Album Reviews
Droppin’ Knowledge: “We All Get A Time To Ball” – Rapper Serengeti Talks New Album The Gentle Fall – Interview & Review
The hip hop artist speaks candidly about his writing, his new album, the meeting of Kenny and Ajai, and his love for the Before Sunrise trilogy. When the evocative rap artist Serengeti offered to send me a digital copy of his new album, The Gentle Fall, I was excited to listen, but unprepared for what …
ALBUM REVIEW: Private World – ‘Aleph’: a fine 80s’-informed debut
THE much-heralded Cardiff outfit Private World have just released their debut album, Aleph, on Dais Records. They embrace the 1980s’ soundscape of new romantic folklore such as Spandau Ballet, Duran Duran and early Talk Talk. As lead single “Blue Spirit” suggested, this is a band which is keen to share a specific sound that will …
ALBUM REVIEW: Annie Taylor – ‘Sweet Mortality’: A rocking Swiss debut
ANNIE TAYLOR’S debut album is out now via Taxi Gauche Records. This rocking debut is an album of such promise, enthusiasm and desire; it’s one of the pleasant surprises of post-lockdown. Hailing from Switzerland, where they formed in 2017, the band have become into one of Central Europe’s best sounding and hardest touring bands. They …
Album Review: Bright Light Bright Light – Fun City
Lockdown has been a particularly tough time for people in the music industry, not allowing them to fill our music venues in the way they usually would. It’s independent artists who’ve struggled the most. Take Welsh boy turned New York resident Rod Thomas, AKA DJ, singer and songwriter Bright Light Bright Light. His club night …
Meet: We chat with Steve Kilbey from The Church about celebrating 40 years, acting ‘European’, the fruits of isolation and we review his new solo album
If there’s one thing that is patently obvious over the forty years of Steve Kilbey‘s career, he is the maestro of melody and mysticism. Whether fronting The Church, through his many collaborations and solo work, Kilbey captures the kind of melodies that catch like superglue, wrapping his inherent romanticism and wry lyrics in a glorious …
ALBUM REVIEW: Skinshape – ‘Umoja’: a fine interweaving of Afro-Anglo guitar pop
DORSET-born Will Dorey is a man with a far-reaching, eclectic musical vision, which he gives to the world via the medium of his recording alias Skinshape. He’s a fellow traveller alongside artists such as Ninja’s Romare and Albert’s Favourites’ Huw Marc Bennett (whose debut album comes next month) in that Skinshape actively embraces the beauties …
ALBUM REVIEW: Freak Heat Waves – ‘Zap The Planet’: a dive into trippy electronica
THE IRONY of the current situation isn’t lost on me. I’m sat here in the 35-degree heat, profusely sweating in the same way that Prince Andrew doesn’t, all while writing about the latest album from Freak Heat Waves. I mean, Freak Heat Waves!? The universe clearly has a cruel sense of humour. And so it’s with a head full of these fears about rising temperatures, the inevitable demise of the earth and other …
Album Review: YELLO – Point
Swiss duo Yello are a hive of contradictions and conundrums. Before starting the band in the late seventies, singer Dieter Meier was already a millionaire, Boris Blank had no formal musical training and was a truck driver. They consistently deliver nothing short of sonic excellence, yet are never mentioned in the same breath as Kraftwerk. …
ALBUM REVIEW: Bill Callahan – ‘Gold Record’: Bill pans for nuggets and strikes again
BILL CALLAHAN. Question: can you imagine a world where we don’t have his grace, his eye for the humanity of the everyday, his profound bass-voiced grace, those songwriting abilities. Scary thought, huh? There’s been enough to scare us in this ill-starred year of our lord, 2020. So we can be grateful that he’s kinda sprung …
RSD2020: Album Review: Dune Soundtrack
Out on August 29th for Record Store Day is a new pressing of Toto’s score for the 1984 fantasy science fiction film, Dune, the epic tales of a time – 10191 to be exact, when the planet Arrakis – home to the most valuable substance in the universe, melange, has caused the Harkonnens to violently …