VINYL OF THE MONTH

Borokov Borokov World War Too (Rotkat)

Stagefront are two silhouetted figures, heads at a strange angle. Like hanged men. Beside each is a robed demon sentinel with a burning torch. Overseeing all is a gigantic, trompe l’oeil devil, gnarly-fanged, eyes a glazed pink blaze. The demons touch their torches to the doomed mannikins who go up in flames. Kreator, amid the enkindled carnage, plough into the utter pummelling of “Endless Pain”, the title track of their 1985 debut album. The moshpit explodes again.

The Kurdish singer Aynur opened her current European tour in Bristol, presenting music that's rooted in ancient tradition but explores contempoary sonorities and styles while keeping the music of her people vibrant and alive.

Blackpool Cool is the third and last album by Glasgow’s Head. Issued in 1977 on the band’s own Head Records label, it was preceded by 1973’s GTF and 1975’s Red Dwarf.

Tom Misch’s Full Circle is an easy, pleasant listen, but it tends to drift by without leaving much of a lasting impression. He leans into a softer, more reflective sound throughout, which suits his style, though it also makes the album feel a little too safe and one-paced.

Years have passed since the early days of Gorillaz, when the real musicians behind the cartoon band remained hidden from view onstage. Yet some things never change, and while there was plenty of cheering for the arrival of Damon Albarn onstage, it was dwarfed by the roars for the first appearances of 2-D, Murdock, Russel and Noodle on giant video screens overlooking the stage.

The title is, of course, typically British understatement. This Music May Contain Hope has not just irresistible confidence and optimism but also real originality about it. All the way from a spoken film noir-ish intro, right through to the final track, in which everyone, yes everyone involved in the album is thanked, including every single member of the London Symphony Orchestra, with all of its section members individually named from front to back.

Although it was released as a single in November 1968, The Goodees’ “Condition Red” could – apart from a specific quirk – have been issued four years earlier, in the wake of The Shangri-Las’ “Leader of the Pack” hitting the US charts. Despite going on sale in the hippie, back-to-the-roots, heavier-than-heavy, burgeoning-bubblegum era, “Condition Red” is so in sync with “Leader of the Pack,” it can pass for a follow-up.

Over the years, Ronnie Scott’s, one of the premier jazz clubs in the world, has hosted some truly transcendental music. There’s something about the horseshoe layout of the seating that promotes exceptional intimacy. When the music zings and the audience feels it, there is a positive feedback loop which elevates the event beyond the merely ordinary.

Mother Pearl is not direct. While sixth track “Checking In,” with its rising-falling cadences and verse-chorus structure, is its most immediate, the dominant impression of the new LP by the Iceland-born Gyða Valtysdóttir is that it’s about creating an atmosphere and then nurturing it to generate an enveloping aural milieu.