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

Review: It's the long-awaited, not to mention highly-anticipated album number three from Jungle - a duo that hit the common conscious back in 2013 with a clandestine approach to self-promotion that almost guaranteed viral success, and then backed up the hype with two wonderful records and consistent proof they also knew how to perform. So is it a case of third time lucky again, then?

In all honesty it's pretty clear now that luck has absolutely nothing to do with it. Not only is Loving In Stereo our favourite from the back catalogue to date, it's a great reminder of Jungle's knack for delivering the music we need, not just want. Still sitting in a world that's part-disco, part-house, part-soul, part-something you can't quite put your finger on, the pace has been upped on many tracks and the intensity increased too, making this ideally suited to the current era of live music re-awakenings.

Review: RECOMMENDED
You can gauge the scale of someone's famedom purely on whether or not they've appeared in South Park. Lorde didn't just feature, her animated stint saw one of the show's longest-running characters, Randy Marsh, admit that he was in fact the New Zealand pop sensation. If that's not recognition of global recognition, we don't know what is.

Seven years on and clearly Lorde wants her worldwide legions of fans to know something. Namely the fact that she's done with mainstream chart sounds and looking for something deeper, more personal and stylistically experimental. Enter Solar Power, the difficult third which she manages to make her most original and touching with apparent effortless ease. Of course there's still a lot of melody and accessibility involved here - 'Mood Ring' and 'Secrets From A Girl (Who's Seen It All)' are particularly number-one-friendly. But the surreal and dreamy 'Big Star', 'Leader Of A New Regime' - which almost feels like a quiet Queen number - and crystalline layered vocals on 'Fallen Fruit' tell a new story.

Review: The Killers have long-since divided opinion. Yes, tracks like 'Mr Brightside' will still fill dancefloors slick with WKD each and every Saturday night, beer boys and party girls and lost freaks and first-timers all joining together in one of the most memorable choruses of the century so far. But then their penchant for OTT pomp and pageantry has always been something of a stumbling block for many 'proper rock fans'. With that in mind, Pressure Machine could do wonders for breaking down barriers.

We're not in Kansas anymore, that's for sure, but instead Utah, and the small town of Nephi, where lead singer Bradley Flowers grew up. The album effectively takes us on a tour of what was and what probably still is, by way of a more salt of the Earth, somewhat intimate and narratively-driven collection of rock 'n' roll tracks that invoke a timeless sense of American guitar storytelling, albeit with some theatrics still intact.

Review: There aren't many musical collectives who can genuinely claim to boast a unique, impossible-to-pigeonhole trademark sound, but GOAT is certainly one of them. Incredible live and even better on wax, their intense and intoxicating sound offers a genuinely mind-melding fusion of acid rock, psychedelia and African music. The shadowy Swedish band are at their unique, cacophonous best on Headsoup, a genuinely thrill-a-minute trip whose highlights include the hypnotic funk-rock of 'Stoneoat', the low-slung, flute-laden mysticism of 'Let t Burn' (edit) and the riotously brilliant 'The Snake of Addis Ababa'. This edition, which is pressed to translucent green vinyl, also includes a bonus seven-inch with two more insanely good cuts.

Review:  Duke Erikson, Steve Marker, Butch Vig and Shirley Manson formed Garbage in 1993 and went on to sell more than 17 million records around the world. Their second album came in 1998 and was a marked progression from their debut. It sold more than four million copies and was described at the time as "gloomy and sexual yet lively and introspective." It now gets a proper reissue on 2 x 12" double gatefold and is the first time the newly remastered record has been made available via BMG. Fans of the band who are close to 30 years deep in their career will no doubt be happy to hear this one as they also enjoy their new record on Infectious Records.

Review: The 7" from Third Man Records features two previously-unreleased takes of the song 'Blind Willie McTell' with the a-side being totally exclusive to this Record Store Day Special. The b-side will also, in time, be included on Springtime In New York: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 16 (1980-1985). Session musicians Mark Knopfler, Mick Taylor, Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare all play on the tune which was the first one worked on during the Infidels album sessions. Bob Dylan's voice is at its whiny and idiosyncratic best here as his harmonica rings out, rolling drums set a slightly country-sousing groove and electric guitars flesh out the track.

