If you didn't get a chance to rock out to Justice's amazing live shows in 2018, you could enjoy it at home with the remix album "Woman Worldwide," in which Justice present their music as you would hear it live, but without the lower quality of a live recording. The remix has always been an integral part of electronic music going back to the 1980's, but French electro-funk hipsters Justice have made it an art, where they de-construct and assemble the music in ways you would never expect, making familiar sounds seem like brand new material. Although it mainly consists of versions of the material on their latest album "Woman," it's mashed up with stuff from their entire 10 year output, making for a rad compilation that perfectly demonstrates why we love these guys and will make your eardrums ache in a good way.
Nine Inch Nails Bad Witch
Five years since their last full-length release, NIN drops the best and most forward-thinking work they've produced since 2008's "Ghosts I-IV." "Bad Witch" is a more terse and sharpened work that also harks back to NIN's earliest work, in particular the 1992 ep "Broken", but also parts of "The Downward Spiral", in its meld of garage rock and industrial noise. And the additional touches of jazz perhaps deliberately brings David Bowie's swan song "Blackstar" to mind. Listen to "God Break Down the Door" in particular, even the lyrics and Trent Reznor's voice feels like an homage to Bowie. It's an exciting album which despite its spare length has a strong degree of purpose and intensity which it is truly inspiring to find in NIN after almost thirty years of creativity.
David Byrne American Utopia
David Byrne's first solo release in fourteen years is an art rock album crackling with playful inspiration, and although his singing voice may be a bit cracked with age, his knack for interesting lyrics and catchy, compelling pop tunes is still as remarkably fresh and sharp as it was forty years ago. That also goes for his co-creator Brian Eno's crisp and innovative production. Released in conjunction with the project "Reasons to be cheerful," which aims to spread optimism, "American Utopia" is also full of ambitious optimism, especially on "Every Day is a Miracle" and "Bullet," the prettiest song about getting shot you'll ever hear, and stands out as a new milestone for one of the greatest artists ever on the alternative music scene.
Juno Reactor The Mutant Theatre
18 years after the bombshell that was "Pistolero," Juno Reactor opens the new multicultural trancevaganza "The Mutant Theatre" with "The Return of Pistolero." It's not the sexiest of words, but Juno Reactor is and always has been a reliable music act and this release really delivers. On tour, Juno Reactor likes to people the stage with strobe light-equipped Predators and sci-fi samurais, but you don't need to be in the audience to appreciate the psychedelic spectacle. It will manifest in your imagination as the music pumps in your headphones because the music is that visionary and spectacular in itself. The opening track sets the bar pretty high, yet somehow the following 55 minutes manage to keep that dance groove at maximum momentum and serves as a vibrant reminder why Juno Reactor is still one of the absolute best.
Phosphorescent C'est la Vie
Phosphorescent's seventh album "C'est la Vie" is his first release in five years and it's five years well spent. After one of the most beautiful intros I've ever heard, Matthew Houck delivers a collection of songs that are both sad and sweet, dreamy and real, with his vulnerable voice and lush production quality making for an intimate and heartfelt listening experience. Although it may not register as traditional country, the slide guitar is ever present and it's got more of a country ballad feeling to it than most stuff out there, and puts you next to a cozy fire under a star-studded sky, to reflect on the toils and turmoils of the past while saddle sore from a long ride, tired and hurt, but happy. There should be more songwriting and storytelling of Phosphorescent's soft yet confident style.
The Prodigy No Tourists
When I was fifteen, The Prodigy was the coolest thing around and those who didn't get it were losers. I may have matured some since then, but that is otherwise kinda still the case. The Prodigy's sneakily released seventh album is also sneakily brilliant, like a perfectly contained, constructed and contaminated summary of the band's near thirty year existence. Besides being an energizing listening experience, impossible to sit still to, it has since put on some extra weight for being the last recorded appearance of one of the original members, Keith Flint, who passed away earlier this year. He can be proud to leave on this total bang!
Ezra Fuhrman Transangelic Exodus
As its title suggests, Ezra Fuhrman's sixth album "Transangelic Exodus" is sort of a concept album about angels in exile with a sound that hangs somewhere between Ziggy Stardust-era David Bowie and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Both campy and punky while also being soulful and melancholic. The intermitten touches of 1960s soul and pop is skewered with a very modern and hip artist's sensibilities. I'm very thankful for Netflix's "Sex Education" for bringing this inspired and inspirational alternative pop rock poet to my eager attention.
Confidence Man Confident Music for Confident People
"C - O - O - L, cool!" It's not hard to get smitten by the new Aussie band Confidence Man's award-winning debut. "Confident Music for Confident People" is pure fun. Part classic disco and part electro - at times even crossing over into indie pop; it's funny, cool, catchy and very groovy. It's also an apt title, for it is indeed a very confident debut, and Confidence Man comes across as a stylistically fully-fledged group with a defined sound.
Greta Van Fleet Anthem of the Peaceful Army
The spirit of Led Zeppelin is alive and well in this young band. Though a somewhat uneven album - which is not a big deal for a debut record - when it sounds this great and makes you feel so good inside, what can you do other than surrender and embrace it warmly. You certainly can't fault their ambition, "Anthem of the Peaceful Army" has an epicness to it that's quite impressive. Like MGMT before them, Greta Van Fleet makes retrofitting musical genres look good. In the end it's heartening to see that an appreciation for this kind of musical drive is still flourishing regardless of generational differences.
Hen Ogledd Mogic
The breakout psychedelic and arty Welsh indie pop band Hen Ogledd's album "Mogic" is sparkling with ingenuity, mixing electronic music with a jazzy organic instrumentation. Listen closely and you can hear influences from Tom Waits, from Brian Eno, from Björk, even Primus, and of course Super Furry Animals. That's not to say they're merely imitators, they are an oddity all of their own that once heard is not simply forgotten. Both smooth and abrasive, beautiful, weird, wistful and mysterious, Hen Ogledd's sound is easy to love if you're that way inclined. A lot of music that is styled "dream pop" tends to be plainly boring, but their songs are truly dreamy, sometimes bordering on nightmarish, and throughout they maintain enough of an edge and a kind of experimental endeavor that keeps the whole thing interesting from the first honking horns to the last reverberating synth notes.
