Heathen Disco Music Reviews #0113 (July 29, 2025)

Keeping it short because I got an ocean to run into for the next week.

Will be checking my mail as soon as I get home next week and hopefully some of your music people sent something. If so, it’ll be covered here in all fairness.

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MICHAEL BEACH Big Black Plume LP (Goner)

“Solo acts tend to use their given names to represent themselves” might be the dumbest thing I’ve ever written for publication, but there’s been this starkness across all of Australamerican singer-songwriter Michael Beach’s previous five albums and handful of EPs, some of which were recorded alone, most with pickup bands in various parts of the world (Melbourne and San Francisco, mostly), where a band name would never do. There lies a distance, an isolation, perhaps a loneliness inherent in all of his records that doesn’t shake easily. With most of these works split about 60/40 between guitar and piano, not so much of a disconnect rises than the unspoken sentiment that he’s going to be alone on this record, no matter who’s playing with him, and when you hear those works you’ll understand; bulldozin’ bluesy riplicks that steal the “raze” from Crazy Horse are seated next to lonesome piano ballads that deliberately shift focus from one style to the next.

This isn’t a bad thing – far from it  – but it creates a fissure from record to record which triumphantly heals up with Big Black Plume. A record that sounds as big as its intentions, he’s brought in more collaborators than ever: a good chunk of Tropical Fuck Storm, who’s had Beach out as an opener on US tours; Mick Turner from the Dirty Three, Mess Esque and so many others; Lloyd Swanton of The Necks; drummer Joe Talia, a frequent collaborator with Eiko Ishibashi, Jim O’Rourke and Oren Ambarchi; and longtime conspirator Utrillo Kushner from Comets on Fire and Colossal Yes. The improvisational bonafides of this crew come together in a way that builds a community around Beach’s talents, where the groundswell of performance informs a greater ambition. He still writes ‘em and plays ‘em as good as always, but the swelling swarms that build up within “The Sea” and “No One Knows Any Better” aren’t the sounds of a guy who sounds like he wants to wall himself off any longer. “I’m Gonna Need Ya,” indeed – his guard is almost fully down, with arrangements that are so much more open and connected. It’s a remarkable feat, showing actual change and growth, artistic ambitions turning a fabled corner.