2021 physical latecomers (feat. ALMEIDA | LOPES | ERNSTING, COALTAR OF THE DEEPERS, GNOD & ST. VINCENT)

It's still January, so I think it's also still ok to cover releases from last year, right? Here's a bunch of stuff, which I just bought too late to review it in 2021:

COALTAR OF THE DEEPERS - Revenge Of The Visitors (gold, red and blue swirl vinyl Earth Ride edition LP) (2021)

Somehow this album got my attention, while I was browsing for tapes, but ultimately the vinyl version landed on my wantlist and sat there for a while until I finally got my hands on it. Lucky me, because the unique mix of post punk, shoegaze, (death) metal/core (or whatever?) and a dozen more or less likely ingredients is just as captivating as it is strange. And I guess the naturalness with which the silly, catchy sweetness and the heaviness find together in this music, is kind of a typical Japanese thing. Or at least it presents itself in a way that makes me think that? I hear some elements which remind me of Envy's "The Fallen Crimson" or Boris' pop album "Attention Please!".
But then what I think is not always right. So I still thought that "Revenge Of The Visitors" was the reissue of a classic, when it was already spinning on my turntable, while in truth in the style of artists like Sodom and Taylor Swift it's actually a present-day re-recording of the 1994 debut CD "The Visitors From Deepspace"! It still looks super 90s though: the cover artwork with its good idea being almost ruined by layout and typo choices is totally of that time. Interestingly the coloured vinyl really kind of legitimizes and saves the rest. Yeah, this looks cool now. Still weird, but that's exactly what this album requires.

The songs are the same as on the original, the only difference being that the opener - a cover song from The Cure - has been renamed from "Killing An Arab" to "Killing Another" by the original artist in the years between the releases. From what I have compared, the music of the original must have been a completely mind-blowing experience back then, but the production really didn't stand the test of time. This new version sounds superior in every way and is also performed better. So yes, if you want to transfer your own old music into new times and keep it relevant - this is how you do it.

GNOD - La Mort Du Sens (CD) (2021)

Gnod are known to be quiet fluid in form and style, so this new album being the blatant reprise of "Just Say No To The Psycho Right-Wing Capitalist Fascist Industrial Death Machine" that it is, comes as a little surprise. However it's a good one. The throwback to the sound of the 2017 angry psych classic with the even more iconic cover artwork is actually very welcome. This is in no way a one to one copy, but the politically charged, punkish English working class spirit, embedded in a huge, smashing and hypno-tantalizing machine of industrial noise frenzy, perfectly hits the same nerve - brutally, repeatedly and merciless. "La Mort Du Sens" sits halfway between the "Filth" of Swans and Ministry's ""Filth Pig", adds some heavy psych overtones and doesn't shy away from throwing either some dirty fucking La Muerte rock'n'roll or a wild saxophone on top of it. The just anger and pulverizing bass of this album might fuck you up or call you to action - in the best case both. I almost feel like I want to blow right-wing light-brain anti-vaxers from the streets with this. They don't deserve to hear this great shit though. Clearly a hot AOTY list candidate, if I had only gotten it earlier! Just like the LP the CD comes in a gatefold with a cutout cover, so you can change the colour of whatever this is supposed to be from blue to red.

ST. VINCENT - Daddy's Home (LP) (2021)

Yeah, this is another one which would have really messed my 2021 favorites list up, especially the category of huge pop music releases. Which almost sounds like an insult when you speak about the work of singer and multi-instrumentalist Annie Clark aka St. Vincent. The dry electronic funk of "Masseduction" still lies at the foundation of some tracks on "Daddy's Home", but she so skillfully and confidently adds so many more exciting facets to her music - something new on each and every song - it's a pure joy to travel with her. There's Americana, lots of 70s rock, even pinches of Motown. And so much awesome and beautiful guitar and vintage synthesizer goodness. And damn, no matter what this woman does, her songwriting and arrangements are just world-class.

If you don't fall in love with this album at the latest after its fourth track "Live In The Dream" - a six-and-a-half-minute psychedelic Beatles worship ballad for the gods - you probaly have no soul. Or maybe it's just not your thing. Anyway, you won't get this masterpiece of a record. It's not a double album, so the scope can't match the reference, but in terms of addiction potential and sheer quality this is pop close to Janelle Monáe's "The ArchAndroid" level for me! St. Vincent just got the vibes. "You can't hide from me." she sings. You're right Daddy, we can't.

ALMEIDA | LOPES | ERNSTING - Misanthrope (CD) (2021)

But now back from the popular limelight to the world of the obscure! Fittingly (at least if you interpret the cover as a very abstract Christmas tree) released on December 25th, "Misanthrope" is a quite dark and gloomy, but also super busy and exciting live improvisation by Albatre bandmates Gonçalo Almeida and Phillipp Ernsting with guitarist Luís Lopes. In six tracks with a total playing time over 55 minutes the trio hits a whole bundle of nerve fibres between Pulled By Magnets and Dead Neanderthals, Sumac and Naked City in me.
 
THAT'S WHY I'VE ALREADY WRITTEN A WHOLE DETAILED REVIEW ABOUT THIS MASTERCLASS IN FREE DOOM JAZZCORE OVER ON VEILOFSOUND.COM!

The physical release on CD (limited to 50 copies) on the Indian label Subcontinental Records is a rather unspectaculary package coming in a slim tray, but it looks fine - and undoubtly has amazing  inner values.