as musically harsh as the cover suggests. The slight softening of the sound didn't result in a softening of the lyrical content; it's as critical of the political landscape and apathy of the masses as you'd hope for. It's also less limited in scope than some of the other acts around at the time.
It's hailed as a classic by many. I don't think it quite hits that mark, but I won't deny it deserves to be remembered and revisited. If nothing else, the band put Wiltshire on the map for a very different reason than it usually gets mentioned.

Songs of Note: Dying World; No

3½ cups of Orwellian tea out of 5

SUZANNE VEGA / Days of Open Hand (1990)

The Folk beginnings can still be heard as influences in Suzanne's third album but the singer/songwriter has moved onto new plateaus musically; not necessarily higher or lower, just different. It's not Folk, Rock or Pop, it's simply music from the heart played in an understated way. I can well imagine it being someone's favourite SV album for that reason alone.
The obvious singles will likely be the thing that entice many people in, but the beautifully serene and occasionally mysterious poetry on the quieter tracks will keep them there; it may take longer to appreciate that aspect of the work, but for my money it's where the album's true strengths lie.

Songs of Note: Tired of Sleeping; Book of Dreams

3½ magic markers out of 5

SOAP&SKIN / Sugarbread EP [2013]

Anja Plaschg (aka Soap&Skin) breaks away from the somberness of her previous records, then takes all that emotion and twists it into something quite frankly morbid and frightening on her confrontational 2013 three song EP Sugarbread.
By incorporating some angry driving string arrangements, blood-curdling screams, haunted choirs, wailing brass sections, and unnerving percussive staccatos, Plaschg reinvents her sound but remains completely recognizable with her impressionable vocal performances.  With it clocking in at only a mere 9 minutes, it has me tearing my hair out in anticipation for more.

5 Robert Johnsons out of 5

Songs Of Note:  Sugarbread; Me And The Devil

SKINNY PUPPY / Weapon [2013]

After several albums in a row were criticized by fans of their older work, Industrial pioneers Skinny Puppy make a return to form of sorts on 2013's Weapon.
Scaling back on the guitars, the act push the abrasive synths and broken but driving drumbeats to the forefront again, making a wonderful minimal backdrop for Nivek Ogre's distorted angry "European" Muppet vocals to glue everything together.  It might be a throwback to their early days but it still manages to keep a melodic danceable tone to it that makes it a little more accessible than their earlier outings.  Even with it's multiple weak spots, this album is still welcome in my Skinny Puppy collection.

3 human animal weapons out of 5

Songs Of Note: illisiT; paragUn

THE STOOGES / Ready To Die [2013]

Well over 40 years since their first album, The Stooges release their fifth full-length, 2013's Ready To Die with greater results than 2007's misfire The Weirdness.
While the most gnarled members of the band might be well into their sixties, The Stooges still manage to gracefully pull off primal, sleazy rock n' roll with an invincible sneer.  Apart from a few near ballads, they make no attempt to be any more than the crass group that spit Raw Power and Fun House at us many a year ago, and that should sit just fine with anyone fond of Iggy and the boys.

3½ large boobs out of 5

Songs Of Note: Job; The Departed

THE STROKES / Comedown Machine [2013]

After vocalist Julian Casablancas admitted The Strokes got back together after a 5 year hiatus purely for the money, it still leaves me cautious going into a new album, especially after the complete failure of their previous album 2011's Angles.
2013's Comedown Machine might be a little more cohesive but it still never quite gels together as a solid listen.  It sounds like the group is aiming to try out different styles and textures but never reach their limits and simply settle with "that's good enough".  It's filled with plenty of catchy new wave-esque hooks and melodies but it all comes off as half-baked with the exception of a few glimmers of gold.

2 assholes driving a Lotus out of 5

Songs Of Note: Tap Out; One Way Trigger

SOL SEPPY / The Bells Of 1 2 [2006]

Former regular Sparklehorse collaborator Sol Seppy's first solo release, 2006's The Bells Of 1 2 is an ethereal trip into lonely hope.

While it's hard to tell, the swirling electronics and hazy soundscapes are based around Seppy's delicate piano compositions making for a dreamy and intimate experience.  I'm reminded a bit of  Lily Allen without as much attitude with hints of Soap&Skin and Sigur Rós, only not as absorbed into heavy depression but just as heartfelt.  It gets a little too samesy at times and the lyrics go a little overboard with melodramatic schmaltz but the sincerity in Seppy's vocal delivery is what sells it.  

3 girls named human out of 5

Songs Of Note: Move; Enter One