ELLIOTT SMITH
Ocean **
It seem unlikely that, if the late Elliott Smith were still alive, he would have approved release of this cringey demo from 1983, recorded when the singer was just 14. Which is a lesson to any drug-addicted and/or suicidal rappers like Action Bronson: these are the indignities you face when you cede control of your back catalogue.
VIET CONG
Continental Shelf ***
Jagjaguwar
Victor Charlie are hotly tipped indie rockers from Calgary, Alberta, and Continental Shift is their first single. The scratchy guitar work here suggests a predilection for early Cure records, while the throbbing bassline and vocals recall Interpol at their most imperious. The Canadians' self-titled debut album drops January 2015.
AFROMAN
Because I Got High **
(Positive Remix)
For a stoner anthem, Afroman's 2000 hit Because I Got High was actually pretty scathing about the effect of long-term recreational drug use (lest we forget, the protagonist ended up homeless and barred from seeing his kids.) On this new version, recorded to support the campaign for marijuana legalisation, he pushes the positives of legal weed (tax on sales, gangs marginalised, glaucoma cured.) There's also an app ad in the middle of the song. But c'mon, the guy hasn't had a hit in 14 years. Cut him some slack, will you?
PARTY SUPPLIES ft. ACTION BRONSON & BLACK ATLASS
The Light in the Addict ****
Fool's Gold
Action Bronson is a Jewish- Albanian Brooklyn rapper and ex-gourmet chef. And although tooled-up, suicidal, strung out and paranoid might not sound like the recipe for aural haute cuisine, production duo Justin Nealis and Sean Mahon (aka Party Supplies) baste this brutal first-person account of his drug addiction with enough lush atmospherics and velvety piano licks to make it go down a treat.