Review: It's hard to believe it has been 20 years since The Knife first put out their game changing debut album Deep Cuts. It first came on Sweden's Rabid Records on CD only before getting a North America and UK release once the world had cottoned on to its brilliance. It is much brighter and more melodic that the dark and witchy sound they gravitated towards on later albums but still sounds way ahead of its time. There are effervescent, Eurodisco-tinged pop tunes like 'One For You' to get you singing along, then hardcore euro rave bombs like 'Listen Now' and the odd occult head masher like 'The Cop.'

Review: Originally released at the height of Britpop and "cool Britannia" (as then brand-new Prime Minister Tony Blair would have dubbed it), Supergrass's second album In It For The Money remains something of a British indie classic. That much is proved by this re-mastered, slightly expanded edition, which backs the original album - a hit-laden fusion of fuzzy indie-rock and late sixties style psychedelic pop - with a bonus 12" featuring a couple of notable rarities. These are worth owning on vinyl, too: there's 'The Animal', a surprisingly club-ready cut that adds trippy electronics and starry synths to a booming, Weatherall-style dub bassline and breakbeats, and a near mythical, funk-fuelled Bentley Rhythm Ace remix of 'When The Sun Hits The Sky' that was an enormous big beat club cut at the time.

Review: Boris formed in 1992 and immediately began to explore a heavy rock sound. Their best and most acclaimed album came in 2000 and was filled with overpowering soundscapes, laden with belching smoke and darkly absorbing. Now for the first time ever it is getting issued on vinyl having previously been on CD only. It comes in four movements that are all equally dense, undulating, heavy and unrelenting. Sitting through each one is a rewarding experience that leaves you feeling somewhere other, with the gentled sounds of 'Flood(part 2) being a time to catch your breath between the other more intense pieces.

Review: Some Lorde fans were a little irritated by 'Solar Power', the lead single from her comeback album of the same name, primarily because it sounded far more influenced by cheery '90s indie-pop and summery blue-eyed soul than her moodier early work. She's carried that over into album, which arrives as a boxed high-res download with tons of additional content (poster, postcards, booklet and so on). The singer-songwriter's first set in for years is full of gently warming fare, from the opaque, dewy-eyed folk of 'Stoned in the Nail Station', to the early 2000s R&B-pop-goes-summer soul flex of recent single 'Mood Ring'. There's no glum moodiness here, just gently positive music to raise your mood in these most testing of times.

Review: If you've seen Scott Pilgrim Vs The World two things will likely be clear already. Firstly, they really don't make many high school-cum-coming-of-age movies like they used to. And, secondly, no matter what you thought of the narrative or performances, the soundtrack absolutely bangs and is worth owning in its own right. Something many movies from the glory days of teen angst on screen rarely managed.

Then again, when you enlist Nigel Godrich to take control of the score you should have pretty high hopes. The English rock producer, arguably best known for Radiohead's output from OK Computer to now, really does know what works well. And so here we are, hand-delivered a heady mixture of punk, alternative rock, glam and barroom guitar business from the likes of The Bluetones, T-Rex, Sex Bom Omb and Black Lips.

Review: 12 months after it dropped digitally, New Order's first single in five years - a typically cheery-sounding slab of loved-up, guitar-laden synth-pop entitled 'Be a Rebel' - is getting a vinyl release with a swathe of accompanying remixes old and new. New Order's EP-opening edit of Paul Woolford's remix is a wonderfully positive, piano-heavy affair that recalls the spirit of the band's acid-house era work, while Maceo Plex's bustling, barn-storming rub is a whirlwind of tough drums, weighty TB-303 bass, metallic percussion hits and clonking electronics. Elsewhere, Arthur Baker's classic-sounding rub doffs a cap to his classic remixes of the 1980s, Mark Breeder's 'Dirty Devil Remix' is an Italo-disco-influenced throb-job, and bandmember Stephen Morris's 'T34 Mix' is a sparkling new wave synth-pop treat.

