CD Album Recommendations February 2016

Review: Surely not even the most ardent Bowie fan saw any of this coming. Yet to offset the justified grief and mourning at the most otherworldly and mercurial of all musical icons departing our realm, he's left us with one of his greatest albums to date and certainly his best in a full quarter century - one that returns him spiritually to the dizzying collision of bracing experimentation and melodious drama that typified the so-called Berlin trilogy of the '70s yet transplants that ambience to a new more complicated age. Jazzy inflections, electronic filigree and stark soundscapes collide elegantly amidst that stentorian voice, and whether or not Bowie put this together as a farewell, he couldn't have done it better if he'd tried. We'll truly never see his like again, alas.

Review: Given the strength and frequency of his releases throughout 2013 and 2014, Joey Anderson has been surprisingly quiet this year. Clearly, he had his head down, working on this second full-length for regular home Dekmantel. Pleasingly, Invisible Switch shows the producer at the top of his game. Clearly influenced - in part, at least - by the spacey sounds of classic Detroit techno, it sees him treading the fine line between hypnotic, late night deep house, and undulating, deep space techno. Along the way, you'll find subtle nods to jazz, early British techno (see the weighty "Reset"), intelligent techno, trippy acid tracks (the early Orbital style fizz of "Amarna") and, on the throbbing "Nabta Playa", crunchy techno-funk.

Review: Jazzman describes Jazz/The African Sound as a "lost global jazz classic". Certainly, it's an important record. Recorded in 1963 by Chris McGregor's short-lived Castle Lager Big Band outfit - a 17-piece jazz ensemble that included both black and white musicians, at a time when Apartheid was at its' height - it's long been regarded by collectors and those in the know as one of the best jazz records ever to be made in Africa. Some 53 years after it first slipped out in South Africa, it's finally getting a global release. Built around modernist jazz compositions from South African composers - a rarity at the time - Jazz/The African Sound remains a thrilling, daring and hugely enjoyable set.

Review: When announcing the release of Love Over Will, Alex Smoke described it as: "a statement on the times we are living in, but with an optimism relating to ways forward that are possible". Certainly, the producer's fourth solo album - his first for six years - offers an impeccable balance between dark and light moods. Stylistically, it blends many of his familiar themes and influences - moody techno, beguiling ambient, American classical minimalism, Drexciya-influenced electro - with a stylish, alternative 1980s synth-pop sensibility. It's a blend that's initially surprising, but wholly successful. For the most part, it sounds like early Depeche Mode dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century, via such electronic music hotspots as Detroit, Rotterdam, Berlin and, of course, Glasgow.

Review: Radioland has its' origins in a unique live re-imagining of Kraftwerk's 1975 album Radio-Activity, which Franck Vigroux and Matthew Bourne performed with the assistance of visual artist Antoine Schmitt last year. Following the success of that venture, the two musical protagonists ventured into the studio to record this version. It's as alien, bleak and out-there as Kraftwerk's underrated, krautrock-era original, and largely makes use of similar analogue equipment. There are some nods to contemporary electronic music here and there - both in the recording techniques, instrumentation and sample sources - and it's these touches that help avoid the potential pitfalls of similarly minded tributes. "Intermission/News", for example, sounds like Stockhausen jamming with Scanner, while "Radio Stars" is a freaky ambient treat.

Review: Tricky seems to be getting nostalgic in his old age. Having recently joined forces with Massive Attack for the first time in two decades, he's continued the "old boys" act by getting former Wild Bunch Sound System colleague DJ Milo (better known these days for his work as DJ Nature) to co-produce this 11th solo studio album. For the most part the "Knowle West Boy" sticks to the smoky trip-hop script he's been pushing since the '90s, though it should be noted that it's nowhere near as dense and dark as some previous sets. In fact, at points it's positively cheery, as the electrofunk-influenced "Hero", melodious "Driving Away", bubbly "Here My Dear" and shuffling "Necessary" so aptly prove.

Review: Far from being a band trapped in a nostalgic cul-de-sac redolent of their '90s origins, the return of Suede to the fray that began with 2010's reformation and continued with 2013's 'Bloodsports' has proven the band to be possessed of a chemistry and emotional heft that renders them as powerful now as ever they were. 'Night Thoughts' may be a less melodramatic and slightly more mature band dealing with the pressures of parenthood and the vagaries of modern life more than the youthful melodrama of yore, yet it's rich with melody, poise and melancholy enough to underline Suede's status as a veritable national treasure.

Review: Sun Kil Moon's Mark Kozelek and Jesu's Justin Broadrick have been long-term admirers of each other's work, and despite their having made their name in markedly different endeavours - Kozelek dealing out spectral frailty in Red House Painters and Broadrick shattering boundaries in avant-metal titans Godflesh - they have common ground in their dealings with human frailty. These things are manifest on this collaborative work, in which Broadrick's radiant soundscapes back up Kozelek at his most emotionally engaging. With guest appearances by members of Low, Will Oldham and Rachel Goswell, the epic scope of this work only throws the rawness of the subject matter into sharper relief, creating a pinnacle for both these maverick artists alike.

Review: Man of many talents Adrian Younge is something of a musical butterfly. To date, he's worked with an impressive roster of talents, including Ghostface Killah, The Delfonics and Souls of Mischief. Here, he gathers together the other members of Venice Dawn to lay down a follow-up to their acclaimed 2011 debut, Something About April. Like that album, Something About April II takes a widescreen, psychedelic approach to soul, mixing clear Rotary Connection and Harry Nilsson influences with fizzing, pleasingly loose funk instrumentation. Throw in occasional nods to easy listening and Sly Stone, as well as a heap of delicious modern soul vocals, and you have an evocative, heady musical brew that rewards repeat listens.

Review: When putting together their 2015 set Diamonds To Darkness, New Romantic pioneers Visage decided against releasing any singles. Instead, they announced a "partner album", Darkness To Diamond, featuring their remixes, extended versions and reworks of the same tracks. Now it's finally been released, and if anything the songs benefit from the stretched-out, club-friendly treatment. This is stylized synth-pop straight from the top drawer, with enough bubbling arpeggio lines, sleazy saxophone solos and vintage references - think John Carpenter, Italo-disco, Bobby Orlando and fizzing electro-glam - to please both old and new fans. Given that Steve Strange completed his vocals before his untimely death last year, it's also a rather poignant listen.