na in the uk: EMA, Gavin Friday

Let’s cut to the chase, skip the preamble, forgo the further ado, ditch the Stuff That Comes Before the Records. Let’s get to the records!

EMA, Past Life Martyred Saints – Record of the week, certainly, but also possibly record of the year. Harrowing confessional rock from the former frontwoman of Gowns. Scraped-raw guitars and even rawer lyrical sentiments, sung with Liz Phair’s flatness and scorched-earth honesty or early Elliott Smith’s quietly trembling rage. Try to get this woman out of your head once she’s in there. Impossible. YOU CANNOT AFFORD TO LIVE IN A WORLD WITHOUT THIS

Gavin Friday, Catholic – New solo record from the reclusive Gavin Friday. Chris Roberts writes:

Producer Ken Thomas (Sigur Ros, Cocteau Twins) douses the songs (co-written with Herbie Macken) in an orchestral shimmer, the kind of thing Trevor Horn did so well on ZTT Records. If this lends Catholic a hint of retro-polish, there’s a grand scale to the results which pulls them out of period detail and achieves the timelessness of the best noir torch songs. From the yearning grandeur of “The Sun & The Moon & The Stars” to the moving, epic finale “Lord I’m Coming”, a gospel tear-jerker infused with the gutter-optimist spirit of Soft Cell, Friday faces midlife regret head-on and ekes out glimmers of personal triumph.

Bill Wells and Aidan Moffat, Everything’s Getting Older – Great name, spectacular cover, beatific/devastating music from the former Arab Strap member and the Scottish bassist, pianist, guitarist and composer.

Eliza Carthy, Neptune – Enrapturing folk music from the always-excellent Eliza Carthy; this one moves a lot more than you might expect from her previous releases; some nicely smoky trumpet snaking its way through a few songs, and her voice has a soulful ache.

Africa Hitech, 93 Million Miles – Africa Hi Tech is the bass-music project of Mark Pritchard (of Harmonic 313/Global Communications) and Steve Spacek (of Spacek fame and notable Dilla collaborator). This record, on Warp, is a joyous stew of dancehall, Detroit techno, and dubstep, with bass lines like pulled taffy.

Dub Colossus, Addis Through the Looking Glass – The Ethiopian-flavored fusion project Dub Colossus returns. Chris Nickson writes:

For their second full-length outing, the Ethiopian musicians in the collective shoulder more of the weight, broadening the group’s vision slightly to encompass Ethio jazz, the vintage local soul that hit Western ears on the Ethiopiques series, and, of course, several big bows in the direction of Jamaica. The dub, though, is definitely not old school. Instead it’s like a prism that separates the spaces in the sound, as on “Yigermel,” based around the krar harp, which proves an object lesson in recording, the effects growing slowly around the vocals to create something that beautifully connects Ethiopia past and present. Recorded in Addis Ababa and England, this is a perfect fusion album for the new century.

Various Artists, Nigeria 70 – Sweet Times: Afro-Funk, Highlife & Juju from 1970s Lagos – In Biggie voice “And another one.” Really, what is there left to say about these comps by now? Buy this.

Eric McFadden, Bluebird on Fire – Eric McFadden is an intriguing modern blues musician, one who plays acoustic blues guitar with a compelling tautness and whose stony voice is a spectacular instrument; if he ever abandons music, he could easily transition into intoning over action-movie previews. The music is a nice jumble of blues ambience and pop-song economy.

Joan of Arc, Life Like – These guys! They will just never stop making records!