Mikal Cronin
(Trouble In Mind)
Fried garage-pop has taken a back seat to stronger psychedelics in the US underground over the past few years. But Mikal Cronin’s debut solo record goes some way to righting this anomaly. The standout track here is “Apathy”, a magnificent stop-start singalong. But the fun doesn’t end there, as nuggety thrashes follow scuffed-up love songs. KE
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Space is Only Noise
(Circus Company)
A Francophone American brought up in Chile, Nicolas Jaar was always going to have some perspective. His category-defying album takes the building blocks of minimal techno – trickling noises, claustrophobic bass, sampled snatches – adding in unexpected elements such as blues (“I Got A Woman” borrows from Ray Charles) and soul (“Almost Fell”) to create a thoughtful, immersive whole. KE
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Ravedeath, 1972
(Kranky)
An album full of uneasy drones with titles like “Hatred Of Music I” doesn’t sound like much of a draw in these anxious times. But there is something serene and transcendent about sound artist Hecker’s 2011 work. Based on a series of pipe organ recordings in an Icelandic church, Ravedeath, 1972 plays out like a stately ambient requiem for certainty. KE
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Last Summer
(Merge)
Fiery Furnaces fans have been waiting nearly a decade for the female Friedberger to make a solo record. Last Summer was no disappointment – a recollected Brooklyn travelogue that embraced funk bass and sax solos. Sometimes Friedberger sounded like the new hipster’s Patti Smith, sometimes merely a skewwhiff ur-pop marvel. KE
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Carrior Crawler/The Dream
(In The Red)
Garage rock is a reckless, deathless pleasure of a genre, and few have purveyed it so consistently of late as Californians Thee Oh Sees. Of the two albums they released this year, this one was marginally more locked-on, boasting an extra drummer. The instrumental “Chem-Farmer” pithily plugs the Thee Oh Sees charms, while the Cramps-ish “Crack In Your Eye” adds psychedelic falsettos to the mix. KE
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Looping State Of Mind
(Kompakt)
Anyone who considers “repetitive” a pejorative should avoid Swedish dance music producer Axel Willner’s third album, constructed entirely from loops. Those who grasp the link between the ecstatic states of pre-industrial shamen and our propulsive digital age will find plenty of layered bliss to nod along to here. KE
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Jumping the Shuffle Blues
(Fantastic Voyage)
Subtitled “Jamaican Sound System Classics 1946-60”, this three-disc set gathers American R&B hits that shaped the emergence of ska and rock steady. Alongside big hitters including Louis Jordan (above) and Amos Milburn come lesser sung pieces such as Willie Littlefield’s “KC Loving” and Lloyd Trotman’s “Trottin’ In”, featuring the characteristic offbeat of future reggae. NS
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Bambara Mystic Soul
(Analog Africa)
The flow of vintage African obscurities continues to surprise. “The Raw Sound of Burkina Faso 1974-79” is not an obvious draw but the booming grooves and sweet vocals of star turn Amadou Ballaké prove vibrant, and Mamo Lagbema’s “Zambo-Zambo” is a beautifully crazed funk workout. NS
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Barton Hollow
(Sensibility)
Don’t be misled by the indie-rock name; John Paul White and Joy Williams deliver stately country folk of rare charm. There’s a touch of Robert Plant/Alison Krauss chemistry to the duo’s vocal interplay, while their songs slide between gentle melancholia and fiery aggrievement. NS
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Mercato
(Mental Groove)
This Swiss sextet pay inventive homage to the golden age of Ethiopian jazz (the 1960s) while adding rolling rhythmic muscle to its sinuous, trance-like melodies. Leader Raphael Ankar’s cool trumpet plays against freeform sax and funky guitar and there’s a guest spot from singer Bethelem Dagnachew. NS
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Cecil Sharp Project
(EFDSS)
A gaggle of Brit and US folkies were hot-housed for a week to come up with this tribute to pioneer song collector Cecil Sharp. Focusing on his American travels, it leaps between standards such as “Coocoo Bird” and “Barbara Allen” and originals including Steve Knightley’s “Mining For Songs”. Jackie Oates and Kathryn Roberts add vocal sparkle. NS
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Smokestack Lightning
(Chess)
A handsomely packaged four disc collection collating the first decade of a titanic bluesman. Some of the hits that endeared the gravel-voiced Wolf to 60s Brit and US bluesers are here – “Spoonful”, “Back Door Man” – but prequels like “Moanin’ At Midnight” are as good, and the studio banter and out-takes are an anorak’s dream. NS
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Burn
(Self Released)
Beyond Nashville’s airbrushed celebrations of blue-collar life lies an America of dirt-poor trailer parks and dead factories, one caught vividly by north California’s Hosking. Her keening vocals and simple accompaniments are old-timey but her lament for the Gulf of Mexico and its “drunk shrimpers in oil-baron hell” is here and now. NS
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Tone Poems
(Jazz Academy)
Veteran British jazz composer Garrick (above) died last month, and this was his last album. The 10 tracks combine new pieces with fresh versions of Garrick classics, such as “Black Marigolds”. The 20-piece band does full justice to the great range of his orchestration, which provides the setting for a cast of fine soloists. DG
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Music Redeems
(Emarcy)
The entire Marsalis tribe, plus Harry Connick Jnr and a few more, indulge in a musical party to raise funds for a musical charity. It may not be the greatest music Wynton, Branford and the rest have ever played, but it certainly sounds like fun. Best party-piece is Jason Marsalis whistling Charlie Parker’s impossibly speedy ‘Donna Lee’. DG
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Four Classic Albums Plus
(Avid)
It’s fair to say that Broonzy turned Britain and Europe on to the blues. His gloriously soulful voice and exceptional acoustic guitar playing captivated audiences in the 1950s. This double-CD pack catches the full extent of his artistry, from deep blues to cheerful good-time numbers, solo voice-and-guitar to rocking Chicago jump bands. DG
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Seamen's Mission
(Properbox)
Four-CD collection of music featuring the late, great and very disorderly British drummer. Apart from demonstrating what a terrific player Seamen was, these 60 tracks add up to a good historical anthology of British modern jazz through the 1950s, featuring, among others, Ronnie Scott, Tubby Hayes, Joe Harriott and Victor Feldman. DG
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Laughing At Life
(Lake)
For devotees of earlier jazz styles, revitalised by good modern performers, this is one not to miss. Ragtime, vaudeville blues, cracking old tunes that nobody has touched for years - they all come up bright and sparkling after treatment by Langham (vocals, guitar, banjo), pianist Martin Litton and bassist Malcolm Sked. DG
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