A timely release for Istanbul’s Reptilians From Andromeda (RFA) considering the current turn of events in the political spheres of the US and UK, not to mention pretty much everywhere else in the world. The ‘Doomsday’ in question, packaged as track one of four from RFA’s latest EP, is more concerned with informing anyone willing to pay attention that all is not as it may seem, and that maybe you really shouldn’t believe the rhetoric televised almost on a daily basis at present. Such persuasion swings in favour of this garage-punk band from Istanbul as lead vocalist Aybike Çelik Özbey repeatedly cries, “Don’t believe the doomsday” to a fuzzy looped rhythm where the bass is raw and heavy and guitars glide effortlessly. If all this sounds a bit like A Place To Bury Strangers, for example, and nothing wrong with that of course, then following track, ‘Love Bait’, loses any such comparisons with a more straight garage rock and grunge feel that retains a very grubby appearance and all the more charming for doing so. With the EP being issued as a 7″ vinyl via Prof Sny Records, all recording and mixing duties were handled by the Reptilians themselves, only for Fran Ashcroft, formerly of power pop punk band The Monos! to apply mastering at Happy Beat studios (UK). Based on the evidence presented here, there is every reason to believe that RFA will be making further inroads to a wider audience soon, because ‘Doomsday’ EP never remains stagnant in terms of its approach and ideas, therefore giving the impression that there’s greater things to come from this quartet. In the meantime, RFA is definitely pushing all the right buttons as this is an engaging and fascinating ride that is worthy of your attention.

Offering its by now familiar array of artists collected from around the globe with each and every artist applying their interpretation of, as well as capturing the sounds that can be heard in the smaller details of everyday living, Eilean Records presents its latest compilation, ‘Eilean: [45]’. Limited to 150 copies and housed in a metal box complete with ruby red woodcut design, the packaging alone is enough to tempt any prospective buyer. The inner contents, however, certainly perform their duties by offering some new and exclusive pieces of sounds and featuring sixteen tracks with, it should be noted in order to pay proper respect here, all of the following artists: Autistici, Chris Dooks, Daniel K. Böhm, Darren McClure, E & I, Florian Von Ameln, Jason van Wyk, Moss Covered Technology, Offthesky, øjeRum, Omrr, Phi Bui, Porya Hatami, Saenïnvey, Speck, Sustainer, Uwe Zahn and Wil Bolton. For closer inspection though, the crystal-clear sounds of øjeRum’s ‘Needle-Shaped’; the fascinating insight of the journey unfolding during Daniel K. Böhm’s ‘All Over Gently’; the ethereal sounds of ‘Solitude By Vision’ performed by Offthesky, to capturing sounds of nature via ‘New Encounters’ by the equally engaging namesake Florian Von Ameln are good enough starting points and a glimpse of the various canvasses of sounds on offer via ‘Eilean: [45]’ to capture the imagination of any listener.

Life doesn’t get much better than this! Having landed on the FLW doormat this morning this essential, yes ESSENTIAL collection of Buddy Holly songs with the Crickets of course not only offers superb value for money for any prospective record buyers, but more importantly for covering a broad range of material. Sure, all of the usual suspects are here such as ‘Peggy Sue’, ‘Raining In My Heart’, ‘Maybe Baby’ and ‘Heartbeat’, but this three CD set is to be highly applauded for not only its inclusion of Buddy Holly’s rockabilly and rockin’ numbers with namely ‘Rock Around With Ollie Vee’, ‘Midnight Shift’, ‘Ting-A-Ling’, ‘Don’t Come Back Knockin’ and a wonderfully raw version of ‘Ready Teddy’, but also less obvious inclusions such as ‘Moondreams’, ‘That Makes It Tough’ and ‘Learning The Game’. If only this artist was still alive and well today, then who knows what genius he would have conjured up next because there is plenty of evidence during this compilation to suggest that Buddy Holly would have continued producing great miracles.

Daylight is just breaking once Ukrainian quartet, KROBAK, get underway with their latest long player ‘Nightbound’. At least that’s the idea given by opening track ‘Stringer Bell’ with its steady progression of shimmering guitars and subtle hints of violins that provides a visual impression of sunlight gradually finding its way through the cracks and crevices of a desolate location somewhere in the wilderness. After such an impressive introduction, the rest of ‘Nightbound’ follows in similar fashion as KROBAK draw on their experience and create a richer post-rock sound than what has gone before, by way of a few new and additional influences such as Swans, King Crimson and The Mars Volta as well as picking up on previous references Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Mono and Yndi Halda. No matter the reference points as KROBAK serve up a truly engaging sonic adventure via a total of four tracks that grow from minimal sounding structures to fully fledged workouts such as ‘No Pressure, Choice Is Yours’ and ‘Marching For The Freedom We Have Lost’. KROBAK’s new offering ‘Nightbound’ is an album that you should get to know on a very intimate level as you will be duly rewarded for your time.

A surprising addition to the Simple Minds catalogue considering their early electronic roots have been making waves during the past few years, but acoustic it is with pared back versions of a number of their hit records as well as a couple of lesser known songs. With lead singer Jim Kerr declaring that “…we wanted to create a Simple Minds party album, not a traditional, introspective acoustic album – more something that people will play during goods times,” such a description rings true when hearing the still uplifting ‘Alive and Kicking’ that retains its sparkle via fresh sounding instrumentation and joint vocals from Sara Brown. With earlier material such as the excellent reworking of ‘The American’ and softer version of ‘Glittering Prize’ really impressing, there are one or two songs that fall short here; most notably ‘Promised You A Miracle’ even with the talented KT Tunstall joining ranks, this particular rendition sounds jumbled in its execution despite its brave attempts to make this version sound like a completely new song. There’s a darker shade to ‘See The Lights’ with Charlie Burchill’s guitar adding subtle touches throughout and really improving on the original. By finishing with a cover of Richard Hawley’s ‘Long Black Train’, Simple Minds continue their recent tradition of adding new touches to other musician’s songs, but also reveal an impeccable taste when it comes to their own record collections. Not to be viewed as a replacement for older versions of their hit songs, ‘Acoustic’ is, for the majority of its contents, a pleasing ride that will appeal to older fans as well as opening the door to new followers.

Transmitting their creative thoughts from the distant heights of Jupiter, the Harvey Steel show continue doing what they do best, and that’s following their own musical journey judging by the contents of latest EP ‘Beefheart High School Dropout’. Long may this continue because the fluidity of the creative processes of the Harvey Steel show continues to weave and work its magic, only this time around the band sound more a resident of planet Earth than the aforementioned distant neighbour. It’s the opening track that gives way to such a feeling with a surprising introduction via an instrumental that sounds as if it’s coming from a lonely bedsit while it works out its destination via Thomas Bergsten’s solitary guitar, and before the rest of the band decide to join in and add their input. Track two, ‘Hunting Shadows’, sees a gradual increase in temperature and sound where guitars, organ, drums and vocals fade in and out as well as crossing paths across a scorched earth, before building to an immense crescendo that is equally The Doors as it is Captain Beefheart. It’s a song that will go down as one of the band’s highlights, not to mention in a live setting, when the history books are written. Ending on another highpoint is ‘Running From The Law’, which is a thing of genuine beauty considering its association with the subject of murder, where instruments sound delicate and fragile and create genuine awe in the manner that Explosions In the Sky has made their own. No guns, No hatred, No war, only love for the Harvey Steel show. RESPECT!