If you’re a fan of grown-up pop music, this is about as good as it gets. Nevin is best-known for his work with Fairground Attraction and Morrissey, and his last album, Beautiful Guitars was excellent. My Unfashionable Opinion, his fifth solo album, kicks off strongly with the title track, a song that features sterling organ […]
Scouting For Girls: Scouting For Girls
We’ve had many a pop gem land on the Review Corner desk over the years, usually to disappear without trace, from the folky Crash My Model Car and Martin John Henry to pop bands such as Allo Darlin’ and Portugal The Man, or the genius of Sparkadia. Scouting For Girls aren’t one of these lost […]
Formation: Look at the Powerful People
Formation have had a good idea: James Murphy is putting LCD Soundsystem back together (an album is due later this year), so they can steal a march and fill a hole in the life of LCD fans. They don’t do a bad job. The opener Drugs has it all: plenty of cowbell, a massive repeated […]
Paul Weller: Jawbone
As soundtracks go this is good, and Weller has done an excellent job. It’s pretty impressive as his first effort; maybe not quite as atmospheric as a Nick Cave and Warren Ellis job but they’ve had more practice. The opening track is Jimmy / Blackout, nearly 22 minutes long and pretty much ambient music throughout. […]
Mirrors: Cattle & Cane
We hate being mean about any albums, because writing even one decent tune is hard, but this album is clearly for people who find Mumford and Sons too freakin’ loud. Cattle & Cane play music that’s like the Mumfords but with Marcus’s atonal howling, the overbearing drums and the tedious metal guitar solos removed. All […]
Dreamgirls — Original London Cast Recording
We’re not big fans of musicals but this impressed: we’d think if you’re a fan of plays ruined by singing, you’ll love it. This is (as the name suggests) the original London cast performing, and it was recorded live at the Savoy Theatre. It’s based on the story of R&B acts such as The […]
While She Sleeps: You Are We
This is metalcore, a genre of music in which talented musicians who can play to a high standard and have a great singer deliberately reduce their potential audience by adding screaming and grunting. Go figure. It’s their career, but always baffles us. (Like a talented genius writing music reviews for a weekly newspaper and … […]
My Baby: Prehistoric Rhythm
We reviewed Little Dragon’s new one last week, noting they’d lost some of their early bounce. Now we know where it’s gone — the super-bouncy My Baby have nicked the bloomin’ lot This is the third album for Dutch band My Baby and we’ve been enjoying it a lot. It’s a mix of Little Dragon […]
Basement: Promise Everything
We suspect — based on no evidence whatsoever — that Basement have a fanbase that is madly devoted; they play heartfelt rock that verges on emo. It’s easy to digest but rock enough to be cool. The band members look like lads you’d not mind your son or daughter bringing home, and the sleeve photos […]
Rhona Clarke: A Different Game
This new CD from Métier is Irish composer Rhona Clarke’s first album dedicated to her own music, skilfully played by The Fidelio Trio (Mary Dullea, piano; Adi Tal, cello; Darragh Morgan violin). If you’re put off by modern composers, don’t be: while this is a melancholy collection of work, it’s never hard to approach, and […]
