Lankum, False Lankum

With one half of them rooted in traditional Irish folk music and the other in experimentation, introducing elements from different musical genres and creating dissonance and some consonance within their songs, Lankum have been an interesting band to explore. Though I will say that I have not always enjoyed their music. It can be dark and feel menacing with tension being created for which there is no relief or release. It can become too much for me to handle. This is not the case with False Lankum, the band's latest album. Not at all. 

'If modern folk music needs its own OK Computer, its own The Dark Side Of The Moon, or indeed its own F#A#∞, this may well be it.' Mojo

With False Lankum, the band's ambitions have never been greater. And yet, they have finally found the perfect balance between tradition and the something else that they have been playing with for so many years. Listening to the album, I truly felt like I was hearing something new, something different, something for the first time. In this regarding, Mojo's putting this album in the company of such singular albums such as OK Computer, while lofty, is just about right. What Lankum have achieved with their album False Lankum is truly breathtaking. 

RPWL, Crime Scene

I first heard RPWL when I stumbled upon their 2019 album Tales From Outer Space. I was quickly drawn to the German progressive rock band and their extensive twenty year catalog of albums and Tales quickly rose to be one of my favorites of that year.  

As I wrote back in 2019, the band started as a Pink Floyd cover band, and while it is probably not fair to still be talking about their origins 20+ years later, you can still hear Floyd influences, especially the band's later work (think The Division Bell). With this said, RPWL are truly an original band, especially on their concept oriented albums, such as their latest Crime Scene. On it, the band writes that it 'directs its attention to the morbid, the perverse, the evil in good, the abysses of the human behavior spectrum in all its unpredictable diversity, which sometimes comes across as bizarrely disturbing and conclusive, if one tries to fathom it.' Certainly not topics for the faint of heart, but in the hands of RPWL, they are explored in a way that will keep you coming back for another listen. So glad that RPWL are back.

Gorillaz, Cracker Island

When Blur's Damon Albarn and comic book creator Jamie Hewlett came together back in 1998 to form the virtual band Gorillaz, I don't know that they thought that they would still be at it twenty-five years later. I know that I did not think that this would be the case. While I liked their debut album, Gorillaz, and LOVED their follow up, Demon Days, I figured that as the novelty of a virtual band faded away and their music became less fresh and exciting, the band would quietly exit stage left. Yet here they are in 2023 with their eight album Cracker Island. And what an album. 

Not since Damon Days has Albarn and the band's music sounded this fresh and exciting. Collaborations with Stevie Nicks, Thundercat, Tame Impala, Bad Bunny, Beck, and others only add to the strength of their songs and music. Perhaps this is where they do exit stage left. Perhaps not. But if it is the case, it would be a fitting way to go out.