New releases on CD & DVD
CD: Catfish and the Bottlemen - The Balance
Friday, 19 April 2019
Indie-rock sure ain't what it used to be. Half the current crop of manufactured rock bands sound about as empty as the recently discovered M87 black hole. And, of all these generic outfits, few seem to have less musical substance than Welsh four-piece Catfish and the Bottlemen.The Balance, the Llandudno bands' third LP, is pure indie-by-numbers. It's full of chugging guitars with angsty vocals sung in a regional accent. Occasionally everything goes quiet before bursting into a massive...
CD: Rodrigo y Gabriela - Mettavolution
Friday, 19 April 2019
There aren’t many musicians to catch the ear of a substantial community of music lovers that includes both metalheads and world music fans, as well as having been invited to play the White House – especially when playing only instrumental tunes on acoustic guitars.
CD: The O'Jays - The Last Word
Thursday, 18 April 2019
How to put a full-stop on an over 50 year recording career? For multiple Music Hall of Fame-rs The O’Jays, the answer includes a party track penned...
CD: Loyle Carner - Not Waving, But Drowning
Wednesday, 17 April 2019
When poetic London MC Loyle Carner first appeared a couple years ago he was hailed for his fresh take on UK hip hop. Compared to the street-centric...
Blu-ray: One, Two, Three
Tuesday, 16 April 2019
Billy Wilder’s co-writing collaboration with IAL Diamond encompassed comedy masterpieces such as Some Like it Hot, The Apartment, Irma La Douce, The...
DVD: Mifune - The Last Samurai
The life and times of the great Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune |
CD: L’Impératrice - Matahari
Crafted Gallic disco-pop debut that emanates sleek summery allure |
CD: Bananarama - In Stereo
The first ladies of UK pop deliver hits and misses in a lively but uneven return |
CD: Fat White Family - Serfs Up!
Psychedelic pranksters fall into boring self-indulgence |
CD: LSD - Labrinth, Sia, Diplo Present...
Team up of megabucks singer-songwriters and producer gels impressively |
CD: The Chemical Brothers - No Geography
Ninth album from 1990s dance music giants is a party monster |
CD: Jessie Buckley - Wild Rose OST
Actor Buckley proves to be a true star in her latest film's soundtrack |
CD: Sun Kil Moon - I Also Want to Die in New Orleans
Further musical and lyrical adventures of an American maverick |
CD: Norah Jones - Begin Again
A rag tag set of recordings only serves to show Jones's musical maturity |
DVD/Blu-ray: The White Reindeer
Ethnographic insight in striking 1953 Finnish horror curio |
CD: Circa Waves - What It's Like Over There
Power pop with a good mix of yin and yang |
CD: Ruby Rushton - Ironside
Crisp, tough, and sometimes devastating jazz from London's young generation |
Blu-ray: Detour
Edgar G Ulmer's film noir road movie is a thing of sordid beauty |
CD: The Drums - Brutalism
Fifth album from US alt-pop act is lyrically strong but musically less so |
CD: Thee Telepaths – The Velvet Night
The psych-rock four piece's debut is a carefully crafted recipe for success |
CD: Billie Eilish - When We All Go To Sleep Where Do We Go?
A young star enters the hallucinatory cabaret tradition |
DVD/Blu-ray: The Wild Pear Tree
Melancholy restraint from Turkish master Nuri Bilge Ceylan resounds |
CD: WH Lung - Incidental Music
Sky-scraping Manchester trio’s debut is a prime candidate for album of the year lists |
CD: UNKLE – The Road: Part II (Lost Highway)
Two thirds through a trip to home, wherever that might be |
CD: Steve Earle & The Dukes - Guy
Troubadour and his band head to Nashville for a tribute to the late Guy Clark |
CD: The Underground Youth – Montage Images of Lust and Fear
Craig Dyer’s Berlin exiles ramp up the gothic blues |
CD: Edwyn Collins - Badbea
The Orange Juice frontman ebulliently and effectively mines the sounds of his past |
DVD/Blu-Ray: La Vérité
Henri-Georges Clouzot's powerful 1960 courtroom drama attacks French bourgeois morality |
CD: Sleeper - The Modern Age
The song remains much the same for the reformed Britpoppers |
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