Juno Recommends Rock / Indie / Folk / Metal / Punk / 50s / 60s March 2021

Review:  2000's Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea is a lauded set that many critics still cite as one of the singer-songwriter's greatest works. Famously, most of the songs focus on love and relationships and were written while Harvey was living in New York City at the tail end of the '90s. It remains a fine album that has stood the test of time well, with highlights including soaring opener 'Big Exit', jangling sing-along 'A Place Called Home', the sparse and haunting 'Beautiful Feeling' and full-throttle, grunge-inspired rocker 'Kamikaze'.

Review: Foo Fighters might be as old as time itself and their sound hasn't changed much over the last 30 plus years, but they are still loved far and wide. This is their 10th studio album and is another very accessible alt rock record - like a punk and American version of Oasis, if you will - for angsty teens or overgrown kids. But that reliability is what makes them such an enduring presence and here all the big tunes fans will want are present and correct. Next to pop rock anthems like 'waiting on a War' are the likes of 'No Son of Mine,' a rework of Motorhead's Ace of Spades riff that is said to be intended as a tribute to Lemmy.

Review: If you dig hip-hop, funk or soul, you should know 'The Champ', a much-sampled, Hammond-heavy 1968 rhythm & blues workout from Alan Hawkshaw's Mohawks outfit. However, you may not know this version: a 1973 reggae remake from the band that brilliantly slows down the main organ motif and places it atop a sturdy, bass-heavy rhythm. This time round, it comes backed with another killer reggae rework: a skanking take on Aretha Franklin soul classic 'Rock Steady' from the Marvels. Recorded and released in the UK by a group of exiled Jamaicans in the early 1970s, it remains an inspired example of reggae's 'versioning' culture.

Review: A live curio from the brief time that Bowie and Morrissey toured together that sees the two legends joining forces for a cover of T-Rex's 'Cosmic Dancer'. It's a fairly sparse arrangement, mainly dominated in musical terms by Boz Boorer's jangling acoustic tones, but obviously that does leave plenty of room for two of the most recognisable voices in the business to work their magic. A slick studio take of the Moz tackling The Jam's 'That's Entertainment' inhabits the flip side of what is surely a 7" to get diehards fans salivating.

Review: For the third album from these loveably cheeky additions to the Perth scene that gave us Tame Impala and King Gizzard, mainman Jack McEwan has turned back to the sounds of the 70s and re-routed them back through the band's trademark spaced out, stoner rock. The likes of 'Glitter Bug' and 'Hats Off To The Green Bins', then, are like hearing the excesses of early Queen or Gabriel-era Genesis being adopted and corrupted by a biker gang with questionable concern for their own cerebral protection. It's still widescreen and adorably catchy, just with more twists and turns than before and - possibly thanks to lockdown - impossibly packed with sonic detail. For a while, ardent followers of the band have been waiting for them to match the intensity of their widely lauded live show. Here, it feels like they do it and some, surpassing it even.

Review: Legendary Reading shoegaze band Slowdive had s short but powerful run from 1989 until 1995 (during their first spell) and that included the 5EP. In the same year, it was remixed to perfection by Bandulu and Reload and now it gets reissued on limited hand numbered vinyl. First up, Bandulu stretch the original's heavy minor chords and fatten the track out into a dubby masterclass and then the Reload version from Tom Middleton & Mark Pritchard (better known as Global Communication) is even more impressive. It's a supremely blissed out cut with a slow motion rhythm and futuristic sense of soul cut on 45 rpm but just as suited to 33rpm playback.

Review: Kikagaku Moyo "is the musical union between five free spirits." Those spirits are the original band founders Go Kurosawa (drums, vocals) and Tomo Katsurada (guitar, vocals) plus Kotsuguy (bass) and Akira (guitar). Their sound is as unique as any, with psychedelic, folk, prog-rock, psychedelic-folk-mixed-with-prog-rock and more all collided into one another on an album that keeps you on your toes and guessing at what might come next even within each track, let alone across the whole album. This reissue of their 2013 album is a perfect starting point for new listens, and a great reminder for old fans.

