The Halo Benders - God Don't Make No Junk - VINYL LP

This week in heaven W. Shakespeare and M. Proust are having a no holds bard-shoving match to determine who holds the title of literary progenitor of the otherwise completely fresh and original guitar stylings of Doug Martsch and the current set of Halo Benders recordings. On this album Doug wails away on guitar and voice accompanied by Calvin Johnson (also guitar and voice, but with a strong Jackson Pollock influence), Ralf Youtz (playing drums and guitar) and Wayne Flower (bass and drum). Steve Fisk also makes his customary appearance on keyboards, playing on various songs organ, synthesizer, harmonium and theremin. Heather Dunn makes a brief guest appearance on guitar.

For most classical music collectors, the names on this CD will be new, and some will be surprised that composing Trombone Concertos appears to be a thriving industry in Romania. Metier is proud and delighted to present this excellent and distinctive music for your entertainment and edification.

The evolution of Swampmeat Family Band continues apace. When the Birmingham outfit released their incendiary third album, Muck, three years ago, it marked the culmination of the kind of vision that frontman Dan Finnemore had always had for them; having returned from the U.S. after a spell as a key member of Philadelphia rockers Low Cut Connie, he was burning with ideas and inspiration, channeling a renewed creative energy into a new-look version of the garage band he'd formed, as simply Swampmeat, with drummer T-Bird Jones in 2006.Muck certainly felt like a family affair, one that saw the group expand to a five-piece and broaden their musical palette, boldening their bolshier side with brass, lending their forays into country some authenticity with the addition of pedal steel and, by welcoming vocalist Joni Coyne into the fold, providing Finnemore with a new foil. The new accoutrements came together to form the basis of Swampmeat 2.0, a slicker, sharper band anchored by Finnemore's handsome arrangements and melodic sensibilities.Polish Your Old Halo continues Finnemore's hot vein of songwriting form with Muck and capitalises upon that album's creative momentum, without being afraid to try new things and remove old ones; the brass and strings that made it on to Muck have been left to one side, propelling Finnemore's writing to the fore. The freewheeling blues rock that came to define their last album is still alive and well. But there's also progression, something particularly evident in the album's bookends; 'Do It All' brings the curtain up with juddering, synth-led punk energy, while closer 'Plant Your Feet Correctly' is a swooning acoustic cut, initially envisioned as having a string section but now presented in vulnerable, bare-bones fashion.