JESU / Silver E.P. (2006)

With each subsequent Jesu release the sound changes but stays the same. If that makes any kind of rational sense to you, then you're probably already a fan of the project and know exactly what I mean. If so, then you'll be right at home with the Silver E.P. For everyone else, it's as good a place to start as any.
There's synth; real and programmed drums; a distorted bass that buzzes like some kind of blunt, vibrating knife edge; and subtle vocal treatments that elevate everything to cloud level. So do yourself a favour: hit the play button, turn the volume up, sit back and be submerged in Broadrick's radiant candour.

Songs of Note: Silver; Star

4 kinds of gold out of 5

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

METAMORPHOSIS JAZZ BAND / Gyakuten Meets Jazz Soul (2007)

Character themes and trial suites (mostly) from the Phoenix Arc of the Ace Attorney series are given the swinging nightclub treatment on this release. Nothing here becomes too languid or self-indulgent, save the Steel Samurai theme which is slowed and stretched to the point of unrecognizability. Tigre and Godot’s, however, already existed well into the genre’s wheelhouse and excel for it. Unlike with The Futurist, I have very specific emotional connections to each piece and the majority of the album moves with a purpose.

Songs of Note: Swingin’ Zenitora; The Aroma of Black Coffee

4 Face Wreckin' Express Trains out of 5

COUNTING CROWS / Recovering the Satellites (1996)

While trying to find his way home, Adam serendipitously veers inside a seedy back-alley bar where Dan Vickrey is shredding his wicked little heart out. The Duritz is entranced and invites him to score his increasingly complex laments, forever more. Voice and abused steel caterwaul in imperfect harmony, completely unafraid to tread into the night August hesitated so quaintly at the edges of. Is it possible to be this forceful and almost mean at times and yet ready to fall into shambles, all simultaneously?

Yes.

This is gloriously rough around the center and takes a measure of patience few probably have. Don’t even begin to think this is anything like A Long December would indicate out of context.

Songs of Note: Angels of the Silences; Recovering the Satellites

5 Beautifully Ragged Pairs of Coke-Can Wings out of 5

ALICE COOPER / Alice Does Alice (2010)

Like it says on the cover, the guy with the girl's name re-recorded five classic songs for this pointless effort (School's Out, I'm Eighteen, No More Mr. Nice Guy, Welcome to My Nightmare, Elected). They don't have the same vibrancy as the originals, but other than that there's nothing wrong with any of them. The songs are timeless and the production is top-notch. I do wonder why he did it, though. It's not like he needs the money. It was a download-only release, so I can’t even trade the damn thing in. Just for that, I'm not even going to rate it. Alice won't give a shit but it'll make me feel better. I'm not averse to small, asinine victories.

Songs of Note: The originals of them all.

_______ 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

BLUT AUS NORD / 777 – Cosmosophy (2012)

The final part of the 777 trilogy is a heavily layered work that gives us the last 5 tracks in Blut's 18 track opus. It opens unassumingly, before kicking away the safety net with black metal coldness wedded to an industrial riff structure. The aggression is fluid; it ebbs and flows in a natural way, right to the very end. But like I said at the beginning, it's multi-layered, so when you take the time to explore what lies beneath the surface, you'll find both complementary and conflicting emotional states just waiting to grab hold of your consciousness.

Songs of Note: Epitome XIV; Epitome XVIII

4 seasons 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

BOWLING FOR SOUP / The Great Burrito Extortion Case (2006)

The balance struck here between BFS’s full-body-in-cheek ditties and heart-string plucking musings is, as Jaret would say, exceedingly rad. It hangs together pleasantly--if not exquisitely--by not overstaying its welcome or feeling fleeting because of an overabundance of silliness for its own sake. If you're new to this party, you're in luck. The songs of note include a perfectly encapsulated version of their manifesto and an example of how they can take you by surprise through simplicity.

Crank this shit up and drive.

Songs of Note: I'm Gay; Why Don't I Miss You?

3 Coming Out Anthems out of 5

NINE INCH NAILS / Fixed (1992)

I've used Fixed to clear a room. I'm not kidding. I also love it, so will be as biased as I can while reviewing it. It contains tracks from the Broken E.P. (1992) remixed by such luminaries as Coil, Butch Vig, and J. G. Thirlwell; all of whom do their best to hide something interesting inside something chaotic.
The first half is recognisable as music, but the latter half goes off the rails and offers up some harsh fragments (and Bob Flanagan having his bits tortured) that require repeated exposure to find any kind of rhythm in.
Far from being a misnomer, Fixed puts right the feelings that inspired Broken because it's born from the freedom to do what the artist wants.

Songs of Note: Gave Up; Wish

4 smashed pieces out of 5

BEYOND DAWN / Revelry (1998)

After Norwegian Black Metal hit a creative brick wall, the avant-garde movement sprang up; Revelry was part of that. A lot of it actually sounds like Black Metal slowed down, mapped to a Swans template. Vocalist (and guitarist) Espen Ingierd even sounds like Michael Gira. If I was to describe it in one sentence, I'd call it 52 minutes of sleazy lounge music for the depressed metal fan.
It's a difficult album to engage with because it's so glum, but it reveals more introspective, experimental layers as you give it more and more of your attention. The only downside with that approach is that you risk becoming a depressed metal fan and may never look at a trombone the same ever again.

Songs of Note: Love's (Only) True Defender; Three Steps for the Chameleon

3 sad dogs out of 5

NINE DAYS / The Madding Crowd (2000)

If you've only heard Absolutely (Story of A Girl) you will have a decent idea of how half of this album sounds. There is a second singer-songwriter present, however, who brings a healthy dose of tranquil introspection to the table. He also provides a touch of measured venom, and, unfortunately, an exercise in art-school pretentiousness. Thankfully, that is really the only true misstep of which to speak. These boys have a decent amount more going on beneath the surface of their shiny pop-rock lake than most of their deceased one-hit-wonder brethren and I have to believe that’s the reason they've long survived in the absence of public acclaim.

Songs of Note: If I Am; Bitter

4 Cursing Girls (Sold Separately) out of 5

JARBOE | TELECOGNAC ‎/ Over (2000)

Telecognac (Chris Rosenau and Jon Mueller) took a single Jarboe track and made a lazy release from it. It's classed as an album, but has just three tracks totalling 35 mins. They chopped most of Jarboe's vocals into small, unintelligible chunks and then dropped them into a toolbox of experimental awkwardness that relies heavily on juxtaposition and percussion to fill out the running time.
It only gels into something engaging about fifty percent of the time. The other fifty percent is mostly cold, listless and irritating.

Songs of Note: Over 1; Over 2

2 gold idols out of 5

ALICE COOPER / DaDa (1983)

Alice's 15th album is… well… it just is. It's ignored by most fans and by Cooper himself, who created it during another alcohol daze. But it's not a total washout; its merits lie in the fact that it's more interesting than it is exciting. The lame synth and computer experimentation are the biggest problem, but the occasional flashes of a lucid Alice raise a few songs high above the blandness.
Former Lee Warmer is a classic Alice ballad, eerie, volatile and beautiful. Scarlet and Sheba has the beginnings of the sound that he'd adopt for his sober comeback album a few years later. New arrangements on the remainder could give them the kind of heartbeat they deserve, but that isn't likely to happen.

Songs of Note: DaDa; Former Lee Warmer

1½ twisted keys 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.