Tag: jazz
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Papa Roach: Crooked Teeth
Not only are we amazed that Papa Roach are still going, we’re very amazed how good this is. Admittedly, that’s good in the sense that it’s generic melodic, loud stadium-filling cheesy metal. Parts of it could have been on their debut two decades or so ago, but if you accept it for it is, it’s…
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Franz Liszt: 12 Grandes Études
Liszt was one of the most remarkable pianists of all time, and were he alive today he’d probably be in a prog band, trading keyboard solos of fearsome technical complexity with someone like Dream Theater’s John Petrucci. Happily, interminably long and dull prog solos were still more than 100 years away when Liszt composed these,…
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Gorillaz:Humanz / Paul Weller: A Kind Revolution / Paramore: After Laughter
We’re lumping these albums together under the heading “stadium bands” because all we need to do is tell you they’re out. Oddly enough, we’ve never been fans of any: we never got Gorillaz, thought The Jam/Weller humourless (good singles, admittedly) and Paramore are the band we let the children like (they’ve got to have something…
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Mélanie Pain: Parachute
We’ve not come across Pain before but the Press notes say she has “left her pop-folk influences far behind”. Well, not all that far. This is a piano-based album that aims to be slightly arty and dreamy, with a minimalist sound. She sings in French throughout, the soft vocals part of the texture as much…
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Anteros: Drunk EP
Anteros (we assume it’s pronounced Ant-air-ross) are a London-based quartet playing indie pop/rock that channels the 80s. While nothing new, it’s fun and full of bounce, and plenty of hooks. The title track opens, about being drunk and in love, and doing crazy things. Drunk and happy or drunk and wearing beer goggles is never…
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Hunter and The Bear: Paper Heart
The Press release says this band are the “heroes British rock needs right now” and for once (music Press releases can be so gushing they make the Niagara Falls look like a park weir) it’s an understatement. Hunter and The Bear are unbelievably good and the band the whole world needs, never mind our small…
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Plaitum: Constraint
Plaitum do one thing. They do it really well but it’s their one trick: if you’re in the mood for cavernous, grandiose electronic pop it’s really good. If you’re not, it’s a band doing the same thing for 40 minutes. As a debut album, it’s pretty impressive, though. The Press release talks about more modern…
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Mieczyslaw Weinberg: Complete Sonatas For Violin And Piano
Weinberg is recognised as one of the outstanding Russian composers of the second half of the 20th century (say the Press notes, we won’t pretend we knew that). He was feted for his symphonies and string quartets, but also wrote a sequence of violin sonatas. Shostakovich’s influence is evident (say the notes) in the Third…
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The Undercover: Hippy Truth and Fiction
The Undercover Hippy — his mum calls him Billy — is one mixed up dude: he sounds like he should have long hair but doesn’t; on record he sounds a bit of a crusty but he’s a smart young man (his mum must be proud); he raps like Eminem but to reggae. He’s certainly different.…
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The Jesus And Mary Chain: Damage and Joy
We were never ones to worship bands; we never raved about The Jesus and Mary Chain — they’re just a band, all said and done — so this new album, the first new one in 19 years, seems pretty good. Maybe diehard fans will feel differently. The main problem for the band’s Reid brothers is…
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