August: 18 albums you need to hear this month

The Avalanches 'Flower Power' (XL Recordings)

“It’s sounding like everything we dared not hope for, and so much more. They’ve made the record of their lives.” That’s a statement from a Modular Recordings press release issued way back in August 2006, and the rumour mill surrounding a long-awaited new album from The Avalanches has been grinding for 10 solid years since. Such was the love for their millennial debut ‘Since I Left You’ that it’s no wonder both fans and label owners have eagerly lapped up any suggestion of a sequel (it became a running joke that staff would join and subsequently leave the XL office before it ever dropped). However, fans of audio plunder can now rejoice: ‘Wildflower’ is finally here, and it’s wonderful. Main-man Robbie Chater remains at the helm, melding another mixtape of an album that dials between radio stations, car horns, cartoons, laughing kids and the spraying of graffiti cans. It’s buoyed, too, by a treasure-trove of collaborations including Biz Markie, Father John Misty, Jennifer Herrema and Warren Ellis that are as rich and widespread as the samples that see ‘Wildflower’ grow more beautiful with every listen. One was even personally cleared by Sir Paul McCartney after he received a pleading email from the band explaining why it was so important to use a children’s choir singing ‘Come Together’ in ‘The Noisy Eater’, a song about breakfast cereal. Indeed, from Camp Lo’s opening block party invitation of ‘Because I’m Me’ to the fairground calypso of MF DOOM and Danny Brown’s ‘Frankie Sinatra’ and the sunshine house of ‘If I Was A Folkstar’ with Toro Y Moi, this is the sound of summertime. Robbie’s reluctance to discuss the past means we may never know which of these tracks were made when – but while ‘Wildflower’’s long gestation took ‘difficult second album’ syndrome to extremes, how he fitted 16 years of inspiration into this masterpiece is better understood with your ears.

9/10

Utah Jazz 'The Music Factory' (Spearhead Records)

Luke Wilson’s enduring status as a liquid-funk deity is down to a USP that’s barely changed in 15 years, and his fifth album sparkles with the dusty, crackly, soul-sampling aesthetic that’s made him an international promoters’ dream. Opener ‘Promised Land’ isn’t just vintage, it’s timeless: elegiac strings washing, brass horns mooning, strident breaks rolling with graceful dancefloor purpose. There are some harder textures too, such as the DRS-featuring ‘Handle It 2016’, but Wilson’s fans should fear not: it’s wall-to-wall liquid finery. No-one else could sweep in like this, after a couple of years of silence, and plunge us into a sea of goosebumping melodies and gravelly funk licks.

9/10

Various 'Inna NICE UP! Fashion' (NICE UP!)

The British and Jamaican dancehall released on the London-based Fashion label in the 80s and 90s forms one of the most recognizable strands in underground music. The voices of Daddy Freddy, Top Cat, Tenor Fly, Cutty Ranks and co have been sampled and re-sampled through untold jungle tracks and beyond. Here, loads of big, bashy dancehall tracks get re-rubbed into d’n’b, dubstep and other more experimental shapes by the likes of The Bug, Machinedrum, Special Request and Toddla T (the latter in impressively raw form), while all-time junglist classic ‘Incredible’ gets turned back into retro dancehall by Wrongtom.

7/10

Flowdan 'Disasterpiece' (Tru Thoughts)

Former Roll Deep mainstay Flowdan is one of the most enduring and distinctive voices in grime. His partnership with The Bug, exemplified on the era-defining collaboration ‘Skeng’, has seen his deep, doomy tones echoing through dubstep and beyond, and here he finally delivers a full album to consolidate his legacy. It’s a record of two halves. The first part, heavily featuring the icy tones of singer Animai, is gothic and cinematic, a bleak gangster movie in miniature. It ramps up, though, to a final five tracks of rowdy grime energy, with Manga and Tinchy Stryder piling in for good measure. Impeccably structured, this is the kind of album grime needs to prove its staying power.

8/10

Mark Barrott 'Sketches From An Island 2' (International Feel)

Having globetrotted from Sheffield to Berlin to Uruguay and now Ibiza, Mark Barrott’s home life may have a feeling of impermanence, but the same can’t be said for his music. For the past two decades Barrott has slowly turned himself into the emperor of chillout. His second ‘Sketches From An Island’ album picks up from where its predecessor left off, pulling in influences from gamelan and Indian, African and trad Spanish music. The Indonesian polyrhythms of ‘Cirrus Cumulus’ and the smoked-out ‘Der Stern, Der Nie Vergeht’ have a hypnagogic quality, and you’ll yearn to head straight for Cap Negret after hearing Barrott’s sounds.

8/10

Various 'Aus 100' (Aus Music)

Will Saul’s inestimable Aus Music, one of the most essential house and techno labels of the past decade, is a reflection of its founder. Rather than relying on a wodge of reissues or stuff found down the back of the sofa, it marks a century of releases with 24 new tracks from its star-studded alumni. Appleblim’s ‘Twinkle’ is sharp electro soul, while ‘Wan Hunner’ is Sei A in typically twisted form. It’s Trevino’s ‘Shimmer’ that’s prime contender for top billing: shuddering sci-fi techno, it features a bass made for rearranging furniture and intestines. That we’ve not even mentioned appearances by Pearson Sound, Midland, Huxley or Bicep proves that the force is strong here.

