Review Corner

Category: Pop rock

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    Seal: 7

    This is his ninth album, obviously. The good news for Seal is that it’ll probably feature in many people’s sacks from Santa in three weeks’ time, and they’ll probably all love it. His voice is still enchanting and the poppy soul at which he specialises is fresher than a crisp £20 note straight off a…

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    Shane Filan: Right Here

    Mr Filan was in Westlife, who sold lots of albums but weren’t really the Review Corner’s cup of tea. However, he’s written a lot of the songs on here himself, so props to him for that. This is aimed at the same people who liked Westlife — and they should love it — but anyone…

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    Rod Stewart: Storyteller, The Complete Anthology

    This is not the first Rodders anthology and it won’t be the last, but it’s out in time for Christmas, so unless you have a time machine in the back bedroom, it’s the most recent. It comes with sleeve notes from Rodney, which are actually pretty good. Serious songs are treated more seriously than others,…

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    Carwash: Disco Classics box set

    This is a “does what it says on the tin” CD: it’s a compilation of the most iconic disco classics of all time (all trendy now, and it’s in partnership with the London and Ibiza club brand Carwash). Everyone is on here, and pretty much every classic hit you’d want, from an age when dance…

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    Various: Body Of Songs

    There must be reason for this enjoyable CD but we can’t work it out, other than “why not?”. It’s the first album we’ve reviewed that is supported by the Wellcome Trust, University College London Hospitals, the Gordon Museum and the NHS. The Body of Songs team has enlisted various performers to write songs about functions…

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    Reverend And The Makers: Mirrors

    The wonder of Reverend And The Makers is not that this is any good but that they’re here at all. Becoming known because of a couple of tunes and being mates with the Arctic Monkeys, they’ve never really fulfilled any potential and seem to keep going because main man Jon McClure is a character who…

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    Metric: Pagans In Vegas

    We should really like this Canadian band (whom we’ve not heard of before): Emily Haines and Jimmy Shaw perform with Review Corner favourite Broken Social Scene, and Haines has guested on albums by artists such as Stars, both of which are quality indie. This album lacks the appeal that Broken Social Scene have, and despite…

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    BBC Radio 1: Live Lounge 2015

    Yet again it’s that annual exercise in making us feel old as, despite listening every single day to new music, the teenage associates of the Review Corner make it clear that this what da kids (or at least a lot of them) listen to. Our problem is that we like bands and musicians who make…

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    Postcards From Jeff: Modern Language

    We quite liked Postcards From Jeff’s EP last year; we thought they were American but now discover they’re from Manchester (so know “quite liked” means “really liked”). This full-length collection of tunes sees us part happy and part a little disappointed: they create dreamy indie rock/pop and do it well but they don’t wander much…

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    Rudimental: We The Generation

    Thanks to the lateness of this arriving, it was already number one in the album charts (and it’s 40 in music on Amazon), which tells you as much as a review could ever do. People like this stuff. Rudimental appear to have become the house band for new talent (though they write the tunes too).…