ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 16 AUGUST 2024
A satisfying plateful of new releases as summarised below. Fulu Miziki Mokano EP Afro-futurist band whose name roughly translates as “music from the garbage”. Their equipment ranges from guembris built out of computer casing, to jerry-can drum-kits, keyboard inventions from wood, springs and aluminium pipes, and old flip-flops used as pads by plastic tube-wielding percussion players. Hamish Hawk A Firmer Hand ... Read More
ALBUM REVIEW – SUSANNA: MEDITATIONS ON LOVE
Love is undoubtedly the number one subject for pop songs. Of these, the dominant themes are the euphoric rush of early love or the bitter remonstrances of break-up songs. Norwegian composer, Susanna’s, latest album ‘Meditations on Love’ takes a slightly different approach with a focus on the challenges of maintaining a relationship. With a trilogy of releases behind her inspired by the work of Charles Baudelaire, she brings a poetic sensibility to her songs and is renowned... Read More
ALBUM REVIEW – WUNDERHORSE: MIDAS
On their sophomore record, Wunderhorse deliver proof that every tune they hum turns to gold. Jacob Slater’s sweat-soaked intensity lurches from Cobain to Young just as a moth would flit between two guiding lights. Its gilded grunge sounds fresh from the stage, still honey-eyed and snarling. The album’s lead single and eventual namesake ‘Midas’ comes one breath away from imploding with its own conviction. Slater’s vocals manage to sound raw yet assured and controlled... Read More
ALBUM REVIEW – THE SOUNDCARRIERS: THROUGH OTHER REFLECTIONS
It is undeniable that The Soundcarriers carry distinct 1960s elements to their sound. To adapt the title of Jon Savage’s excellent book about the period, they reflect the time the decade exploded. ‘Through Other Reflections’ is a cosmopolitan collection brimming with sublime chamber pop melodies twinned with multiple esoteric influences such as Tropicalia, Middle Eastern psychedelic Jazz/Funk and French Library sounds. They represents how psychedelia should sound, thoroughly... Read More
ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 9 AUGUST 2024
Although fewer in quantity, Silent Radio guides you through some impressive blasts of sounds released this week. OSEES Sorc 80 They introduce brass to create a sound they describe as “Sort of a Dexy’s Midnight Runners meets Von LMO meets The Flesh Eaters meets the Screamers kinda punk junk.” F*cked Up Another Day It’s their shortest album ever and arrives the most quickly after a previous... Read More
ALBUM REVIEW – DARK TRANQUILLITY: ENDTIME SIGNALS
Melodic death metal is one of the most popular metal subgenres. The combination of melody and harshness is adored by metalheads all over. Sweden has a melodic death metal legacy. The country has produced some of the best bands to play this subgenre. In Flames, Arch Enemy, and Dark Tranquillity as well. Endtime Signals is an album packed with everything that makes Swedish metal so successful, but takes risks as Dark Tranquillity, on this album go beyond their comfort zone, showing... Read More
GIG GUIDE: AUGUST 2024
We have trawled through the forthcoming gigs in and around Manchester so you don’t have to. We believe that if we are going to recommend a gig to you, then it should be exactly that, a recommendation. There’s always plenty of great gigs going on in Manchester, too many to cover them all, but here’s the list of gigs we’re excited about in August 2024. August 1st – 4th Rebellion Festival – Blackpool UK The epic punk art festival with over three... Read More
ALBUM REVIEW – MARLIN’S DREAMING: HIRL
The term ‘Indie’ has been used to describe many different types of music from ‘Indie dance’ to ‘Indie rock’, collectively being more of a spirit or thought, rather than an actual set in stone genre unless, you are one of the pretentious pricks who bang on about indie being about record labels whilst licking Dinosaur Jr’s feet. Hailing from New Zealand, Marlins Dreaming have been knocking about since 2017 consisting of Semisi Ma’ia’I (vocals and guitar), Oscar... Read More
ALBUM REVIEW – POM POKO: CHAMPION
For those of us in northern England, the word ‘champion’ might have a different meaning than to other people. “Aye, it’s champion” symbolises a grudging respect, a down-to-earth admission that something is pretty good, rather than the triumphalism of Queen’s or a sporting crowd’s boast of “We Are The Champions”. For Norwegian band, Pom Poko, the title of their third album has a more ironic meaning. It considers what it means to be a champion, that it is admissible... Read More
ALBUM REVIEW – P.G. SIX: MURMURS AND WHISPERS
The latest release from P.G. Six, a multi-instrumentalist attached to iconic indie label Drag City, breaks what has been his 12-year hiatus from making music. ‘Murmurs and Whispers,’ comprised of 9 songs, is an album of great sparsity – perhaps contradictory to expectation, the artist ending his silence with a selection of subtle arrangements. However, though they may be quiet and subdued in sound, P.G. Six’s compositions speak loudly and from the heart. Touching upon... Read More