Review: Garbage's second studio album Version 2.0 came five years after the band had first formed. Duke Erikson, Steve Marker, Butch Vig and Shirley Manson went on to sell more than 17 million records across the length of their careers and this album was a big step up from their debut. It is gloomy and introspective but also lively and seductive in its own bleak fashion. The dense tracks have plenty of gauzy guitars and impassioned lyrics that remain iconic to this day. This newly remastered version is the first one to be made available by BMG.

Review: To say George Harrison's third studio album was ambitious would be an understatement. First released in November 1970, the record - or rather records - comprised three LPs and looked to reflect some pretty big name musical influences of the former-Beatles musician. These include Bob Dylan, Billy Preston, the Band and Delaney & Bonnie and Friends: most of who were contemporaries, which accentuates the point about ambition.

Having said that, Harrison had already put out two solo albums before the Beatles split, stepping out alone from one of the most successful groups in history, so what else did people expect? In many ways it's a continuation of his work with the band - All Things... sounds very late-1960s folk rock, although there's clearly a few differences at play. Religious, or at least spiritual themes, prevail, as does the slide guitar sound that from hereon in would come to define much of Harrison's output.

Review: Let's face facts, the trilogy of releases that ACR:EPR completes have helped win over a new generation of fans for the band while reassuring established followers that A Certain Ratio can still do the business. They've been heartfelt and honest, truly innovative and - when all is said and done, at some point in the near future - destined to be considered collector's items.

The final chapter is certainly winding things up triumphantly. '$ouls In The City' seems to go straight for the mind's eye, an enrapturing track that chugs its way through layers of funk groove, with acid details just about audible on top. 'Night People' is a far more sticky, treacly affair, while 'Big Boy Pants' ushers in a kind of nocturnal seduction, brass and rolling breakbeats setting the scene perfectly for the ska-infused melodies of 'Downtime Vibes' that follow.

Review: During 2020, when the global pandemic raged and most musicians were restricted to home recording, The National's Aaron Dessner and Bon Iver Justin Vernon decided to rekindle their Big Red Machine project, which last released music three years ago. With the help of a wealth of guest vocalists and musicians - most notably old pal Taylor Swift, Fleet Foxes and Anais Mitchell - the pair recorded How Long Do You Think Its Gonna Last, a yearning meditation on loneliness and relationship angst. It's a strong set all told, with the duo and their guests conjuring up memorable, melancholic songs that successfully stitch together elements of Americana, folk, gentle indie-pop, electronica and breezy, radio-friendly AOR.

Review: Triple J Live at the Wireless is a recording of The Ramones gig at the Wireless Capitol Theatre, Sydney, Australia, July 8, 1980. It was broadcast on the radio back then and has never officially made it on to vinyl until now. The legendary NYC punk rockers played 23 tunes, many of which are super rare tunes that they never played again on this tour. For this Record Store Day it gets pressed up to 180g vinyl and limited to 13000 copies worldwide. Raw and visceral, it captures the band at their most abrasive best and is a real timewarp back to their (gabba gabba) hey-day.

Review: 'Seven Nation Army' was one of The White Stripes' most unforgettable tracks. Forming part of their 2003 album, Elephant, which in sales terms was the one that catapulted Jack and Meg White into the global rock and roll Premier League. It's a track that is so individualistic even the idea of covering it seems a little intimidating.

Pity the remixers asked to take on this monument of gritty, stomping guitar genius, then. Anyone who was around at the time when it first hit the charts as a single will likely remember a host of pretty dire mash-ups, from breakbeat to cheap run of the mill house, littering the shelves of record stores, staff too embarrassed to really recommend. Skip forward eight years and finally there's a decent one, with Glitch Mob going for the jugular with a poised dubstep-leaning effort that works with, rather than against, the original songwriting.