Album Reviews
Droppin’ Knowledge: 11 Questions For 11Roots About Life & Their Excellent Debut Album
Brooklyn rap duo 11Roots recently released their self-titled, debut album, and it’s a compact, spiritually-rooted record, with no wasted space. The songs are lyrically conscious and dense, and powerfully address many of the ills facing the United States today, both directly and more obliquely. Brown_Buddha handles the production, and Ur Maa does most of the …
ALBUM REVIEW: The Galaxy Electric – ‘Tomorrow Was Better Yesterday’: a real trip into raw retrotronic deep space
The Galaxy Electric’s new ‘un is a real psychedelic trip; If you need a route offworld so you can look at back at humankind from a safe distance in the corona of the galaxy’s beauty, and you’re also not afraid to ride the edge of the solar winds, Tomorrow Was Better Yesterday is likely the record for you
Album Review: Rough Church – Emergency Breakthrough
Rough Church‘s new release ‘Emergency Breakthrough’ is an album – and sound – that is really difficult to categorise. What is certain is it is a thoroughly enjoyable serving of unbridled, unhinged indie rock with a siding of humour and compassion. There is a wild Pixies element with an unhinged, explosive and unpredictable side (‘That’s …
EP: Tom Misch and Yussef Dayes – What Kinda Music Bonus Tracks
If you got into Tom Misch and Yussef Dayes stellar album ‘What Kinda Music’ released in April this year, then here’s something to help you through the winter wilderness. Blue Note have just released bonus tracks from the album sessions , available via the usual digital suspects or cannily stitched onto a new deluxe vinyl …
ALBUM REVIEW: Working Men’s Club – Working Men’s Club: eclectic and rallying
WORKING MEN’S CLUB’S self-titled debut can be counted as one of the better UK releases of 2020, youthful zeal and hard-hitting beats redeeming the occasionally gimmicky lyrical and musical content. The album draws on an eclectic range of influences, from dance-rock and acid house to funk and techno, the constant mixing and rearranging of which …
Album Review: The Bachelor Pad – All Hash & Cock (compilation)
Many folk of a certain age will recall the NME’s 1989 charity compilation video “Carry On Disarming”. One of the standout tracks was The Bachelor Pad’s “Country Pancake” – a riotous assault which fondly recalled the energy of early C86-era Soup Dragons singles with a large slice of lysergic cake thrown into the mix and just …
Album Review – Emmy the Great: April /月音
Emmy the Great (Emma-Lee Moss) released her fourth album on October 9th. ‘April /月音’ (the Chinese script, which translates as ‘Moon Sound’ on Google Translate but is given as ‘Mid-Autumn’ on the first track signifies her origins in Hong Kong). It was a bit of a rushed job, the fastest she’s ever recorded, ironically as …
Album Review: The Loved Drones – Conspiracy Dance
I confess I’d not heard of this Belgian psych-pop band before now but it’s immediately clear I’ve been missing out in a big way! The band’s improvised spaced-out style blends psychedelia, Krautrock and post punk but on this album a more song based skewed angular pop has been introduced to the mix. It begins with …
EP REVIEW: Shida Shahabi – ‘Lake On Fire’: eerie post-classical beauty for short film
Lake On Fire is eerie post-classical beauty for the short film of that name: evocative and chilling work from a real talent
ALBUM REVIEW: Kevin Morby – ‘Sundowner’: simple acoustic truths deliver great profundity
Sundowner is a much more bucolic work than last year’s Oh My God. in Kansas he’s explored the simple complexity of the 60s’ folk-troubadour aesthetic and pulls it off, admirably. It’s a damn lovely record.