STACK #153 Jul 2017

MUSIC REVIEWS

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Batpiss Rest in Piss

Alestorm No Grave But the Sea

Batpiss’ third album follows the familiar haunting, dissonant path forged by the Collingwood Kings on the previous Biomass and Nuclear Winter . The imposing opening of instrumental Black Pain t illustrates the trio's bleak sense of dystopia. The politically pointed Paralysed follows; frontman Thomy Sloane doesn’t say much, but gets his point across; painting a dire picture of our bigoted national Government landscape. His lyrical output throughout mirrors the brutal bass line he provides on Golden Handshake . What follows is blunt social commentary anchored by an instrumental performance that grows a voice of its own. The confrontational Weatherboard Man and Bells For the Victorian stand out as highlights. (Poison City) Tim Lambert

No Grave But The Sea displays all of Alestorm’s charm and Scottish wit. As expected, the music is epic and overblown. As for the lyrics? Let's say Disney won’t be welcoming the band into the fold. Alestorm are nothing but fun – their live shows are brimming with good times, but they do take the craft seriously. After a decade, the band has certainty excelled as musicians and this experience finds them moving from some intensely heavy moments to sea shanty-like themes without missing a beat. No Grave But The Sea is entertaining, and that’s not a bad thing.

Shabazz Palaces Quazarz Born on a Gangster Star/ Quazarz vs The Jealous Machines "We be to rap what key be to lock" - a powerful phrase taken from Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat). It earned Ismael Butler's Digable Planets a Grammy in 1992, but the line still rings true years later. Butler continues to open doors with Shabazz Palaces. Black Up and Lese Majesty are masterworks: bold, strange, dense with ideas and compelling. Now, we're gifted with not one, but two new records. Suddenly the universe feels larger again, with the turning of more keys in locks. Digable Planets' debut was

Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space). The phrase borrows from Jorge Luis Borges, an Argentinian author who penned many mind-expanding essays, including Nueva refutación del tiempo (" A New Refutation of Time" ). His short story Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius also echoes in the work of Shabazz Palaces, a fascinating tale of a fabricated world written in precise academic detail. Quazarz vs The Jealous Machines and Quazarz: Born On A Gangster Star merge imagined and material planes. Infused with jazz, soul and funk, the albums arrive from a fictive future, chronicles of a sentient entity (Quazarz) sent from "elsewhere" to document the land of 'Amurderca'. What does Quazarz find? Brutality, captivity and transient truth. A full report is revealed, with a slow turning key, across both records. (SimonWinkler) Sub Pop/Inertia

(Napalm/Rocket) Simon Lukic

Brightness Teething Now back in the homeland after half a decade across the pond, Brightness A.K.A Alex Knight has released his debut, Teething . Part observant wallflower and part intimate journal entry, every sprawling, scuzzed-out half-strum of his guitar is met with an equal contrasting measure of heartening, intimate lyricism. Opener Oblivion epitomises this most, while Waltz is an instantly endearing acoustic lullaby - recorded on a ¼” reel-to- reel single microphone - and Talk To Me takes comfort in not knowing. It’s hard to put your finger on the narrative of the record at times; there are moments of both hope and hopelessness, fleeting feelings of frustration and of life’s uncertainties. Musically, the record drifts from between contrasting sounds (Knight plays nearly every instrument here) – Teething is a time capsule entry into Brightness’ introverted world. (I OHYOU)Tim Lambert

B Boys Dada

Big Boi Boomiverse

Iced Earth Incorruptible

Are all left-leaning articulate white middle-class males with a skerrick of irony this pissed off? I hope so – the music's great. Seems post-Trump capitalist angst is good for something . Hailing from Brooklyn NYC, this trio's reference points are obvious – motherlodes of Wire, echoes of jauntier Joy Division, flashes of KIlling Joke or The Fall flail by too. But this over- heated and overwrought emotional mess is all rather thrilling: over- energised to the point of burnout. Indeed, Energy is a fuzz fuelled rant. Nakedly emotional tirades with guitar: they never go out of fashion do they? Forgive the odd derivative moment – there are too

Sir Luscious Leftfoot came out swinging, mapping Big Boi as just as fierce a rapper as he was in Outkast. Vicious Lies saw him busting genres, unsteady on new territory but a commendable experiment. Boomiverse brings the overriding sensibilities of those two records together: eclectic production ( Mic Jack ) and vintage jams ( Order of Operations ) carried by the unmistakeable flow of Atlanta’s greatest. He even finds time for feelgood rap ( All Night ) only to get melancholy two tracks later ( Overthunk ). Big Boi might never return to the electric vigour of his debut solo record, but for an era of rap where all traditions are up for debate, Boomiverse

Iced Earth have worked tirelessly to become one the most respected names in heavy metal. Through the many high and lows, guitarist Jon Schaffer has staunchly honed his craft, and Incorruptible is the end result. Compared to 2014's Plagues Of Babylon, Incorruptible is sharper and heavier. Vocalist Stu Block delivers another outstanding performance, one that I believe surpasses former lead vocalist Matt Barlow’s – a fan favourite. Much has been said of who will lead the genre, when Iron Maiden, Judas Priest et al , retire. With bands such as Iced Earth releasing albums as strong as Incorruptible , heavy metal is in safe hands.

many thrills here to ignore. (Remote Control/Inertia) Jonathan Alley

(Century Media/Universal) Simon Lukic

commands the floor. (Sony) Jake Cleland

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JUNE 2017

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