album review
Album: Birdpen – All Function One
English alternative rock duo Birdpen are the creation of Dave Pen and Mike Bird. They mix elements of alternative guitar rock, experimental electronica and Krautrock with cinematic moods, all delivered with powerful and meaningful lyrics. All Function One is an album written as the world was changing at the start of the 2020 pandemic. An …
Album Review: Dance punk exponents Death From Above 1979 release new album ‘Is 4 Lovers’
After months of fierce anticipation Death From Above 1979’s fourth LP release, ‘Is 4 Lovers’, finally drops today. Produced, mastered and recorded entirely by bassist Sebastien Grainger and drummer Jesse F. Keeler, the album captures that unmistakable, boundary-shoving dance-punk sounds fans remember, along with some redefining of their original format. DFA wanted this record to …
Album Review: In ‘Today We’re The Greatest’, Sydney’s Middle Kids explore angst and redemption draped in a sparkling, glittering cloak.
There is a beautiful tension the work of Sydney trio Middle Kids. Songs that detail childhood trauma, wayward ways and personal angst are delivered in the most shining and sparkling coat of many colours. Even at their darkest, though, the lyrics can exhibit a wry sense of humour; a sense of resignation and acceptance and …
Album review: Ben Howard – ‘Collections From The Whiteout’: engrossing, tragic stories on his best yet
WHAT a day it is for Ben Howard as he returns with Collections From The Whiteout – an album rich in engrossing stories and full-bodied instrumentals. Critically acclaimed English singer-songwriter Ben has created his fourth studio album in a run beginning with 2011’s Every Kingdom. It’s a 14-track album that appears simple to the naked …
Album review: Renee Reed – ‘Renee Reed’: an excellent, ethereal debut from Louisiana folk chanteuse
Renée Reed’s debut is spun from very clever finery; a flow of tracks, folky and so American and yet so European, psychedelic in the way Devendra is, spectral in the way Marissa Nadler so is; Espers, but less mushroomy. Renée: she’s such a talent. I’m not sure if I want to wake from this particular spell.
Album review: Conrad Schnitzler – ‘Paracon: The Paragon Session Outtakes 1978-1979’ – more solid-state wizardry from the Kluster genius’s archives
Outtakes these nominally may be, but a decade on these tracks would have all seen a parallel life in the 12″ and the like; a format which was only just starting to find its viability Stateside at this point in the Seventies. And remember not just that these ten tracks are culled from a year or more’s intense creative fire, but that those sessions gave birth to three albums. It’s an album for intense post-dusk savouring, soundscapes to fall sideways down the rabbit hole into, deep and otherworldly sonic immersion from one of the greatest electronic music brains.
Album review: Mint Julep – ‘In A Deep and Dreamless Sleep’: kaleidoscopic and dreamy shoegaze pop
FOLLOWING on from 2019’s sumptuous release Stray Fantasies, the duo of Hollie and Keith Kenniff return with a kaleidoscopic and dreamy shoegaze pop venture that is at times an extension of the previous album and yet also a progression of the creative partnership. From the album opener, “A Rising Sun”, this is not merely a collection …
Album review: Chad VanGaalen – ‘The World’s Most Stressed Out Gardener’: an excellent, multifaceted curio of psych and fun
YOU’VE gotta love Chad VanGaalen, the Albertan singer-songwriter who completely follows his own muse, sees the world his own goddam way, thank you very much; and who’s been delighting those of us in the know for a decade and a half now. He first emerged blinking into the musical sunlight with his Infiniheart album for …
Album review: Deniz Cuylan – ‘No Such Thing As Free Will’: a pastoral instrumental guitar gem
No Such Thing As Free Will is a much prettier and more enveloping record than words can convey; it has a really nice poise between the disciplines of the leftfield, the guitar soli and that of bright folk melody. In this regard if you’re a fan of early to mid-period James Blackshaw, but also very much the quartet of ‘free folk’ albums Stockholm’s Andreas Söderström released as ASS in the decade from 2006, you’ll find an awful lot to love. A bright, studious, harmonic, pastoral gem
Album Review: The Paper Kites’ ‘Roses’, featuring stunning collaborations with global female guest singers, is a delicate and beautiful album
The Australian folk/indie pop band The Paper Kites are musical icons and in ‘Roses’, their fifth album, they have crafted a breathtakingly beautiful album that has an indelible sheen and stature. This is a band that is simply getting better every release, and in this release the boundaries have been further extended by a coterie …