Published on
April 14, 2023
Category
Features
Essential weekend listening.
This week’s rundown is by VF’s Kelly Doherty and Becky Rogers, alongside contributor James Hammond.
Fenne Lily
Big Picture
(Dead Oceans)
Proffered as an “attempt to self-soothe”, Fenne Lily’s third album is a lesson in sitting with and examining your emotions. Written amidst the pandemic, Big Picture is an observational collection with Lily’s hushed vocals delivering tales of isolation and emotional distance in a refreshingly direct manner. It’s Lily’s most consistent release to date with warm folk guitar leads taking up space among otherwise sparse, deliberate instrumentation. A thoughtful release that eschews melodrama.–KD
Shoukichi Kina
Asia Classics 2: The Best Of Shoukichi Kina – Peppermint Tea House
(Luaka Bop)
Surveying the discography of Shoukichi Kina and the Champloose band, this 1994 compilation from Luaka Bop is a fine way to acquaint yourself with Kina’s “open border” approach to Okinawan folk music. Playing the electric shansin and merging traditional Okinawan melodies with rock and roll in the 1970s, Kina and Champloose pushed the formula further afield in the ‘80s and ‘90s and landed in a zone of their own making. The infectious “Jing Jing” lets you know what you’re in for from the outset with traditional Japanese folk melodies meeting surf rock, disco and pop eccentricities. A welcome vinyl edition that follows on from its initial release on CD and cassette.–JH
Angel Olsen
Forever Means
(Jagjaguwar)
For Angel Olsen, forever means “never letting yourself think you’re finished learning or exploring”. Her latest collection of work, Forever Means, gathers material from her Big Time sessions that share this sentiment, focusing more on meaning than sonic synergy. Each track offers a different arc of exploration, from Americana-meets-lounge-jazz to reverb-powered guitar riffs and impassioned lyrical outbreaks, all concluding with instrumental interludes, leaving space to contemplate Olsen’s questioning and understanding. A reflective release that has found freedom in searching.–BR
Black Artist Group
In Paris, Aries 1973
(Aguirre)
Normally operating out of St Louis, Missouri, as a collective of musicians, poets, dancers and painters, the Black Artist Group’s sole LP found the group’s musical branch temporarily relocated to Paris and in barnstorming form for this 1973 live recording. As with their peers in the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Black Artist Group quested into spontaneity, group momentum and sparks of simultaneity. Here all musicians take up the percussive call with congas, log drums, marimbas, woodblock, cowbells and gongs, letting the brass, strings and woodwind ride out on a distinct rhythmic undertow. One for the free-improv lovers among us.–JH
Kid Koala
Creatures of the Late Afternoon
(Envision Records)
Kid Koala’s 10th solo album, Creatures of the Late Afternoon, is a deft display of imagination. With physical packaging that incorporates a fully-realised board game in its gatefold, it’s a treat for all the senses. Aside from the fun-for-all-the-family design, Creatures of the Late Afternoon is a musical treat that pays homage to turntablism through bouncy, loose trip-hop cuts coloured with cinematic timing and quirky experimentation.–KD
lilo
I Don’t Like My Chances On The Outside
(Dalliance Recordings)
London-based duo lilo offer introspective alt-folk on their sophomore EP, I Don’t Like My Chances On The Outside. While circumnavigating breakups, feeling lost when you know exactly where you are and seeing friends fall for the wrong person, their delicate country-spun folk emerges alongside weightier ‘90s-tinged indie-rock melodies. I Don’t Like My Chances On The Outside may centre around loss and uncertainty, but airs confidence in its dulcet harmonies and full-bodied composition.–BR
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