Album Reviews
Album Review: Select All Delete Save As – ‘Ultra Cultura’
Just when I thought I’d figured out ‘Ultra Cultura’, the new album by Select All Delete Save As, it continued to throw curveballs left, right and centre. Constantly exciting, always involving and brilliantly put together this is an album that makes each listen rewarding for multiple reasons. Achieving that is one thing but making this …
Not Forgotten: Bernard Butler – People Move On
When former Suede guitar botherer Bernard Butler announced he was going solo after a short but troubled collaboration with Soul singer David McAlmont, I barely blinked. I was actually pretty ignorant of his career up to then actually. I had heard that he had quit Suede just before the epic and gloriously overblown Dog Man …
Album Release: The Crookes – Soapbox
Over the past few years I’ve been introduced to a lot of bands; I’ve witnessed the release of new singles, the creation of new music videos, and travelled hundreds of miles to see talented musicians play some incredible live sets. In all that time, only a few bands have stuck with me, and The Crookes …
Not Forgotten – Sparks – Exotic Creatures of the Deep
Following up the undisputed best album of your career must be an unenviable task. There was no way that Oranges & Lemons was ever going to be a match for Skylarking, Desire was no Blood on the Tracks, i, as brilliant as it is, will always suffer in comparison to 69 Love Songs, Guerrilla would …
Not Forgotten – Elton John – Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Top selling musicians these days have it easy. The average recording artist is expected to release a new album once every two years, maybe one a year if they are a new artist. Back in the early 70s it was a given that at least one album a year was the acceptable rate, that way …
Album Review – The Hold Steady – Teeth Dreams
The Hold Steady return in a hail of guitars. Great, that’s exactly what I want from The Hold Steady. As much as they’ve engaged my enthusiasm for wordy guitar rock over the last few years, I have to admit that their previous album, Heaven is Whenever, was the one I had the most difficulty connecting …
Not Forgotten: Brendan Benson – The Alternative to Love
2005 was an odd year for power pop, when three big names released albums of new material. As fate would have it these much anticipated releases by Teenage Fanclub, The Posies and Big Star were solid, but at the end of the day they were just preaching to the converted. Just the same skillful playing …
Album Review: Jakob Skott – Amor Fati
Hello. It’s good to be back from my mission to the fourth realm of Garzan. It was a rough flight, flying through the Araucaria Fire, just past the Eastman Oyster and landing near the Omega Oscillator. The native Garzanians call their home planet an “Earth of No Horizon”, which means if you look out onto …
Not Forgotten – Gene Clark – No Other
You know something, sometimes it’s okay to not succeed. Sometimes you put every ounce of energy and emotion at your disposal into achieving your goal and still you fail. Sometimes the level of effort you have put into something only becomes evident months, years, maybe even decades after the event, thus offering retrospective redemption to …
Album Review: Nothing – Guilty Of Everything
One of the most arresting, pounding, and quite beautiful 40 minutes you could spend would be with Nothing’s Guilty Of Everything. Imagine this vast black space and you’re staring down into it. It’s scary as hell, and you see no discernible bottom in this cavernous hole. Yet there’s something quite beautiful emanating from it that …