Review: Candeleros is a six-member, Colombia- and Venezuela-rooted collective based in Madrid that fuse Cumbia, merengue, dub and an array of Afro-Caribbean rhythms, creating a psychedelic, postmodern celebration of Latin sound. Their music blends Andean echoes, cinematic textures and hypnotic percussion into what feels like a ritualistic dance experience and has seen them collaborating with artists like Dodosound and Carlos Talez. They always reject the usual genre boundaries while focusing on cultural activism and the power of collective expression and have performed across Europe. As this album shows, their sound is passionate, borderless and proof that Cumbia has truly rooted itself in Europe.
Review: Causa Sui's In Flux is the dynamic follow-up to last year's From The Source, reflecting a more spontaneous, experimental face of the band. Where in its predecessor we heard a hermetic 45-minute LP, In Flux embraces a looser, freer structure, charting fuz-off riffs through to a Hot Rats-style jazz fusion, in the end finding notes of oceanic post-rock building on influences from Talk Talk to Can. On 'Spree', the band eschew guitars entirely, going full Death in a wild doomsynth embrace. The 16-minute 'Astral Shores', meanwhile, stands as the album's centrepiece, mesmerising us listeners through heavy folk psych shearwaters. Causa Sui continue to operate in the manner of unmoved movers, unstoppable as they come.
Review: Primarily known for his sprawling LA-based psych/garage/punk/all of the above work as Osees aka Thee Oh Sees aka Oh Sees, John Dwyer links up with experienced percussionist Dave Barbarossa (Fine Young Cannibals, Adam & The Ants) for the retro bratty glam-punk experience of the year - Chime Oblivion. Their self-titled debut is packed full of squelchy synths, jagged minimalist guitar lines and high-pitched eccentric vocals, paying clear homage to classic acts such as The Slits and Bow Wow Wow. Chock full of bite-sized bangers including 'Neighbourhood Dog' and 'Kiss Her Or Be Her', both of which scoff at the notion of a three-minute track, this is retrofitted throwback dance-punk in the stylised era before it even had such a moniker.
Review: Mr Bongo look back to the damn fine Latin funk and rock-infused soul sounds of Coke's 197 self-titled opus for their next well-chosen reissue project here. It is their only album, sadly, but is a brilliant mix of Miami Latin-funk, psychedelic garage rock and gritty soul sung mainly in English. It blends bright funk drumming, flavourful organs and zesty horn with Paul Garcia (guitar), Ariel Hernandez (bass), Ruben Perez (drums), Jose Rubio (keys) and Peter Fernandez (vocals) all produced by Mato. The record was popular in Miami but faded due to limited promotion and a Coca-Cola trademark dispute but was later rediscovered by collectors, with standout tracks like 'Na Na,' 'Got to Touch Your Face' and 'Te Amo Mas' all became staples of Latin sets.
Review: Author and musician Julian Cope, formerly of Teardrop Explodes, is a leftfield national treasure. His books contain some of the funniest and most imaginative stories ever printed and as a musician he is the essence of rock n' roll. This latest album - the follow-up to 2023's excellent Robin Hood - is Cope at his most melodic. It contains nods to the likes of spook rocker Joe Meek, Velvet Underground and Krautrock, with a smorgasbord of guitar tones, mellotron and loose Moe Tucker-esque drumming. Cope's lyrics, with plenty of humour and off-kilter references, are a joy to dive into as they're cloaked in some of the best music he's ever composed.
Review: This is ex-Teardrop Explodes frontman and cult hero Julian Cope's third record in as many years - he's operating at the speed that a lot of 60s/70s psychedelia artists that he was inspired by were and, in turn, making everyone else look a bit lazy. As a songwriter his satirical and absurdist sense of humour shines through; he makes you laugh as often as he makes you want to tap your foot and sing-a-long. And the uniqueness of his personality shines through with countless witty lines. A case in point is the brilliant "They ruined my Subbuteo and made their escape / Four Jehovah's in a Volvo estate", which is talk/sung over a motorik beat replete with mind-bending mellotron. Elsewhere, the bedroom-glam rock album opener 'Too Freud To Rock'n'Roll/Too Jung To Die' is a brilliant takedown of someone who's seemingly wound him up on the internet. With tunes this good, long may the rebirth of Cope continue.
Review: Taking their cues and inspiration from their earlier peers in The Nomads, Stockholm, Sweden's psychedelic garage rockers Cornflake Zoo were active for a brief period in the mid to late-1980s, releasing just a small handful of singles and EPs during their short tenure. Knights Of Fuzz offers up a definitive compilation of the (unfairly) lesser-known garage gurus, including their Hey Conductor and Just A Game 7" singles, released in 1985 and 1987 respectively, while also featuring their 1986 The End Of The Beginning 12" EP in its entirety, along with a few unearthed bonus cuts for good measure. Jagged, bluesy, chaotic buzzing guitars twisted into jangle-pop refrains, Cornflake Zoo truly were the Scandinavian knights of fuzz that time forgot.
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