New releases on CD & DVD
Album: Shania Twain - Queen of Me
Saturday, 04 February 2023
Shania Twain describes her sixth studio album as “a song of gratitude and appreciation. I was inspired that I still had air in my lungs” – and it certainly is a hi-energy affair, a long way from The Woman in Me, the sophomore outing that established her as “the queen of country-pop”. Twain’s come a long way from the mining and lumbering towns of her Ontario childhood – literally and metaphorically, for home is now on Lake Geneva.
Album: The Waeve - The Waeve
Thursday, 02 February 2023
The Waeve is the debut album from life partners Rose Elinor Dougall (long ago in The Pipettes) and Graham Coxon (of Blur), working with James Ford (of Simian Mobile Disco), who co-produces and provides occasional bits of instrumentation. Their album is a woozy thing, underpinned with analogue synths and elegant Krautrockin’ rhythms, emanating a mystic melancholia.
Album: Lisa O'Neill - All of This Is Chance
Wednesday, 01 February 2023
Lisa O’Neill is a part of the new wave of Irish contemporary folk artists, one that encompasses the likes of Lankum, Ye Vagabonds and John Francis...
Blu-ray: The War Trilogy - Three Films by Andrzej...
Tuesday, 31 January 2023
Watching these harrowing films in rapid succession allows us to watch a great director’s confidence develop at close hand; though 1955’s A Generation...
Album: Robert Forster - The Candle and the Flame
Monday, 30 January 2023
Reflections on how the past relates to now suffuse The Candle and the Flame. The album’s closing track is “When I Was a Young Man.” When he was 21,...
DVD: Babylon Berlin, Season Four
Golden threads through a labyrinth of Weimar Republic corruption |
Album: Sebastian Rochford, Kit Downes - A Short Diary
An album of grieving. And solace. And real class |
Album: Deathprod - Compositions
Norwegian ambient abstraction just keeps on keeping on |
Album: Låpsley - Cautionary Tales of Youth
Alt-easy listening electronic not-pop themed around heartbreak but lacking songs |
DVD: Oscar Peterson - Black + White
Barry Avrich’s documentary celebrates the music and career of the great jazz pianist |
Blu-ray: The Velvet Underground
Todd Haynes' doc embodies the time-bending cultural ferment which fused the VU |
Album: Silverlake - Jim Rockford’s Smile
Psychedelic soul and sultry disco to keep hips moving |
Album: Måneskin - Rush!
Raucous, gritty Roman rockers release their third album |
Album: Biig Piig - Bubblegum
Punchy statement of intent for the Irish pop self-starter |
Album: John Cale - Mercy
Welsh octogenerian's avant-garde adventures |
Blu-ray: Reservoir Dogs
Tarantino's debut's sly technique and visceral violence still grip in 4K |
Album: Ghost Woman - Anne, If
Musically literate Canadian’s second album evokes unintended parallels |
Album: Billy Nomates - Cacti
The Bristol songwriter’s sophomore album is a survival story, reviving us for what lies ahead |
Album: The Subways - Uncertain Joys
A changed three-piece return from their eight-year hiatus |
Album: Ladytron - Time's Arrow
Electro goths provide a dense cinematic soundtrack to these dystopian times |
Album: Iggy Pop - Every Loser
The Ig returns with a short, catchy album of California-touched, punk-tinted rock |
Blu-ray: Croupier
A masterpiece from the late Mike Hodges, giant of British cinema |
Album: Lucas Santtana - O Paraiso
A timely hymn to nature from Brazil |
Album: Juni Habel - Carvings
Norwegian singer-songwriter’s second album stays firmly in the twilight |
Album: CVC - Get Real
Rising Welsh live phenomenon are catchy but cutesy on record |
Albums of the Year 2022: caroline - caroline
caroline's Rough Trade debut arrived fully formed |
Blu-ray: Nil by Mouth
Gary Oldman's sole film as a director casts a cool eye on the London of his youth |
Albums of the Year 2022: Beyoncé - Renaissance
Queen Bey keeps the dream alive for women everywhere |
Albums of the Year 2022: Maggie Rogers - Surrender
Rogers broke through a sea of rock and metal with her intimate, personal second album |
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