New releases on CD & DVD
CD: Ray Davies - Our Country: Americana Act II
Sunday, 24 June 2018
When Ray Davies released his Americana LP last year, much was made of how the the ex-Kink's lyrical focus had shifted from English villages to the mid-western plains of the big old USA. Really, though, Davies was just looking back over his life. America had always loomed large in Kinks' songs - if only in the imagination of the English characters - and after their famous touring ban, they played there relentlessly. Our Country - Americana Act II, completes the story.As before,...
CD: Let's Eat Grandma - I'm All Ears
Saturday, 23 June 2018
Norwich is remote, out near the Norfolk Broads, doing its own thing on Britain’s eastern-most edge. It’s not renowned as a place that’s contributed much to rock and pop. This may be about to change.
DVD/Blu-ray: Let the Sunshine In
Friday, 22 June 2018
Un beau soleil intérieur, the film’s French title, is part of a piece of advice given by a clairvoyant (Gérard Depardieu, in a surprise 15-minute...
CD: Nine Inch Nails – Bad Witch
Thursday, 21 June 2018
Concluding a trilogy of releases that began with the EPs Not the Actual Events (2016) and Add Violence (2017) – Bad Witch is being called an LP...
CD: Kamasi Washington - Heaven and Earth
Wednesday, 20 June 2018
It would always be difficult to follow The Epic, the 2015 release which turned LA saxophonist Kamasi Washington from leader of the local scene to...
Blu-ray: Force of Evil
Abraham Polonsky’s 1948 film noir assaults the American Dream |
CD: Jim James - Uniform Distortion
My Morning Jacket man’s fourth solo album is his best so far |
CD: Soulwax - Essential
Belgian beat maestros return with a different approach |
CD: The Orb - No Sounds Are Out of Bounds
The Ambient Dub Masters regroup with some old mates for some time travel |
CD: Christina Aguilera - Liberation
A reflective yet conflicted album |
CD: Melody’s Echo Chamber - Bon Voyage
Long-awaited follow-up to 2012 debut is wonderfully weird prog-odyssey |
DVD/Blu-ray: The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick
No particular place to go: refreshed soundtrack revives Wim Wenders's debut feature |
CD: AMMAR 808 - Maghreb United
North African trance hits the spot |
CD: Lykke Li - So Sad So Sexy
How does jettisoning her indie roots work for the Swedish popstrel? |
CD: Black Sedan - Adventure Lit Their Star
Musical outing from polymath Mark Hodkinson proves a woozy, worthwhile listen |
CD: Lily Allen - No Shame
Broken marriage vividly dissected under the microscope on the singer's fourth album |
CD: Gruff Rhys - Babelsberg
The sometime Super Furry frontman heads for the apocalypse armed with hope and an amazing clutch of songs |
CD: Wooden Shjips - V
San Franciscan psychedelicists lay down some sunny vibes |
CD: Snail Mail - Lush
Sadness and shred in equal measure on Baltimore teen’s debut |
DVD: Here to Be Heard - The Story of the Slits
Well-told documentary on Britain's groundbreaking female punk band |
CD: Kanye - Ye
Suicidal ideation, greed, marital strife and paternal sexual obsessions as entertainment: just another day chez West |
CD: Roger Daltrey - As Long as I Have You
The Who singer's latest outing proves utterly unessential |
CD: LUMP – LUMP
Collaboration between Laura Marling and Mike Lindsay of Tunng is a beautiful, odd little gift |
Blu-ray: Intimate Lighting
A very bearable slightness of being pervades Ivan Passer’s Czech feature debut |
CD: Jennifer Warnes - Another Time, Another Place
Crossing musical boundaries |
CD: Oneohtrix Point Never - Age Of
Globe-straddling experimentalist in bamboozlingly confident form |
CD: Morcheeba - Blaze Away
Now a duo, the imperishable downtempo outfit come back with a convincing new set |
CD: Snow Patrol - Wildness
Have the Northern Irish gloom-rockers developed a lighter touch? |
CD: Chvrches - Love Is Dead
Scotland’s electropop trio aim for full mainstream integration |
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Although the cover of the 19 May 1979 issue of the music weekly Sounds was dominated by a photo of American...
CD: Ray Davies - Our Country: Americana Act II
When Ray Davies released his Americana LP last year, much was made of how the the ex-Kink's lyrical...
CD: Let's Eat Grandma - I'm All Ears
Norwich is remote, out near the Norfolk Broads, doing its own thing on Britain’s eastern-most edge. It’s not renowned as a place that’s...
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