new music reviews, news & interviews
Kieron Tyler |

For Richard Hawley, a “little banger” is a top-notch single, one condensing everything about the performance and performer into what can he held on one side of a seven-incher. A flab-free, power-packed record. And it’s a mark of his discrimination that anything fitting the bill is a grade-A killer.

Sebastian Scotney |

Edward Simon shows again on this new album of re-imagined songs from Venezuela what a very fine pianist he is. His touch and inventiveness, his command of counterpoint and voice-leading are never short of jaw-dropping, and what he does remarkably well here is to create a succession of specific, authentic moods from songs that have a personal resonance.

Thomas H. Green
Mandy, Indiana are a Mancunian four-piece with a French singer who's based in Berlin. They make a lot of noise. Their second album is a take-no-…
Joe Muggs
Another interesting thing about the endless flux of the streaming era is that, for all that it’s supposed to homogenise and flatten things out,…
Kieron Tyler
Nothing about this album suggests that it’s a debut. Shaking Hand’s eponymous introductory shot is so assured it sounds as if an awful lot of…

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Tim Cumming
Powerful debut set of Anglo-Irish tunes and songs
Kieron Tyler
Double-CD set tracing the thread linking pub rock and punk rock
Thomas H. Green
10 tracks of offbeat sounds that bubble with percussive heft
Joe Muggs
A sprawling epic of Arabic gothic ambition
Guy Oddy
French electro-hipster lays down pop hooks, woozy head-spins and mellow folktronica
Ellie Roberts
A slightly clunky but impressive effort
Kieron Tyler
Thrilling auteur-driven album celebrates its 15th anniversary
Thomas H. Green
Deep-dipped in 1970s riffery but very much its own thing
Joe Muggs
The One Directioner's fourth album risks drowning out personal charm with 'woah woah's
Liz Thomson
Blue-collar righteousness from the Texas troubadour
Jonathan Geddes
The former Grant Lee Buffalo singer was on relaxed form on his solo tour.
Ibi Keita
Fun, gritty and… jazzy?
Kieron Tyler
Spellbinding Ethiopian jazz-inflected soul
Sebastian Scotney
A magnificent listening ethos and flow
Thomas H. Green
More melodic than of old, but Eighties Essen metallers still hammer hard
Thomas H. Green
London band offer offer pithy wordage and light musical skronk
Kieron Tyler
When less craft would add impact
Guy Oddy
East Midlands’ punk-funkers have plenty to say as the house burns down
Kieron Tyler
The 1982 debut album from South London musical free spirits Clive and Mark Ives
Tim Cumming
Ambient Sufi songs for inner space
Graham Fuller
The Isle of Wight's finest flex their musical muscles
Ellie Roberts
All-consuming pop perfection
Kieron Tyler
Unaffected Doors homage from the most unlikely band
Ibi Keita
Never enough hype, never enough volume, never enough Turnstile

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