New releases on CD & DVD
Album: Rufus Wainwright - Unfollow the Rules
Monday, 06 July 2020
After Unfollow the Rules: The Paramour Session and the #Quarantunes “robe recitals” comes the album: Unfollow the Rules, no longer stripped back (though everything's relative) but in all its pomp and glory.
Album: The Jayhawks - XOXO
Saturday, 04 July 2020
If one song best captures the overall mood of XOXO, it's the Beatles-meets-country strains of "Living in a Bubble". The punchy lyrics offer a timely warning about the effect of 24-hour news. The real impact, however, comes from the gentle, acoustic textures that usher you back to a pre-digital age. That's XOXO all over. Despite the teenager on the cover, this is really a record that exudes wisdom and experience.
Album: Polly Scattergood - In This Moment
Friday, 03 July 2020
A decade ago, Polly Scattergood was Mute Records’ newest, most-likely-to signing and, while she never crossed over like similar unconventional female...
Album: Willie Nelson - First Rose of Spring
Wednesday, 01 July 2020
Listening to Willie Nelson’s latest album is like pulling on a pair of beloved beat-up cowboy boots. The declarative vocal over simple guitar, a...
Blu-ray: Criss Cross
Tuesday, 30 June 2020
Criss Cross is a superbly taut film noir, a 1949 drama that unfolds with the inevitable downward spiral of ancient tragedy. Its doomed characters are...
Album: Paul Weller - On Sunset
Another near-perfect album from the Modfather |
Blu-Ray: Laughter in Paradise, The Green Man
Alastair Sim redeems a pair of patchy non-Ealing comedies |
Album: Sparks - A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip
Arch rhymes and secreted emotion from veteran LA ironists |
Album: HAIM - Women in Music Pt. III
Energy and experimentation from sister trio at the top of their game |
Album: Nadine Shah – Kitchen Sink
A fresh look at women's woes from one who knows |
Album: Khruangbin - Mordechai
The Texan three-piece are hard to pin down, but easy to love |
DVD/Blu-ray: Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Slow-burning passion packs a strong erotic punch in Céline Sciamma's film |
Album: Dream Wife - So When You Gonna…
Arts punks’ sophomore effort dashes expectations |
Blu-Ray: A Foreign Affair
Billy Wilder and Marlene Dietrich weave that old black magic in their black market tale |
Album: John Legend - Bigger Love
Soulman as new man, in variations on clean-cut romance |
Album: [MONRHEA] - her[ART]
Debut from female Kenyan electronic producer showcases innovation and possibility |
Album: Neil Young - Homegrown
The unearthing of the singer-songwriter's long-lost album turns up moments of pure gold |
Album: Michael Franti & Spearhead - Work Hard & Be Nice
Ex-Beatnig and Disposable Hero of Hiphoprisy lurches towards the middle of the road |
Album: Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher
Poetry and romance for an age of disillusion |
CD: Bob Dylan - Rough and Rowdy Ways
Bob returns with an unadulturated, stone-cold masterpiece |
Album: Norah Jones – Pick Me Up Off the Floor
Strong songwriting captures the mood of the times |
Album: Larkin Poe - Self Made Man
Female-fronted blues-rock stalwarts return with the songs and enough range to carry the day |
Album: Jehnny Beth - To Love Is To Live
Former Savages leader lets her guard down |
Blu-ray: Hagazussa
A woman dubbed a witch yields to psychosis in a superior folk horror movie |
EP: Imelda May - Slip of the Tongue
Spirited poems from Irish rockabilly queen |
Album: John Scofield, Steve Swallow, Bill Stewart - Swallow Tales
Trust and empathy between musicians built up over decades |
Album: Hinds - The Prettiest Curse
Spanish indie types beef up their sound to great effect |
Album: Dion - Blues With Friends
The Wanderer returns to his roots |
Album: Westerman - Your Hero is not Dead
High-gloss Eighties sonics conceal chasmic emotional depths |
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