Review: Over the last 12 months, Polly Jean Harvey has delivered remastered versions of many of her most acclaimed albums, while also releasing collections of demo recordings for each set. The latest to get this treatment is her critically acclaimed set Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea. Famously, most of the songs focus on love and relationships and were written while Harvey was living in New York City at the tail end of the '90s. As with her other collections of demos, most of the early versions showcased here feature little more than Harvey on guitar and lone or multi-tracked vocals. This raw and stripped-back approach gives new life to some songs, with highlights including the heart-aching 'The Mess We're In' and fuzz-soaked 'This Is Love'.

Review: Seattle label Light In The Attic Records is proud to present a reissue of material from Nancy Sinatra's most prolific period between 1965-1976, with 23 tracks including her revered collaborations with Lee Hazlewood. Sinatra's performance of 'These Boots Are Made for Walkin'' became her signature tune. The pair began a three year run of successful recordings, with 'Sugar Town,' 'Some Velvet Morning,', 'Summer Wine' as well as the James Bond theme 'You Only Live Twice' being just a few. She also worked with songwriter Mac Davis, producer Lenny Waronker and arranger/producer Billy Strange on the album.

Review: On his fourth album as Fleet Foxes, Shore, Robin Pecknold has decided to celebrate life and death - a theme that no doubt was inspired in part by the ongoing global pandemic. The New York based artist sets his stall out immediately via lusciously orchestrated, choir-sporting opener 'Wading in Waist-High Water' and the similarly gorgeous 'Sunblind' - where he namechecks many of his dead musical heroes - before continuing on a similarly warm, jangling and opaque musical theme. That means soaring chord progressions, emotion-rich vocals, fluid piano lines and plenty of melancholic musical flourishes. It's soft-touch Americana for hard times; confirmed fans and newcomers alike should find plenty to savour.

Review: In interviews promoting Medicine at Midnight, Foo Fighters' delayed tenth album, Dave Grohl compared it to David Bowie's Let's Dance LP, describing the collected songs as "really fun" and "up". While the comparison to Bowie's disco-influenced album is perhaps a bit of a stretch to our ears, it's true that Medicine at Midnight is not your average Foo Fighters album. For starters, it boasts occasional use of drum loops, the palette of sounds is wider, and some songs are closer in tone to pop-rock than the post-grunge alt-rock sound the band is famous for (though recent single 'No Son of Mine' is a typically raucous affair). Of course, there are still plenty of frazzled guitar riffs to enjoy, it's just that this time they only occasionally dominate the sound space.

Review: The Soul Monsters imprint has dipped into the back catalogue of premier Motown legends and chosen two killer covers of songs first made famous by other artists on the iconic soul label's roster. On the A-side you'll find their storming version of Stevie Wonder hit 'Uptight (Everything's All Right)', a take that's just as stomping and horn-heavy as the more familiar original, with the added bonus of smoother soul vocals from the ladies and first time on 7 inch vinyl. Turn to the flip for their interpretation of Barrett Strong hit 'Money (That's What I Want)', a more fuzzy and sax-laden affair of a song that was famously also covered by the Beatles on With The Beatles.

Review: Stereolab continue to trawl through their vast back catalogue on the fourth instalment of the Switched On compilation series. This edition, titled Electronically Processed, focuses primarily on rare and hard-to-find tracks (many tucked away on very limited seven-inch singles), with a handful of alternative versions, outtakes and previously unreleased cuts thrown in. Fans will find much to savour across the two-disc set, from Krautrock-tinged Chanson songs (see the rather fine 'Household Names' and Serge Gainsbourg-with-added-funk vibes of 'The Super It'), to more experimental instrumentals from soundtracks, and even the odd dancefloor-ready stomper ('Dimension M2'). In a word: essential.

Review: RECOMMENDED
It almost (almost) pains us to recommend this one - The White Stripes aren't really a band that should be releasing Greatest Hits albums. We'd much rather them give us a surprise record of typically groundbreaking, brand new theatric and infectious blues-tinged rock 'n' roll. But we are where we are, and after more than a decade without much activity from the siblings beggars can't be choosers.

One of our objections is exactly how you choose what to include on an LP like this. What defines a 'hit' from an outfit that are renowned for packing albums with nothing but stone cold gems, even if they failed to make it onto radio playlists or single format. In this case, though, the challenge has been met - with chart topping fare like Seven Nation Army notably absent, while more wildcard tracks such as 'I Think I Smell A Rat' and 'Dead Leaves On the Dirty Ground' given their deserving dues.