New releases on CD & DVD
Album: Juniore - Trois, Deux, Un
Monday, 09 September 2024
Although it takes seconds to discern that Juniore are French, a core inspiration appears to be the echoing surf-pop instrumentals of Californian studio band The Marketts, whose 1963 single "Out of Limits" became their most well-known track. Add in – exemplified by Trois, Deux, Un’s fifth and sixth tracks “Amour fou” and “Grand voyageur” – the languid atmosphere of the early Françoise Hardy and the result is a form of Gallic retro-futurist garage-pop.
Album: LL COOL J - THE FORCE
Saturday, 07 September 2024
This album only has one serious flaw: LL COOL J didn’t open it with “OK you can call it a comeback”. Sorry, cheap joke (if you didn’t know, his classic hit “Mama Said Knock You Out” starts with the lyric “Don’t call it a comeback!” and this, his 14th album, is his first in 11 years).
Album: Fat Dog - WOOF
Friday, 06 September 2024
As a live sensation, Fat Dog have been the talk of the year. The London five-piece offer a dementedly energized night out. Performative concerts,...
Album: Boston Manor - Sundiver
Wednesday, 04 September 2024
Sundiver is the daylight chapter that follows Boston Manor’s 2022 introspective concept album Datura. The second half of the story continues with the...
Blu-ray: Laurel and Hardy - The Silent Years
Tuesday, 03 September 2024
Though among the most successful film comedians of the early sound era, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy’s cinematic partnership had actually started in...
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Album: Laurie Anderson - Amelia
Intimate story of an adventurous woman |
Album: Lee Scratch Perry & Youth - Spaceship to Mars
Lee Scratch Perry reaches back from the next dimension with mixed results |
Album: Mercury Rev - Born Horses
The venerable US psychedelic voyagers take a trip into inner space |
Album: Galliano - Halfway Somewhere
A joyous return for the consummate London beatniks |
Album: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Wild God
Nick lightens up a shade or two - but he could ditch the choirs |
Album: Miguel Zenón - Golden City
A timely exploration of San Francisco's heritage |
Album: Fontaines DC - Romance
Experimenting their boots off, the Irish combo unleash an emotional tour de force |
Album: Jon Hopkins - Ritual
Journey to inner peace |
Album: Cassyette - This World Fucking Sucks
Debut from rising metal-punk-pop singer is craftedly noisy and occasionally catchy |
Album: Susanna - Meditations on Love
Norwegian alt-chanteuse determined to dance into the darkness |
Album: Illuminati Hotties - Power
Pop-grunge that reaches back to the early 90s |
Album: Gillian Welch & David Rawlings - Woodland
Welch & Rawlings: the past is close behind |
Album: Rosie Lowe - Lover, Other
A milestone for a unique singer-songwriter-producer and for a very British sound |
Album: Osees - Sorcs 80
Prolific Los Angeles outfit don't slow down on their electronically amped latest |
Album: Pom Poko - Champion
Norwegian art-poppers sparkle like a Roman candle |
Blu-ray: The Music Lovers
Audacious, OTT Tchaikovsky biopic from music-loving director Ken Russell |
Album: Hi Fi Sean & David McAlmont - Daylight
Guitar pop veterans lay down some fine dance pop grooves |
Album: Beabadoobee - This is How Tomorrow Moves
Maturation, Californian sunshine and 1970s classicism from the indie-pop superstar |
Album: SJS - A Sequence of Mistakes
Stuart Stawman's Anglo-Australian neo-prog combo delivers a majestic third album |
Album: Ryuichi Sakamoto - Opus
The film composer’s final performance |
Album: Mari Kvien Brunvoll & Stein Urheim with Moskus - Barefoot in Bryophyte
Jazz-based Norwegian experimentalists unexpectedly formulate a version of shoegazing |
Album: Esperanza Spalding - Milton + esperanza
An albu... but also an uncomfortable close-up of ageing and frailty |
Album: WHY? - The Well I Fell Into
Big songs drawn from a deep introspective well |
Album: X - Smoke & Fiction
Final album from Los Angeles punks offers ebullient reflections on a career to be proud of |
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