28 April 2011 - 0 Comments

THE UNTHANKS – LAST – CD 

Known for their timeless, unsentimental and quietly subversive tales of loss, fear, booze, brawls, abuse and sorrow, siblings Rachel and Becky Unthank are honest, young storytellers outside of time, forging links between folk worlds old, new and other.

Last takes on the epic hallmarks of a masterpiece, in terms of the scale and atmosphere of the setting. 

It’s hard to imagine a British folk band with fans like Radiohead, Portishead, Robert Wyatt, Ben Folds, Elvis Costello, Rosanne Cash, Ewan McGregor and Nick Hornby, but The Unthanks occupy a unique place in music. Influenced as much by the minimalist eccentricity of Steve Reich, Antony & The Johnsons, Robert Wyatt and Miles Davis, as they are by their Geordie native North East England, back home The Unthanks have established themselves as the most innovative and critically acclaimed folk band in modern history.

Fans of: Mumford and Sons, John Grant

PORCELAINTOY – CONTRITE ELEGANT REBEL – CD 

Contrite Elegant Rebel is the formal album debut of Porcelaintoy, a richly evocative and innovative musical collaboration between Elizabeth De la Rey (vocals/guitar/piano) and Emile De la Rey (electronics).

Recorded in their home studio in Wellington over the course of a year, the album was also developed and expanded into a live theatre piece featuring a choir, string sextet, dance troupe and multi-media elements.  It premiered in March 2011 at Bats Theatre, where it was acclaimed as “another clear highpoint” of the Fringe Festival by Lumiere.net.

The Porcelaintoy sound assimilates a number of eclectic musical traditions (from industrial pop to trip-hop to neo-classical romanticism) around the commanding, sultry voice of singer Elizabeth De la Rey to build contemporary, lush pop soundscapes that they can call their own.

For Fans of: Massive Attack, Moloko, Mazzy Star

RUTHIE FOSTER – THE TRUTH ACCORDING TO… – CD

This extraordinary songwriter/performer tackles life's big issues throughout this sizzling album.

On it, Ruthie repeatedly testifies to her core message - that through all of the ups and downs of living, you must stay true to yourself. The pain as well as the joy of love, the strength it takes to weather life's challenges, the hope that grows from seeds of faith and wisdom: All of this breathes inspiration and celebration into The Truth According to Ruthie Foster.

And the music brings it to life. Truth be told, Foster could sing the phone book, jam on a laundry list and send everyone home happy. But the combination on The Truth According to Ruthie Foster of uplifting lyric and electrifying vocals, backed by a band of world-class players bristling with soul, proves impossible to resist.

For Fans of: BB King, Blues, Folk, Soul

RUTHIE FOSTER – STAGES – CD 

On this CD recorded at various shows, Ruthie Foster is a folkie at heart, but she meshes folk blues, acoustic jazz and power folk into a bubbling album of passion.

With a naturally expressive voice that has drawn comparisons to greats like Aretha Franklin and Ella Fitzgerald. These songs were all recorded live at venue’s in Texas and Massachusetts whilst on tour and not even for release, that was an afterthought. I guess that’s what makes this album all the more impressive, it was just another show, judging by the response to her performance at the B B King gig in Auckland recently she’s quite the performer. I imagine tickets for her next show in NZ will sell out very quickly, here’s your chance to listen to why..

For Fans of: BB King, Blues, Folk, Soul

RUTHIE FOSTER – THE PHENOMENAL – CD 

With a powerhouse voice, Texas bred Ruthie Foster combines blues and folk with heart wrenching ability, and on this album, ‘The Phenomenal Ruthie Foster’, she adds a heaping scoop of soul to the mix.

Early on, long before I ever got into the folk thing, I was doing more soul on acoustic guitar than anything else.”Foster says the difference between these genres is the groove.

With the help of producer Malcolm “Papa Mali” Welbourne, she channels Sam Cooke on Lucinda Williams’ “Fruits Of My Labor” and Al Green on the opener “’Cuz I’m Here”.

She says of her Wurlitzer, “I found my Ray Charles when I got on that thing!” “This CD is what happens when all the elements come together and you just get out of the way and let the groove go”, Foster reflects. “I learned a lot about just getting out of my own way.”

For Fans of: BB King, Blues, Folk, Soul

BEARDYMAN – I DONE A ALBUM – CD 

Beardyman’s debut long player for Sunday Best is amusingly titled ‘I Done A Album’ What’s seemingly a difficult proposition for a live entertainer, to capture the essence of his legendary stage show, is handled well by the twice world Beat Box Champ.

Clearly more than just your average Beat Boxer, Beardyman has really taken his career to the next level. More than just a Beat Boxer he’s  a performer, he’s sold out show’s at the Edinburgh Comedy Festival. Expect a mix of musical offerings and slices of pure comedy, he mixes up the sounds and takes it to where only Beardyman can.

For Fans of: A Skills, DELS

LADYTRON – BEST OF 00 to 10 – CD 

At their best Ladytron make some of the most interesting pop music to come out of the 00’s. They fit unforgettable melodies and doleful post-modern rock lyrics in a Bryan Ferry tradition to shimmering revivals of Giorgio Moroder disco and the melodramatically bleak end of 80s synth-pop defined by Visage and late-period ABBA. Ladytron music has an effortless glamour and baleful poise, and is occasionally sung in Bulgarian. If you love synth-pop’s romantic attachment to a grand, bleak, European aesthetic, then this is the Best Of for you.

The two new tracks here – Little Black Angel and Ace of Hz – show an admirable refusal to change tack. This immersive and evocative no-filler collection will keep fans happy at least until their Gravity the Seducer set arrives later this year.

For Fans of: Crystal Castles, Chicks on Speed, Ladyhawke

ORCHESTRE POLY RYTHMO – COTONOU CLUB – CD 

Orchestre Poly-Rythmo are national institutions in Benin, West Africa. Formed during the late '60s, they sound tracked the years following Benin's independence under Kerekou's Leninist - Marxist regime, whipping up a groundbreaking fusion of traditional highlife, Afrobeat, Soul, Funk and the indigenous styles and voodoo-led traditions of their homeland. Their songs touched on all of their national languages and confidently referenced a broad range of international music.

Recorded in Paris and produced by Maillot, 'Cotonou Club' is the band's first new album in over 20 years, a celebration of the Poly-Rythmo sound with new versions of the band's classics, including massive West African hit 'Gbeti Madjro' and a host of new compositions.

Guests on the album include Paul Thompson and Nick McCarthy from Franz Ferdinand

For Fans of: Afrobeat, Soundway

THE COLOR MORALE – MY DEVIL IN YOUR EYES – CD 

It’s been a year since their debut album so you don’t usually expect a band to follow up so quickly, but The Colour Morale have obviously been hard at work improving themselves and this album could see the band break out in 2011.

The Album is relentless from start to finish and show’s they’ve worked on all area’s of there music. The production is cleaner and tighter, the musicianship is top notch, they don’t exactly experiment a lot but that don’t have to. They do what they do best and they do it to a high standard. They’ve put themselves out and can make a claim to one of the better Metalcore albums of 2011.

For Fans of: Parkway Drive, Woe Is Me

Thanks to www.border.co.nz for this story.

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