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The 17 rock and pop albums you have to listen to right now (December 2020)

2020-12-02T13:12:00.077Z


With almost no live music, the musicians have started recording. These are recent albums not to be missed


New Yorker Bette Smith performing at La Nau in Barcelona in April 2019.JORDI VIDAL SABATA / Redferns

There is no live music (or little), but there is a lot of recorded music.

Once the measures for the coronavirus were relaxed, the musicians have queued in the recording studios.

There are many works published in recent weeks.

We talk about long albums.

The end of the old concept of

long play

was announced years ago, with the arrival of digital immediacy, but there is no longer talk of burying these wonders that are around 45 minutes.

Musicians need this format to express their art;

and the fans appreciate it.

This is a selection of a handful that we think should not be missed.

Includes a Spotify playlist with a selection of songs from everyone.

- Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, 'Idiot Prayer (Alone at Alexandra Palace)'

Who?

Surely the only current artist who with a proposal beyond all commerciality and a great deep intellectuality is capable of filling pavilions.

His name is Nick Cave and he was born in Australia 63 years ago.

Is 'Idiot Prayer' that good?

In the darkest moments of this 2020 Nick Cave decided that something had to be done.

And he came up with

Idiot Prayer

.

He shut himself up alone with his piano in London's solemn Alexandra Palace and gave a concert which he

streamed

.

The recital was paid;

exit.

Now the album of that exciting performance is released.

In the age of immediacy, Cave delivers an hour and a half of naked, raw and beautiful music.

Despite its gloomy messages and the gloomy way of transmitting them, it is an absolute joy.

- Nathy Peluso, 'Cramp'

Who?

A star, although she is only 25 years old, because everything starts with believing it yourself, and Nathy Peluso (an Argentine living in Barcelona) is convinced that it is going to be something great.

That's how Beyoncé started and now look ...

Is 'Cramp' that good?

It happens with this album (the artist's first full-length) that you listen to it and feel part of the current musical world.

And take this phrase without irony.

Most of the trends that triumph on

streaming

platforms

are in the 12 songs of

Calambre:

reggaeton,

trap,

playful

hip hop

, sexual empowerment lyrics, Latinism,

soul,

2000s, Bad Bunny, Beyoncé, Rosalía, milonga, Mercedes Sosa, Celia Cruz… All with originality and a seductive interpretation.

- Bob Mold, 'Blue Hearts'

Who?

A benchmark of alternative rock from the eighties (with Hüsker Dü) and the nineties (with Sugar).

At 60, the New Yorker continues to do the same ... but different.

Is 'Blue Hearts' that good?

Only one of the 14 songs on

Blue Hearts

exceeds three minutes.

It is a record of rabid missiles, songs sung with the veins in the neck about to explode.

It's music that's been made since punk days in the mid-1970s, but in Mold's hands it still sounds idealistic.

It will be that we live in times where the only way out is not to hide.

- Kurt Baker, 'After Party'

Who?

A musician from Portland (United States) who after a few tours of our country has stayed to live in Madrid.

Despite being only 33 years old, Baker has reached almost twenty albums since he started in the early 2000s with the fantastic The Leftlovers.

Is 'After Party' that good?

If the Beatles and the Ramones had ever gotten together on stage one day they would probably sound like this

After Party

.

They also invited Elvis Costello from 77. The album starts and you are assaulted by an electric repulse that you no longer leave until the end.

- Gorillaz, 'Song Machine: Season One. Strange Times'

Who are they?

That joke (a virtual animated group) of the leader of Blur, Damon Albarn, is now 20 years old.

Actually, today Gorillaz is the main project of the restless Albarn.

Is 'Song Machine…' that good?

It's reassuring to see that despite the world being turned upside down, some things remain the same.

A few days ago someone asked Liam Gallagher what he thought of this Gorillaz album.

The ex-Oasis vocalist replied: "I don't listen to nonsense."

Although Liam's macarradas are always funny, in this trial he is wrong.

Song Machine…

has a great quality: despite its intellectual packaging it is very accessible.

He is driven by a playful spirit, either when he encourages dance or when he proposes

post-rave

music

.

