ALBUM REVIEW – WILLIE J HEALEY: BUNNY

‘Bunny’, the third album from Willie J Healey, has a timeless quality. It conjures tunes blaring from the radio on carefree sunny days during childhood but manages the precious knack of sounding reassuringly familiar yet fresh. There are distinct echoes of the 1970s in some of its reference points (David Bowie’s relatively unknown ‘The Gouster’ […]
SPELLLING’s ‘The Turning Wheel’ was one of 2021’s happiest musical surprises. A record that was astonishing in its scope, a cosmic soul, alt-pop delight brimming with melodrama and personnel (31 collaborating musicians). It represented a huge leap from Chrystia Cabral’s (who performs under the orthographically challenged name of SPELLLING) previous two smaller scale albums, 2017’s […]

ALBUM REVIEW: SPELLLING: SPELLLING & THE MYSTERY SCHOOL

ALBUM REVIEW – SUPAKARMA: SUPAKARMA

In the latter half of the 1990s, four musicians from Milton Keynes were at the nadir of their career as part of experimental rock outfit Supakarma: recording their debut album at the Great Linford Manor studio (which had previously welcomed artists like PJ Harvey and the Charlatans) following a successful run of shows on the […]
Probably the quietest week in terms of volume since early January but there are some tasty releases nevertheless. Candy Claws      Ceres & Calypso In The Deep Time           Tenth anniversary reissue that warranted a fanfare first time round. Candy Claws craft traces of Broadcast, The Left Banke, Blonde Redhead and Tropicalia into an eye-popping sound while […]

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 11 AUGUST 2023

ALBUM REVIEW – THE SHERLOCKS: PEOPLE LIKE ME & YOU

Hooking vocals and guitar riffs that’ll have you on the edge of your seat make The Sherlocks new album ‘People Like Me And You’ a must listen. All thirteen tracks are unique but still ideal to make a gig crowd go wild. A sharper more edgy track ‘Sirens’ was a standout from the album. Beginning […]
Side projects offer the ideal space for artists to reveal previously unseen aspects of their musical fascinations. The band Bo Ningen is associated with brutal slabs of heavy psychedelic guitar assaults but the first release from Chela allows their guitar mangler and synth wrangler Kohhei Matsuda to reveal a more experimental side. On ’Diagonal Drift’ […]

ALBUM REVIEW – CHELA: DIAGONAL DRIFT

ALBUM REVIEW – DUN RINGILL: 150-WHERE THE OLD GODS PLAY ACT 1

Sometimes, you listen to a band and imagine that one Tuesday, sitting at the kitchen table two retired parents watch their middle-aged child emerge from his basement bedroom, long hair flowing, leather jacket shining in the midday light, carrying his spiky guitar off to band practice and they just look at one another as if […]
Here is a chance to browse through the Silent Radio rack of this week’s album releases, an intriguing array of generally newer artists to discover. Oiro Pena            Puna      Finnish jazz collective creating a mix of lo-fi spiritual jazz, experimental, and avant-garde music forms. It includes four vocal tracks recorded with Merikukka Kiviharju, which feature both […]

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 4 AUGUST 2023

ALBUM REVIEW – HOLY WAVE: FIVE OF CUPS

At a Tarot reading during the pandemic, Ryan Fuson of Holy Wave was struck by the Five of Cups card which signifies loss and grief. A cloaked figure with a bowed head looming over three spilled chalices while ignoring the two full vessels, it is seen as symbolising dwelling in a negative past rather than […]
The Last Dinner Party are breaking all the rules. Tonight, they have sold out the jewel in the Manchester live music crown having released exactly two songs; by the time they are back in town in October to play the much larger Academy 2, they’re unlikely to have released many more. This is virtually unheard […]

LIVE REVIEW: THE LAST DINNER PARTY – DEAF INSTITUTE 28/07/23