Mac DeMarco
Salad Days
[Captured Tracks]
Fans of last year’s breakthrough 2 will be pleased to know that the apple has not fallen far from the tree on Salad Days. MDM’s goofy, gap-toothed approach to guitar pop remains, wavily swaying in and out of tune. There’s not much more here than there was on 2 but at this early stage, that’s not really a significant problem – a double helping of placid, flanging guitar leads is certainly more welcome than the dick-jokes which dominate his live act. – Ian Lamont
OKO
I Love You Computer Mountain
[Diatribe]
Post-rock took the elements of rock bands and rearranged them into something more abstract. OKO do the same with jazz, which was already a comfortably more abstract genre to begin with. By this I mean that I Love You Computer Mountain is very much written with a jazzer’s hand – the scales, the keyboard runs, the drummer’s versatility all bear the influence – while appreciably absorbing and rearranging an absolute shit-tonne of influences into something bonkers and unique. I come for the post-jazz, I stay for the man who refers to himself as DJackulate. – Ian Lamont
Metronomy
Love Letters
[Because]
For some reason I maintain this nagging idea in my head that Metronomy are a party band, when in reality *Love Letters* shows them in a much creepier, more melancholic light. Drowned in kitsch organs and supported by understated rhythm box percussion, Joseph Mount’s crew feel like a version of noughties shut-ins Clinic with a penchant for hooks reclaimed straight from vintage ’60s nuggets, as evidenced on the ridiculously catchy title track and Month of Sundays. – Ian Lamont
Linda Perhacs
The Soul of All Natural Things
[Asthmatic Kitty]
Perhacs’ latest record comes almost 44 years after her only previous offering, Parallelograms — a folk-psych cult favourite that counts Sufjan Stevens and Devendra Banhart among its more prominent fans. Despite this, The Soul of All Natural Things feels oddly contemporaneous with its predecessor, betraying very little of the time that’s passed between the two. Continuing almost seamlessly from where Parallelograms left off, though never reaching the same heights, it should satisfy anyone looking for a similar dose of crystal-fuelled mysticism. – Emily Bourke
Wild Beasts
Present Tense
[Domino]
Shedding Wild Beasts’ accessible, guitar-led sound in favour of something darker, sparser, and more electronic, Present Tense feels like another step towards maturity for the Kendal four-piece. Though it marks a further departure from the vocal gymnastics and flamboyance of their 2008 debut, Limbo, Panto, a familiar sexual intensity and intimacy remains at the heart of this record. “We move in fear, we move in desire”, sings frontman Thorpe, and by the end of this LP you’ll have done both. – Emily Bourke
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MQr-o4PFzk
Sunn O))) & Ulver
Terrestrials
[Southern Lord]
Recorded primarily during an overnight session in Ulver’s studio in Oslo in 2008 and tweaked intermittently since, Terrestrials is a fascinating amalgamation of the two bands’ sonic concerns. The heavy gloom of Sunn O)))’s work is present, but rendered in subtle atmospherics rather than slabs of feedback. Ulver’s ever increasing tendency towards the esoteric continues unabated, and their role here feels more curatorial, evident in the recruitment of Norwegian musicians for string and brass contributions and the mixing of the record. – Ivan Deasy
Beck
Morning Phase
[Capitol Records]
Positioned as a follow-up to his classic Sea Change, Beck’s first release in several years shares that album’s lolling pace, but not its downtrodden tone. Acoustic instrumentation makes room for contemplative, philosophising lyrics that mostly come from the sunnier parts of the soul. The kind of album that makes you feel like a better person for having listened to it – and hopefully that’s not just a phase. – Leo Devlin
Morgan Delt
Psychic Death Hole
[Trouble In Mind Records]
Spending a little time with Californian enigma Morgan Delt’s debut full-length feels akin to slowly submerging oneself in a glossy black goo made up of your ponytailed uncle’s melted-down vinyl collection. Morgan Delt has a molten, bass-heavy character that’s borderline oppressive at first but allows for each flourish to take on the shade of minor revelation on repeat listens. This is the real stuff, not your high-street psychedelia peddled by Tame Impala and their shameless ilk. Feed your head. – Danny Wilson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOIGWcUouuo
Real Estate
Atlas
[Domino Records]
To be disappointed by the sameness of Real Estate’s Atlas is almost to miss the point. Since their 2009 debut the band have operated within a rigid stylistic framework, which takes on a certain irony when one considers the easy-going, hummable, almost throwaway nature of their songs. Atlas isn’t going to change your life, it’s more of the same, no bad thing if you’re a Real Estate fan. Not bad, not great. Just the way you like it. – Danny Wilson
East India Youth
Totally Strife Forever
[Stolen Recordings]
No, not a Foals tribute act. While East India Youth slow-builds towards the euphoric in the way his album’s name-sake attempted, Total Strife is more bedroom pill-party than stadium roar. When this debut LP gleans from Leyland Kirby’s crackled-out fuzzscapes and Holden’s layered arpeggiations it is at its strongest. The inclusion of non-processed vocals add a more unwelcome rockist lean, and a certain linearity suggests the work of a newly-focussed electronics dilettante just getting to grips with the form and technology. – Daniel Gray