They give luster and personality (nobody is to be here: another of Albarn's inalienable rules) to guest songs like Robert Smith (The Cure), St. Vincent, Tony Allen (on which is probably his last recording, since he passed away on April 30), Beck, Malian Fatoumata Diawara, rapper ScHoolboy, Joan As Police Woman and even Elton John.

- Xoel López, 'If my lightning reached you'

Who?

One of the most restless and versatile Spanish musicians of recent times.

Just remember that he started singing in English and tried to be the Paul Weller of A Coruña to see the giant evolution he has undergone.

And keep at it with this new album.

Is 'If My Lightning Strike You' So Good?

Every time a better lyricist, every day more open to experimenting with music.

Bengal Tiger

is the song these times deserve: this is how Africa dances when it is bad

.

Joana

is a beautiful cry of pain.

The textures are multiplied to compose songs in which you discover nuances in each listen, because they hold many reproductions.

López has become a conjurer of rhythms.

Even the abuse of the "aaaaa" and "ooooo" are forgiven.

- Joey Molland, 'Be True To Yourself'

Who?

One of the guitarists of the always vindicable Badfinger, surely the best band with the worst luck.

Is 'Be True To Yourself' so good?

Joey Molland is 72 years old, he is out of any commercial circuit and this is his first album in 10 years.

It cannot be more on the sidelines.

In this job, Julian Lennon, John's son, assists him in some song (and does the cover photo).

It makes perfect sense since Badfinger was the first band to sign the Beatles label (Apple Records) in 1969 and their music breathes

Beatlean

echoes

.

Jeff Lynne or Paul McCartney himself could also have participated.

It is a precious album, with many details and pop songs with the power to catch the first listen.

- Róisín Murphy, 'Róisín Machine'

Who?

Those over forty will remember Moloko, a danceable and sophisticated proposal in the midst of the

Brit pop

hurricane

.

The singer of that group was the Irish Róisín Murphy, with an interesting solo career for a long time.

Is 'Róisín Machine' so good?

The Irishwoman's tribute to the legendary

disco

dj’s

of the late seventies: David Mancuso, Francis Grasso, Nicky Siano… And to venues like Studio 54, The Loft or The Gallery.

This disc contains quality dance music.

"A crown on my head, ten lovers in my bed, a billion in the bank ... But I want something more," Murphy intons in

Something More,

because that's what it's about: the only thing that will save us is dancing.

- Bruce Springsteen, 'Letter to You'

Who?

For a lot of people, god.

For many others, God, "even if I haven't made a masterpiece since

The River."

In other words, for 40 years.

Is 'Letter to You' that good?

There is so much desire for Springsteen to deliver a job that lives up to its category that hyperbole is understandable.

In

Letter to You,

Springsteen takes a step back to look at America and his life from another angle.

The usual is no longer useful, but in the usual is its essence.

The result is an important album, with notable songs

(If I Was the Priest

and

Janey Needs a Shooter give

off rock truth and pride) and others less successful.

But we settle ...

- Maria Rodés, 'Lilith'

Who?

A 34-year-old artist from Barcelona with a career spanning five albums and with collaborations with Jorge Drexler, Coque Malla or Nacho Vegas (the exquisite

Being Tree

).

Is 'Lilith' that good?

Contrary to what television talent shows show, being a good singer is not having vocal power.

Maria Rodés is a remarkable vocalist, in a soft, fragile, almost whispering way that she transmits.

This album vindicates witches: free female beings in a patriarchal environment.

Exciting songs with evocative and beautiful texts.

- Songhoy Blues, 'Optimisme'

Who are they?

One of those miracles that thanks to a restless star like Damon Albarn (and this is the second time it appears on this list) we can know.

The former Blur frontman found members of Songhoy Blues playing in his native Mali in 2012.

Albarn arrived with the Africa Express project, which rescues African musicians and relations with mainly British bands.

Thanks to this mediation Songhoy Blues has performed at various European festivals.

The work has already been done by Albarn;

All that remains for us is to give Songhoy Blues the attention they deserve.

Is 'Optimisme' that good?

One of the albums of the year.

Guitar rock that embraces African rhythms, desert blues,

Malian

heavy

, tribal funk ... And essential messages for this sinister 2020: let's make the revolution by dancing.

