Review Corner

Category: Dance

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    DJ Format and Abdominal: Still Hungry

    At the risk of a generalisation, this is the kind of hip hop that older and more intelligent music fans like. DJ Format supplies up-tempo 90s funk and dance, with definite ska leanings, while Canadian rapper Abdominal contributes slick and rapid-fire lyrics that largely avoid swearing, and are witty, erudite and entertaining. He’d only mention…

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    Little Dragon: Season High

    Eight or nine years ago the Review Corner was in a trendy shop that sold ornaments and knick-knacks, and Little Dragon’s debut (called Little Dragon) was playing. We stopped to chat with the owner about how good Little Dragon were, how much we liked them and how they deserved to be big. A decade on,…

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    Silent Riders: Silent Riders

    Enigmatic is the word for this Danish electronic band. They wear masks on stage, are known only as Lu, Gee and C and play minimalistic music in the style of Portishead and Massive Attack. Of course, mononomic (is that a word?) stage names and masks are not new — Portishead and Massive Attack were pioneers;…

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    Justice: Woman

    This is Justice’s third album. It’s safe to say their first (Cross) was a corker but the second (Audio, Video, Disco) was a bit pants. This new one is much better than the pants one but not quite at corker-dom. That’s partly because the first one was so good, the band’s Gaspard Augé and Xavier…

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    Alpines: Another River

    Alpines’ debut Oasis was released two years ago, well-made electronica pop/dance with an upbeat feel. Another River is similar but more downbeat in sound, with more slower tracks. There are no real standouts but it’s a nice mood album, good for late night or early morning. Rather than standouts there are nice moments: the charged…

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    Trainspotting: OST

    Trainspotting was a hit film in 1996, both the film and the Britpop soundtrack summed up the state of the UK at the time. Britpop was never our cup of tea, with a few exceptions; rock stars shouldn’t hobnob with prime ministers either. Pulp and a few others aside, there were loads of rubbish bands…

  • Cerrone: Red Lips

      Cerrone is 64 and he’s been quiet for a while but he’s back with this new album. Fans of Jacko who miss that classic disco era sound and thought it had gone forever are in for a treat. This is music from the time before disco became hundreds of genres, when house music was…

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    Columbo: We Know Who You Are

    At first listen, we though this band was either eccentrically brilliant or just eccentric. Anything that includes the hook from the Good The Bad And The Ugly and the classic theme from Rhubarb And Custard has got to be something to do with inspired. Maybe not actually inspired, but at least living next door. The…

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    Haçienda Classiçal

    Hooked On Classics was the album that gave the rock/classical crossover a bad name, classical hits over a lame dance beat. It didn’t deter people from mixing rock and orchestras; Metallica’s S&M (Symphony and Metallica) sold lots but was divisive. It always seems a bit of a flawed idea (unless you’re Jeff Lynne, in which…

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    New Order: Singles

    Everyone else is going to praise this, so for the sake of cussedness we’re going to dissent. You can never tell which bands are going to live for ever and which will disappear. When bands are new, it’s hard to pick the stayers, like that U2 lot, who flogged Fire round for ages and looked…