Today we have a trio of solid albums that have been rocking The Professor's house lately. Newcomers Void Of Sleep delight with their metallic debut, soulster Jamie Lidell continues to mash the freak button, and the revered Steven Wilson unleashes his latest opus. Enjoy.
Void of Sleep – Tales Between Reality
and Madness
Hailing from Italy, Void Of Sleep are
off to a hell of a start to their careers with their ballsy debut
Tales Between Reality and Madness. Their sound is balanced on
the knife edge between European style stoner rock and bilious
American sludge metal. All of their disparate influences come to a
head on 'The Great Escape of the Giant Stone Man' (love that track
name), a mammoth track that rides a titanic riff like their lives
depend on it. They even get a big proggy on 'Ghost Of Me' and 'Sons
of Nothing'. For a band cut from the stoner/doom cloth it is amazing
at how much fun it sounds like they are having without sacrificing
the heavy. Yes, a fun metal album, go figure. Void Of Sleep don't
reinvent the wheel just make it perfectly round and damned heavy to
boot.
Rating: B-
Recommended tracks: The Great Escape of
the Giant Stone Man, Mirror Soul Sickness
Jamie Lidell – Jamie Lidell
Mr Lidell is quite a tricky customer.
The English singer is up to his fifth album and he is working hard at
being hard to define. He comes out of the gate like a nasty neon
explosion of electro funk on 'I'm Selfish' and hams it up like a
white Cee Lo Green. Later on he dabbles in some acid damaged Prince
level material ('You Know My Name'). Just when you think you have a
handle on his throwback future soul schtik, out he comes with some
lopsided blues or tripped out jazz (see the Outkast meets Louis
Armstrong 'why_ya_why' for an example). His previous album,
Compass,
was bolstered by the inputs of Beck and members of Grizzly Bear, but
here Lidell is out on his own once again and proving once again that
he is a freak. If you like your funk twisted out of shape like a
seasick mutant disco orgy then this is the album for you.
Rating: B-
Recommended tracks: I'm Selfish,
why_ya_why
Steven Wilson – The Raven That
Refused to Sing (And Other Stories)
Steven Wilson is one of prog rock's
most prolific and celebrated modern proponents. He has racked up
literally dozens of albums among his different bands and projects
(Porcupine Tree, No Man, Blacklight, Storm Corrosion) but
The
Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories) is only his third
proper solo record. It is a magical history tour of the world of prog
rock, from 'Luminol' which opens in Rush/Primus-like fashion to the
Tull-ian 'The Watchmaker'. The album was even mastered by Alan
Parsons. Sombre and introspective to a fault, this is not a feel good
record but is masterfully and loving crafted. None of this will be a
surprise to anyone who has been following Wilson's career closely.
Get out here and party (or sulk) like it's 1976!
Rating: B+
Recommended tracks: Luminol, The Pin
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