Otherworldly and oblique in equal measures, this is a curiously compelling conception overall, that signifies either just the start of longer epic journey or a fleeting collaborative detour. Whichever it is, Customs And Rituals Of The Taps Of The Holy Trinity marks itself out an arrestingly memorable entry in the soon-to-be-sealed-up Fenny Compton catalogue.
Monthly Archives: June 2026
23 posts
...teaming up with vibes player Ralph Wyld, trombonist Kieran Mcleod and bassist Huw V Williams and taking a crack at palindromic composition on Petstep for an assembled quartet that is a fascinating combination.
The uncluttered plot has a stronger throughline than in many such superhero epics, demonstrating commendable reluctance to pin the fate of the entire universe on her admittedly invulnerable shoulders.
The noir-flushed disquiet of "Uncertain" limping into a scattering post-rock pulmonary, Adi Newton’s voice a looming vulture shadow brambled in ambiguity. This album is still a keeper some forty plus years later, typified by the joy-shaped Molotov that is "Sensorium" and beyond.
...it’s back to core archival business once again with three further releases, albeit with a few novel twists in the tale.
...everything changed because this record is the one they recorded after Electric Larryland. It is from the '90s and it is exactly the Butthole Surfers record I’d wanted them to release at the time. I went back, took out all the crybaby ‘why did they do this?’ stuff, and re-listened. It’s a completely different record when you see it was supposed to come out in ‘97 and ‘98.
...the Caktus sound is swollen to include four reeds players, two trumpets, three trombones, two bassists and two drummers; but although this may sound a lot, the overall effect is sleek and subtle.
..this time their epic, sprawling mode of storytelling details a real life – that of Ann Lee, eighteenth-century founder of the Shakers religious sect, whose dramatisation here borders on fundamentalist propaganda.
...effortlessly seems to draw from the last thousand years of musical progression, yet somehow manages to be its very own thing driven by her personal observations.
As some of Sonic Cathedral’s fledgling artists have left the fold of late.. it has fallen to two veteran enterprises to lead on the label’s mid-year release schedule and related activities.
...based on recordings that they had completely overlooked, so there is a feeling of reinvention here as well which -- along with the bizarre track titles, a sense of the absurd and a generous coating of humour -- only adds to the charm.
A raucous revelry that burns solidly throughout, pokes the post-punk corpse, churns wildly industrial, sounds that hold well to that roughly-hued head of the cover that scars darkly primitive. Magazine really feels like a brooding wound of discontent that’s still wide open demanding to be prodded.
...at about twenty-three minutes is over before you know it; but the ride is well worth the effort. Meatshell's ideas are varied and their vision limitless, and the fun they appear to be having is a large part of the charm.
...takes the familiar drifting folklore-influenced soundscapes and merges them with strings and voices for an unexpected journey. The album uses the live recordings as a basis and then re-imagines them in the studio, the distant piano and drifting trumpet immediately sending the listener off into a world where edges are blunted and the things softly reverberate.
..couches his clear, upbeat style over seven varying pieces that range from two to nine minutes and encompass blues, slide and Spanish inflections within a landscape of wide-open desert spaces.
...operates on a smaller scale than previously, dealing with stand-up comedians as opposed to rock stars (A Star Is Born) or master conductors (Maestro). Thus it feels like a return to the roots, an origin story for an ordinary but talented Joe who gets his break. He’s more interested in the neurotically funny camaraderie of a street-level scene, rather than the curse of individual high-functioning genius.
Mattias brings his trademark textural sax and synth backdrops while Black Koyo bring the ritual chants, guimbri (a three-string bass lute), the qraqeb (a kind of metal castanet) and a sense of mystery. Together, these disparate acts make a six-part suite that offers Gnawa traditionals in expansive and often dreamlike settings.
To their credit, the film-makers at least try to build a more interesting arc for its central character than the simplistic 1980s cartoon ever bothered with; then it blows up his colourful world into three dimensions, telling his tale in a mostly playful register cribbed most obviously from Thor: Ragnarok.