Rock

Tedeschi Trucks Band
Future Soul
Fantasy 7273744; LP: 7273745

Husband and wife guitar team Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi head a formidable 12-piece band and serve up a smorgasbord of Southern styles. Trucks’ late uncle Butch Trucks drummed in The Allman Brothers and ‘Under The Knife’ grooves like Little Feat and legendary New Orleans funk band, The Meters. They deploy backing singers, keyboards and a horn section, but the arrangements are punchy and never cluttered. On the acoustic blues-y ballad ‘What In The World’, there are echoes of Bonnie Bramlett in Tedeschi’s soulful vocals and Bonnie Raitt in the sinuous slide playing. The title track is rough-hewn, horn-powered rock ’n’ roll and ‘Devil Be Gone’ features a dazzling dialogue between the two guitarists. MB

Sound Quality: 90%

System 7
Flower Of Life
A-Wave AAWCD024

Steve Hillage has been exploring repetitive beats since his use of tape echo when guitarist with Gong in the ’70s, and in 1989 he and his synth-playing partner Miquette Giraudy formed System 7, one of the first techno groups to play live. After over a decade away, ‘Transceptor’ reintroduces their mix of electronics and rock propulsion – although when the bpm goes down a notch, the vividly produced results are wonderfully mesmeric. On ‘Still Wind’ the duo subtly shift differently textured sonic elements across House beats and on the title track, dancing sequencers meet synth jet streams, while Hillage solos blissfully on heavily treated guitar towards the close. MB

Sound Quality: 85%

Alexis Taylor
Paris In The Spring
Night Time Stories ALNCD78; LP: ALNLP78

It’s 25 years since Alexis Taylor emerged with electronic pop combo Hot Chip, whose influences included Abba, Prince, OMD and Roxy Music. And he’s also experimented combining melodic songwriting with group improvisation in The About Group. The sleek, synthetic grooves and layered synths of ‘I Feel Your Love’ form a springboard for Taylor’s light, high voice and his duet with Green Gartside on ‘On A Whim’ feels like a perfect match. This surface sweetness is riven with self-doubt and musings on mortality, but that adds to the music’s soulful poignancy, which crystallises in a melancholic, gently skanking take on The Rolling Stones’ ballad ‘Wild Horses’. MB

Sound Quality: 85%

Hammock
The Second Coming Was A Moonrise
Hammock Music HMK099CD; LP: HMK099LP

The American duo of Marc Byrd and Andrew Thompson are augmented here by strings and drums, and Byrd hopes their music can evoke the feeling of sitting on a car roof and looking up at the sky, as he did when young. Drugs were also involved then, but these songs evoke a universal feeling of vastness and connectedness. Reminiscent of Mogwai’s slowly building compositions, they are structured on melodic guitar motifs, with hazy vocals and synths drifting mysteriously off into the distance. ‘Chemicals Make You Small’ features Wayne Coyne and Steve Drozd from The Flaming Lips on vocals and keys, but they’re reduced to small details in this sonic panorama. MB

Sound Quality: 80%