Wednesday 29 May 2019

Review - Vukovar – Cremator








Vukovar – Cremator (OtherVoices Records)


LP / CD / Cassette / DL


24 May 2019


Genre defying, experimentalists return with their seventh album. 

Never has the phrase ‘quality over quantity’ been turned so much on its head than with the current output of North Western doom purveyors Vukovar.  Less than six  months since the release of last long-player Monument, they rise one more like a proverbial phoenix out of the ashes of their previous incarnation with new found vigour and intent in the form of Cremator.


Their seventh album sees a change of personnel marking the initial passing of the band and their re-emergence featuring Simon Morris (The Ceramic Hobs) and Holly Hero (Smell & Quim) on vocals and voice to create a fine mix of experimental and doom influenced but high reaching alternativist.   Since the bands inception in 2014 they have worked with the likes of Michael Cashmore (Current 93, Nature & Organisation), Rose McDowell (Coil, Strawberry Switchblade, Psychic TV) and, up-and-coming spoken word artist Equinox, peaking once more with another fine collection.


With opener Roma Invicta comes the self-explanatory line “everything dies, and so must you” in a cross section of song, speech, pop and thundering backdrop that creates a startling introduction to what is yet to come.  Vukovar combine the raw energy of Joy Division with a post-pop edge combining to make a mix of experimentalism and commercialism which has the potential to touch many a heart and soul.


Produced in collaboration with Phil Reynolds (The Dearly Departed, Postcode), Cremator seems to reach an over the top sound with all instruments somehow pushed to the fore at once.   It makes for an extraordinary noise, maybe comparable to Spector’s wall of sound, particularly on Internment By Mirrors which turns a bombardment of commotion into an organised riot.


In amongst the anarchy, Vukovar also bring us some fine tunes which are well capable and worthy of major radio airplay.  Check out Love’s Provocations and Prurient which provide catchy hooks and choruses which will have your earworms moving in partnership with each other to those startlingly addictive melodies before the likes of the beautiful Tomorrow’s Gone and The Orchids slam on the breaks and bring forth a third side to Vukovar.


Recent single Decameron (Or 10 Days Of Violence) closes the album.  An almost nursery rhyme esque piece which drifts in and out skilfully, a gorgeous track which once more brings in Holly Hero together with a snippet of childrens voices.  It disappears sumptuously with a little feedback and a little distortion to end a quite brilliant album. 








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Published on Louder Than War 19/05/19 - here









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Friday 24 May 2019

Monday 20 May 2019

Listen! - Chow Mwng - Tut Brutty







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Listen! - Whettman Chelmets - Recollections Suite






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Saturday 11 May 2019

Listen! - Penelope Trappes - Carry Me (Cosey Fanni Tutti Rework)







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Review - The Best Of Johnno Casson / Snippet / Old Tramp




The Best Of Johnno Casson, Snippet & Old Tramp (Quirky Sounds)
CD / Download
Out Now

Vocalist and songwriter releases his new solo album.  

There can be few performers around today that have attracted the respect and loyalty of as many artists as Johnno Casson.  Under the guises of Snippet, Old Tramp and his own name he has become a figurehead in the DIY scene as a well-known and well-loved songwriter and musician.  After eleven years as a solo performer, BBC6 Music presenter Tom Robinson suggested Johnno put out a Best Of compilation to introduce his catalogue to those who had not yet come across the talent that made him the most played artist in Introducing history.

From a background of frontman to trip-hop pioneers Deep Joy to working with music luminaries Andy Weatherall (Primal Scream), James Lavelle (UNKLE) and Adrian Sherwood of On-U Sound, Johnno has fought against depression and a diagnosis of ME/CFS to rise above all adversity and become a figurehead to all who’s lives he touches.  In his hometown of Colchester he has even introduced The Warm & Toasty Club, a unique life-affirming intergenerational community organisation working in music, arts and history which champions the lives of real people and their stories.

So what is it that makes Casson so special?  On the face of it it’s pretty simple – he writes great pop.  But, taking a look deeper it becomes evident that it isn’t disposable everyday radio dirge but a mature, adult oriented approach with catchy melodies and lyrics that resonate in our older lives.  Sure, he can also go for the four year-old vote with the likes of the incredibly addictive We Luv The Sunshine which appeared in the movie soundtrack to The Space Between, but he can also comment on the state of everyday things from depression to suicide, from the class system to a declaration of love for his hometown.  
Johnno Casson is a rare thing.

