CDs/DVDs
CD: The Fiction Aisle - Fuchsia DaysWednesday, 06 July 2016
Bands have grown slack about releasing albums. The Beatles used to pump them out, releasing both Help and Rubber Soul in the first half of 1965, whereas, say, Bastille’s second album arrives three years after their debut (although they released a “... Read more... |
Blu-ray: Black OrpheusTuesday, 05 July 2016
Back in 1959, Black Orpheus was a revelation – a reworking of the Greek myth of doomed lovers Orpheus and Eurydice, played out in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro during Carnival. It was the first movie to win both the Palme d’Or at Cannes... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Pink FloydSunday, 03 July 2016
Pictured above is the label of an exceptionally important Pink Floyd record issued last November. Only a thousand people bought a copy. That was the amount that hit shops. Pink Floyd 1965: Their First Recordings was a double seven-inch set with a... Read more... |
CD: Jherek Bischoff – CisternSunday, 03 July 2016
When David Bowie died in January, one person quick off the mark with a striking and respectful tribute was the American composer Jherek Bischoff with Strung Out in Heaven – a string quartet medley of half a dozen of Bowie’s songs. And in fact we‘re... Read more... |
CD: Biffy Clyro - EllipsisSaturday, 02 July 2016
Every decade throws up a handful of guitar acts intent on capturing the mood of the age. The Noughties, for example, marched to the spiky rhythms of Kasabian and Kaiser Chiefs. Almost a decade on and the current crop have a somewhat... Read more... |
DVD: A Month in the CountryFriday, 01 July 2016
Irish director Pat O’Connor’s 1987 adaptation of J L Carr’s A Month in the Country has been unavailable for many years; this BFI reissue was only possible after a few surviving prints were located. It’s a disquieting watch – a superficially English... Read more... |
CD: Chrissy & Hawley - Chrissy & HawleyThursday, 30 June 2016
The Eighties revival in dance music started in earnest with the Electroclash subculture, the first records emerging around 1996. That is to say, the Eighties revival has now lasted twice as long as the actual Eighties itself. And if you think that... Read more... |
CD: Beyond The Wizards Sleeve - The Soft BounceWednesday, 29 June 2016
The first I heard of Beyond the Wizards Sleeve was eight whole years ago. It was a tune called “Winter in June” and was a Lemon Jelly-meets-The Orb-style cosmic noodle with the added, and memorable, benefit of long-deceased BBC gardener Percy... Read more... |
DVD: A Bigger SplashTuesday, 28 June 2016
Luca Guadagnino’s previous film, I Am Love, confirmed the Italian renaissance begun by Matteo Garrone and Paolo Sorrentino. Star Tilda Swinton, ripe sensuality, rich landscapes and sometimes operatic emotion all return for A Bigger Splash. Ralph... Read more... |
CD: Metronomy - Summer 08Monday, 27 June 2016
I’m going to be honest, Metronomy isn’t really my bag. Perhaps I’m not hipster or highbrow enough, but I just don’t get their jam. I feel a bit like Jon at the beginning of Lenny Abrahamsson’s Frank – slightly bewildered by the depths of the... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Wake Up You!Sunday, 26 June 2016
It begins with “Never Never Let Me Down” by Formulars Dance Band. “You’re the only good thing I’ve got,” declares the singer of a garage-band answer to The Impressions over a rough-and-ready backing where a shuffling mid-tempo groove is driven along... Read more... |
CD: Drcarlsonalbion – Falling With a Thousand Stars & Other Wonders From the House of AlbionSunday, 26 June 2016
Around the Summer Solstice seems a fitting time for Dylan Carlson’s latest solo album to appear under his Drcarlsonalbion guise. For Falling With a Thousand Stars & Other Wonders From the House of Albion is a collection of old folk ballads from... Read more... |
