Salomea: axxxis

With their amalgam of jazz, soul and hip-hop German-American quartet Salomea made friends in both genres, and quite a few outside those two three. On their latest album axxxis the band's singer and composer Rebekka Salomea leads her band through emotional minefields, snap shots taken during night life and of course the wicked ways of love. While the subject matter has been covered umpteenth times she has found new ways to tell the tales that need to be told.

With a band that can follow every subtle turn she throws at them, with drummer Leif Berger working a double shift as the driving force and safety net, Rebekka Salomea is ready to make a mark outside Germany. She has a voice that loses none of its power when she turns it down to a whisper. This is their fourth album, so putting on an one hour plus show with high-quality songs just outside the mainstream is no problem at all.

Lost Signal & The Happy Somethings: Stairs from the Moon

Some things are not supposed to work, but somehow they do. Stairs from the Moon, a collaborative single made by Matt Couchman electronics project Lost Signal and twee trio The Happy Somethings, is a fine example for getting it right against all odds. Wrapped in Couchman's Ultravox-esque soundscapes, the trio's shared vocals manage lift-off in a dreamy trip to outer space. There, being freed from everyday hassles, they can claim everything as belonging to them, as kids like to do when they are convinced that they are the centre of the universe.

DOSS: Howdypartner

photo: Mark Anthony Gilles

Glaswegian duo DOSS inserted quite a bit of electronics into their swaying post-punk single Howdypartner. With lopsided rhythms having a ball with slacker vocals Dorley Mackay (vocals, guitar) and Chilton Fawcett (drums) created a dance song for people who don't like to dance, because that would not be cool.

Motörhead: "The Löst Tapes Vol. 8: Live at Margate" Black Friday release

Another Motörhead live show will be released as a 2LP - on aqua blue vinyl - for Black Friday (November 27). The Löst Tapes Vol. 8: Live at Margate" was recorded on November 5, 1984 @ Winter Gardens in Margate, UK. The show became available in May this year as a digital release.

Jo Carley And The Old Dry Skulls: Boneyard Rituals

English old school vaudeville blues trio Jo Carley And The Old Dry Skulls are branching out soundwise on their new album Boneyard Rituals. Stephane Spitz came on board to play saxophone on about half of the tracks and there is also an on point instrumental, The Dread, that deserves to be used for a late night horror show on TV. Core members Jo Carley and Tim Carley have been at it since 2014, always looking for new ways to play music that sounds as old as the hills.

Lucky for them there is always an audience for upbeat tongue-in-cheek songs about the devil, the full moon, the walking dead and black magic. Shuddering a bit while being fully aware that nothing of it is real feels nice. Who wouldn't want the opportunity to get his or her life in order by summoning an entity that can grant that wish?