Author Archives: loreleiirvine

Album Review: Jasmine.4.t- You Are The Morning

It’s not even out until January, but I’m calling it already: this thing of beauty will be one of 2025’s finest. Based in Manchester, Jasmine Cruickshank, who writes and records as Jasmine.4.t , makes music that disarms through its intimacy and hopeful, wistful intensity. Produced by Boygenius, it shares sonic DNA with early Perfume Genius,Continue reading “Album Review: Jasmine.4.t- You Are The Morning”

TV Review: Boybands Forever

“Fame, fame, fatal fame”, The Smiths once sang, “It can play hideous tricks on the brain”. They weren’t wrong- fame can indeed be a poisoned chalice. Louis Theroux and Nancy Strang’s excellent three -part documentary series about the boyband phenomenon of the nineties and early noughties explores the highs; lows, scandals, meltdowns and exploitation bubblingContinue reading “TV Review: Boybands Forever”

The Inexorable Rise Of Waitrose Indie

Alternative music with the crusts cut off, Waitrose Indie is really having its moment in 2024. The reasons for this are many and complicated: firstly, the music industry is a tough one to crack, so if you attended a posh school or had musician parents, you already had access to insiders who could provide businessContinue reading “The Inexorable Rise Of Waitrose Indie”

Overlooked Classics: Betty Davis – They Say I’m Different

In her spacesuit collars, hot pants and big boots,prowling around the stage, Betty Davis made Tina Turner look something of a shrinking violet. With her wild, hard -living reputation and unrestrained presence, Davis was allegedly too much for husband Miles, from whom she divorced after just one tempestuous year in 1969. This second studio album,Continue reading “Overlooked Classics: Betty Davis – They Say I’m Different”

Pop Perfection: Miso Extra- Good Kisses

The best pop is always out of leftfield, eccentric and seems to burst out of the speakers. So it’s no surprise that pop maverick Miso Extra has teamed up with the equally glorious Joe Mount of Metronomy, no stranger himself to creating genius indie pop. Of the track, she says it’s all about “this crushinglyContinue reading “Pop Perfection: Miso Extra- Good Kisses”

Album Review: Soap & Skin- TORSO

Anya Plaschg, the Austrian artist who records as Soap & Skin, has been doing her own thing since the mid-noughties, but this new album pays tribute to her diverse influences over the years. There’s a pretty faithful cover of Bowie’s dark, dense ‘Girl Loves Me’, and a sweet cover of Sufjan Steven’ ‘Mystery of Love’,Continue reading “Album Review: Soap & Skin- TORSO”

Album Review: Amyl and the Sniffers: Cartoon Darkness

“I don’t wanna be stuck inside that negatIvity, cunt, you’ll never get with me”, hollers the blushing wallflower Amy Taylor through a wall of noise on ‘Jerkin”. Of course, this is typical of the Melbourne punk scamps, and their irrepressible frontwoman. So too is ‘Tiny Bikini’ and ‘U Should Not Be Doing That’, a flipContinue reading “Album Review: Amyl and the Sniffers: Cartoon Darkness”

Overlooked Classics: The Cure- Disintegration

People often forget this album, and I don’t know why. Possibly it’s the ubiquity of curated playlists, or the attention span of the 21st century- so many people don’t have time to listen to whole albums anymore. It’s a masterpiece, either way. The eighth studio album saw the band losing Lol Tolhurst and Robert SmithContinue reading “Overlooked Classics: The Cure- Disintegration”

“A Teenage Dream’s So Hard To Beat”

I can’t quite wrap my head around the fact that it’s just over twenty years since we lost the great John Peel. For anyone at all interested in music beyond the mainstream- from glam to punk to drum ‘n’ bass, Peel championed all of it. It’s hard to imagine the musical landscape without his legacyContinue reading ““A Teenage Dream’s So Hard To Beat””