New releases on CD & DVD
The Lemonheads' 'Love Chant' is a fine return to form
Monday, 20 October 2025
The Lemonheads were one of the original punk-pop outfits and have been an on-off going concern for 40 years. However, singer, guitarist, bandleader and loveable slacker, Evan Dando’s well-documented relationship with Class A drugs also made them the kings of underachievement – even if there is plenty of gold to be found among their recordings that did see the light of day.
'Deadbeat': Tame Impala's downbeat rave-inspired latest
Saturday, 18 October 2025
Anxiety and self-doubt have been constant themes for Kevin Parker, the Australian musician who now finds himself among the highest echelons of modern music. With his project Tame Impala, these themes have provided an almost unending source of inspiration, even while musically the project has transitioned from pyschedelic/Indie rock, and into a pop and a dance-oriented sound.
Heartbreak and soaring beauty on Chrissie Hynde...
Friday, 17 October 2025
A key part of Chrissie Hynde’s brilliance and longevity has always been her ability to keep multiple musical personas going at once. She’s the...
The Last Dinner Party's 'From the Pyre...
Thursday, 16 October 2025
Before we get into it, reader, can you accept that The Last Dinner Party are a band born of privilege and high academic study? Of poshness, classical...
Moroccan Gnawa comes to Manhattan with 'Saha...
Wednesday, 15 October 2025
A mix of tradition and Afrofuturism, acoustic and electronic, east and west fumigating in a cauldron of rhythms, chants, solo explorations and full...
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Blu-ray: The Man in the White Suit
Ealing Studios' prescient black comedy, as sharp as ever |
Soulwax’s 'All Systems Are Lying' lays down some tasty yet gritty electro-pop
Belgian dancefloor veterans return to the fray with a dark, pop-orientated sound |
Album: Mobb Deep - Infinite
A solid tribute to a legendary history |
Album: Boz Scaggs - Detour
Smooth and soulful standards from an old pro |
Emily A. Sprague realises a Japanese dream on 'Cloud Time'
A set of live improvisations that drift in and out of real beauty |
Hollie Cook's 'Shy Girl' isn't heavyweight but has a summery reggae lilt
Tropical-tinted downtempo pop that's likeable if uneventful |
Pop Will Eat Itself's 'Delete Everything' is noisy but patchy
Despite unlovely production, the Eighties/Nineties unit retain rowdy ebullience |
Odd times and clunking lines in 'The Life of a Showgirl' for Taylor Swift
A record this weird should be more interesting, surely |
Waylon Jennings' 'Songbird' raises this country great from the grave
The first of a trove of posthumous recordings from the 1970s and early 1980s |
Slovenian avant-folk outfit Širom’s 'In the Wind of Night, Hard-Fallen Incantations Whisper' opens the door to inner space
Unconventional folk-based music which sounds like nothing else |
'The Art of Loving': Olivia Dean's vulnerable and intimate second album
Neo soul Londoner's new release outgrows her debut |
Doja Cat's 'Vie' starts well but soon tails off
While it contains a few goodies, much of the US star's latest album lacks oomph |
Mariah Carey is still 'Here for It All' after an eight-year break
Schmaltz aplenty but also stunning musicianship from the enduring diva |
Album: Solar Eyes - Live Freaky! Die Freaky!
Psychedelic indie dance music with a twinkle in its eye |
Album: Night Tapes - portals//polarities
Estonian-voiced, London-based electro-popsters' debut album marks them as one to watch for |
Album: Mulatu Astatke - Mulatu Plays Mulatu
An album full of life, coinciding with a 'farewell tour' |
Album: Robert Plant - Saving Grace
Mellow delight from former Zep lead |
Album: Biffy Clyro - Futique
Scottish alternative rock trio return with elegant, balanced 10th album |
Album: NewDad - Altar
The hard-gigging trio yearns for old Ireland – and blasts music biz exploitation |
Album: The Divine Comedy - Rainy Sunday Afternoon
Neil Hannon takes stock, and the result will certainly keep his existing crowd happy |
Blu-ray: The Sons of Great Bear
DEFA's first 'Red Western': a revisionist take on colonial expansion |
Album: Twenty One Pilots - Breach
Ohio mainstream superstar duo wrap up their 10 year narrative |
Album: Ed Sheeran - Play
A mound of ear displeasure to add to the global superstar's already gigantic stockpile |
Album: Motion City Soundtrack - The Same Old Wasted Wonderful World
A solid return for the emo veterans |
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