ALBUM REVIEW – HALF WAIF: SEE YOU AT THE MAYPOLE

The backdrop to ‘See You At The Maypole’ is heartbreaking. Nandi Rose, who performs as Half Waif, was expecting her first child but in December 2021 a scan revealed no heartbeat. The treatment for a missed miscarriage is most effective with two drugs, mifepristone and misoprostol. However, Rose was only prescribed the latter so her […]
When I first saw Black Midi nearly two years ago at New Century Hall in Manchester, my mind was blown, I was enthralled by what I was seeing on stage, my eyes as wide as humanly possible, stood in complete awe as others around me screamed every word back to the band. From that moment, […]

ALBUM REVIEW – GEORDIE GREEP: THE NEW SOUND

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 27 SEPTEMBER 2024

Rounding up a bumper week of releases that is equally high on quantity and quality. Sharada Shashidhar                Soft Echoes   Described by Gilles Peterson as ‘The Jazz Kate Bush’, ‘Soft Echoes’ justifies the fanciful description. A step forward, eschewing her previous work’s hip-hop tilt for expansive compositions that blend jazz and Indian classical influences into a […]
I haven’t anticipated the release of an album as strongly as I have in the case of Alan Sparhawk’s debut solo record, ‘White Roses, My God’. Like countless other fans of the work he produced while a member of the esteemed duo Low (alongside Mimi Parker), I was taken aback upon listening to ‘Can U […]

ALBUM REVIEW – ALAN SPARHAWK: WHITE ROSES, MY GOD

ALBUM REVIEW – EZRA COLLECTIVE: DANCE, NO ONE’S WATCHING

“Dance is life and you can’t be angry when you’re dancing so keep dancing”, states the voiceover on ‘Our Element’, a brief linking track on Ezra Collective’s new album, ‘Dance, No One’s Watching’. While “anger is an energy” as John Lydon once described it, the horrendous fact that he has ended up as a Trump […]
The sixth album from singer-songwriter Gemma Hayes falls into the “grower” category. It is not an album that clamours for attention but through a combination of cunningly low-key instrumentation and storytelling weaves its spell. Having relocated from London to Baltimore, West Cork and taken up residence in the holiday home of her husband’s family, Hayes […]

ALBUM REVIEW – GEMMA HAYES: BLIND FAITH

ALBUM REVIEW – WE ARE WINTER’S BLUE AND RADIANT CHILDREN: NO MORE APOCALYPSE FATHER

If you tell me that Efrim Menuck – founding member of one of my personal favourite bands Godspeed You! Black Emperor – has a new project, I’m already on board. We Are Winter’s Blue and Radiant Children have more prestige than just that alone, though. Joining Menuck are Mat Ball, guitarist in drone doom outfit […]
Another hearty week of new releases. Here is Silent Radio’s summary. Katy J Pearson             Those Goodbyes        Songs which range from achy-hearted, string-laden confessionals to sleek, chic soundtracks for the small hours The Waeve      City Lights       The second album from Graham Coxon and Rose Elinor Dougall is a collection of 10 songs that illustrate the evolution […]

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 20 SEPTEMBER 2024

ALBUM REVIEW – THE COURETTES: THE SOUL OF… THE FABULOUS COURETTES

From The Ronettes through the likes of The Marvelettes to The Pipettes, the suffix ‘ettes’ in a band’s name is a reliable indicator of certain qualities. It is a guarantee of a female fronted act, either 1960s originals or heavily inspired by girl action from that era, and punchy pop songs with big choruses and […]
French-Lebanese trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf’s latest album, ‘Trumpets of Michel-Ange’ sees itself as more than just a record. It is also part of an initiative to make the quarter tone trumpet his father invented accessible via a series of lessons, instruments and recordings. The instrument was crafted with an additional fourth valve which enables the player […]

ALBUM REVIEW – IBRAHIM MAALOUF: TRUMPETS OF MICHEL-ANGE