album review
Album Review: Supergroup Bleak Squad – Mick Turner (Dirty Three, Mess Esque), Mick Harvey (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, PJ Harvey, The Birthday Party), Adalita (Magic Dirt) and Marty Brown (Art of Fighting) – gather together to brew the spectacular ‘Strange Love’.
Naarm/Melbourne’s gothic noir Bleak Squad consists of living legends Mick Turner (Dirty Three, Mess Esque), Mick Harvey (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, PJ Harvey, The Birthday Party), Adalita (Magic Dirt) and Marty Brown (Art of Fighting) today release the fruits of their collaboration with ‘Strange Love’ – a dark brooding collection of visceral and raw vignettes worthy of their genetic make …
Album Review: The Slow Summits have ‘Every Intention’ to blast a ray of luminescent pop sunshine into your ears all the way from Sweden.
Anyone else remember the children’s Swedish detective series Agaton Sax by Swedish author Nils-Olof Franzén and illustrated by Åke Lewerth, with Quentin Blake illustrating the English editions? Agaton Sax also ran the local newspaper, the Byoping Post. I loved this series for its quirky sense of humour and cheeky delivery. In a complete non-sequitur, The Slow Summits hail from …
Album Review: Blackbirds F.C. release the magnificent ‘Desire Lines’ – a treasure trove of pure pop delights – ahead of live dates.
One of our favourite bands here at the antipodean outpost of Backseat Mafia, Melbourne’s Blackbirds F.C., has just released their third album ‘Desire Lines’ and it is a dreamy treasure chest filled with delicious pop jewels. Songwriter Jeremy Gronow, a fan of homegrown Australian artists, says of the new album: This is a record that is …
Album Review: Cousin Tony’s Brand New Firebird unveil stunning new album ‘Rosewater Crocodile’ – a powerful beacon of luminescence.
The sonic behemoth that is Cousin Tony’s Brand New Firebird (CTBNF) arises again. My love for and admiration for this magnificent and criminally underrated band knows no bounds, and there is a delicious and satisfying sense of joy when each new release further confirms their position as one of the most exciting bands around at the moment. …
Album Review: Merpire immerses us in the beautiful tender embrace of ‘MILK POOL’.
It’s been four years since we reviewed Merpire‘s last official release, the album ‘Simulation Ride’, and the Naarm/Melbourne-based award-winning multi-instrumentalist, producer and songwriter (the nom-de-plume of Rhiannon Atkinson-Howatt) is back with her new album ‘MILK POOL’: a marvellous sonic journey that puts to the fore her immersive vocals and wry intelligent delivery. Merpire shares of the album: I …
Album review: Aotearoa’s Ringlets unveil ‘The Lord Is My German Shepherd (Time for Walkies)’ – a spectacular post punk blast from the land of the long white cloud, with NZ tour announced.
Aotearoa/New Zealand’s fabulous Ringlets have released their second album, endearingly entitled ‘The Lord Is My German Shepherd (Time For Walkies)’ and it is a blast of thoroughly commendable sonic joy. Ringlets so epitomise the classic Dunedin sound it is kind of fitting they are on the legendary Flying Nun and Leather Jackets Records label: intelligent wry pop at its very …
Album Review: the black watch releases the magnificent double album ‘For All The World’.
Spanning 21 luminescent tracks, the new double album ‘For All The World’ is a magnificent journey through the fertile imagination of John Andrew Frederick and his band the black watch. The common theme throughout is the ear for indelible catchy melodies, infused with a sparkling melancholia and shimmering instrumentation. Incredibly, it is the black watch’s …
Album Review: New Mexico’s Tan Cologne beam in an extraterrestrial shimmering dream fugue with their new album ‘Unknown Beyond’
New Mexican duo Tan Cologne has just finished supporting the magnificent Trentemøller on their European tour, and they have now released their third studio album ‘Unknown Beyond’ via Labrador Records. ‘Unknown Beyond’ is less a collection of songs and more of an evolving dream state that takes you up into the skies and leaves you in a fugue. There has …
Album Review: Pulp gives us ‘More’ – returning with an aged beauty and graceful pose but the same louche insouciance we missed.
In ‘More’, Pulp return not with a bang but with a graceful, knowing nod – like old friends who’ve learned that the quietest whispers can sometimes carry the heaviest truths. It’s a record suffused with a poignant maturity, and yet it dances with all the absurd, anxious glamour that has always made Pulp more than …
Album Review: Sparks are ‘MAD!’ and their enduring legacy is safe.
In the realm of art-pop, few acts have maintained the level of inventive audacity that Sparks have exhibited over their five-decade career. With their 28th studio album, MAD!, the Mael brothers—Ron and Russell—continue to defy expectations, offering a record that is as unpredictable as it is exhilarating. ‘MAD!’ unfolds like a sonic kaleidoscope, blending genres …