From the wonky pop of Snippet, the crunching back beats of Old Tramp and the delightfully mature sound in his own name, he now brings to you fourteen of his finest moments for your delight and delectation.  The stall is set with Old Tramp’s defiant call to arms Kiss My Arse, which starts proceedings before the narcissist friendly Let’s Talk About Us wraps it’s melody around your inner ear and refuses to let go as much of Casson’s work does.



Described as ‘pop genius’, Snippet contributes the largest portion of material to this retrospective.  The Snippet brand is one of beautifully constructed pop, tunes that have an amount of mature humour backed by some often strange and funky sounds.  Grow A Moustache (featuring Trouble on backing vocals) will bring a smile to you face, maybe even a giggle as intriguing echoes and clever one liners make this 2008 track hard to dismiss.

Middle Class Ways stands out as a classic, state of the nation statement. Performing under his own name it is a polished and poignant reminder of the problems with today’s class system.  It bites, it will raise an eyebrow amongst the fun and frivolity of the rest of the album.  It may sadden, it may anger, it will undoubtedly evoke feeling, and it is superb.



There are similarities in lyrics and storytelling to Ray Davies and in vocal presentation and wit to Ian Dury, both huge compliments indeed and, both very justified.  Johnno Casson is a huge talent.  Bee Stings will have your toes tapping with major appendages waving in the air and, Come To My Party will see the title sung over and over for hours to come.

Marvellous Life deals with the difficult subject of anxiety and depression tactfully and tastefully, and shows a lyricist that not only has feeling but is able to transpose those emotions to paper and ultimately to music, with seeming ease.  This Is Essex tenderly recounts his love for his home not in a contrived way but with passion and tenderness.

Closing with the radio friendly We Luv The Sunshine, this Best Of is one that stretches several styles, subjects and facets of a truly talented and quintessentially British musician.  Thoroughly entertaining and a fine tribute to one of our most underrated artists.




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Published on Louder Than War 06/05/19 - here









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Review and Interview - Andy Bell – Torsten In Queereteria







Andy Bell – Torsten In Queereteria (Strike Force Entertainment/Cherry Red)


CD / Download


Out Now


Vocalist and songwriter releases his new solo album. 

Queereteria, the third album in the Torsten series from Andy Bell is once, more, not for the light-hearted.  A journey through the drug-addled, drunken debauched world of the semi-immortal polysexual sees Andy Bell continue the story of poor Torsten in the wake of previous albums The Bareback Saint and The Beautiful Libertine.


A brand new song cycle performance continues the tale of lost love and hurt written once more by playwright Barney Ashton and musician Christopher Frost with the album cleverly separated into four acts each one confronting a specific memory of Torstens past.  The man who falls in love but cannot keep it due to his bizarrely lengthened life tells tale that are as heart-breaking as they are shocking with no holds barred in the underground world that he frequents.


Opening with A Hundred Year Plus Today from Act One, Remembrance Youth And Beauty, Torsten reflects with sadness his daily fight against growing older and knowing that his past may not always be his future.  Bell’s voice is in fine form and, it could be argued that his breaks from the ‘day job’ of Erasure have served to improve it with each album that has been released.  You Stampede An Open Wound has a distinctly ballroom feel which along with Lowland Lowriders culminates in I Am Of The Sea whereby Torsten ‘journeys’ to the coast in an attempt to find sailors to love amidst sounds of crashing water, creaking  vessels and an almost merry-go-round feel.


The return of partying and debauchery in Act Two, The Hedonism And The Hurting does exactly what it says in the title.  Random sexual encounters in the seedy toilet cubicles  of Cabaret Awayday - a subtle ‘ballad’ which were it not for coarseness of Ashtons fantastic lyrics would maybe find executives squabbling for its inclusion on radio playlists - often interacts with trips to the near cabaret of the Queereteria club.  The Act ends with If We Want To Drink A Little, a duet with one of Bells personal heroes, Hazel O’Connor.


