ALBUM REVIEW – LAVINIA BLACKWALL: THE MAKING

Anyone listening to Trembling Bells for the first time would have been struck by Lavinia Blackwall’s vocals. A classically trained soprano, she brought a purity of voice to their freak folk music, soaring with grace yet also having a lived-in edge. It would not be hyperbole to draws comparisons with Sandy Denny. Unsurprisingly, her second […]
Rivers of Nihil are a band that has never been scared to experiment between different metal subgenres. Even though they are considered a progressive death metal band, they often blur the lines between progressive metal, death metal, and on their self-titled album, jazz and blues as well. This combination of different music genres creates a […]

ALBUM REVIEW – RIVERS OF NIHIL: RIVERS OF NIHIL

ALBUM REVIEW: STEREOLAB- INSTANT HOLOGRAMS ON METAL FILM

If ever there was a time for calming and uplifting synth riffs to ease the tensions of a world on edge, then it’s now, and so welcome back into the musical landscape the uniquely groove laden tunes of Stereolab! 2025 is fast shaping up to be the year of the reunion and although not strictly […]
Marc Ribot      Map of a Blue City     While it’s not a traditional singer-songwriter album, it is his first to centre his plaintive, wise voice quite so prominently throughout. Map of a Blue City showcases songs colliding disparate traditions: roots, bossa nova, no wave, noise, free jazz, and sounds that have no genre associations. There is […]

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 23 MAY 2025

ALBUM REVIEW – AMMAR 808: CLUB TOUNSI

AMMAR 808’s ‘Club Tounsi’ is a classic example of a culture clash that works magnificently. It is a mix of bass-heavy, floor-shaking dance rhythms from the TR-808 drum machine of Denmark-based producer, Sofyann Ben Youssef, combined with the Mezoued folk tradition of his native Tunisia. Mezoued takes its name from the goatskin bagpipes that provide […]
Offering chaos and a distinctive style of music impossible to categorise, Sports Team’s upcoming album ‘Boys These Days’ might be their boldest release yet. With a constant infectious energy, Sports Team aren’t comparable to any other artist currently. Really slotting into their own niche of Indie-Rock laced with Saxophone and Keyboard, ‘Boys These Days’ is […]

ALBUM REVIEW – SPORTS TEAM: BOYS THESE DAYS

ALBUM REVIEW – ROBERT FORSTER: STRAWBERRIES

As Robert Forster’s solo songwriting usually proceeds at a methodical pace, it is an unexpected delight to be welcoming a new album a mere two years after ‘The Candle and the Flame.’ This latest record, ‘Strawberries’, is out of the ordinary compared to Forster’s recent output. It was recorded in Stockholm and produced by Peter […]
If you’re a regular in the galactic digital aether we call the Internet, you will have come across the tag ‘hopecore’. A trend that has proliferated on platforms like Tiktok, it has become associated with a particular brand of short video, distinctive by the plaintive synth-pad soundscapes ever-present in the background, created with the intention […]

ALBUM REVIEW – ANATOLE MUSTER: HOPECORE

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 16 MAY 2025

Tune-Yards     Better Dreaming        Proudly waving an anti-fascist, liberation, freak flag, Better Dreaming contains some of Tune-Yards smoothest, funkiest, and most direct pop music to date. Carmel Smickersgill               Unsolicited Advice EP           Modern classical / outsider pop artist whose new EP is subtly darker in tone to its predecessor, Smickersgill is keen to stress that “Unsolicited […]
 I’m 23 now, which is a weird age. I’ve completely lost myself and have no clue what I’m really supposed to do anymore, I think some would call it a kind of burnout. The last year has really put me through it and yet I just can’t shake this feeling that there is something more […]

ALBUM REVIEW – SHUNKAN: KAMIKAZE GIRL