It’s always really difficult to review an Ulver album as the group refuse to stick to one genre or style…. From the blackest metal, to psychedelic 60’s covers to orchestral chamber music to improvised post rock, it’s impossible to predict what an album will sound like.

So to latest the Ulver offering, The Assassination of Julius Caesar, and immediately we’ve taken another left turn as this must be their dance album!

Now this isn’t dance in the form of the lumpen dross pumped out of Heart FM but more prime time Depeche Mode. There’s a lot of electronic beats and throbbing bass lines but topped off with some quite cheerless lyrics ranging from Romans using Christians as human torches to the death of Princess Diana

The second track Rolling Stone is a fascinating example of where this album sits. For the first 6 minutes this is a pulsing dark dance floor filler reminiscent of the Human League with the females backing singers on the chorus and then for the final 3 minutes is veers wildly into anarchy - It now sounds like a group of chimps being let loose in Jean Michel Jarre’s storage room and they are all playing random synthesisers. Then to add to the chaos, Nik Turner of Hawkind is added to the mix with his own 'unique' saxophone playing. Utterly disturbing.

The album struggle to maintain interest on the second half before ending with a storming track, Coming Home. All spoken word and pure Violator era sound.

Seriously though it will take many listens before you can make any judgement as to where this album stands in what is now a very impressive back catalogue     

Brian Pern was a rock god. Admittedly he didn’t actually exist and was just a creation of comedy genius that is Simon Day but we all mourn his imaginary demise…..
 

His last recording have just been released on an EP and it is a true delight. The songs are such a lovingly reverential (and funny) caricature that this is up there with the best of Spinal Tap

Heaven Calling is a wickedly accurate parody of Bowie and his final songs, though the grand dame never sang that “sugar is the enemy….”

Strangely there is nothing funny about the second track which is an instrumental that could easily have been an outtake of Floyd’s the Endless River apart from the pun laden title of the Honeycomb is Over.

 

Keep Trying which was a originally a mickey take of the Gabriel/Bush duet is now taken a step further and reimagined as a Mark Ronson/Amy Winehouse cover

 

However the best is left to last where you get a 30 minute audio of the last ever Brian Pern interview, complete with guests.  In this you learn what Thotch were eating when they heard of Brian’s death and how he planned a co headlining tour of Africa with Adele (she’s not well known over there) in which it was hoped she would duet on the classic Worm Equinox.

So farewell to Brian Pern – He changed the face of music. Forever.

So here is the first new review of the year and weirdly it's not new music....

From 1982 comes the only known recordings by a 4 piece Strawberry Switchblade. These are obvious demo's but do show an insight into the band. There are only 3 tracks and nothing over 3 and a half minutes so it's not a long review

The first track, Spanish Song (Don't Go), is totally unreleased and its the most unusual. The verse is a breathlessly word heavy and in complete contrast to the vocals you expect. The chorus though has the first hints of that famous vocal harmony and there is a very odd flamenco section tacked on the end

Go Away was later rerecorded for the debut album but here it's built on bass and drums and not much else. Trees & Flowers was also rerecorded as a duo and this version whilst different does show that woozy slow vocal style you come to expect.

Clearly this band were in awe of the Orange Juice or Aztec Camera sound of the time and were no virtuoso's but it's worth the release

I got the songs on a clear 7" vinyl with download and 16 page booklet of history and grainy black and white photo's showing the whole polka dot idea was already fully formed - Value for money all round

Well this sucks.... 6 weeks into 2017 and there hasn't been a single new release I'm interested I'm. The end of year list may have to be reduced to a top 5.

I think 2016 spoilt us with too many amazing albums

Anyway, not a new release but the cover of Nights in White Satin by the Texan band Oceans of Slumber from last year is bloody fantastic.....

It’s a funny old start to the year… I suppose the big headline is: - “Prog is dead, long live Prog”

It was shocking news to hear of the magazine’s demise just before Christmas. As my main source of discovering new music it would have been a massive loss. The radio means nothing to me and the internet is too vast to properly explore so here was a magazine full of writers whose judgement I trust.  

Hearing that it had been saved a few weeks later was a relief and hopefully new owners won’t mean changes to the standards we’ve become accustomed to.

As such, this year it’s Jerry Ewing who for the first time matched the most albums with me in the Prog writers end of years lists with his list including Swallow the Sun, Enslaved and Marillion at number 1.

 

So what do we expect in 2017? There should be the final ever Fish album towards the end of the year and the Eden House are preparing a new release for March but apart from that it’s probably all speculation from the usual suspects – Andrew Eldritch promised new music if Trump was elected, Julianne Regan is ‘still’ working on that solo album and after releasing a single last year there is still time this century for Carl McCoy to finally come up with something more substantial.

(All of which are less likely Heart FM adding Nine Inch Nails to their daytime playlist)

Finally a tip for the New Year, just because a band releases a fantastic album it doesn’t follow that they will write a fantastic soundtrack. I made this mistake with buying Riverhead by Ulver. It really is just background noise that does nothing for the listener if you haven’t got any visuals..........   

Break out the celebratory beer - Not only is this my fifth 'best of' list it's also my 100th post !!

Easily the best year for new releases since I started doing this blog, so here are the top ten (in alphabetical order as always):

• Alcest - Kodama
• Blueneck - The Outpost
• Cult of Luna & Julie Christmas - Mariner
• Goatspsalm - Downstream
• Marillion - Fuck Everyone And Run
• Myrkur - Mausoleum
• New Model Army - Winter
• Secrets for September - Insert Title Ear
• Shovels & Rope - Little Seeds
• Ulver - Atgclvlsscap

Special mention should also go to Tusks and Placebo for some excellent EP's and Public Service Broadcasting for their Live at Brixton set which is one of the best concert footage DVD's I've seen in a long time 

Blueneck have released The Outpost and another fine slab of post rock misery it is too....

The opening track is has to be one of the best songs of the year. From Beyond is built around the rhythm of a ticking clock and for a while it looks like being the most electronic orientated song they've done but the guitar crescendo at 5 minutes in is enormous. It has all the fury of modern day Killing Joke and is an amazing opening number.

Ghosts then quietens down the noise and takes you deep into familiar Blueneck territory with some gorgeous melody and piano but that is possibly the downfall of the album

Swathes of keyboards permeate Hive and the vocals are higher in the mix (I can actually hear lyrics!) but there is no sense of progression or doing something new apart from the opening track.

It's a good Blueneck album but lacks the wow factor you got when first hearing the earlier albums Fallen Host or King Nine