The best albums of June 2018

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever- Hope Downs 
Just when it seemed like Indie rock had finally become devoid of all personality and relevance a bunch of Australians hailing from Melbourne (same places as other Beat Town faves, Courtney Barnett and KG&TLW) dropped one of the freshest rock n' roll albums in ages. kicking off with the irresistible 'an air conditioned man' and carrying  on in the same summery jangly vein from there on. 'Hope Downs' is 10 perfect inde rock songs bursting with melody and energy. this is Melbourbne sunshine bottled and put into a record. It helps that RBCF embrace their Australian-ness as this LP tells me more about the south coast than any guide book ever will.
Check out - Talking Straight

SOPHIE - Oil of every pearls un-insides
Sophie is the kind of person who seems like she could only exist in this decade or one of the ones to come after it, a red-headed proudly transgender producer and pop star who made her name producing for the likes of Madonna, Charli XCX and Vince Staples. SOPHIE has now broken out as a star in her own right. 'Oil...' starts off with the beautiful 'its okay to cry' a song that breaks awawy from SOPHIE's otherworldly aesthetic by being vunerably yet beautifully human. Things get back to her usual sound with the crushingly heavy electronic bangers 'ponyboy' and faceshopping' both crushingly heavy electro-bangers featuring her trademark booming production, embracing the virtues of both sex and plastic surgery. The albums one big pop moment is the sugary pop tune 'immaterial' which surrounded by so much experiential electronic stands out for being fun,catchy and unpretentious. The flipside to this being 'Oil..'s near 10 minute epic 'whole new world/pretend world' a challenging mash up of industrial synth noises and distorted gurgling vocal samples. Love it or hare it SOPHIE's not to be defined by anyone but herself.
Check out - Faceshopping

KIDS SEE GHOSTS - KIDS SEE GHOSTS
Now that the controversy has subsided It's time to admit that Kanye Wests' series of 7 track projects this year have mostly been brilliant. The highlight of which being his collaboration with Kid Cudi, Kids See Ghosts. If you've ever wondered what a Kanye West produced psychedelic rock album would sound like look no further. West and Cudi are clearly a great team pushing each pother to produce the strangest and best music they can. In just under minutes the two fit in a huge amount of ideas and creativity from the genius (that organ backing track on reborn) to the downright insane (Kanye's Big Shaq impression on feel the love). The two mix rapping with guitars and sampling with Kanyes trademark big beat sounds to make one of the most diverse and intriguing projects of the year.

I also Liked

Boy Azooga - 1,2, Kung fu
Kamasi Washington - Heaven and Earth
Mike Shinoda - Post Tramatic
I'm all ears - Lets eat Grandma

Lunar Festival 2018 review (part 2)

Saturday

Hookworms

Another Brummie Psychedelic rock trio opened the stage on Saturday, this time the much darker krautrock inspired Matters (6), who are clearly one of the most promising bands of the Birmingham scene. As are The Mothers Earth Experiment (7.2) who celebrated their return to the lunar stage with free tote bags and flyers for everyone. Yet accomplished as they psych-jazz rock/environmental protest music is it's not really for me. I wondered off to catch the live Reasons to be Cheerful Podcast. Featuring Geoff Lloyd and a surprisingly funny Ed Milliband. Who spent the majority of his talk with a flower crown on his head that someone threw at him. I listened politely as their guest talked at length about her plans to improve public services, and laughed as the comic Bethany Black livened things up wuith her own reasons to be cheerful. As the heavens opened and gave way to torrential rain Hookworms (8) valiantly played on through the rain. I caught the bits where the downpour wasn't too bad and they were so good that it was almost getting soaked to watch them play. An hour or so of wondering through vintage stands to keep dry I caught some of the set from the access to music student Lucy Shaw whose sweet acoustic songs made for some distraction from the drizzle. Once the rain finally cleared it was for the mediocre grunge trio Particle Kid (6) and the funky yet also kinda underwhelming dance act Crazy P (6). The grey skies seemed to suit Blackash (8.4) perfectly. The mysterious Midlands act who somehow mix stoner rock and techno together. They looked and sounded fantastic and are a whole lot more fun live than their doomy first single 'Black Witch' led me to believe. the 10 minute epic of Black Sabbath style riffing came with it's own black witch dance troupe, and later cheerleaders for the songs finale. Blackash wre easily one of the best acts of the festival.

Goldfrapp

Goldfrapp (8.8) may have been suffering with a bit of a cold, and overall not as fantastic  as some previous Lunar head-liners but she still put on a solid show of industrial tinged electro-pop with tonnes of dry ice and a retina blasting light show. Mostly sticking to the best tracks off 'Silver eye' and savings hits 'ooh la la' and strict machine for the end. Goldfrapp's Lunar set was the sound of an artist finally comfortable in her own skin. Her idle chatting to audience members may have seemed a bit add odds with the image of her shadow dancing around the dry ice but it didn't matter too much. I was a little disappointed by the lack of early material but it's chard to see where any of it would have fit in.

Next I was off to the Comedy Carousel where a predictably surreal Paul Foot spent most of his set taking the piss out of the patrons talking over him at the bar and then analysing his jokes to annoy them further. while the other two comedians were brilliant my highlight of the comedy and actually the festival itself was the brilliant Bethany Black who in contrast to her earlier appearance was rude, sweary and at times absolutely filthy, discussing drugs, porn, relationships and lesbian sex.

