Roc Marciano & The Alchemist - "The Elephant Man's Bones"

Over the past thirteen years or so Roc Marciano has worked hard to earn his veteran status and he’s truly done it on his own. The Hempstead, Long Island MC emerged like the second coming of Mobb Deep, distilling the essence of the legendary duo into streetwise tales of drugs, pimping, and gun totting, delivered in rhymes that take a relaxed cadence (much like Prodigy), where nothing is missed and intricate bars are woven in subtle formation. It’s not exactly “conscious” rap and the vibes are rarely friendly, but there’s a cool-headed callousness as Marciano has painted vignettes of tension and violence over the years with an impossibly laid-back aura. Another day, another struggle in the life of the flossed out and dangerous.

While Marciano is a fantastic producer himself, having recorded many of his own albums in addition to Stove God Cooks, Flee Lord, and Bronze Nazareth (among others), for his tenth album he teamed up with the best in the game, The Alchemist. While ALC has been making great records for over two decades, he’s been on a wild hot streak over the past five years or so, producing albums and EPs in full for Boldy James, Armand Hammer, Freddie Gibbs, Curren$y, and Conway The Machine. There’s no stopping ALC and paired together with Roc Marciano, the two prove to be at the top of their games, a match made in heaven… or at least the sordid street tales of heaven.

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DISCO DOOM - "Dream Electric"

This may just be my favorite album ever made. I can listen to it endlessly. It’s not new, Dream Electric was released in 2008, but today was my birthday, so this was the “Album Of The Week” because a) it’s late December and b) if there’s anything I can do to spread the word about this record, I will try to do so. If ever there was a record that was infinitely replay-able, this is it. The way many regard The Beatles or The Rolling Stones (or Fleetwood Mac or Jimi Hendrix… whomever your “classic” pick may be), my all timer is Disco Doom. Sure, they may not be the first to do what they do, and they’re certainly not the most acclaimed, but I will never tire of their discography, and Dream Electric is the cornerstone of it, an album so rich with stunning guitar tone that the analog production plays just as big a part as the songs themselves.

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U.K. - "U.K."

Despite loving King Crimson, especially the King Crimson that featured Bill Bruford and John Wetton, for well over twenty years (since I first introduced to their music in high school), somehow someway I was never turned on to U.K. until this year. Sure, U.K. aren’t the world’s “hippest prog” band (a hilarious statement to begin with), but the band’s self-titled debut is prog-pop at it’s best, an unbelievably fluid album that’s structured like one ever immaculate song. U.K. was formed by Bruford, Wetton, Eddie Jobson (Roxy Music, Jethro Tull), and Allan Holdsworth (Soft Machine), and while the line-up with Bruford only lasted one album, it’s a dazzling vision of accomplished songwriting, often over the top, but radiant in it’s dexterous progressions.

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FIEVEL IS GLAUQUE - "Flaming Swords"

Fievel is Glauque is a singular band. The band is led by French vocalist and artist Ma Clément and American guitarist Zach Phillips backed by an expert crew of musicians. They write a kind of lo-fi prog-jazz that is both cerebral and visceral. Their sophomore album, Flaming Swords, transports you back in time to a bizarro Parisian nightclub, where jazzy guitar chords mix with prog-rock licks, smooth saxophones squeal with angular bursts, shuffling drums flirt with breakbeat rhythms, and a sultry vocalist hypnotizes with off-kilter melodic sprechgesang. The album offers eighteen short, punchy songs of non-stop, attention grabbing jams that weave expert musicianship with unexpected song structures and a sense of whimsy.

The songs are unique and unmistakable without being formulaic. The opener “Flaming Swords” starts with blaring horns that ease into fluttery piano keys and a vocal vamp before the final crescendo to a barely contained chaotic wail. The tracks are busy but buoyant: “Boîte à Serpents” plays with the dynamics of its slithering bass and horn line, while tracks like “Save the Phenomena” and “I’m A Place” float along as a kind of duet between saxophone and voice. Infectious, bouncy rhythms and melodies pervade the record (“Wrong Item,” “Porn of Love,” “Less to Be”). You can’t help but be floored by the level of skill on display, especially the ripping, Zappa-esque guitar solos that randomly erupt on tracks like “Days of Pleasure” and “Paging Agent Starling”.

Fievel is Glauque is fresh off their debutante-tour opening for Stereolab, and they are right at home alongside bands that embody a kind of ethereal, spirited instrumentation and erudite musicianship (Men I Trust, Badge Époque Ensemble). Fievel injects this scene with a punk-inspired urgency and fondness for showing off their inimitable talent without ever becoming navel-gazing. The music is complicated but accessible, tightly planned but immediate, bringing an art-school sensibility to the masses. A must listen. - Matt Watton

RICHARD DAWSON - "The Ruby Cord"