In Act Three, Bitter Regrets, Torsten manages to reach the low point of his extended life and becomes a rather nasty piece of work, Though Shalt Be My Vibe sees Torsten intoxicated and pumped with drugs and along with Money With Menaces he endures a bitter and rotten relationship.  Torsten tries his best to deny his alcoholism in Let’s Be Sober Another Time and challenges the friendship of his few remaining friends.


Closing with Act Four, To Mourn And To Miss, he now comes back down to Earth and realises that it’s time to move on and leave his previous excesses behind.  Knowing that his life may finally be coming to an end he is able to see the friends he can trust and the ones he cannot.  The first single from the album, We Hadn’t Slept For Twenty Years remembers friends and his partying years whilst Silence Is Golden recounts the recent loss of a friend and Not Opting Out sees Torsten finally accepting his long and varied life.


Torsten In Queereteria sees Bell on top form as his voice rises and falls throughout the musical scale offering an often superb performance.  A break from his world of perfect pop not only adds a further string to his bow but also confirms that he his voice is maturing like a bottle of Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon.  After three albums, it would be a travesty if we see the passing of Torsten, let’s hope that he returns at least one more time.









Paul also managed to grab a few minutes with Andy on his lead-up to the recent live performances of Queereteria TV at Above The Stag Theatre:
Andy Bell is a happy man.  He sounds chirpy and is delightfully chatty after an interview with a Canadian magazine.

How’s things?
“I’m good thank you, you’re my last interview of the day so I’m pretty exhausted.”

You wouldn’t guess as he begins to give a potted description of almost every track on the forthcoming Torsten In Queereteria solo album, the third in the series of the song-cycle albums where he plays the polysexual, semi-immortal Torsten.
“He’s getting old now, he was born in 1905 so he’s around 114 years old and is still struggling to find love as he obviously outlives anyone that he falls in love with.  Queereteria is written by Barney (Ashton Bullock) and Chris (Christopher Frost) again, they pretty much write the whole thing then we rehearse in a little studio that Chris has at his home.  I come along and we go from there”

So, it’s very different to how you record an Erasure album? 
“Yeah, with Erasure Vince and I see an album evolve as we write it so the Torsten ones are quite a bit different.  It’s interesting to see what Barney and Chris come up with as Torsten’s world is pretty dark at times and outrageous”

And, it’s being performed at the Above The Stag Theatre in London again.
“Well, it’s not the whole album as we’re incorporating songs from the previous two and calling it Queereteria TV.  Yes, the theatre is a lovely little place in Vauxhall that maybe holds a hundred people or so.”

Quite opposite to an Erasure gig?
“Very, although as it’s billed as ‘Andy Bell of Erasure’ we do get some Erasure fans coming along.  Some people sit in the audience and really don’t know where to look to be honest.”

The Torsten albums are often quite crude and blue, is there a sense of going for shock tactic or is it realism.
“Oh, it’s not shock tactic.  Barney is a great poet and all the Torsten material stems from that, often in spoken word form.  He’s also a DJ at Club Shoot at Central Station and I’m sure a lot of his influence goes on down there!  It’s a great place.”

How has Vince (Clarke) reacted to the Torsten stuff?
“You know, I’m not even sure he’s heard it all.  I should get all the albums together and give them to him, they’re quite rare as not many are made.  I think he’d like it.”

The last Erasure project, the World Be Gone series (studio, orchestral and live albums) was a phenomenal success, you couldn’t have expected all this when you started out, particularly as Vince had had short term involvements with Depeche Mode and Yazoo.
“No, never.  It’s all been fabulous and I’m so lucky.  We have real cross sections coming to our gigs – young and old – some only knowing a few albums and some who were there right at the beginning.  Vince is great to work with and we just seem to get along.  I had considered going solo at one point but you just end up working with loads of people and you’re only solo on the album sleeve. I think Vince likes working with women so I was the next best thing!”

What’s next for you?
“Well we obviously have Queereteria TV coming up which is a lot of spoken word which is very different to singing along to music and I find it quite difficult. I think I’d better start learning my lines!”







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Published on Louder Than War 28/04/19 - here









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Watch! - Ummagma - Caravan







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Watch! - boycalledcrow - Clouds







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