This one divided critics and audiences alike. The fourth album from Goldfrapp is a perfect spring album, all twittering birds, green fields and sunlit idyll. It’s a deliberate left turn from their previous foray into the sexually-charged glam of Black Cherry and Supernature. The folktronica direction evokes Nick Drake playing guitar under an oak tree,Continue reading “Overlooked Classics: Goldfrapp – Seventh Tree”
Tag Archives: Album review
Album Review: Nadine Shah- Filthy Underneath
I wouldn’t mess with Nadine Shah. There’s a toughness to the Geordie singer songwriter, and a raw honesty in everything she does. She’s am outspoken advocate for feminism, fiercely anti-racist, and has spoken out for mental health awareness and artists receiving fair pay. So it’s hardly surprising that this, her fifth studio album, is anContinue reading “Album Review: Nadine Shah- Filthy Underneath”
Overlooked Classics: Sparks-Propaganda
Dismissed by American rock critic Robert Christgau as being made by “twerps’ (his slagging off is usually a good sign- just ask Iggy Pop) the fourth studio album saw Sparks expanding upon their trademark baroque pop sound, forever torn between arch and urbane (Something For The Girl With Everything) and sincere (the beautiful Never TurnContinue reading “Overlooked Classics: Sparks-Propaganda”
Album Review: Beans- Boots ‘N’ Cats
Formed in Melbourne by brilliant percussionist Matt Blach, the quintet Beans are fast becoming one of Australia’s best loved neo-psychedelic bands. This, their third album, takes its name from beatboxing, but that’s as modern a reference as you will find here. It’s retro all the way. Blach has said that themes of introspection are importantContinue reading “Album Review: Beans- Boots ‘N’ Cats”
Album Review: Bo Ningen- The Holy Mountain
Who better than the London based Japanese psych/noise band Bo Ningen to provide a new soundtrack for Alejandro Jodorowsky”s cult 1973 film The Holy Mountain? They’ve always been sonic explorers, pushing layers of intensity in their sound and open to experimentation. This new album, a reimagining of the soundtrack, epitomises this, from the layered, hypnotic TheContinue reading “Album Review: Bo Ningen- The Holy Mountain”
Album Review: The Smile-Wall Of Eyes
Leave it to Radiohead members Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood to have a side project that’s also as extraordinary as the other. Along with legendary jazz drummer Tom Skinner, the trio’s second album proves they can still weave magic on their own terms. The reason Wall Of Eyes so beguiles is the capricious nature of theContinue reading “Album Review: The Smile-Wall Of Eyes”
Album Review: The Pheromoans-Wyrd Psearch
Indie in 2024 is best when it’s DIY, raw and sung from the heart. Leave it to the peerless Upset The Rhythm, then, to bring more of the kind of gritty indie music that I like, the raw, unvarnished and honest stuff. It’s not made to fit curated playlists or banal daytime local radio, it’sContinue reading “Album Review: The Pheromoans-Wyrd Psearch”
Album Review: Small Pond- Emerging Vol 3
The small but mighty indie label Small Pond, based in Brighton, shows that alternative !music is very much thriving. This new compilation has a wide diversity of genres. There’s bright, anthemic indie pop from MaxwellTheBand with piledriving opener, ‘Bic Lighter’, Currls provide soulful /emo inspired indie with ‘April Fool’. Peach Season are another musical uContinue reading “Album Review: Small Pond- Emerging Vol 3”
Album Review: The Kills- God Games
This is enough to make a porn star blush. This album is pure filth. The Kills have always made music that seems coated in sticky booze, cigarette ash and bodily fluids, but this, their sixth, could be the sexiest since ‘No Wow’. Alison Moorhart’s voice is still raspy and soulful, and Jamie Hince’s guitar playingContinue reading “Album Review: The Kills- God Games”
Album Review: Problem Patterns- Blouse Club
It’s nice that there are young bands who still have a lot to say. Feminist punk band Problem Patterns release their debut album Blouse Club today, and it’s politically engaged without ever losing its sense of humour or effervescent fizz. ‘Advertising Services’ takes on the ubiquity and inescapable nature of advertising and corporate sponsorship… Where’sContinue reading “Album Review: Problem Patterns- Blouse Club”
Hit The North 