Favourite Five Recent Releases
Five of the best albums from the recent postings at Elsewhere. Music too good to let slide into the archives. The Elsewhere place if you're looking for a quick fix.
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RECOMMENDED RECORD: French for Rabbits: The Overflow (Reckless Yes/digital outlets)
16 Dec 2021 | 1 min read
From time to time Elsewhere will single out a recent release we recommend on vinyl, like this one which comes with the lyrics on the inner sleeve. Check out Elsewhere's other Recommended Record picks . . . . Elsewhere has had a long infatuation with the dreamy folk-pop and gently experimental electronica of French For Rabbits, the New Zealand group of singer/multi-instrumentalist... > Read more
The Dark Arts
The War on Drugs: I Don't Live Here Anymore (Atlantic/digital outlets)
4 Dec 2021 | 1 min read
Although a lyrical guitarist -- as witnessed on previous albums Lost in the Dream (2014) and the Grammy-grabbing A Deeper Understanding (2017) -- The War on Drugs' Adam Granduciel here sometimes foregrounds acoustic and electric piano (and Hammond organ) to support his complex songwriting. This fifth WoD album extends his increasingly distinctive Americana-cum-psychedelic... > Read more
THE BEACH BOYS: FEEL FLOWS, THE SUNFLOWER AND SURF'S UP SESSIONS 1969-1971 (2021): Sunset on the beach
30 Nov 2021 | 1 min read
There's always been talk that the Beach Boys didn't mean that much after the seminal Pet Sounds and the lesser Smiley Smile in the late Sixties, and yes, they did seem a bit directionless. But by the early Seventies they were steering a more confident course through the Sunflower and Surf's Up albums which mixed pop and their signature harmonies with songs which had a... > Read more
RECOMMENDED RECORD: Dirt: Bloom (Big Pop/bandcamp)
29 Nov 2021 | 2 min read
From time to time Elsewhere will single out a recent release we recommend on vinyl, like this one (which comes in a gatefold sleeve with an insert lyric booklet). Check out Elsewhere's other Recommended Record picks . . . . The final song at the end of the first side of this record opens with some familiar lines, but with its menacing, quasi-industrial beat it takes a moment... > Read more
Marcin Wasilewski Trio: En Attendant (ECM/digital outlets)
13 Sep 2021 | <1 min read
Although this trio have recorded recently with Joe Lovano and under their own name, you can't help but wonder if the subdued mood here is a response to the death in 2018 of trumpeter Tomasz Stanko who this group had a long, profitable and beautiful relationship with. Even their treatment of the Doors' Riders on the Storm is taken at a melancholy, thoughtful pace with few of the menacing... > Read more