Album Reviews
EP Review: WA’s Pretty Uglys unleash ‘Party Friends’ – a blistering set of very attractive post punk anthems, executed with sneers, attitude and indelible pose.
Blasting off with ‘Emergency Room’, Western Australian band Pretty Uglys‘ new EP ‘Party Friends’ is a pulsating and vibrant set of magnificent, sneering and imposing tracks. Pure guitar-driven riffs over a thundering rhythm section and with vocals so loaded with attitude you can almost see the arched eyebrows and sneer. It is gratifyingly cathartic and …
Album Review: Electro Indie beauty from R Zak ‘s ‘Dialetcs’
Review : 9/ 10 There’s a certain folkloric quality that’s embedded in your mind, as the music shifts from the nuanced beauty to the darker , more solemn places in between. Portland based singer -songwriter R Zak ‘s album ‘Dialects’ is truly a kind of extended passage of discovery, gentle at times then suddenly haunting …
Album review: Tristan Kasten-Krause – ‘Potential Landscapes’: a debut quartet of potent longform drones
Tristan’s solo debut is a quartet of pieces that all head out from the same wellspring in different directions, different emotions; yet with a unity of feeling. If you worship at the altar of a well-executed drone-based record, then this one is mightily pleasing, if it doesn’t break new ground, it takes you for a different look round places you thought you knew and introduces them afresh. Classy
Album review: Secret of Elements – ‘Chronos’: the worlds of classical and electronic pirouette
A decade in a life lived richly and well, presented on an album which straddles two worlds which are becoming ever better acquainted – modern classical and electronica; when Johann really hits home the two pirouette gloriously. At times worthy of a billing on Erased Tapes or the like, at times closer to J.Willgoose’s warm analogue ambience as Late Night Final, if we can take one thing away, it’s to endeavour to live as boldly, as clearly and as truly as Johann has
Album Review: Bob Evans unveils ‘Tomorrowland’ – a sparkling and shimmering journey through time – along with news of an Australia-wide tour
Australian indie giants Jebediah’s front person was Kevin Mitchell, and Mitchell, in turn, is Bob Evans – a persona created to deliver Mitchell’s solo work. His new album, ‘Tomorrowland’ is a bright, shining and shimmering piece of work fusing an alt. country melancholia with an indie folk rock jangle and yet defies easy labelling throughout. …
Album review: iogi – ‘everything’s worth it’: a beautiful collection of songs
everything’s worth it is a really refreshing album from Yogev Glusman, a lesser known psych pop artist from Tel Aviv, and admittedly an ambitious one – but by now it’s clear that the divide from what is considered amateur and “professional” is completely blurred. everything’s worth it (sic) is as bit as professional as you …
EP review: Francesca Ter-Berg – In Eynem: an exploratory cello EP that makes a deep connection
YOU MAY recognise the name Francesca Ter-Berg as the cello side of the leftfield folk classical improv duo Fran and Flora that turned heads a while ago, from Café Oto to Women’s Hour, with their electrifying rejuvenation of Eastern European traditional sounds. That vibrant partnership with violinist Flora Curzon released the impeccably imaginative Unfurl in …
EP Review: Juice Webster’s ‘More Than Reaction’ is a cinematic, chilling and beautiful masterpiece
Juice Webster‘s spectacular new EP ‘More Than Reaction’ was born during the early months of January 2020 when flames engulfed Australia, serving as a prelude to the COVID lockdown months later – a time that was fraught and unnerving. Elements of the uncertainty and anxiety of this time can be detected, like the indelible smell …
Album Review: Flyte – “This is Really going to Hurt”: modern break-up tale meets vintage sounds
The second full-length album release from London indie trio Flyte is a break-up story spanning the emotional spectrum of heartbreak- from reflective, bitter navel-gazing, to ascerbic pot-shots aimed squarely at ex-lovers. Recorded in Los Angeles, This is Really going to Hurt has a definite, old-school California sound in its infusion of folk and introspection. It …
Album: Amigo The Devil – Born Against
Inspired by storytellers such as Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen and Fiona Apple. Amigo The Devil is the pseudonym of Danny Kiranos, known for his deep, challenging and emotive yet often humorous lyrics. He has further evolved as a songwriter, resulting in his new album ‘Born Against’ taking on a vivid and cinematic feel to the …