new music reviews, news & interviews
Joe Muggs |
Jorja Smith’s performance at the recent Radio 1 Big Weekend shebang is really worth tracking down if you want a lesson in high functioning nonchalance. Dressed down in denim, performing with only a DJ as backing, she gave very little in the way of gesture or pizazz, ran through mostly short snippets of her songs – and yet held the essentially pop crowd of thousands in the palm of her hand.
Thomas H. Green |
Almost 20 years ago, Late Of The Pier were an exciting post-nu-rave band who injected synthesizer sparkiness into indie. They even had a Top 30 album. They were a breath of fresh air. One of their members, Sam Eastgate, went on to produce solo material as LA Priest.
Kieron Tyler
“My Lost One”, Materia’s second track, is remarkable. Exemplifying the Julia Holter ethos to the max, it begins wispily with interweaving rippling…
Peter Culshaw
The latest in Peter Culshaw’s occasional radio shows with a global music bent is a post-WOMAD chat with one of its originators, who suggested the…
Thomas H. Green
Like electronica, metal is an umbrella term that contains multitudes of micro-genres. How do you fancy sludge, blackened crust or funeral doom? And…
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Jonathan Geddes
30 years into their career, Idlewild were on snappy form in Glasgow
Kieron Tyler
Hitherto unknown tracks from the totemic British punks' earliest days with Stiff Records
Katie Colombus
A father mourned and a lover found, all in one extraordinary breath
Joe Muggs
A subtle, potent raging against the dying of the light from a low key great
Kieron Tyler
The US singer-songwriter offsets glacial shimmer with a dive into electric-guitar freakiness
Tim Cumming
The genre-crossing musician brings a New Age sheen to his solo piano tribute
Joe Muggs
The London trio add toilet bowls and ugly crying to the hedonistic glamour
Kieron Tyler
New York band’s blend of folk rock and psychedelia grabs attention
Thomas H. Green
Northern indie four-piece offer a vim-laden snapshot of disenfranchised Britain
Sebastian Scotney
Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Laura Mvula shine
Thomas H. Green
The most epic regular record reviews in the galaxy
Ibi Keita
Garage, French House and feeling collide in latest release
Camp Bestival 2026, Lulworth Castle review - where the daytime magic still outshines everything else
Katie Colombus
A creative, inclusive, endlessly imaginative festival for families
Guy Oddy
Prolific Aussie psychedelicists marry dance and prog sounds
Mark Kidel
Fiery crowd-pleasing jazz marred by excess
Ellie Roberts
A soaring fusion of atmospheric melancholy and energetic punk
Kieron Tyler
A hymn to when driving was an end in itself
Kieron Tyler
A breathless half-hour takes in screaming, stop-start song structures and the odd hint of reflectiveness
Guy Oddy
Punk veterans get decidedly trippy
Thomas H. Green
The American singer's eighth album is rife with downtempo ruminations on love
Joe Muggs
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Katie Colombus
Two decades on from Patti Smith and the original pink sheep, the anniversary edition proved again that Latitude's real headliners are rarely at the top of the bill
Thomas H. Green
From Korean bluegrass to gigantic Ugandan xylophones, the global diversity of musical life is here
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