9/10

Wolf Müller & Cass 'The Sound Of The Glades' (International Feel)

International Feel’s recent series of mini-albums have proved that the appetite for classic Balearica remains undimmed. Not that there’s anything mini about ‘The Sound Of The Glades’. At 40 minutes long, these five tracks from Jan Schulte and Niklas Rehme-Schlüter have an epic, infinite grace. There’s significant weight to the twinkling ‘Miyazaki’, with its echoes of that early Balearic gem, St Etienne’s version of Neil Young’s ‘Only Love Can Break Your Heart’. And the album’s title track, a 16-minute opus populated by exotic bird calls, finger bells and gauzey drone, is a deep dive into the bluest of ambient waters.

7/10

Honne 'Warm On A Cold Night' (Atlantic Records)

Big on stirring chords and high on emotion, Honne’s delicate, pristine electronic soul is made to soundtrack late-night drives and, er, bedroom romps. Its two creators, James Hatche and Andy Clutterbuck, met on their first day at uni and bonded over r’n’b and MJ. Their music mixes the breezy West Coast-rock vibes of Phoenix and perfect pop of Years And Years with the jaded, lovelorn moods of The xx and James Blake. Their breakthrough single, ‘Warm On A Cold Night’, was an introduction to Clutterbuck’s distinctive vocals – like a deeper, more langorous version of Blake (usually recorded, admits Clutterbuck, while sitting down). Comfortingly soporific, they lull you into deep reverie. ‘The Night’ is a sultry, slow jam drenched in sweat and the supper-club jazz of ‘One At A Time Please’ is enlivened by explosions of slap bass and grand chords, while ‘Someone That Loves You’ is that rarest of things these days: a proper duet. With Clutterbuck and Izzy Bizu trading lines on four minutes of fuzzy, house-flavoured euphoria, they’re in serious danger of making them cool again. Outstanding musicianship, an uncanny knack for melody and a disarmingly seductive sound are what sets Honne apart – that, and the power to spark a baby boom.

8/10

Dr Meaker 'Dirt & Soul' (Circus)

Bristol band Dr Meaker’s good-natured soundsystem soul is sharper than ever on ‘Dirt & Soul’. The tempo is almost entirely junglist, the mood celebratory and the cast of featured vocalists don’t hold back in their old-school gospel-tinged soul belting. A mid-album synth interlude entitled ‘Glastonbury’ gives the game away: this is festival-rave aimed at getting sunny fields and dark packed tents filled with hands in the air. And while there’s some variation, with doubt and brooding amid the good vibes, the emotional richness of it all can get a bit like having 11 courses of dessert. Taken individually, though, each track is a stirring smasher.

7/10

Badbadnotgood 'IV' (Innovative Leisure)

It’s difficult to categorise Toronto cool kids Badbadnotgood by genre, but that’s no criticism: combining hip hop, lounge music and improvisational jazz, their compositions are effortlessly innovative. Since Tyler, The Creator discovered them online in 2011 they’ve performed with Frank Ocean, worked with Wu-Tang Clan’s Ghostface Killah and dropped three albums to rave reviews. On ‘IV’ they use guest singers one of their own albums for the first time, and the results are superb. Future Islands’ Samuel T Herring delivers a grainy-yet-soothing vocal on the lovesick ‘Time Moves Slow’, Chicago rapper Mick Jenkins jumps on ‘Hyssop Of Love’ and Charlotte Day Wilson adds soul to ‘In Your Eyes’.

8/10

Metronomy 'Summer 08' (Because)

Summer ’08 in electronic music terms means Frankie Knuckles’ remix of ‘Blind’ and ‘Pjanoo’ by Eric Prydz, but for Metronomy it’s the literal and spiritual missing link between ‘Nights Out’ and ‘The English Riviera’, inspired as much by Outkast as it is by classic pop and rock stylings. It’s no accident that old-school LA studio producer Bob Clearmountain mixed the record: sonically (and musically) it’s incredible, as the bendy soul-funk jam ‘Miami Logic’ and the LCD-ish, cowbell-driven ‘Old Skool’ both attest. ‘Hang Me Out To Dry’ with Robyn, meanwhile, may well be her best record since, well, 2008’s ‘Dream On’. A wonderful LP, and one to cherish.