The music of Newcastle’s Richard Dawson encompasses a world all its own, a destination not quite past, present, or future, but some weird hodgepodge of all three, where baroque folk music and broken down prog reside with forays into electronic soundscapes, the use of open ambient space, and controlled dissonance. It’s in Dawson’s music that we can step outside of reality and simply exist within his sound. The Ruby Cord is third in a trilogy that began with Peasant and 2020, this time focusing on the future, but not necessarily our future, rather the idea of the future and the disconnect from reality with our embrace of the virtual. Themes aside though, it’s a stunning work of brilliance, built on patience and understanding, warmth and comfort. Sure, “The Hermit” is 41 minutes, which to some is going to be an impenetrable obstacle, but for anyone willing to experience the moment, to close themselves off from the outside noise of the world, and allow yourself to be pulled into Dawson’s orbit, it’s worth every last moment. Opening with detached strings, plucked and bowed in time with gorgeous brushed rhythms, and some soft washes of piano, it feels meditative, with each resonate note fading into the ether. As the song progresses, Dawson’s signature vocals spin tales like a traveling bard from medieval days, presenting a world part surreal but situated in the nature of this reality, from grand mountains to mushrooms and moss. By the time we reach the song’s coda, with choir intact, we’re adrift on a boat out to sea, centered between smoke and rainbows, a life both destructive and beautiful. A taper of rainbows, faintly aglow, forever. - DG

ALIEN NOSEJOB - "Stained Glass"

Jake Robertson has made all types of music throughout his relatively short career performing as Alien Nosejob. From punk and garage-rock to jangle power-pop, we now get Stained Glass, a celebration of rock n’ roll music in its purest form. Punchy classic rock riffs, catchy melodies, and absolutely blistering guitar solos kick this adrenaline-filled record into an untapped level of marvelous frenzy. Almost every song on Stained Glass mentions the music industry or gives a history lesson on rock music, so it’s safe to say the album seems pretty concerned with the current state of rock n’ roll. Robertson refuses to let any pompous entitlement of what that means weigh this project down. With his tenacity, humor, and sheer technical ability, he’s clearly having fun indulging the rock n roll mythos and living it up as a guitar god. For fans of Alien Nosejob’s rowdier material, don’t be worried; Stained Glass is still bricked. Barked muddled lyrics, dusty production, and playing the songs at break-neck speed give the album an organic, DIY feeling that exalts fun and sleazy guitar music. - Myles Tiessen

BLACKLISTERS - "Leisure Centre"

Our heroes Blacklisters have returned, time to get weird. The Leeds’ based band released a new EP, Leisure Centre, the first of several, capturing a weekend of live-in-the-studio recordings. The band’s bold sense of humor and utter depravity remain unparalleled, thanks to piercing guitar attacks and dense as concrete rhythms, the entire thing slinking and convulsing in a slow motion tornado of filth and smirks. There’s a sense of exploration to these recordings, a changing of the formula that incorporates strains of no wave and post-punk into the band’s venomous noise rock boogie. Blacklisters offer odes to yuppy ideals, self-serious assholes, and audacious posturing, and it’s all just so damn welcome. Billy Mason-Wood continues to prove himself the best vocalist, hanging on notes and slurring words until they feel utterly manic and potentially dangerous. The fusion of all four members (and plenty of obliterating guest sax) comes together perfectly, violently raw and mischievously charming. - DG

DELIVERY - "Forever Giving Handshakes"

On the heels of two solid 7” releases showcasing an entertaining, catchy approach to post-punk, Melbourne five-piece Delivery evolve their sound and vibe with debut album Forever Giving Handshakes. Channeling wiry post-punk as much as psyched-out garage and hooky power-pop, Handshakes rides a wavering line between tightly-wound momentum and raucous partying, the result a collection of twelve nervy, shout-along earworms.

On paper, there’s too much going on here. Three guitars. Synths. Four vocalists, multiple songwriters. But Delivery is a band with surprising restraint. Driven forward by the nimble, propulsive rhythm section, the guitars and synths stay focused and direct, finding moments for clever harmonies and lead lines while leaving lots of room for the vocals to do their thing. The vocals are so good, ranging from nursery rhyme chant to wry bellow to singsong slacker. Rather than feeling disjointed, Delivery’s stylistic diversity gives the record a distinct atmosphere and narrative through-line, individual voices coming in and out and joining together for cathartic instrumental breaks and giant choruses.

The best songs on Forever Giving Handshakes pull all the contrasting pieces together, as in opener “Picture This”—a tense, insistent build with chanted unison vocals that extends into harmonized riffing, waiting until the 2:40 mark to explode into a massive instrumental bridge—or “No Balconies,” where the disjointed groove of the verses opens up into a riotous call-and-response chorus. Lead single “Baader Meinhof” is the real show-stealer here, a fist-pumping rock ’n’ roll machine fueled by an undeniable synth riff and layers of guitar, with a hook that will have audiences fighting to climb onstage and shout along. 

Drawing on some clear influences from the back catalogs of seminal labels like Goner, Aarght, In The Red, and Castle Face, Delivery have assembled a sound that feels like an old refrain leading into a new verse, an evolution that puts them in a league with recent standouts like Spiritual Cramp, Spread Joy, and Feel It labelmates Sweeping Promises. Far from sounding like their record collections, though, Forever Giving Handshakes’ charm and energy comes from Delivery’s apparent disinterest in adhering to formula—their willingness to take compositional risks, let the songs breathe, and have fun all major indicators that this is a band with more than one great album in them. - Mark Wadley