new releases on cd & dvd
graham.rickson |

Family crises and relationship breakdowns are familiar subjects for films to tackle. Both are central to Aribam Syam Sharma’s 1990 feature Ishanou (The Chosen One), where divine intervention wreaks havoc on a middle-class family living in India’s remote north-eastern Manipur province.

joe.muggs |

One of this year’s best music books, Songs in the Key of MP3 by Liam Inscoe-Jones, paints a picture of musicians of the “streaming era” having a different relationship to the past, compared to those of… well, the past.

Guy Oddy
In all honestly, 2025 has not been a vintage year for new recorded music and there certainly seems to have been a significant paucity of high-profile…
Guy Oddy
Among millennials, Taylor Momsen is likely to be primarily remembered as an actor of things relatively sweet and family friendly. She appeared in Spy…
Thomas H. Green
According to the fifth song on their first Christmas album, seasonal shenanigans in Old Crow Medicine Show’s family are boozy and raucous. Step aside…

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joe.muggs
Strange for something so individual to sound so familiar - but they've done it
Tim Cumming
Seasonal classics and a handful of self-penned songs light up this quietly sophisticated set
Ibi Keita
A perfect selection for sound system veterans, and newcomers too
Guy Oddy
Gallic psychedelic pop that struggles to change gears
Kieron Tyler
The Icelandic singer-songwriter acknowledges that one’s own traditions can be enough
peter.quinn
Textural variety and sonic clarity captivate from first note
Tim Cumming
McMurray is joined by Don Was and R&B singer Kem
Tim Cumming
The north African griot and her band release long awaited third album
Guy Oddy
Michael League’s jazzers reconnect with old friends
mark.kidel
A master-class in male vulnerability
Kieron Tyler
Dreaminess and frostiness from the Gallic singer-songwriter
graham.rickson
Thoughtful micro-budget British sci-fi, deservedly revived
Sebastian Scotney
Barbra Streisand's son as singer and songwriter
Guy Oddy
Dystopian uneasy listening that is far from the mainstream
joe.muggs
A particularly British torch song tradition hits some grandiose highs
Liz Thomson
Soul sister sings on
joe.muggs
Young composer and esoteric veteran achieve alchemical reaction in endless reverberations
Kieron Tyler
The Denton, Texas sextet fashions a career milestone
Thomas H. Green
Contagious yarns of lust and nightlife adventure from new pop minx
Tom Carr
Hauntingly beautiful, this is a sombre slow burn, shifting steadily through gradients
joe.muggs
A charming and distinctive voice stifled by generic production
Tim Cumming
Eight CDs encompass Dylan’s earliest recordings up to his first major-league concert
Kieron Tyler
The former bassist of the grunge-leaning trio JJ72 embraces the spectral

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