Alison Goldfrapp as disco diva? The new Kylie, maybe? She’s always had that side to her, the head-rush of the dancefloor, glitter ball, spike heels and the 5 am walk of shame. But on her first solo studio album without Goldfrapp bandmate Will Gregory, she fully indulges her inner Donna Summer. Co- created with RichardContinue reading “Album Review: Alison Goldfrapp- The Love Invention”
Category Archives: Album
‘Modern Life Is Rubbish ‘ is 30!
“We’ve done it”, proclaimed Damon Albarn on one of his many Select magazine covers in 1991. “We’ve killed baggy!” He’d always been a little too drunk on his own chutzpah, that lad. Still, he had a point. While jeans just got bigger and flappier, and a nation of saucer -eyed kids were getting “mad ferContinue reading “‘Modern Life Is Rubbish ‘ is 30!”
Overlooked Classics: Ezra Furman- Day Of The Dog (2013)
What a doozie. Ezra Furman ‘s second studio album after her work with The Harpoons is absolutely sublime. Inspired as much by punk rock as gospel, doo-wop and rock ‘n’ roll, the song writing was kicked up several notches into something really special. Fusing her spiritual side with And Maybe God Is A Train, withContinue reading “Overlooked Classics: Ezra Furman- Day Of The Dog (2013)”
Album Review: Squrl- Silver Haze
There is mood music, then there’s mood music. Squrl, who are comprised of legendary film director and musician Jim Jarmusch and mega film producer and musician Carter Logan, plus some special guest collaborators, have made an exquisite, shimmering noise here in their first full-length studio album. It’s full of their trademark churning, psychedelic rock swirls,Continue reading “Album Review: Squrl- Silver Haze”
Shonen Knife are 40!
Once described by uber-fan Kurt Cobain as “pop, pop, pop music” , the legendary Osaka trio Shonen Knife are celebrating forty years in the business. Naoko Yamano, sister Atsuko Yamano and Risa Kawano are the current line-up, with the most recent album Our Best Place garnering huge acclaim. Often described as “the Osaka Ramones”, theContinue reading “Shonen Knife are 40!”
Why ‘Surfer Rosa’ is still the tits!
Never mind Nevermind: for me, the albums that signified that the 90s were going to be musically exciting were by Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine and Pixies…amongst others. Everyone raves about Doolittle and it’s perfectly fine, but for me, Surfer Rosa is still perfection. Originally, it was to be titled Gigantic after the glorious songContinue reading “Why ‘Surfer Rosa’ is still the tits!”
Album Review: Katie Gately- Fawn/Brute
The third album from American experimental artist Katie Gately has an illustration of two characters on the cover reminiscent of a Harlequinade. This seems apposite for a record that’s full of strange characterisation. Each title is one adjective only. Again, fair enough, as there are whispers, whoops and dark, nefarious threats lurking in corners. ForContinue reading “Album Review: Katie Gately- Fawn/Brute”
Aladdin Sane at 50
If Ziggy was Cary Grant, Aladdin Sane was Peter Fonda. Recorded between December 1972 and January 1973, this iconic album, Bowie’s sixth, still feels like a deconstruction of fame and the American Dream from an outsider’s perspective. It’s experimental, as exemplified by Mike Garson’s wayward jazz piano on the wild title track. He goes maniacallyContinue reading “Aladdin Sane at 50”
Album Review: Mandy, Indiana – I’ve Seen A Way
The quartet from Manchester, founded by Valentine Caulfield and Scott Fair, now joined by Simon Catling and Alex MacDougall, have a hell of a blistering debut here. It’s experimental music which feels like being driven blindfolded to unknown territory. ‘ Pinking Shears’ is brittle and fuzzy, and there’s minimalist industrial shades to ‘Injury Detail’. ThisContinue reading “Album Review: Mandy, Indiana – I’ve Seen A Way”
Overlooked Classics: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds- Your Funeral, My Trial
The fourth album from Nick and the dapper chaps, released in 1986, remains a little bit sidelined, as far as I’m concerned. It’s Cave ‘s Grand Guignol, one of his most macabre and sexually charged… And that’s going some for someone who is often criticised for the violence of his lyrics. ‘The Carny’ is aContinue reading “Overlooked Classics: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds- Your Funeral, My Trial”
Hit The North 