Music Reissues Weekly: In the Light of Time - UK Post-Rock and Leftfield Pop 1992-1998

Important collection documenting an innovative groundswell which still resonates

“In the Light of Time” was the second track on Side One of April 1995’s Further, the third album by Bristol’s Flying Saucer Attack. At the time, Further felt like a hyper-vaporous take on shoegazing infused with touches of British folk. Attitudinally and temporally, Slowdive’s February 1995 third album Pygmalion wasn’t too far.

Album: Ash - Race the Night

Northern Irish power pop perennials dig down into the heavy rock side

Northern Irish rockers Ash appeared in the mid-Nineties, channelling The Ramones when the UK was in thrall to either bangin’ club music or Britpop. They had a good commercial run, longer than almost all their contemporaries, mustering 18 Top 40 UK hits, their last in 2007 (although their albums still usually make the grade).

A Life on the Farm review - a fabulous eccentric gets neatly packaged

★★★★ A LIFE ON THE FARM A fabulous eccentric gets neatly packaged

Put in context, the Spike Milligan of farming footage

“There’s nowt so queer as folk”, they say, and Life on the Farm amply proves the point. A cassette slides into the slot; “play” is pressed and a middle-aged man appears on screen at the gate of Combe End Farm. “Follow me down”, he says to camera,”I’ve got something to show you.”

Album: The Chemical Brothers - For That Beautiful Feeling

★★★★★ THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS - FOR THAT BEAUTIFUL FEELING Longstanding dance duo maintain juggernaut status on mighty tenth

Longstanding dance duo maintain juggernaut status on mighty tenth

The Chemical Brothers are unstoppable. Their live shows are a guaranteed monster good time, redolent of proper old-school rave-ups, but with visual tech from some freaky eye-boggling future. Their last album, 2019’s No Geography, was a total belter. Their latest, their tenth, is also a total belter. They do what they do. But they do it so bloody well.

Music Reissues Weekly: The Boo Radleys - Giant Steps

THE BOO RADLEYS - GIANT STEPS The landmark Creation Records double album reissued

Thirtieth-anniversary reappearance of the landmark Creation Records double album

The final track of Giant Steps is titled “The White Noise Revisited.” Its lyrics recount the crushing impact of a job where you “kill yourself at work for what seems nothing at all.” After coming home, “you listen to the Beatles and relax and close your eyes.”

The Beanie Bubble review - an under-stuffed, misshapen product saga

This toy story's script is a waste of a good cast

Another week, another toy story, in the wake of Barbie. And another origin-of-hit-product story, too, after Air. The Beanie Bubble, though, has none of the surprisingly gripping appeal of Nike’s rise and rise via a single trainer design, nor the (sporadic) wit and bounce of Greta Gerwig’s mega-hit. It’s all corporate idiocy, shabby dealings, and misogyny. And failure is nowhere near as fascinating as success.

Album: Georgia - Euphoric

Mononymous producer remains at the beating heart of the dancefloor

For someone predominantly poised at her kit, the mononymous music producer’s return is surprisingly devoid of live drums. Daughter of Leftfield cofounder Neil Barnes, Georgia has made a name for herself as the drummer for artists such as Kwes and Kae Tempest. Her 2019 release Seeking Thrills was “a hymn to British hedonism” with a hefty slice of Robyn-esque pop panache. Last year saw Georgia embrace these stadium-sized singalongs as tour support for LA sister trio Haim.

Album: Blur - The Ballad of Darren

Ninth album from British guitar pop institution revels in thoughtful melancholy

Full disclosure. I actively dislike Blur and always have. Don’t get me started on why. That would last seven times as long as this review.

Album: Mahalia - IRL

★★★★ MAHALIA - IRL Decades of R&B folded into Midlands singer's most confident record yet

Decades of R&B folded into the Midlands singer's most confident record yet

Ever since she broke through in her teens, Leicestershire singer Mahalia Burkmar’s music has often been referred to as retro or revivalist R&B. But that framing is a fundamental misunderstanding of the way the genre operates for young 21st century music lovers. For fans and artists of Mahalia’s generation – she’s 25 – the Nineties and early Noughties classics of Mariah, TLC, Destinys Child and co aren’t really retro in the way that Seventies and Eighties music were back then.

Pete Fij / Terry Bickers, Worthing Festival 2023 review - lyricism, amusing anecdotes and gorgeous guitar playing

Indie duo make heartbreak entertaining on a warm summer evening

Pete Fij and Terry Bickers are bathed in muted red light. They are sat side-by-side, Fij with an acoustic guitar, Bickers with a vintage 1970s CMI hollow-bodied electric. Behind them, oil wheel lighting gloops and bubbles gently, bespattered with glowing green circles cast by the stationary disco ball hanging high above them. “It’s surprising to see how much life you can fit into the back of a van,” sings Fij, dolefully, then adds, “It only took two trips.”