ALBUM REVIEW – COURTING: NEW LAST NAME

The combination of food and a fresh perspective on Liverpool is what makes Courting so sophisticated and captivating. I saw Courting for the first time during an undoubtedly tragic acoustic session at a little restaurant named ‘Bundobust’ on Bold Street. That was a moment. Street food and a pint with some kind of monster bellowing on […]
SLIFT’s ‘Ilion’ is a psychedelic adventure through heaviness and bold expression. Eight tracks or pure, unadulterated rock n roll, this latest record from the French three-piece is a fabulous listen. The vocals are shouty, the bass and drums are pummelling and the guitar solos are mesmerising. Cuts like “Nimh” and the title track, have an epic […]

ALBUM REVIEW – SLIFT: ILION

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 19 JANUARY 2024

Here is a selection of this week’s new releases. The Fauns            How Lost             Their third album on which the tracks traverse a spectrum of styles, ranging from intricate, guitar-driven sci-fi fantasies to industrial-tinged new wave compositions. The hallmark shoegaze elements are now stretched over gritty pulsating electro beats. Conchur White Swirling Violets Singer-songwriter from County […]
Anyone filing their record collections by genre or instrumentation might find a gap in the section for lute music. That chasm could be wisely filled by the collected works of Jozef van Wissem with ‘The Night Dwells in the Day’ being his 22nd solo album to place alongside collaborations with the likes of Jim Jarmusch […]

ALBUM REVIEW – JOZEF VAN WISSEM: THE NIGHT DWELLS IN THE DAY

ALBUM REVIEW – CONCHUR WHITE: SWIRLING VIOLETS

2024 is beginning with the Bella Union label furthering its claim to alternative national treasure status. Having gifted to the world Silent Radio’s Album of 2023, BC Camplight’s ‘The Last Rotation of Earth’, the latest addition to its roster, Conchúr (pronounced Conor) White, fits within the gorgeous traditional songwriting part of their portfolio of delights […]
Mastered by the enigmatic Kramer, ‘Daniel Johnston Alive in New York City’ is a joyous listen filled with laughs, cheers and a feeling of great positivity I have not heard on a record for quite some time. Recorded in New York circa 2000, this live album showcases everything that people love about the “outsider” musician; […]

ALBUM REVIEW – DANIEL JOHNSTON: ALIVE IN NEW YORK

ALBUM REVIEW – KALI UCHIS: ORQUÍDEAS

Less than a year since her last studio album, Red Moon In Venus, a vibrant r&b project debuting at #4 on the ‘Billboard 200’ with a unique Latin American flavour including viral hits such as ‘Moonlight’ in addition to her incredible collaborations with Summer Walker and Don Toliver, Kali Uchis returns with her fourth studio […]
Despite contributions from immensely talented black artists (Lead Belly, Odetta, Elizabeth Cotten, Ma Rainey), folk music can often be a genre that enables and celebrates white mediocrity. White folk singers depend on the exhausted formula of southern drawl and a broken heart to fulfil their dreams of releasing a cliché folk track and frankly, they’re […]

ALBUM REVIEW – LIZZIE NO: HALFSIES

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 12 JANUARY 2024

Gently easing us into the new year, here are the releases from the first two weeks of 2024. Bill Ryder-Jones                 Iechyd Da            Welsh for good health or cheers, his fifth album is rich in scope, at times joyous, grand and sweeping, at others heartbreaking, intimate and tender. Cash & Carter    No Use Praying Five […]
If the script writing boffins in TV land ever needed an artistic triumph over adversity series with a twist, they could do no better than looking towards the brilliant Bill Ryder-Jones for a gripping tale. From his early musical beginnings as a teen in The Coral, to taking time out from music to focus on […]

ALBUM REVIEW: BILL RYDER-JONES – IECHYD DA