A Louder Silence

Leifur James releases his debut album through Late Night Tales’ artist label Night Time Stories. A Louder Silence is the London-based producer and multi-instrumentalist’s first proper release; his two earlier singles feature on the record. The album is both spacious and thought-provoking, energetic yet restrained, brimming with nuanced electronic instrumentals, dubby synths, and jazz breaks — creating an array of rich textures, complemented occasionally by James’ own soulful vocals. While James’ early unreleased work was singularly electronic, A Louder Silence focuses on analog synths and warm acoustic instruments, all played by his own hand. It’s the product of a two-year spell in James’ home studio, with additional live drums recorded with Jim Macrae at London’s Old Paradise Audio.

Out Louder reunites keyboardist John Medeski, drummer Billy Martin, and bassist Chris Wood with guitar great John Scofield, who employed the trio on his 1997 A Go Go album. That record opened the creativity gates for both the trio and Scofield, who fed off and goaded each other into territories neither party had previously gone separately. Out Louder isn't so much a rematch as an upgrade. Both Scofield and MMW have continued to explore in the near-decade since A Go Go, and they come to this project with a greater understanding of their collective abilities as well as a willingness to explore the possibilities further. Not unexpectedly, the four musicians work hard here, but they also have a ton of fun. The opening track, "Little Walter Rides Again," serves notice that this isn't going to be an exercise in showing off but rather four envelope-pushing musicians picking each other's brains and seeing what they find…

Recording in the duo’s respective hometowns yields Wye Oak’s brightest, most straightforward effort yet, in which the limits of human understanding are a source of fascination, not frustration.

The Lemmy Kilmister/Phil Campbell/Mikkey Dee Motörhead line-up spent decades cracking sound barriers, bending ears and decimating lawns worldwide, consistently delivering the Motörgospel to hundreds of thousands of fans. Louder Than Noise… Live in Berlin is a thunderous performance from the band's 2012 Kings of The Road Tour, spanning fifteen classics across all four decades. This line-up was Motörhead's longest serving by a considerable distance, and throughout Louder Than Noise… Live in Berlin their powerful synergy boots its way through the speakers with the raucous charm and dirty, dangerous, sweaty gusto that was the Kilmister/Campbell/Dee trademark.