Sunday

Dorcha + Damo suzuki

Kicking things off was Dorcha (8). A young Birmingham quintet who continue to defy explanation. Their experimental gothic sound seems to stem from no obvious influences other than their willingness to jam and create new sounds. This made them unlikely kindred spirits with Damo Suzuki. At first glance a rather ordinary Japanese man, but known to many for his demonic improvised singing as part of the iconic krautrockers CAN. Dorcha may be a very different band to can but with their improvised jamming they created the perfect backdrop for Damo's bizzare vocal style, switching instruments whenever they felt like it and recreating the unsettling, uneasiness that characterised CAN's output, without in anyway imitating it. I spent the rest of the day hoping that the rain would go awawy and packing all my stuff but the sky eventually cleared for Songhoy Blues (9.2), Who were every bit as fantastic as I hoped they would be. Not typically 'world' so much as just a shit hot, funky rock 'n roll band who know how to start a party. This is partly down to Aliou Touré being a fantastic front-man, who could liven up any event with his mad eyed dancing and Garba Toure's   effortless, constant stream of guitar licks. Not only do Songhoy Blues put a lot of western bands to shame, they make it look easy.

Songhoy Blues

After 40 years in the game it's worth thinking about how strange The Stranglers (8.4) still are. Still probably the only band who can unite the punks and the hippies. The Stranglers are full of contradictions, far more complex musically than your average punk band yet far too rough to be considered new wave. Despite having been at it for so long they seem far to popular to be simply considered a nostalgia act, especially when their music seems as gloriously out of place in 2018 as it did in 1977. Singer Baz Warne said they were glad about the rain and to see us all huddled together rather than playing another show to people standing around in the sunshine. Baz was happy to banter with the crowd, many of which seemed to have come out just for them. The Stranglers did a great of finishing Lunar playing plenty of hits, 'Golden Brown', 'Always The Sun', 'Peaches', 'All day and all of the night', and finishing off with a fantastic 'No More Heroes'. Easily one of the best ever punk rock songs and a stellar finish for Lunar 2018.

Lunar Festival 2018 review (part 1)

 Thursday 26th. 

Things were quiet as the early birds set up their tents and got to know each other in the blistering summer heat. It may have been a little bit boring, but it was nice to be back. It was all worth it for The Pretty Things (8.8/10) returning to Lunar for one of their last ever shows, retiring this year after making music for over 50 years. They may have came on an hour late and played for double their set time but many would have been happy for them to keep playing all night. This show found them in a reflective mood mixing early R&B highlights with blues covers and cuts from their masterpiece S.F. Sorrow. An album which like the band who made it should be ranked alongside releases from The Who, Stones and Beatles and acclaimed as one of the strongest, strangest and most ambitious albums of the 60's. Despite a few 1000 yard stares 'The Things were on top form, sounding energised as any young band and showing off their music skill with acoustic cuts and giving the Moonshine barn a real cavern club feel.
It would take one hell of an act to follow such a show and Henge (9.2) were that act. Basically a group of 4 aliens playing a silly revamped take on space rock. Mixing elements of surf rock, progressive rock and techno together. Few things match the joy of seeing a Roy Wood lookalike with a glowing orb on his head who claims to be a 1000 year old alien wearing a fleshy human clone suit shredding his guitar. For all the silliness Henge have a serious environmental message at heart. On Keyboards is Henge's Brother Juul. The last descendant of Venus, warning us in his own language (a sort of freaky scat singing) not to destroy our own planet like his race did theirs. The message did little to bum out the freaks who had only just woken up and come out to dance.
Snooker legend Steve Davis finished the night off the night with a DJ set mixing post punk rhythms with psychedelic sounds with typically cold precision.

Friday 27th

One of the best changes to Lunar in 2018 was the addition of The Half Moon stage. A smaller stage directly opposite the main stage. This works well because it means that not only do lesser known bands get to play alongside big hitters but also that there is a constant stream of music without having to move from your spot in the field. Opening this stage on Friday was the brummie psychedelic rock  trio The Good Water (6), followed by a lovely set from 77:78 (8), bringing warm summer vibes to the hot Friday morning. While John J Pressley (6.8) played some heavy Tom Wait-ish blues rock  I was hugely looking forward to Boy Azooga (8.4) and wasn't disappointed. The Cardiff band have rightly broken through in 2018 as one of the most fun, unique and talented young rock bands of the moment. Throughout the set they were constantly smiling and cracking jokes, Frontman Davey couldn't be happier to be spending his 27th birthday in this field with us. BA covered other Cardiff bands, as well as an odd medley featuring their takes on Black Sabbath and Kelis. Yet their own songs shone brightest, including not surprisingly 'face behind her cigarette' and loner boogie' yet many great unrecorded B.A. songs prove that the future is looking even better for this young band.

Nabihah Iqbal (6) was a tad disappointing. Her slightly amateurish vocals and heavy reliance on keyboards not quite cutting the mustard on this Lunar bill, although a cover of The Cure's A Forest was definitely a highlight. The Go! Team (8.8) bought a spaceman and all the colourful exuberance that they're known for, despite having been in the game for over a decade they have endless energy on-stage and all the naive fun of a primary school music class. Singer Angela 'Maki' said she felt like Beyonce and invited all the ladies in the crowd to booty shake with her.  Basement Jaxx gathered crowds to dance in the sun, but I instead decided to become indoctrinated to Nutopian society in an utterly bizarre yet brilliant experience. If you know, you know. 

Amadou and Mariam (8.4) killed their set with a load of funky African blues and strangely enough a fire breather who despite some great tricks seemed a bit out of place. What made Amadou and Mariam stand out was Amadou's fantastic guitar shredding and Mariam's clear love for him after their many years together. 

After a short walk through the pitch black woods we came to a clearing and listened to Nick Drake's  own copy of his seminal 3rd LP 'Pink Moon' by a roaring campfire on his family's own turntable. It is an album that deserves to be listened to in full with silent reverence. This is one of many special experiences that only Lunar can provide.