Category: Pop rock
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Daniel Pearson: Satellites
Pearson is a singer songwriter and plays nice tunes, centred round his acoustic guitar. He reminded us a lot of Bernard Fanning, lead singer of Australian rockers Powderfinger, whose solo stuff is a mixture of blues and acoustic folk; as well as musical similarities the two have got similar voices, most especially on Pearson’s Wishing […]
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Jenny Lewis: The Voyager
Ms Lewis was in the excellent Rilo Kiley, whose pop/country More Adventurous was excellent, with the follow-up Under the Blacklight more commercial and very Fleetwood Mac. Since then she’s released solo music on her own, as part of the duo Jenny and Johnny and with the Watson Twins. This new album harks back to Under […]
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Tom Petty: Hypnotic Eye
We’re fans of Mr Petty, and think this is his best album in years, if not ever. There are no obvious standouts but it’s top class throughout and we are enjoying it immensely. American Dream Plan B opens the album with a grungy Neil Young-style riff: it’s Petty saying: “I might be 63 but I […]
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Vena Portae: Vena Portae
Some weeks we get one good album, others none but this week we’ve got three and it’s difficult to know where to start. On balance we think Vena Portae, an Anglo-Swedish alt-folk band, just nick it from that Tom Petty. We didn’t have high hopes: one third of Vena Portae is folkie singer songwriter Emily […]
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Lewis Watson: The Morning
We like this; it reminds us of Tracy Thorn’s 1982 release A Distant Shore, a student classic: nice to listen to as you discussed life without being too demanding. Watson plays pleasant acoustic songs with simple lyrics, ready-made for radio play or indeed, repeated plays in students’ halls of residence. Opener Stones Around The Sun […]
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Britpop At The BBC
A slightly misleading title for this triple CD: two CDs are songs picked by BBC listeners, and only on CD3 are there BBC sessions; as a collection of songs it is excellent. Britpop was never a musical movement, just a marketing tool that coincided with a cocky new PM and some really good tunes, which […]
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Basia Bulat: Tall Tall Shadow
This has been knocking around for a couple of months: it’s really good, but what to say about it? It’s the third full-length album by Canadian singer-songwriter Bulat, who sounds like she should be English and a graduate of the Brit school: she’s got that full, confidence voice that indie girl singers often boast; think […]
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Elvis: That’s The Way It Is
Yet another reissue for the King: this deluxe edition is billed as the “the monumental definitive edition” — even definitive is a worn out word now — of his 1970 album and concert documentary, all in a box set of eight CDs and two DVDs. It includes an expanded version of original LP, six complete […]
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Gramercy Arms: The Seasons Of Love
Many albums are suited to a certain time and place; the label on this should say: “Best enjoyed in the garden on a sunny day.” The New York collective of musicians is masterminded by main songwriter, Dave Derby, whose Lloyd Cole connections should give an idea of what to expect (Cole adds vocals to […]
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Linkin Park: The Hunting Party
LP rose to fame doing rap metal, their debut selling a trillion records and subsequent albums seeing them go more melodic stadium rock. They’ve been producing entertaining but workmanlike rock for some years now. This album, their sixth, sees them going back to their roots with a slick nu metal sound. We quite like […]
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