Joan As Police Woman – “The Solution Is Restless” (Pias)
The American singer and songwriter Joan Wasser alias Joan As Police Woman, the coolest mumbler of all time, has recorded a new album: “The Solution Is Restless” (Pias). With the Afrobeat drum genius Tony Allenwho died shortly after the recordings, and the British guitarist and avant-garde pop tinkerer Dave Okumu from The Invisible. Under the always irresistible indie cool of water, beats and sounds circulate that make the songs float extremely elastic in the best sense of the word. Music for the obstacle course through overcrowded subway stations on Monday morning – which one would never dare (especially not at the moment), but after which one would be a happier person. Be sure to listen! Jens-Christian Rabe
Noga Erez – “KIDS (Against The Machine)” (City Slang)
And another tip: the famous Israeli rapper and singer Noga Erez has turned their second album “KIDS”, released in January, into an acoustic big band album: “KIDS (Against The Machine)” (City Slang). It doesn’t just sound like a big band album, but like an album for which a picky hip-hop producer with very good taste has picked out exactly the drum and brass sounds with the most oomph. The rest was simply left out. For dancing through crowded subway stations in the evening on the way home. Jens-Christian Rabe
Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats – “The Future” (Stax Records)
You have to look at the accompanying formation The Night Sweats as a kind of salvation for Nathaniel Rateliff introduce. Artistic. But also commercially: “SOB”, the first single of the octet that always appears in coarse jeans, a somewhat exhausting Doo-Wop and Rhythm-and-Blues number, released in 2015, currently has a massive 77 million views for this music on Youtube . Without this success, which he had no longer expected, the singer from Denver, Colorado would have given up. No more music. The famously creaky Americana songs, the clever, introverted reflections on life that he had previously given solo, were rightly praised by the more important US music authorities – but they weren’t bought very often. Then the hit. And now the new problem, rescues often bring new problems: The R’n’B of the Night Sweats is permeated with uplifting soul, but also with hyper-wide-legged masculinity. “SOB”, for example, stands for “Son of a bitch”, and this descendant of a prostitute, as Rateliff sings it, should kindly give him a drink now. Because: “If I can’t get clean, I’m gonna drink my life away” – if I can’t stop drinking, then I’ll just pull it through to the end. That bothered Rateliff last. He wanted it a little smaller again, a little less drunk. A touch more emotion without a roar. So he withdrew and wrote by himself for the time being – finding himself a little bit, understanding how much solo energy fits into the band. Only then did it go back to the rest. And what can you say: Great step. The album “The Future” (Stax Records) is actually a highly successful combination of Rateliff’s singer-songwriter qualities and the muscular, brass-supported Stax soul grooves of the Night Sweats. Seldom goes well, something like that. Here already. Jakob Biazza
Snail Mail – “Valentine” (Matador Records)
There was a lot going on recently with indie rocker Snail Mail: a broken love affair, a short stay in a rehab clinic, now a new album. That could make everything deeply insecure at the beginning of 20 – but above all it brought the American, whose real name is Lindsey Jordan, a new self-confidence. While their already very nice debut “Lush” perhaps stuck to a nineties-based idea of what indie rock should sound like, the emotionally charged songs on “Valentine” are now arranged in more detail and dare to be more. The guitars are less scrappy, are used in a more targeted manner and are sometimes supplemented by fine synth pads or surprisingly cliché-free strings. The drums even dare to be danced here and there. Her singing, which used to be so introverted, breaks out more often, dares to voice her head, scratches, suffers, breaks. An album like a heartwarming coming-of-age film. Lennart Brauwers
Abba – Voyage (Universal)
The new Degradation-Album “Voyage” is to be heard as if after 40 years one entered the apartment of the great childhood sweetheart, whom one has not seen since then. The anticipation is just as great as the fear – has he / she / it got fat in the meantime? Extremely toxic? Collects board games? Or, worse, are there pictures of other loved ones on the walls? Yes, yes, you haven’t been there for 40 years, but true love is waiting! At least when it comes to “Voyage” you can sit back and relax: Everything is exactly as it was. There are even two Christmas songs. Isn’t that nice. Juliane Liebert
Dieter Hallervorden – “80 Plus” (Telamo)
A few quotes from “80 Plus” (Telamo), Dieter Hallervorden’s new album: “For me, gender is a martyrdom.” Or: “Do I have to call the tap a tap now?” Also this: “I am a friend of justice / When it comes to gendering, I feel sorry for mother tongue and father tongue / Your sound is so beautiful, it is tricky / is indicated by asterisks, dots and lines …” And of course: “I know I’m an old white geezer / but still a sexy motherfucker in the pear. ” All this to music somewhere between “My Way” imitations (“My life, you weren’t a pony farm / I provoked as a clown and as a philosopher”) and après-ski umpftata. In other words: The world wouldn’t necessarily be a better place if it weren’t for this album – but the chance that it will one day is increasing. Jakob Biazza