Album Reviews
Album Review: Dar Williams – Emerald
Dar Williams’ music professes a great deal of heart; there’s little doubt for the listener that this songwriter sees and feels keenly, and wants to communicate her observations and conclusions. On her most recent release, and my first brush with her since 1996’s ‘Mortal City’, the most noticeable change is in Williams’ voice which seems to …
Album Review: Everything Everything – Get To Heaven
Everything Everything’s third album Get to Heaven thankfully does not veer far from their first two witty, dark records. This time around they feel very confident about their work and rightly so. In fact, it contains probably their hookiest pop song yet, the first single “Distant Past” and other flashes of danceable despair. Bass player Jeremy …
Not Forgotten: Harry Nilsson – Son of Schmilsson
Having a hit with “Without You”, the power-ballad that still out power-ballads all other power-ballads, had left Harry Nilsson in a uniquely enviable position of being a vastly talented singer songwriter who enjoyed his biggest hit singles with cover versions of material by other world-class songwriters. Oh and to sweeten the deal he didn’t even …
Album Review: The Fratellis “Me And The Devil”
It’s been over two years since “We Need Medicine” but Glasgow’s favourite indie trio The Fratellis are back! They’ve got a brand new song “Me And The Devil”, an upcoming album “Eyes Wide, Tongue Tied” and have just announced a few live dates in the UK followed by a US tour in September. It is …
Album Review: Other Lives – Rituals
There’s no doubt there’s something to Stillwater, Oklahoma trio Other Lives, just ask endorsees Radiohead and Bon Iver, and Rituals, the bands third album, certainly has plenty of moments where their balance of the ambitious, the cinematic and the (at least previously evident) earthy folk strands pull together to make something that reminiscent of, well, …
Album Review: Young Guns, Ones and Zeros
From absent fathers, a discontent with the places that have remained the same since childhood, as well as having much woe to channel into a creative form, all resulted in Young Guns’ debut album; the effortless, flowing and poetically weighted All Our Kings Are Dead. After that came Bones; slightly mellower but far bigger, it …
Album Review: 10 000 Russos – ’10 000 Russos’
Photograph by Betânia Liberato 10 000 Russos, pronounced “dez mil russos” are the latest spell-weavers to join the illustrious Fuzz Club Records banner. I recently commented that Casper was perhaps a descendant of the renowned 16th century alchemist John Dee – that he continues to conjure these latter-day “Nuggets” seemingly at will, suggests I may not have been …
Not Forgotten: Aphrodite’s Child – 666
Every now and again I encounter an album which seems to exist in its own bubble. Aphrodite’s Child are a band I had certainly heard of, but I couldn’t name you any of their songs, although realising that following their split, half of them would individually achieve international mega-fame as Vangelis and Demis Roussos is …
Not Forgotten: Tom Vek – We Have sound: 10th Anniversary
Recently classic albums ‘Screamadelica’ by Primal Scream and ‘Nevermind’ by Nirvana celebrated their 25th anniversaries with special releases of their classic albums. Whilst it does make those of us who remember those albums so affectionately from the first time around, it is important to remember albums that shaped music in such a way. Whilst Tom …
Album Review: Sarah Cracknell – Red Kite
In 1993 I had the pleasure of meeting Sarah Cracknell at a signing at an HMV store. It was Sheffield sound city and the Saint Etienne were doing the signing ahead of their set. I took along my copies of ‘Foxbase Alpha’ and ‘So Tough’. I had never really met any singers or bands before …