Review Corner

Category: Dance

  • ,

    Sebastien Tellier: Domesticated

    Monsieur Tellier is an exasperating character, his output ranging from brilliant to tedious. Two members of the Review Corner walked down the aisle to his best song, La Ritournelle, then went to see him at a festival where he was such a clown he ran out of time and was closed down by the stage…

  • ,

    Oliver Tree: Ugly Is Beautiful

    Mr Tree is new to us. Wikipedia informs us that he is in fact Oliver Tree Nickell, singer-songwriter, producer, rapper, comedian, and filmmaker. He has said he would retire as soon as this debut was released and plays a character, Turbo, though the track 1993 apparently refers to an alien called Little Ricky ZR3, which…

  • , ,

    Lack of Afro: I’m Here Now

    Adam Gibbons, aka Lack of Afro, is from Devon, born in Exeter but now living in Ilfracombe. Wikipedia reports that he was given the nickname Lack of Afro while a student, when he DJd and played a lot of funk, presumably looking the opposite of the performers he loves. This new one opens with an…

  • ,

    Dutty Moonshine: Big Band City Of Sin

    Sometimes you gotta take off the reviewing hat (we all have one, standard issue from the Reviewers Guild and Associated Union of Random Scribblers , edible so you can eat it, obvs) and just play something loud. This is that. Dutty Moonshine Big Band are big, daft and enjoyable. They’re apparently electro-swing, a genre that…

  • , ,

    Jiggy: Hypernova

    Whatever you’re expecting, Jiggy is not it. Who would expect trad Irish tunes to mix so well with world and a Stereo MCs-type dance sound? For a start you can’t work out where they’re from; they sound Irish but they sing in French and some kind of Middle-European language at various points. The line-up is…

  • ,

    Stumbleine: Sink Into The Ether

    Producer Stumbleine’s seventh album, offers, say the Press notes, “a deep submergence within a celestial upper region somewhere beyond the clouds”, which in a nutshell is Moby in his more thoughtful moments. It’s a decent album, albeit low key: one for late nights and reflection. If you weren’t locked in your house, it would be…

  • ,

    Cerrone: DNA

    Cerrone, who like a Brazilian footballer just has the one name, is possibly someone you never heard of but you’ll know what he did. He has sold more than 30m albums but only had one real hit, Supernature, back in the 70s. But along the way he helped invent electronic dance/disco, the kind with a…

  • , , ,

    Man The Lifeboats: When The Time Bell Rings

    The album title could be lifted from Dire Straits’ classic Sultans of Swing, and, if not of sultans of that genre, Man The Lifeboats are at least rulers of reel (sorry, best we could do). This album is a collection of rocking folk tunes that would have an audience (at the very least) tapping its…

  • ,

    Sebastian: Thirst

    Without wanting to sound pretentious, you only have to know that this is out on (dance label) Ed Banger Records, to know the sound. The label is home to Justice and Uffie (Pop the Glock), as well as Cassius, Krazy Baldhead, DJ Mehdi and Mr Oizo: old-school club bangers. (Think Stardust’s Music Sounds Better With…

  • ,

    Charli XCX: Charli

    We had Charli XCX pegged as bland pop singer aimed at teenagers who listen to X Factor but we were either wrong or she’s taken a new direction. This still bears all the hallmark of commercial pop — she’s not daft enough to abandon tunes that will sound good on the radio or in clubs…