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A Certain Ratio: It All Comes Down To This
New album: Following last year’s 1984 album, Manchester’s pioneering and highly influential post-punk trio of Jez Kerr, Martin Moscrop and Donald Johnson return with a punchy, potent, stripped-back sound with a dark funk flavour, produced by the prolific and brilliant Dan Carey
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Part 1 selection of 2023 favourite albums
Welcome once again to the annual tradition of Song Bar’s favourite album releases of 2023. This is Part 1, and Part 2 is also out here. There’s no such thing as a chart rundown or ‘best of’ here, and these come in no particular order. This is all about quality and innovation …
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Vince Clarke: Songs of Silence
New album: The legendary synth-pop songwriter best known for Depeche Mode, Yazoo and Erasure releases, at last, his first solo album, a mesmeric, ambient, darkly sci-fi cinematic work made from modular synthesisers
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Swans: The Beggar
New album: This 16th album in just over four decades by the veteran American experimental band fronted Michael Gira brings brooding, dark menace, written in lockdown, a moving, powerful contemplation of mortality that’s oddly stirring
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Desire Marea: On The Romance of Being
New album: An extraordinary, beautiful, passionate, spiritual and erotic new solo LP by the South African multidisciplinary artist, sangoma (Nguni spiritual healer), and previously part of queer gqom group FAKA, now with a 13-piece orchestral ensemble mixing soul, jazz, rock and Zulu chants
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A Certain Ratio: 1982
New album: The Manchester post-punk veterans Jez Kerr, Martin Moscrop and Donald Johnson, return with a sparklingly eclectic record of electronica, dance, jazz, funk, Afrobeat and more with a retrospective feel on their history
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Miss Grit: Follow The Cyborg
Debut album: Sensual, strong, intelligent, highly original indie-electro-pop debut by the Brooklyn-based Korean-American artist Margaret Sohn with songs that explore the idea of identity and what it is to be alive
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Maps: Counter Melodies
New album: A mesmeric fifth electronica LP by the English musician and producer James Chapman filled with clever, catchy melodies, interweaving, shifting textures and classic sounds from the clubby to echoes of Kraftwerk
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HAAi’s first full debut LP
New album: After a series of acclaimed mixes and other releases, the London-based Australian electronica-techno artist Teneil Throssell’s full debut album is restlessly inventive, oddly alluring, hypnotic adventure tapping into the ecstasy of slow-build and joy in repetition
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Deeper and darker: the 10th Liars album in a 20-year career
New album: Remaining founder member Angus Andrew is joined by drummer Laurence Pike and multi-instrumentalist Cameron Deyell on a rich return to form of dark, cinematic, menacing and entrancingly strange songs
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Desire Marea
New album: The singer and African queer artist icon from Durban and founder of the FAKA collective offers something truly different with this startling LP mixing operatic voice, disco and alternative, experimental electronica with Zulu language
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Daniel Avery: Together In Static
New album: This dynamic, evocative new LP by the Bournemouth electronica artist comes exactly a year after his surprise album Love + Light
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Another square of nine great new albums
Album reviews roundup: This selection has a particularly political and topical element with the likes of Sufjan Stevens, IDLES, Bob Mould and Diana Jones tackling issues in different styles, as well as other stylish pop and experimental releases
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BC Camplight
This week’s roundup includes the finest yet from humorously dark BC Camplight, the Sex Education soudntrack by Ezra Furman, transcendant pop from Hazel English and a gorgeous compilation by the Studio Ghibili composer Joe Hisaishi
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Quirky, funky and colourful: freelance Tory y Moi
Our latest roundup of new releases includes an emotional return for The Twilight Sad and Steve Gunn, catchy quirkiness from Toro Y Moi, solid alt-rock from Juliana Hatfield, cosmic pop from Steve Mason, and dire warnings from Lost Under Heaven
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Back in full colour - Art Brut
The latest roundup of album releases is dominated by indie pop, including a welcome return by Art Brut, Jeff Tweedy, ghostly instrumentals by Ed Harcourt, oddball covers by Laibach, and complex electronica by Vessel
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From the album cover of Titles With The Word Fountain, by Liars
Jon Spencer’s explosive solo to Marianne Faithfull’s gentle honesty, Bill Ryder-Jones love songs to music by the film director David Lynch, this week’s album roundup embraces a wealth of experimentation and styles
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Elvis Costello returns with old Attractions pals, and including songs written with Burt Bacharach
Elvis Costello triumphantly turns back the clock, John Grant at his bitchy, heartfelt best, and a heap of various laid-back and wonderfully eclectic, oddball records come with likes of Connan Mockasin, Kurt Vile, Jerry Paper and more
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The cover of Eleanor Friedberger's new album, Rebound
A varied and fascinating selection of mainly solo artists decorate this week’s selection, including the former singers of Fiery Furnaces and Supergrass, two dance DJs, Plan B returning to soul, and Danish rockers Iceage
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