Album Reviews
Album Review: Umberto – Alienation
Umberto’s Alienation feels like a cross between New Age, a Giallo score, and a soundtrack to some strange early 80s sci fi film. Previous albums like Confrontation, Night Has A Thousand Screams, and Prophecy Of The Black Widow all took their cues from the Gothic and dark world of horror films from guys like Argento, …
Album Review: Mongrels – Attack The Monolith
It almost feels wrong listening to music by Kid Acne’s musical project Mongrels digitally. As I opened up my Spotify app (other music streaming services are available) and hit the new album ‘Attack The Monolith’, I felt like I should be opening up a limited edition vinyl, individually numbered, with artwork pressed by the artist …
Album Review: Peter Björn & John — Breakin’ Point
During the recording of Swedish pop wizards Peter Morén, Björn Yttling, and John Eriksson’s latest album Breakin’ Point, after a five-year hiatus, they actually did contemplate splitting up. Instead they brought in a few gifted outside producers for the first time, listened to a lot of ABBA, and created an exquisite collection of some …
Album Review: Mourn – ‘Ha, Ha, He.’
Catalonian four-piece Mourn make a welcome return with 26 minutes of youthful exuberance. ‘Ha, Ha, He.’ (out now via Captured Tracks) is the second album released by Mourn in the past two years. It would have been released even sooner, if it hadn’t been for label issues, and everything about this album adds to the …
Album Review: Thylacine – Transsiberian
A concept album composed over a 5,000 mile journey between Moscow and Vladivostok, Artist William Rezé (Thylacine) sampled sounds along the way and blended them over music he created from the confines of a tiny cabin along the Trans-Siberian Railway. His Travels took him through nearly 6,000 miles of landscapes resulting in a piece of work that reflects his discovery …
Album Review: The Erised – Room 414
When you think of Hospital Records, you no doubt think of drum & bass madness. They have launched the careers of the likes of High Contrast, London Elektricity and Danny Byrd. But their sister label Med School has given fans of electronic music something different; something more experimental. And with the release of the debut …
Album Review: Letlive.- If I’m The Devil…
There is one thing that needs to be straightened out about Letlive.: there is nobody like them. Their live show, their persona, their music- everything is created and brought to life in a way that could never be duplicated, or even closely so by any other band. If I’m The Devil… has been a long …
Album Review: William Tyler : Modern Country
William Tyler doesn’t make music as much as he paints aural landscapes. There’s a vast space within his records as a solo musician. The former Lambchop guitarist -over the course of three studio LPs- has created a musical world of dusty fields, endless horizons, and open roads that seem to never end. On his newest …
Album Review: Minor Victories – Minor Victories
Minor Victories, if you haven’t read our review of debut single “A Hundred Ropes”, are Rachel Goswell (Slowdive), Stuart Braithwaite (Mogwai), Justin Lockey (Editors) and his brother James (Hand Held Cine Club, responsible for the exquisite videos that accompany some of these tracks). Originally conceived as part of Justin’s intention to make a ‘noise record …
Album Review: Phoria – Volition
Melatonin, the opening track of Volition, the long overdue debut album from Brighton based electonic group Phoria, sums it up. Shades of James Blake (an almost constant influencer in these days of electronic soul) purvey througout, but there’s also some Sigur Ros in there with its winsome melodies and ambitious musical sensibilities and some of …