Album Reviews
Album Review: Levitation Orchestra – ‘Sanctuary’: Another expansive, spiritual jazz epic from the London collective.
UK jazz collective Levitation Orchestra show that the creative possibilities of the large ensemble can endure. Lead by trumpeter Axel Kaner-Lidstrom who first brought this group of young, scene-busting players together in 2018, the collective has been gathering momentum ever since. The Levitation Orchestra’s debut album ‘Inexpressible Infinity’ arrived a year after their formation and …
Album Review: ‘Soft Monstrous Masses!’ – 208L Containers deliver an anarchic dose of sardonic humour on a bed of angular post punk with a buzz-saw blast
Lutruwita/Tasmanian outfit 208L Containers have just released a blast of iridescent joy from the intense furnace of their creative minds in ‘Soft Monstrous Masses!’. Sardonic and unashamedly Australian-accented voices sing of a range of familiar and alien concepts laced with humour and a thousand yard stare, a mix of political observations with tales of the …
Album Review: Yalla Miku –‘2’: an energetic, ‘post-world’, sonic cocktail direct from the Bongo Joe community.
If ever there was an imprint that was more than just another indie record label it’s Bongo Joe. A musicians’ collective, a community, a shop and watering hole, a barometer of Geneva’s underground scene, an epicentre for ‘post -world’ music, this cutting-edge Swiss co-op is now in its tenth year. Fitting then that Bongo Joe’s …
Album Review: The epic beauty of The Apartments’ ‘That’s What The Music Is For’ is an elegant beacon of shimmering hope.
The Apartments‘ magnificent album ‘In And Out Of The Light’ was one of the brief rays of light of the grim 2020 – one of my favourite albums of that year. With one of Brisbane’s greatest singer/songwriters, Peter Milton Walsh (briefly an early Go-Between), The Apartments are possibly one of the most underrated bands coming …
Review: West End Girl: Lily Allen’s Painfully Honest Portrait of a Marriage Unravelled
On West End Girl, Lily Allen turns heartbreak into art, transforming private devastation into one of her most fearless and musically assured albums yet.
Album Review: Tasmania’s Verticoli deliver bolts of cathartic thunder in their new album ‘Silverlinings’ with launch dates ahead.
The new album ‘Silverlinings’ from Tasmania’s Verticoli puts on show their musical versatility and range of expression. A mix of tangible anger with a punkish delivery, hard rock swagger and some more laid back tracks combine to deliver something that is quite exciting and very cathartic. Opening with the fittingly entitled ‘A Kick in the Teeth’, Verticoli …
Album Review: Sessa –‘Pequena Vertigem de Amor’: Uncanny magic and lush funkiness from the rising São Paulo songsmith.
Sergio Sayeg (aka Sessa) is an artist who travels through distances and circumstances with his music. Coming from São Paulo his first pull was towards the psychedelic pop-toned Tropicalia mash-up of Garotas Suecas, a band he guitared and sang with until his family moved to New York. Sessa then made the most of the Big …
Album Review: The Boojums –‘The Boojums’: From garage punk to grunge rock, the Nova Scotian trio never miss the spot.
It seems to have been a while waiting for this debut LP from Nova Scotian power-punk trio The Boojums. Last seen around here on their breakneck showcase gigs with We are Busy Bodies/Having Fun label mates No Frills and Absolute Losers, they caused a mighty stir with their driving dynamism and hook filled momentum. To …
Album Review: Emma Rawicz –‘Inkyra’: Bold, widescreen, dynamic jazz from the irrepressible saxophonist and her explosive band.
You could say prestigious young saxophonist Emma Rawicz is on a roll right now. Just a few months ago she was turning jazz-heads with her exquisite and sumptuous ‘Big Visit’, a duo album with the phenomenal Gwilym Simcock and now in hot pursuit comes her new set ‘Inkyra’ via the ever-discerning ACT. To be completely …
Say Psych: EP Review: Rhys Bloodjoy – Evils Highway EP
Rhys Bloodjoy is a one man noise machine, using sophisticated loops, echo drenched harmonies and reverb soaked melodies to create a truly unique style all of his own. His new EP is something special, and we had to see what all the fuss was about! His debut album Human.Pattern.Repeat. at the start of the pandemic …