Author: jerobear
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Gorillaz: The Now Now
We like Gorillaz as a singles band as much as the next primate, but have never really dug the albums, at least until this one. Probably because it’s low key, induces calm and doesn’t try anything too clever. Opener Humility is a gentle pop tune. It could have been made by any middle-ranking, decent chill-out…
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Israel Nash: Lifted
We don’t know much about Mr Nash, but his music lands perfectly formed and ideal for summer. It’s apparently the Texas-based singer’s fifth album, and it’s — as only critics ever say — a slab of feel-good 60s/70s hippy Americana all ‘bout peace and love. There are no real standouts but it’s a consistently good…
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Lack of Afro: Jack of All Trades
Lack of Afro is Adam Gibbons, who lacks both an Afro and the deep suntan normally expected from the sound of 70s funk. The name might be a joke but the music isn’t, as Gibbons belts out pukka-sounding 70s soul, funk and disco, with some hip-hop thrown in. The sound is either peak Earth Wind…
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The Once: Time Enough
You can’t beat stereotypes and a cliché for the Maritimes (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island) to which Newfoundland abuts is that everyone makes music. A bit like Shetland, where schoolchildren get free instruments. So knowing that The Once were Newfies meant we were expecting quality music, and quality it is. It’s firmly…
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Vincent Peirani: Living Being II – Night Walker
This is one of those albums that is so out there it’s hard to get a handle on. You don’t believe us? Try thinking of Stairway To Heaven played on an accordion, and if that gives you pause for thought, we’ve not even mentioned it segueing into Kashmir. Peirani, (38), is an is an award-winning…
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Charlie Puth: Voicenotes
Puth is one of those people older music fans hate, but the kids love: he shot to fame via YouTube. His debut album Nine Track Mind was poor: “whimpers like a sick kitten” as Q put it. There’s no ailing kitties with this new album. It’s maybe not a mighty lion, but it’s certainly a…
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Luke Daniels: Singing Ways to Feel More Junior
You’ve probably all heard the music of Daniels – he was a Riverdance band member and folk musician in residence at the Scottish National Museum of Rural Life – but even if you missed those gigs, he was a soloist on the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit soundtracks. Solo he proves solid, though…
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White Denim: Performance
This new album is high on having a good time, taking in soul, prog, blues and glam, if a little correspondingly low on memorable tunes and invention. The sound is somewhere between a classic 70s funk/blues rock band and T Rex, but it’s all pleasurable to listen to. The musicianship is high and the sound…
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Blair Dunlop: Notes From An Island
All Dunlop’s albums we’ve had in the past have been good – you’re always guaranteed quality with Mr D – and we have seen him move from folk to pop, and Notes From An Island sees the move continue. It’s now more pop than folk, and more commercial. The tunes always seem simple (but aren’t…
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Treetop Flyers: Treetop Flyers
Treetop Flyers are from London and won the Glastonbury Festival emerging talent competition in 2011. They don’t rush: their debut album The Mountain Moves came out in 2013 and now this, in 2018. The music is dreamy 60s mellow country rock with some psychedelia thrown in, though opener* Flea Drops, an instrumental, has slide or…
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