PREVIEWS: OCTOBER 2023. PART 1

1 Alasdair Roberts – Band On The Wall The delicate folk of brilliant Scots songwriter Alastair Roberts is an absolute joy to the eardrums. Based in a traditional folk sound, Roberts weaves tales of forlorn characters, happiness found in the simplest of pastimes and stories of travels near and far.  1 Cinematic Orchestra – New […]
Silent Radio’s guide to another busy week of releases. Jorja Smith         Falling or Flying On her second album, Jorja Smith delivers on her potential. ‘Falling or Flying’ acts in equal parts as a showcase for her soulful, sultry voice, her ability to condense any number of disparate styles and genres into music which broaches any […]

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 29 SEPTEMBER 2023

ALBUM REVIEW – MARY LATTIMORE: GOODBYE, HOTEL ARKADA

In the summer of 2019, my outwardly fit and healthy father died suddenly. Among many other aspects of this overwhelming event, it affected my relationship with music over the following months. Being busy caring for my mother, emotional resilience became a priority so when I turned to music it was mainly for upbeat and joyful […]
A band who played their first ever gig in a snooker hall behind Warrington Rugby Club before supporting Nirvana on tour two days later, a band who have been sampled by The Prodigy for their biggest hit ‘Firestarter’, a band who used a sewing machine on a tune and dropped cymbals out of a window […]

ALBUM REVIEW: THE BREEDERS – LAST SPLASH 30TH ANNIVERSARY ORIGINAL ANALOG EDITION

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 22 SEPTEMBER 2023

Silent Radio’s guide to another bumper week of releases. Teenage Fanclub              Nothing Lasts Forever A rich and melodic album that uses light as both a metaphor for hope and as an ultimate destination further down the road. Their sound has been rounded out by the addition of Euros Childs on keyboards and Stephen Black (Sweet […]
I don’t want to oversell this duo, but Dan + Shay rarely get the credit they deserve for transforming the country music landscape in the way they have. Their music has always been saccharine and a little stale, but in terms of popularising the softer, neo-traditional country that you find towards the top of the […]

ALBUM REVIEW: DAN + SHAY: BIGGER HOUSES

ALBUM REVIEW – ROBERTO FONSECA: LA GRAN DIVERSIÓN

From his early days as a junior virtuoso pianist at the Buena Vista Social Club, Roberto Fonseca has been an accomplished and adventurous performer. Previous releases have seen him blend traditional styles with a variety of modern influences. 2012’s ‘7 Rayos’ offered a cocktail of Cuban sounds, classical music, West-African instruments, electronic music and spoken […]
Michael Lovett knows how to construct perfect pop music. The previous NZCA Lines album, ‘Pure Luxury’, was aptly enough a scintillating collection of sophisticated, luxurious pop dance tunes and one of 2020’s very best releases. This comes in addition to his day job with Metronomy who have the art of making glorious tunes down to […]

EP REVIEW – NZCA LINES: UNIVERSAL HEARTBREAK

LIVE REVIEW: 65 DAYS OF STATIC – NEW CENTURY HALL – 15/09/23

I’m still undecided on album anniversary shows. You know the ones: a band don’t have anything new out but in this shit show of an industry they still have to tour if they are to even consider making some cash, so they convene around an arbitrary number of years since a (mostly) beloved album came […]
Jaws are making their comeback with their first extended release since 2019. If It Wasn’t For My Friends, Things Could Be Different, is an introspective look at friendships, gratitude and the breakdown of relationships. The leading single off the EP, Are My Friends Alright? is perhaps the most prominent. Taking on a more Do-It-Yourself approach […]

EP REVIEW – JAWS: IF IT WASN’T FOR MY FRIENDS, THINGS COULD BE DIFFERENT