Review Corner

Tag: Sandbach Chronicle

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    Regina Spektor: Remember Us To Life

    It’s hard to know what to say about this. Spektor writes piano-led good songs that tread a line between the arty and the pop, never too whacky not to be enjoyable but never quite pure pop, neither Laurie Anderson nor Adele. She’s a solid performer and sounds like no-one else; the only question is whether…

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    The Slow Show: Dream Darling

    If The Slow Show’s music was in a film it would a rom com, as the hero walked away into the sunset after finally splitting up with the girl he still loves; as the camera followed him into the middle distance he’d give a little happy skip because, hey, life’s not that bad really. This…

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    Aylish Kerrigan, Dearbhla Collins: I Am Wind on Sea

    This is a selection contemporary vocal music from Ireland, six composers’ work presented by mezzo-soprano Aylish Kerrigan and pianist Dearbhla Collins. By contemporary we mean the last century or so and by Irish we don’t mean songs about whisky in jars: while some parts of this CD are charming, others are more challenging. The opening…

  • Every Time I Die: Low Teens

    This is one for metalcore/hardcore fans only, though it’s one of those frustrating albums where non-metalheads wish the band would stick to being melodic and avoid the screaming. On the plus side, it’s a varied album, with sounds from brutal metal to heavy rock and into grungier stoner rock, with bands including Kyuss and Black…

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    Jaws: Simplicity

    Jaws are a cross between shoegaze, stoner rock and The Cure. They have the same kind of upbeat tempo but downbeat sound that The Cure do well; it’s possible they know this because the opening couple of bars of the first song are almost a Cure-clone but it’s the most Cure-ous moment on the album…

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    Bruno Mars: 24K Magic

    We obviously know of Mars but never realised how good he was (100m records sold can’t be wrong). This new album is so good it stops you dead. Some of the reviews we read referred to new jack swing as a reference, but Mars is no more or less than Michael Jackson; a couple of…

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    The Membranes: Inner Space/Outer Space

    We were going to say we’d never heard The Membranes but looking on Wikipedia we have — they are a post-punk band formed in Blackpool in 1977, and their first release was the Flexible Membrane flexi-disc in 1980, which we bought and still have somewhere. The band included John Robb, who we always think of…

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    Randall Thompson: Requiem

    We should have played this sooner: it’s superb and would be a great recording for early Christmas morning (or late Christmas Eve). The sleeve notes say that more than 30 years after Thompson’s death, several of his choral works are performed “with regularity”, and Alleluia (1941) at one point had more copies in print than…

  • Andrew Riverstone: Sunny Monday

      Riverstone played in Alsager recently and his promoter sent us a review of his album, which is easy listening (in a good way) blues. Riverstone’s music pays homage to classic artists from the 60s and 70s and, having worked as a session man, he’s a fluid and expressive guitarist. Live, Ed Sheeran-style, he layers…

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    Two Door Cinema Club: Gameshow

    We bought Two Door Cinema Club’s debut album and saw them live supporting someone or other when they first started; they were a decent indie band. Next thing we know our pet teenager is a big fan and Two Door are selling out tour dates. So we were pleased to get this new one, and…