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The Last Dinner Party: Prelude To Ecstasy
New album: A much hyped, but also arguably merited debut by the London five-piece of luxuriant, theatrical rock-pop with some echoes of Abba, and lavishly super-produced by James Ford
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J Mascis: What Do We Do Now
New album: Like Neil Young, a fine wine or a classic car, the Dinosaur Jr frontman returns with another (his fifth) solo LP, with melodies of ever maturing, timeless quality, rich in guitar, piano and that distinctive, emotive, croaky voice
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Erotic Secrets of Pompeii: Mondo Maleficum
New album: Gloriously theatrical, witty, panache-filled, this is a lavishly swaggering, swirling cauldron of excess, rock-pop, post-punk, prog, baroque indie, and classical, a debut whirlwind LP of history-spanning reference and energy, from Greek myth to Shakespeare and the apocalypse
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If it’s not here, you don’t need it: His Lordship
New album: Explosive, punchy, sharp, witty, thrilling debut LP of 60s-style garage punk, anarchic rockabilly and 50s rock’n’roll by the duo of James Walbourne (The Pretenders) and Kristoffer Sonne (Chrissie Hynde) taking inspiration from Jerry Lee Lewis to The Stooges, The Cramps to The Black Keys
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The Smile: Wall of Eyes
New album: Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood join again with jazz drummer Tom Skinner for a second LP of cerebrally inventive, dark tracks, tinged with ghostly melancholy, at times almost more Radiohead than Radiohead
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Gruff Rhys: Sadness Sets Me Free, his 25th album overall
New album: The effortlessly talented Welshman, former Super Furry Animals frontman and all round nice guy returns with a gorgeously bittersweet album of wry humour and fabulous tunes inspired by the joys of writing about sad subjects
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Black Grape: Orange Head
New album: Salford’s Shaun Ryder and Manchester’s Paul ‘Kermit’ Leveridge return with their first LP since 2017’s Pop Voodoo, and their fourth overall together, with an especially funk-filled laced with their classic banter, wit and talent for cleverly daft, surreal and addictive lyrics
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Sleater-Kinney: Little Rope
New album: With perhaps best yet, certainly since reforming in 2014, and 11th overall, a passionate, catchy, powerful, defiant LP by Portland-based singer-guitarists Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker with searingly brilliant postpunk, rock and pop
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SPRINTS: Letter To Self
New album: After many strong singles and EPs, a bold, dynamic, blistering punk and post-punk debut by the Dublin four-piece, tackling turbulent existential crises with dark passion and wit
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Favourite LPs of 2023, Part 2.
Welcome once again to the annual tradition of Song Bar’s favourite album releases of 2023. This is Part 2, and Part 1 was yesterday. There’s no such thing as a chart rundown or ‘best of’ here, and these come in no particular order …
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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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Oya Paya: Slumped Up
New album: Excellent, energised, pace-changing, dynamic indie debut LP by the Anglo-South East Asian, Liverpool-formed trio who also have a heady mix of British, Midwest and New York flavours, from The Lemonheads, to Blur, Red Hot Chilli Peppers to The Strokes
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Neil Young
New album: An affecting, intimate and novel release by the veteran Canadian singer-songwriter with a non-stop acoustic rendition of 13 of his own favourite songs spanning his career and comprising the unpredictable and lesser known
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Peter Gabriel: i/o
New album: Strong, powerful, broad in scope, but also warm, tender emotional songs abound in this impressive, expansive return by the British artist with his first LP of new work in 21 years, with many great collaborators including co-producer Brian Eno, each of the 12 tracks has both Bright-Side and Dark-Side stereo mixes
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GHOSTWOMAN: Hindsight Is 50/50
New album: This third LP by Canadian singer multi-instrumentalist Evan Uschenko and drummer Ille van Dessel, comes with a darker, moodier, goth-noir-psych-garage-rock smokiness
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Raze Regal & White Denim Inc
New album: The virtuoso experimental Texas rock band fronted by James Petralli join old friend and singer/ guitarist formerly of Oakland’s Once and Future Band in a pacy tapestry of cleverly interwoven psych, prog, funk, jazz and rock, with added echoes of Steely Dan
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Marnie Stern: The Comeback Kid
New album: A joyously noisy return of proclamatory, zingy, explosively proggy indie-rock with the first album in 10 years since by the New York guitarist and singer, since 2013’s The Chronicles of Marnia
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Problem Patterns’ debut album: Blouse Club
New album: Belfast’s answer to Amyl & the Sniffers pull no punches and leave no prisoners with their angry, shouty, catchy, feminist, caustically sharp and witty debut LP, their fast furious songs of social critique, from the energetic Riot Grrrl punk quartet of Beverley Boal, Bethany Crooks, Ciara King and Alanah Smith
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The Kills: God Games
New album: A first LP for seven years by the American-British duo of vocalist Alison Mosshart and guitarist Jamie Hince is a gritty, glamorous thunder-crack storm of blistering garage rock and simmering noir-pop
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Cody Pepper: Chemical Oasis
New album: An alluring, eclectic, eccentric jazz-pop electronica LP by the London-based singer-songwriter and Zebrah flautist Pauline Janier who brings a diverse set of sounds and musicians into this enthrallingly odd release
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