January Blues, Rock and Indie

Dry January? New Musical Releases & Discoveries

It is a tricky time of year. All that cosy time with close family, all the expense, all the food. Did you eat it all? Is it humanely possible to eat it all? The record store sale discounting music that some would have paid a higher price for just a few hours earlier. Well, at least daylight in the Northern Hemisphere is with us for a little longer, every minute counts.  As snow drops shimmer in the breeze and daffodil shoots appear, The Biz launches itself into the new year's calendar with a broad range of releases and tour announcements.

I started the musical year by buying a fresh re-release from HMV of Nico's second album, which was produced in collaboration with John Cale, still-living Welsh legend, once of The Velvet Underground.  The Nico album is without doubt, worth hearing.  Cale's musical education in Classical music is brought to bear on this collection of haunting songs, which has Nico's folksy, whimsical harmonium playing. It is an intriguing combination of strings and background drone that accompanies Nico's unmistakable fluting voice. 

There is nothing of the rocking sounds linking the album to Nico's appearance with the VU on 'Loaded'. The sounds are reminiscent of the initial VU album, stamped with Cale's sonically distorting ideas of song. Nico's 'the marble index' album is a complete piece, not to be listened to track by  track.  This CD release on Domino Records contains two bonus tracks, which give access to previously unknown songs, which are very much in tune with the tenor of the album as a whole, but I always lean away from such fattening out of product.  What is the need to bulk up what was a beautifully manicured album, that was put out originally under the pressure of the limited space available on a vinyl disc?

Domino Records have been spot-lighting John Cale's solo work of late.  The remarkable album 'Paris 1919' was re-issued on vinyl in 2024, precursor to the vibrant, fresh, entertaining 'POPtical Illusion'. Cale's current burst of creativity is like a solar flare, out of the ordinary.  Age has not curbed his artistic powers.  My favourite album of his current phase is 'Mercy' now available on vinyl and CD from Domino Records. There is also an album of tracks taken from the recording sessions for Mercy and POPitcal Illusion, called Mixology Vol 1. I quite fancy a bit of that too.

Cale at the time I am writing is 83 years old and he is still turning out music as captivating as when he first appeared in the mid-1960s with Lou Reed and company. I have included a link to his video for 'Shark Shark', the single release from POPtical Illusion which shows, by way of comparison, what can be done within the bounds of a contemporary music video. 

Elsewhere, another veteran determined to plough their own rock furrow is the man behind, or in fact totally to the fore of Gogol Bordello.  Eugene Hütz has dragged his merry band of Lower East Side Manhattan caballeros out of the shadows once again to celebrate, globe-spanning and genre-crossing life-long friendships.  The video features film director Liev Schreiber, who has previously stated that Hütz is his "brother from a different mother." The song Ignition, released on 13th January is taken from a new Gogol Bordello album, We Mean it, Man!  And there are some USA shows soon and European festival dates to enjoy come July 2026.  The Ukrainian roots of Mr. Hütz mean that he does not swerve the injustices of the current Russian war on his homeland. He and the band urge everyone to help Ukraine in anyway possible. Musically, the latest sounds from Gogol Bordello are a little bit Europop for my taste, but there is no denying the energy and the sincerity of this entertaining band.  Definitely a band to see live if you ever get the chance, but sat at home with your headphones on is a fair compromise. 

I have had a look and listen to another band with a more tenuous connection to New York City, in the first weeks of this year. This indie band take their name, Fast Money Music, from a track by Alan Vega and Martin Rev's experimental and controversial keyboard duo, Suicide.  From the look and feel of the new  band's latest single video release, the idea for the name is all that they have taken from the inspirational innovators from the Big Apple. The new FMM single is a low-key, guitar-based effort, which takes no obvious new ground, but is all that one would expect from a sharp new indie band.  Fast Money Music are gaining some traction and the band will be making an exciting appearance supporting Bass Drum of Death at a London show in Hackney on 13th February, 2026. Tickets are here.  The title of the new Fast Money Music single is 'Unfortunately' and it is taken from their debut album, 'Fast Money Music', which is due in the spring.  Check the single out on any music streaming format from Friday, 16th January 2026.

Spencer Ide

14th January, 2026