CDs/DVDs
CD: Orbital - Monsters ExistFriday, 07 September 2018
When he was asked about the first Orbital album since 2012’s Wonky, Paul Hartnoll said that he was torn between writing a really aggressive, Crass-type album and going back to the rave sensibilities of the early 1990s. Monsters Exist may well have... Read more... |
CD: Paul McCartney - Egypt StationWednesday, 05 September 2018
Ambient sounds from an imaginary rail concourse fade to a full choir in the 42 seconds of “Opening Station”, the sonic scene-setting for Macca’s new hour-long set, his first album of new songs since 2013’s New. From here, Egypt Station properly... Read more... |
CD: Kandace Springs - IndigoWednesday, 05 September 2018
Back in 2014, Kandace Springs was the upcoming star of modern soul, mentored by Prince: she closed his 30th anniversary Purple Rain concert. Then, with her first album Soul Eyes, she was heralded as an important jazz vocalist. The release talks of... Read more... |
DVD: Mary ShelleyTuesday, 04 September 2018
This should have been the perfect match. Saudi-born director Haifaa al-Mansour earned real acclaim for her 2012 debut film Wadjda, whose 12-year-old central character had to break the conventions of a restrictive society to realise her dream –... Read more... |
CD: Waxahatchee - Great Thunder EPMonday, 03 September 2018
Hot on the heels of her celebrated 2017 album Out in the Storm, Katie Crutchfield shares an EP of a very different nature. The Waxahatchee sound is stripped down to its most bare and essential; much of Great Thunder is simply Crutchfield sat at a... Read more... |
CD: Teksti-TV 666 - Aidattu TulevaisuusSunday, 02 September 2018
Finland’s Teksti-TV 666 set their musical stall with 2016’s 1,2,3 album, which collected the tracks from their three EPs to date. Now, with their first album proper Aidattu Tulevaisuus, the nature of what they are comes into even sharper focus. In... Read more... |
CD: Spiritualized - And Nothing HurtSaturday, 01 September 2018
And Nothing Hurt is Spiritualized’s first album since 2012’s Sweet Heart Sweet Light and it’s fair to say that it’s been well worth the wait from a man who has had even more precarious health issues than Depeche Mode’s Dave Gahan over the years.... Read more... |
CD: Many Angled Ones - Suicide: Songs of Alan Vega and Martin RevFriday, 31 August 2018
The long career of New York electronic duo Suicide finally came to an end upon the death of their vocalist Alan Vega in 2016. They had not, however - and to say the least – been very prolific in decades. Their reputation rests almost entirely on... Read more... |
CD: IDLES - Joy as an Act of ResistanceWednesday, 29 August 2018
IDLES' debut album, Brutalism, exploded onto the UK post-punk scene last year, lauded by the music press (myself included) for its lyrical blend of charm, fury, and politics, and musically, for just being a refreshingly original and catchy punk... Read more... |
CD: Paul Simon - In The Blue LightWednesday, 29 August 2018
Paul Simon is currently traversing the globe on his Farewell Tour. His new album clearly accompanies that. It’s a thoughtful look backwards wherein Simon has plucked numbers from his catalogue he feels deserve another go-round, recording them with... Read more... |
Blu-ray: A Gentle CreatureTuesday, 28 August 2018
“To our enormous suffering!” There are many macabre vodka toasts, accompanied by some appropriately gruelling visuals, in A Gentle Creature, but that one surely best captures the beyond-nihilist mood of Sergei Loznitsa’s 2017 Cannes competition... Read more... |
CD: Madeleine Peyroux - AnthemMonday, 27 August 2018
Peyroux made her name by channelling the sultry sensuality and soul of Billie Holiday and breathing new life into well-known songs written by others - notably Elliott Smith and Leonard Cohen.She still brings enchantment to covers, but has... Read more... |
