Rock

Hedvig Mollestad Trio
Bees In The Bonnet
Rune Grammofon CD RCD2237; LP: RLP3237

Guitarist Hedvig Mollestad grew up with jazz, studying at the Norwegian Academy Of Music, but had an epiphany in her early 20s when she first heard Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath – her instrumental trio combine the fluidity and harmonic vocabulary of jazz with the power and visceral excitement of rock. Drummer Ivar Loe Bjørnstad and bassist Ellen Brekken are equally adept at playing with space (‘Lamament’) and brutal heavy riffing (‘See See Bop’), and Mollestad is one of today’s most exciting guitarists. Her solos incorporate a Jimi Hendrix-like love of timbre with ecstatic, repeated single notes and runs of thrilling speed, and the trio create a firestorm on the rollercoaster rhythms of ‘Apocalypse Slow’. MB

Sound Quality: 90%

North Sea Radio Orchestra
Special Powers
Believer’s Roast CD BR38CD; LP: BR38LP

For over 20 years NSRO’s main composer and multi-instrumentalist Craig Fortnam has concocted an original form of music that sounds both ancient and modern. A reference point here is The Penguin Cafe Orchestra’s chamber ensemble approach but NSRO broaden it out stylistically, encompassing stately strings and keyboard arpeggios on ‘Mansions In Eternity’. On ‘Psalteries’ Fortnam and Chantel Pike sing the poetry of WB Yeats in a folk style, but with unorthodox harmonies, and the song rides to its enigmatic conclusion on echoed drum patterns underpinned by ominous drones. ‘Hearty’ even comes close to pop, albeit coloured by bassoon and clarinet. MB

Sound Quality: 85%

Sea Fever
Surface Sound
Cosmic Glue CD CG56CD; LP: CG56LP

The Manchester-based group’s second album is a vivid synthesis of electronic pop and rock. It begins with the single ‘Breaking Out’, an irresistible floor filler with sleek, shiny keyboard lines, and a soaring melody and harmony vocals from guitarist Iwan Gronow and Beth Cassidy. Gronow has played bass with Johnny Marr and if Sea Fever’s mixture of big tunes and grooves reminds of New Order, multi-instrumentalist and programmer Tom Chapman has played with them, and guitarist Phil Cunningham is still a member. It’s an immediate, action packed sound, although when they strip it down on ‘Thrills Kicks And Lies’, Cassidy’s voice thrives in the space. MB

Sound Quality: 85%

Floral Image
Gone Down Meadowland
Fuzz Club FC262CD; LP: FC262V12 (green vinyl)

On their debut, Floral Image strive to make a kind of ‘East Coast psychedelia’, inspired by the expansive landscapes of their home county, Norfolk. They nod back to the ’60s on ‘Meadowland’ with baroque keyboards contributing to a dreamy sense of otherness and on ‘Boogietown’ the rhythms are light and jazzy. There are echoes of ’90s shoegazers, Chapterhouse, in their hazy sonics, and of ’80s neo-psychedelic band Rain Parade in the ‘Eastern’ guitars of ‘The Score’. And it’s not all pastoralia. On ‘Howling Dog Song’ it feels like the punchy drumming, choppy guitars and whooshing synths are propelling the group across the flatlands towards Swinging Norwich. MB

Sound Quality: 80%