Album Reviews
Album Review: A Great Big World – ‘Is Anybody Out There’
Of all the albums coming out this first quarter, this has been the one I’ve been looking forward to most. When you listen to a lot of albums that try to be deep & meaningful this and concept that it’s always nice to return to an album that has just simple and honest good music. …
Psych Insight: Album Review – Hello Griefbirds! by The Shine Brothers (Cardinal Fuzz)
To say that Cardinal Fuzz are on a roll would be an understatement. The label has a series of vinyl releases under its belt which have, to my ears, all been winners; and my previous recommendations of albums by The Dead Sea Apes and Vision Fortune might lead you to believe that I have some …
NOT FORGOTTEN – JELLYFISH – BELLYBUTTON
The early 90s were an unexpectedly fertile time for power-pop. The Posies blended harmonies and overloaded guitars with dreams of joining Big Star, Matthew Sweet proved it was possible to be a power-pop solo artist, Del Amitri were a little more rock, but were more than welcome to sit at the table, Crowded House were …
Not Forgotton: Northside – Chicken Rhythms, and new spring tour dates
For me, it started with an apple. For there, in my local record emporium (the glorious Left Legged Pineapple in Loughborough) as I thumbed through Cocteau Twins, King of the Slums, Fuzztones, A.C. Marias, Blur, Diesel Park West, Lush and Bridewell Taxis records, I kept coming back to this record, with nothing more than an …
ALBUM REVIEW – TOY – JOIN THE DOTS
TOY have a lot of nerve. There’s not many bands that would gamble releasing their second album during the second week of December, a time of year the music industry primarily dedicates to releasing nigh profit margin compilations, or the dreaded Christmas Album. There’s also not many bands that would open that same album with …
Album Review: Brad Laner – Nearest Suns
Seconds into “Be Gone”, the lead off track from Brad Laner’s newest solo album Nearest Suns you know this isn’t going to be your average listening experience. Part psych-pop, part Eastern-influenced, and all aural sunlit grandeur, Laner takes his Medicine magic and spreads it over 60s-influenced pop and makes a record that sounds quite magical. …
Album Review: Debukas – I am Machinery
John Clark knows his stuff. Already creating a buzz with his three EP releases over on the 2020 vision label, he, under his moniker Debukas produces music that shows a deep understanding of the history of both techno and house music. His tunes might not fit neatly into those genres, but have elements of both, …
Album Review: Various Artists – A Sunday Matinee
Where would we be without Matinee Recordings? The Santa Barbara label is celebrating its fifteenth year of releasing indie pop, and have just released this compilation of track as a celebration of that fact. Straight away what’s evident is the worldwide appeal of both sides of the indie pop coin, the scuzzy and the twee, …
NOT FORGOTTEN – WARREN ZEVON – WARREN ZEVON
There are some albums where you can actually hear the substances that went into their creation. This album is much like Hotel California and Rumours and pretty much every LA rock album recorded in the late 70s, in that they all sound big, flashy and possibly suffered a little from having too much money thrown …
NOT FORGOTTEN – NEIL YOUNG – TIME FADES AWAY
As this alphabetic odyssey of overlooked albums draws to an end I look back on the last few weeks and have to admit I’ve surprised myself about some of the albums that I’ve selected to celebrate (Billy Joel’s Cold Spring Harbor?) and even discovered a gem that I myself had previously overlooked (the great Songs …