Album Reviews
Album Review: Various Artists: Manchester North Of England: A Story Of Independent Music Greater Manchester 1977-1993
Compiled by the team behind other Cherry Red box sets (Scared To Get Happy, Still In A Dream, Millions Like Us, Action Time Vision, etc.), this 7 CD box set tells the story of how indie music exploded in Manchester after the rush of Punk and the seminal release of the Buzzcocks’ Spiral Scratch EP. …
Album Review: Jordan Rabjohn – JR2
Singer-songwriter and bow-tie aficionado Jordan Rabjohn has been a busy boy of late. Since his debut album JR came out last year, he’s put out numerous videos for songs on his YouTube channel, as well as taking his track Numbers to the Vodafone future breakers finals. JR2 (I don’t know how he comes up with …
Album Review: DJ Hell – Zukunftsmusik
After the successful release of first single ‘I Want U,’ an enthralling collaboration with L.A. based Tom of Finland Foundation and new single ‘Car, Car, Car,’ DJ Hell announces his 5th album ‘Zukunftsmusik,’ set for release on May 12th (physical: June 9th) via International Deejay Gigolo Records. The techno revolution 30 years ago, where boundaries and walls crumbling down. …
Album Review : Grizzly Bear’s ‘Painted Ruins’
Grizzly Bear came out of the great “bands with ‘Bear’ in their name” musical gold rush of the early 2000s. Minus The Bear, Bear in Heaven, Bearnaked Ladies(okay, that’s not a real band.) Grizzly Bear always seemed to have loftier goals. From starting out as just a bedroom project of Ed Droste’s to becoming a …
Bright Phoebus – Lal and Mike Waterson
Bright Phoebus had become something of a ‘lost album’ cause celebre, with a growing campaign for this proper re-release over the last few years. Of course it’s difficult for a record to be truly lost these days. What with original copies, a few dodgy CD-R reissues and the access afforded by youtube, it was already …
Album Review: Public Service Broadcasting – Every Valley
I must admit, Public Service Broadcasting had me going for a moment there. After their debut album Inform – Educate – Entertain wonderfully demonstrated that Willgoose, Wrigglesworth and Abraham could do exactly that with samples from archive footage and public information films and some cracking tunes, the more thematically linked The Race for Space disappointed …
Album Review : Oneohtrix Point Never’s ‘Good Time Soundtrack’
If you told me that Daniel Lopatin was actually from another planet or dimension that wouldn’t surprise me a bit. The music he creates as Oneohtrix Point Never is otherworldly electronic in nature. It’s progressed from drone-y ambient on his debut Betrayed In The Octagon to the more deep space pop ambitions of 2015s Garden …
Say Psych: Album Review: Spirit Valley – Negatives
Rating: 7/10 Amsterdam duo Spirit Valley are yet another new addition to the ever expanding Fuzz Club Records roster, releasing their second album Negatives on 4th August. Dave Tomlinson and Chris Stabback originated in Sydney before moving to Amsterdam a couple of years ago. They then released debut album Give Trance A Chance, before embarking …
Album Review: The Cribs – 24/7 Rock Star Shit
24/7 Rock Star Shit is the new album by Wakefield lads The Cribs. Their seventh studio album (if you don’t include best-of Payola) begins in the most Cribs was possible; a screech of guitar into an immediately catchy riff. The classic Jarman brother vocals on Give Good Time aren’t note perfect, but that isn’t why …
Album Review: Bell X1 – ARMS
Intelligent and inventive Irish band Bell X1 return with their new studio album “ARMS”, released in the UK via Belly Up Records. This is the band’s seventh studio album and is a fantastically assured and consistent follow-up to 2013’s acclaimed “Chop Chop”, which became their third #1 album on the Irish Album Charts and their …