Category: Pop rock
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Idina Menzel: Idina
If you’ve got small children, you’ll know all about Menzel: she’s the voice of Queen Elsa in Frozen and of course sings Let It Go. Oh, how parents wish they could. Before being Frozen she rose to fame playing Maureen Johnson in the Broadway musical Rent. She won a Tony award nomination in 1996 and…
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The Head and the Heart: Signs of Light
Fans of The Head (as we hope they’re called for short) are rather critical of this, saying it’s a sign the Seattle folk-rockers have sold out. Some reviews even use the dreaded M-word. Yes, Mumfords. All we can say is that a member of the Review Corner had an early Head CD which was a…
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Fleetwood: Mac Mirage
The Mac is a machine and that machine has a sound, very evident on this re-release. Mirage (1982) followed 1979’s edgier Tusk but came before the generally better Tango In The Night, which we remember being hailed as a return to form. That Mac machine sounds like it always does, but only firing on one…
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Rob Richings: Parka and Boots
Sometimes you want to forget about seminal and influential albums and listen to nice music. The CDs that have the most legs with us are just good songs — Crash My Model Car and Martin John Henry might not have sold many albums but they get played a lot in the Review Corner. We were…
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Apothek: Apothek
Apothek are a duo from Oslo, and have that Norwegian sound to them, which is lo-fi and sounding like it was recorded in a cosy room with a big fire (which it might have been, given their climate). It’s got the same intimate air as Choir of Young Believers, also from Norway. Musically, it’s subtly…
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Still Corners: Dead Blue
This synth pop album from songwriter Greg Hughes and vocalist Tessa Murray is a pleasant listen. It’s undemanding electronic pop with an eighties synth feel but mid-way through its fifth or sixth play we realised that its existence was making us feel happy, never a bad thing. This is possibly because it taps into old…
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Kate Jackson: British Road Movies
Jackson was in The Long Blondes, one of those bands we always thought we should listen to more but never did; slightly worthy indie. This solo effort, coming eight years after songwriter Dorian Cox’s ill health caused the Blondes to split, is much more appealing. A reasonable thumbnail of this would be a UK indie…
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August Wells: Madness Is The Mercy
August Wells is a duo, the Dublin vocalist and songwriter Ken Griffin and John Rauchenberger, a New York pianist. They’re one of those bands with cult superstardom written over them, thanks to the sumptuous arrangements and Griffin’s distinctive voice (baritone?). Griffin is of Irish bands Rollerskate Skinny and Favourite Sons, the former apparently being popular…
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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…
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Oxfam presents Stand As One — Live At Glastonbury 2016
Good cause, average album. It’s raising money to tackle the refugee crisis and in memory of MP Jo Cox, with profits split 75-25 between Oxfam and the Jo Cox Fund. You can also sign a petition Fair play to the artists, who have donated the songs from their Glastonbury Festival set to this live album.…
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