ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 30 AUGUST 2024

There are some absolute crackers among this week’s releases. Dorothy Carter            Troubadour     A reissue of her 1976 debut on which, in addition to hammered dulcimer and psaltery, Dorothy played the flute and sang. She chose songs from all over: Appalachian folk tunes, old and ancient psalms and hymns, Scottish, Irish, French and Israeli melodies, with […]
With a contested discography that is thought to be in the region of 2,000 releases, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry indisputably had a prodigious musical output. His own releases together with his production and other work for the likes of Bob Marley and the Wailers, The Clash, The Beastie Boys and Junior Murvin mark him out as […]

ALBUM REVIEW – LEE ‘SCRATCH’ PERRY & YOUTH: SPACESHIP TO MARS

ALBUM REVIEW – SABRINA CARPENTER: SHORT N’ SWEET

Actress turned pop sensation, Sabrina Carpenter, has released her sixth studio album ‘Short n’ Sweet’. Carpenter has struck both commercial and pop culture gold with her first two releases from the record, ‘Espresso’ and ‘Please Please Please‘, with both tracks hitting the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 and the latter peaking at Number […]
If you’re looking for a break-up album this shouldn’t be your first choice. More Break-up Songs is the debut album from Darren Hayman’s newly led band New Starts and feels like an immediate misstep. The influences of The Breeders and The Velvet Underground, among others, can be felt throughout the project; however, I think they […]

ALBUM REVIEW – NEW STARTS: MORE BREAK UP SONGS

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 23 AUGUST 2024

Here is our roundup of the week’s new releases. Melt Banana                  3+5       A record that synthesizes elements of a variety of Extreme Musics, Hyper-Pop, classic Punk, vintage Metal, and Noise. It partakes of Japanese culture overall, especially the subcultures of gaming, anime and underground music. Kato Hideki & Kramer             The Walk          A record that […]
The latest manifestation of Ajay Saggar’s prodigious workload sees the release of two sessions recorded for American radio stations, WFMU and WGXC, for his solo project, Bhajan Bhoy. These were recorded in the summer of 2023, prior to his US tour in the Autumn. Unlike most radio sessions, rather than promote the current album, he […]

ALBUM REVIEW – BHAJAN BHOY: PEACE FREQUENCIES / HEALING FREQUENCIES

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 16 AUGUST 2024

A satisfying plateful of new releases as summarised below. Fulu Miziki       Mokano EP     Afro-futurist band whose name roughly translates as “music from the garbage”. Their equipment ranges from guembris built out of computer casing, to jerry-can drum-kits, keyboard inventions from wood, springs and aluminium pipes, and old flip-flops used as pads by plastic tube-wielding percussion […]
Love is undoubtedly the number one subject for pop songs. Of these, the dominant themes are the euphoric rush of early love or the bitter remonstrances of break-up songs. Norwegian composer, Susanna’s, latest album ‘Meditations on Love’ takes a slightly different approach with a focus on the challenges of maintaining a relationship. With a trilogy […]

ALBUM REVIEW – SUSANNA: MEDITATIONS ON LOVE

ALBUM REVIEW – WUNDERHORSE: MIDAS

On their sophomore record, Wunderhorse deliver proof that every tune they hum turns to gold. Jacob Slater’s sweat-soaked intensity lurches from Cobain to Young just as a moth would flit between two guiding lights. Its gilded grunge sounds fresh from the stage, still honey-eyed and snarling. The album’s lead single and eventual namesake ‘Midas’ comes […]
It is undeniable that The Soundcarriers carry distinct 1960s elements to their sound. To adapt the title of Jon Savage’s excellent book about the period, they reflect the time the decade exploded. ‘Through Other Reflections’ is a cosmopolitan collection brimming with sublime chamber pop melodies twinned with multiple esoteric influences such as Tropicalia, Middle Eastern […]

ALBUM REVIEW – THE SOUNDCARRIERS: THROUGH OTHER REFLECTIONS