Wolfmother — Victorious (Universal)
In the midst of the stoner-rock resurgence of 2016, Wolfmother — "a band that was always too poppy for metalheads, but too bizarre for sustained chart success" — have dropped their new record. Victorious works off Stockdale's "tried-and-true formulas while also making a bid for relevance in a musical landscape with vastly different politics than when he began". This might be "the record that propels Wolfmother back into mainstream consciousness". We gave it four stars and it is our Album Of The Week.
Mavis Staples — Livin' On A High Note (Anti)
Staples' voice and music "isn't all that's on show here" with Nick Cave, Ben Harper, Justin Vernon and more all contributing original tunes to this album. "It's an interesting combination of redemption and despair, although it's not always easy to guess which artist gave it which flavour" — Vernon's Dedicated has the space "that some of this other big tunes have allowed", for example. We gave it four stars.
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Animal Collective — Painting With (Domino/EMI)
Born from "immersive 12-hour jamming sessions where images of dinosaurs [were] projected onto the walls", the "prehistoric" feel they were going for is instead "utterly 21st century" in its "layers of electronic tribal drums and processed instruments". "There are several highs, including the rubbery bass of Hocus Pocus", but most of the inspiration is "frontloaded into the first six or so songs". We gave it three stars.
BJ The Chicago Kid — In My Mind (EMI)
Chase Rice — Ignite The Night (Sony)
Chris Altmann — Renaissance Man (Independent Man)
Essaie Pas — Demain Est Une Autre Nuit (DFA/[PIAS] Australia)
Gazebos — Die Alone (Hardly Art/Inertia)
Glen Hansard — A Season On The Line (Anti-/Warner)
Hilltop Hoods — Drinking From The Sun, Walking Under Stars Restrung (Golden Era Records/Universal)
Jack Garratt — Phase (Universal)
Josef Salvat — Night Swim (Liberation)
Lake Street Dive — Side Pony (Nonesuch/Warner)
Like Pacific — Distant Like You Asked (Pure Noise/Sony)
LNZNDRF — LNZNDRF (4AD/Remote Control)
Love & Theft — Whiskey On My Breath (Sony)
Mia Dyson — Right There (MGM)
Michael Waugh — What We Might Be (MGM)
Monster Truck — Sittin' Heavy (Dine Alone/Cooking Vinyl)
Riley Pearce — Outside The Lines (MGM)
Rosie Lowe — Control (Dew Process/Universal)
Ryuichi Sakamoto, Alva Noto & Bryce Dessner — The Revenant (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (Milan/Warner)
Scraper — Misery (Slovenly)
Simple Plan — Taking One For The Team (Atlantic/Warner)
So Pitted — Neo (Sub Pop/Inertia)
Submotion Orchestra — Colour Theory (Counter/Inertia)
TEEN — Love Yes (Stop Start/Inertia)
The Corrs — White Light (East West Records/Warner)
To The Rats And Wolves — Neverland (Arising Empire)
Us The Band — Where Do They Go (Rice Is Nice)
Useless Eaters — Temporary Mutilation (Slovenly)
Wild Nothing — Life Of Pause (Captured Tracks/Remote Control)
Yo Gotti — The Art Of Hustle (Sony)