NA in the UK: The Unthanks, Hospital Records

The Unthanks cover Robert Wyatt and Antony Hegarty, Hospital Records celebrate their 15th anniversary, Vladislav Delay returns, and more, after the jump.

The Unthanks, The Songs of Robert Wyatt and Antony And The Johnsons (Diversions Vol. 1) – Live From the Union Chapel, London – Rachel and Becky Unthanks put their ethereal/magisterial touch on songs by two very different, very fascinating artists. Ian Gittins reviews this for us, and says:

Tackling two such venerated cult artists could be seen as an audacious undertaking but it works, magnificently, because all three artists share a mercurial, maverick sensibility. Rachel and Becky locate the stark, queasy ethereality at the tender heart of Antony’s “Bird Gerhl” while their sibling status lends fortuitous new levels of interpretation to “You Are My Sister.” They forge a different connection entirely with the quirky, politicised Wyatt, and his trumpet-driven anthem for Palestine, “Dondestan,” and the monumentally yearning “Sea Song” are memorable highlights of this idiosyncratic yet hugely vital album.

Various Artists, Fifteen Years of Hospital Records (Non-bundled) – The venerated techno/house label celebrates fifteen years of existence with a compilation featuring fifteen brand-new, unreleased tracks from artists new and old.

Vladislav Delay, vantaa – He Of Many Pseudonyms returns with another full-length of patiently whirring, tactile minimal techno. I am not knowledgeable in this area of music, honestly, and feel fraudulent cooking up adjectives for it, but I know that my electronic-music-loving friends and colleagues regard the Vladislav Delay stuff with the highest esteem.

Deardarkhead, Oceanside:1991-1993 – Lo and behold, Captured Tracks have exhumed some classic shoegaze band I’ve never heard, or heard of, before in my life! New Jersey-based, apparently, and active in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Where Mike “Blank Dogs” Sniper, the head of Captured Tracks, cottons onto this stuff is beyond me. But, sure enough, it sounds very worthy of exhumation – slow, underwater arcs of guitar holding aloft frail, fey vocals. Connoisseurs of 80s-indie guitar tones will find a lot to instantly love here. Recommended

G.H., Ground EP – Depth-charge, echoing minimal tech from the esteemed Modern Love imprint. See above mea culpa RE: minimal techno/descriptive language.

Dead Rock West, Bright Morning Stars – Rangy, committed covers of American roots music, well-chosen from along a spectrum of what that might mean: lots of traditional spiritual tunes like “God Moves On Water” and “Angel Band,” but there’s also – hey! – a Jesus and Mary Chain cover (“God Help Me”) and a song written by power-pop legend Peter Case, “Beyond the Blues.” Bonus: it features three members of X – Exene Cervenka herself, John Doe, and D.J. Bonebrake – lending the album an unexpected bite of urban punk fury.

Thee Headcoats feat. Billy Childish, Knights Of The Baskervilles – Latest blast of clattering, Biblical garage-pop fury from Billy Childish, who has been presiding over this corner of the music world with lordly fervor for a good two decades now. He is an institution of three-chord snarl, and he will never let you down.

Anchorsong, Chapters (Special Juno Edition) – Anchorsong is the one-man project of Japanese multi-instrumentalist and producer Masaaki Yoshida, who has made a name for himself touring with Daedalus, Bonobo, Gonjasufi, Jaga Jazzist and more. It sounds like a fizzy, caffeinated collision between 8-bit chiptune music and classic 1970s New York No Wave stuff, itchy and intriguingly glassy-eyed all at once.

Slow Club, If We’re Still Alive – Nicely loose-limbed jangle-pop single from Slow Club.

Kill It Kid, Wild And Wasted Waters – Gritty, malevolent, sharp-edged indie rock, with hoarse, howled vocals. This has a blues-rock edge to it I was not expecting and a spazzy post-punk energy that keeps it unpredictable. And then, whoa, the torch-song closer! Solid EP.

Dark Captain, Right Way Round – Lovely, hypnotic single from Dark Captain, folk-tinged and gently psychedelic in its winding chord progression.

Hanni El Khatib, Dead Wrong – Great single from retro-rockabilly Wildman.