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, […]
There is a bit of a lull this week but there are still some excellent releases to check out. WHY?                 The Well I Fell Into    Yoni Wolf, founder of Anticon and member of cLOUDDEAD, with underground, idiosyncratic hip-hop with indie-rock, skewed electronics and experimental-pop. Chrystalbell & David Lynch               Cellophane Memories           The Texas-born singer’s voice […]

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 2 AUGUST 2024

ALBUM REVIEW – SLEAFORD MODS: DIVIDE AND EXIT

A decade since this relentless, no-nonsense self-produced album was released and it still speaks volumes of how times in the UK have NOT changed. The Sleaford Mods’ seventh album, Divide and Exit, has been remastered for its tenth anniversary. This project pulls no punches with their honest opinions on the Royal family, the rich, politics […]
Here are this week’s new releases. Wand                  Vertigo               Anxious rock beats scored to cinematic effect with strings and winds arranged by Evan Backer: viola, cello, violin, contrabass, flute, trumpet, french horn, trombone, tuba, saxophone, and sensory percussion. Crack Cloud                  Red Mile           The sprawling, novelistic structures of their previous albums are condensed, but the […]

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 26 JULY 2024

ALBUM REVIEW – PERSONAL TRAINER: STILL WILLING

Two albums into their career, it is already apparent that Personal Trainer thrive upon throwing frequent curveballs into the equation. Their debut, 2022’s ‘Big Love Blanket’, contained a multitude of joyous, brief songs that were ideal for their greatest champion, 6Music’s Marc Riley, to slot into any small gap preceding the news headlines. Following this […]
This week’s releases are generally from lesser-known names but there is plenty worth exploring. The Joy Hotel                 Ceremony       A seven-piece that wrangle influences across alt-country and 60s psych, with six-part vocal harmonies and elements of alt-rock, cramming a world of inspirations into a sound that surges, crescendos and crashes. JB Dunckel      Mobius Morphosis    Air […]

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 19 JULY 2024

ALBUM REVIEW – CATEGORY 7: CATEGORY 7

Thrash metal is one of the fastest, most technical and demanding of the metal subgenres to play. For a musician, it can be relentless, and for the listener, it can feel like a Category 7 hurricane has occurred between your ears. A Category 7 is not only the most devastating grade a storm can receive, […]
II is the second album by the award-winning Kiasmos, a duo that consists of electronic music producer Janus Rasmussen and composer Ólafur Arnalds. Together, the collaboration has made some of the most brilliant, emotively minimal house and techno music of the last decade, sounding similar to the likes of Aphex Twin and deadmau5’s early work. […]

ALBUM REVIEW – KIASMOS: II

ALBUM REVIEW: FONT – STRANGE BURDEN

Some type of music or musicians can’t be defined by a single genre as they blend many together such as Talking Heads, Bowie or Black Country New Road. Fonts are the new name to add to the list. Coming from Austin, Texas the quintet consisting of Jack Owens and Logon Wagner on percussion, Roman Parnell […]
Standing on a cliff’s edge, possibility perfumes the air. Pressing play we take the leap of faith into the unknown, plummeting fifty feet into the wild ocean of emotion. No sense of direction, the surface of the world we once knew without this debut is nothing but a distant memory. Now we are forever drowning […]

ALBUM REVIEW: STONE – FEAR LIFE FOR A LIFETIME