There has been a rush of albums released recently (and earlier this year), so many that it's been difficult to keep up- A Certain Ratio, Roisin Murphy, GLOK, Richard Norris, Rickard Javerling, Daniel Avery and Denise Johnson have all been competing for my listening time and I haven't got anywhere near new ones from Bob Mould, Doves and Thurston Moore. Earlier this year Steve Cobby released not one but two new albums and I'm still getting to know them. Andy Bell (Ride and GLOK not Erasure) has an album out at the end of this week. There's the nine track Unloved remix e.p. and umpteen singles and e.ps by a variety of artists. While this year has been grim in so many ways the amount of outstanding new music has been a flood. So, some album reviews to follow this week as I pick my way through the some of the above.
A Certain Ratio's new album, Loco, is a ten song record that is a near perfect summation of all their good qualities. It nods its hat repeatedly to their forty year history and past glories while also sounding fresh and like a band reborn. They kept their hands in with irregular gigging for much of the 21st century but the deal they signed with Mute has freed them from the day jobs and given them the freedom, the time and the space (and presumably the financial security) to write and record. The result is Loco, their first new album since 2008. I posted Yo Yo Gi in August, an 808 and cowbell led house workout, a dance song that takes 1990's Spirit Dance as its starting point and breaks out from there. On side one closer Always In Love Jez's vocals recall the A&M years of Your Blue Eyes and The Big E. Tony Quigley's sax riffs vividly point to the mid 80s funk years of Force. The guitar/ bass/ drums core of Martin Moscrop, Jez Kerr and Donald Johnson keep harking back to the group's past and Denise Johnson voice's adorns four songs, her appearance always a lead vocal more than a backing vocalist, and her tragic passing in between completing the record and its release is sad beyond words. The album's closing song Taxi Guy is a song developed live during the on and off tour they undertook in 2018 and 2019, whistles and drums and funk rhythms, Brazilian percussion and chants, a re-tooled Si Fermir O Grido.
But there's plenty on Loco to suggest ACR aren't stuck in their history- the driving bass and dense electro/ rock of Friends Around Us make for a strong opener, especially after the laid back first half of the song. There is overdriven guitar and funky bass on Supafreak with Factory Floor's Gabe Gurnsey on guest vocal and space age indie disco on Berlin, slightly kraut, slightly Factory but also very 2020. On Get A Grip there's another guest spot, a slinky guest vocal from Sink Ya Teeth's Maria Uzor over dense funk and wigged out synths. ACR were always a group for whom dance rhythms and the groove were primary obsessions, pioneers of what came to be known as punk- funk and still moving forward a decade later when the Hacienda was the centre of the story. This album adds plenty to their story with the gloom and ghostly funk of their early years now updated in vibrant 2020 style.
7 comments:
This is on my list. I too have bought too many over the past few months and have only really given the Greg Foat and Glok albums the listening they deserve so far
It's well worth it Drew. The coloured vinyl lottery didn't bother me that much- a lot of people on social media were excited about getting the white or red editions. Interestingly the digital versions of the songs that came via the download code are all a minute or two longer than the ones on the vinyl. I love the album from start to finish, really good sounding record.
I don't quite know how or why, but I seem to have loads of ACR singles and not one album. I'm really sold on Loco though - I think your cumulative anticipation and praise for ACR's new material in previous posts reached critical mass here, SA!
I got redundancy notice the day before we went into lockdown and hadn't been in my job long enough to be eligible for redundancy pay, so spending on music stopped abruptly over the summer. I'm feeling very fortunate that I managed to get another job without a break in employment. I'm having to be a little selective about what I get, but ACR and GLOK are definitely on the list.
Yeah, I think I may have crossed the line into gushing Khayem- enthusiasm I hope rather than gushing. Shit about your redundancy. I suppose at least one advantage of the internet is you can actually listen to new music and albums in their entirety when short of cash.
The digital versions definitely seem better to me, but I'm enjoying the vinyl version too. I got red by the way, although I would have been happy with any...
GUSH ON SA! Loco is everything I hoped for and more from ACR! They have been teasing their way to this album for over 2 years and it has been worth every bit of anticipation/frustration! After just two listens, I was ready to slot it in as my second favorite ACR album and the one that beats it, Sextet, has much the same air of freedom and confidence as Loco.
I have a running playlist of all the songs that have made an impression on me this year, leading up to my week long Top 50 for 2020, and it seems that there are now 8 tracks either by ACR or remixed/remodeled by ACR in that playlist. Being that it's the year that it is, I may just have to throw out the rules, like one track per artist, that I impose on myself and celebrate just how much good music ACR have offered us this year.
When the music's this good, SA, no gushing required, this is well deserved praise. ACR really are at the top of their game.
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