8/10

Reboot 'aLIVE' (Get Physical Music)

German production wizard Frank Heinrich, aka Reboot, blends his love of house, techno and organic rhythms to deliver a propulsive, terrace-focused third album. Five years after his debut full-length ‘Shunyata’ and with a new live show to boot, ‘aLIVE’ is a mood-setting Ibiza-ready collection. Opener ‘All Live Is Good’ is soft and airy, ‘Are You Losing My Mind’ boasts squelching synths and groove-laden hooks and the woozy bassline of ‘Timelive’ acts as a midnight intoxicator. ‘Just Hang On’ is rolling house at its best and the tantalising textures of ‘Tea Time’ will move your body, but ‘Pollo Al Sillao’ is the immediate attention grabber thanks to its swelling drums, bubbling chords and punchy bells.

8/10

Floorplan 'Victorious' (M-Plant)

If he’d only ever made one record – the still-perfect-sounding 1994 reinvention of techno ‘Minimal Nation’ – Robert Hood’s place in music history would still be assured. But he’s kept on keeping on over the years, and particularly thanks to his disco-influenced Floorplan guise, is now at least as popular as he’s ever been. Here, he’s obviously gearing up for demolishing big dancefloors – notably with filter disco, jacking house grooves and inspirational gospel – but even though the dynamics are obvious, the panache in the delivery is something else. There’s even some ‘Minimal Nation’-style techno licks in ‘Mmm Hmm Hmm’ and ‘Ha Ya’ for the heads. It’s all pretty irresistible.

8/10

Shura 'Nothing's Real' (Polydor)

A pop superstar in the making, Shura grew up in Manchester, her mother a Russian actress and her father an English documentary filmmaker: unsurprisingly, she’s a smooth and smart operator with just a hint of La Roux’s melodic touch, especially on the deft pop stomper ‘Nothing’s Real’. The years spent pillaging her parent’s record and VHS collections have resulted in an album with lyrics as strong as the melodies, especially on the soaring synths of ‘What Happened To Us’ (“I’m no child but I don’t feel grown up”, she sings brilliantly). And the incredible closing salvo of ‘Tongue Tied’, ‘Make It Up, ‘2Shy’ and closer ‘White Light’ reminds us time and time again that Shura’s here to stay.

8/10

Nonkeen 'Oddments Of The Gamble' (R&S)

BACK AT THE turn of the year we brought you the extraordinary tale of Nonkeen. Three Germans who became friends in the 80s while still separated by the Berlin Wall, they later formed a band and eventually released their debut album ‘The Gamble’, an album of melodic, experimental electronica, in February. ‘Oddments Of The Gamble’, the second album from the trio of Nils Frahm, Frederic Gmeiner and Sepp Singwald, is less of a companion piece and more of a sibling with a different personality; there are occasional hints of the hypnotic, house-flavoured stylings and lo-fi soundscapes that characterised their debut, but here jazz, dark funk, classical and alt-rock play a more starring role. ‘Glow’ is dubby and fidgety and ‘World Air’ is gauzey shoegaze, while the spacey jam of ‘The Journey Of Hello Peter’ is infected with the spirit of soundtrack guru Lalo Schifrin and daubed with demonic bass and electric piano. Nonkeen’s is a uniquely haunting sound – and, they promise, there’s more still to come.

8/10

Bats For Lashes 'The Bride' (Parlophone)

Over the course of three Bat For Lashes albums and her side project Sexwitch, Natasha Khan has transformed into the queen of gothic pop, authoring tales of mystery, lust and dark forces. ‘The Bride’ is a concept album about a woman whose fiancé dies in a crash on the way to their wedding. The resulting love, loss and grief are classic Bat For Lashes subjects, and she does them considerable justice. From the harps and orchestral swells of brief but majestic opener ‘I Do’ to the throbbing noir of ‘In God’s House’ and the skippity synth rock of ‘Sunday Love’, the mood rises and falls in sympathy with its subject’s journey. It’s Khan’s most memorable record yet.

8/10

Conduct 'Borderland' (Blue Marten)

The music of London-Shropshire duo Conduct has as much in common with modern classical-electronic composers such as Max Richter, Johann Johannsson and Hans Zimmer as it does with d’n’b. But those looking for hectic floor-fillers should not be put off, since tunes such as the spacious ‘Bat Country’, the Vocoder-tinted ‘Faux’ and the sheer assault of ‘Divergence’ have the power to hold a floor. Perhaps the most intriguing cuts, however, explore a less-is-more ethos, from the pared back ‘Piano Tune’ to ‘Beta’s Error’, an ethereal ambient piece suddenly brought to life by scuttles of percussion. It’s a debut with something new to say about d’nb.

8/10

Factory Floor '25 25' (DFA)

The eponymous 2013 debut album from London trio Factory Floor proclaimed them as post-punk analogue experimentalists, with as many fans in the avant-garde indie scene as clubland. Now a duo, their second is starker and more minimal, full of machine threat and techno edge. Its eight tracks offer no tunes, just android, hypnotic power on cuts such as the revolving ‘Upper Left’ and the satirical ‘Dial Me In’, while there’s a flavour of sleep-deprived acid house on ‘Relay’ and ‘Meet Me At The End’. Throughout, and especially on the title track, the ghost of early Plastikman is never far away. ’25 25’ is a severe, uncompromising album, but the ones that like it will love it.

7/10