ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 18 AUGUST 2023

An assorted range of goodies summarised in Silent Radio’s weekly roundup of new releases. Grace Potter      Mother Earth     Singer-songwriter with an expansive and occasionally blistering soundscape of soulful rock, roots, funk, country, and R&B. Final track, the ‘Fetch the Bolt Cutters’ era Fiona Apple-esque ‘Masterpiece’ wins the accolade of Song of the Week. OSEES                   […]
‘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’ […]

ALBUM REVIEW – WILLIE J HEALEY: BUNNY

INTERVIEW: CO-PILOT (JIM NOIR AND LEONORE WHEATLEY)

Manchester’s Jim Noir and Leonore Wheatley have joined forces as Co-Pilot, creating a debut album bursting with intriguing electronica. It manages to combine synth riffs with disco, funk and pop for an album which is mesmersingly enjoyable. From their studio in ‘the least gentrified area of Manchester’ they tell us about their love of disco, […]
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

NEWS: SUFJAN STEVENS ANNOUNCES OCTOBER RELEASE OF NEW ALBUM

Asthmatic Kitty Records will be hurling a new Sufjan Stevens album, ‘Javelin’, into the world on 6th October 2023. It will be his first solo release since 2020’s ‘The Ascension’ and the first in full singer-songwriter mode since 2015’s ‘Carrie & Lowell’. The ten songs are promised to encapsulate the entire experience of Stevens’ 25-year […]
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 […]

ALBUM REVIEW – SUPAKARMA: SUPAKARMA

PREVIEWS: AUGUST GIGS NOT TO MISS

Swans: Albert Halls: 12th August  Legendary US noise rockers make a triumphant return to Manchester in support of brilliant new album ‘The Beggar’. The NYC guitar band first formed in 1982 and were part of the explosion of experimental guitar bands from NY which included Sonic Youth, Suicide and The Bush Tetras.  Mannequin Death Squad […]
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