- Motörhead, 'Ace of Spades.

40th Anniversary '

Who are they?

The group most accepted by the different tribes:

punks,

classic rockers,

modern

metalheads

,

electronic

djs

… Everyone loves Motörhead, Lemmy Kilmister's band.

On

Ace of Spades

, their best album, there is the line-up loved by the fans: in addition to Kilmister on bass and vocals, there are Eddie

Fast

Clarke on guitar and Phil

Animal

Taylor pounding on the double kick drums.

All three died in the 2000s.

Is 'Ace of Spades' that good?

As good as it is influential.

“This album is a milestone in rock.

And I consider the song

Ace of Spades

as fundamental as

Smoke on the Water

”.

These are the words of Lars Ulrich, Metallica drummer, the group would surely sound different without

Ace of Spades.

Brown, expeditious and intimidating.

This 40th anniversary edition (the original was published in 1980) comes with a luxury box with live albums, alternate takes, unreleased songs, a book telling the recording and even cards to play poker.

There are different formats: the most basic one costs 20 euros and the one that contains everything for 200 euros.

A good Christmas present?

Insurance.

- Icecream Hands, 'No Weapon But Love'

Who are they?

An Australian band that was born in the early nineties.

Great vocals, crystal clear guitars, and one mission: make exciting songs.

Is 'No Weapon But Love' that good?

As music does not give them to live (what things, how good they are), Icecream Hands spend years without activity.

This album breaks a 13-year silence.

It is an album that fans of groups like Teenage Fanclub will love.

Beautiful songs with a common theme: love in times of hate.

- Bette Smith, 'The Good, The Bad and the Bette'

Who?

The ultimate

soul-rock

sensation

.

Born in New York, this is her second album.

Is 'The Good, The Bad and the Bette' that good?

With this work Bette Smith confirms the good feelings of her debut,

Jetlagger

(2017).

Smith treasures the meatiness of soul and accompanies him by a rock band as well as gospel choirs.

Here the main instruments are not the brass, but the guitars.

Among so much fierceness, pieces like

Song for a Friend

, fabulous slow soul,

sneak

in

.

- Trevor Beld Jimenez, 'I Like It Here'

Who?

A Californian guy with straight hair and a predilection for plaid shirts that every time he sings the sun comes out.

This is his first solo album, but he participates in a thousand projects, all to be discovered: he has played with Neal Casal (rest in peace), Fruit Bats, GospelbeacH, Tall Tales and the Silver Lining ...

Is 'I Like It Here' so good?

A gem of the Californian sound.

Remember the best Jackson Browne, the seventies.

They are soulful country-folk-rock songs.

Not a loose song in which it is one of the albums of the year.

- Lous and The Yakuza, 'Gore'

Who?

Real name Marie-Pierra Kakoma, is a Congolese-Belgian artist of only 24 years old with a tremendous history as she suffered together with her family the consequences of the devastating war between the Republic of Congo and Rwanda.

Is 'Gore' that good?

Despite his suffering (with the loss of family members in the war) the first album by Lous and The Yakuza produces a healing relaxation.

It is surely a response to those turbulences.

The singer chose El Guincho to produce her album after listening to the canary's work in

Rosalía's

El mal

quiero.

It is a short album (30 minutes), beautiful, relaxed… with

soft

hip hop

, urban music, sophisticated pop and African rhythms.

A delight.

- AC / DC, 'Power Up'

Who are they?

The best possible version of AC / DC, as two of the legendary members are no longer with us: singer Bon Scott (died 1980) and guitarist Malcolm Young (died 2017).

There's Angus Young, as always, and Brian Johnson (vocals), Phil Rudd (drums) and Cliff Williams (bass) return.

Is 'Power Up' that good?

Surely in a few years we will not remember

Power Up

.

And it is probable that they will hardly interpret in the next tour (they will do it, fixed) two or three songs of this work.

But what difference does it make.

As soon as those guitars begin to sound, it is impossible not to move your head.

It's still the same old song.

Better said: minimal variations on a very simple structure.

The last human being on earth will go extinct listening to an AC / DC song.

It sounds like a headline for

El Mundo Today

, but it looks more real than ever.

Source: elparis

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