thu 03/07/2025

New releases on CD & DVD

Album: Claudia Brücken - Night Mirror

Thomas H Green

German singer Claudia Brücken has had a long and busy career, initially defined by her role in Propaganda. They were a cult 1980s band on ZTT Records who laced their opulent synth pop with an appealingly morbid Teutonic sensibility.

Album: Mocky - Music Will Explain (Choir Music Vol. 1)

Joe Muggs

Dominic “Mocky” Salole has had a long career in which the tension between authenticity and pastiche has been a constant. Toronto-born, of English and Yemeni heritage, he came of musical age in the Bohemian hotbed of 1990s Berlin with a close-knit bunch of other Canadian ex-pats, including Peaches, Chilly Gonzales and Feist.

Album: Brìghde Chaimbeul - Sunwise

Kieron Tyler

The first five-and-a-half minutes of Sunwise’s opening track “Dùsgadh / Waking" are taken up by a drone. Played on the Scottish small pipes – a form...

Album: JF Robitaille & Lail Arad - Wild Moves

Thomas H Green

Around eight years ago, London singer-songwriter Lail Arad started releasing one-off tracks with Canadian singer JF Robitaille, once of Montreal...

Album: Lorde - Virgin

James Mellen

Lorde’s trajectory is continually fascinating. From the minimalist, sparse electropop of Pure Heroine to the similar but more grandiose production of...

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Album: Bruce Springsteen - Tracks II: The Lost Albums

Liz Thomson

The Boss: Finding joy in imperfections

Album: BC Camplight - A Sober Conversation

Kieron Tyler

Brian Christinzio exorcises childhood trauma

Album: Durand and the Indications - Flowers

Mark Kidel

Languorous neo-soul to chill by

Album: Yungblud - Idols

Guy Oddy

Dominic Harrison’s latest disc fails to live up to the hype

Album: Loyle Carner - Hopefully!

Ibi Keita

The rapper takes a deep breath with his latest release

Album: HAIM - I Quit

Thomas H Green

The Californian trio convincingly continue their ascent to the top of the pop-rock tree

Blu-ray: Darling

Demetrios Matheou

John Schlesinger's Sixties classic now feels problematic, but retains an icky fascination

Album: Yaya Bey - do it afraid

Joe Muggs

The continued maturation of Yaya Bey and of modern R&B dazzles and nourishes at every turn

Album: The Young Gods - Appear Disappear

Guy Oddy

Swiss electro-rockers unleash a techno-metal monster

Album: Sam Binga - Sam Binga Presents Club Orthodontics

Joe Muggs

A thrilling whirlwind tour of bass culture across decades and continents

Album: Neil Young & the Chrome Hearts - Talkin' to the Trees

Guy Oddy

Musical titan reflects on his life as he careers towards his 80th birthday

Album: Mary Halvorson - About Ghosts

Kieron Tyler

Lauded US jazz guitarist strikes a balance between the composed and the improvised

Album: Marina - Princess of Power

Thomas H Green

Sixth album from L.A.-based Welsh singer is over-the-top but rife with pop gems

Album: Mary Chapin Carpenter - Personal History

Liz Thomson

Distinctive, intimate, perfectly pitched

Album: Van Morrison - Remembering Now

Tim Cumming

As he approaches 80, a lush new set has an invigorated Van showing his mystical side

Album: Pulp - More

Kathryn Reilly

The very opposite of past it, this immersive offering is perfectly timed

Album: Turnstile - NEVER ENOUGH

Ibi Keita

Hardcore, ambient and everything in between

Album: Little Simz - Lotus

Joe Muggs

A major hurdle in the UK star's career path proves to be no barrier

Album: Death In Vegas - Death Mask

Thomas H Green

Electronic music perennial returns with an hour of deep techno illbience

Blu-ray: Eclipse

John Carvill

The BFI has unearthed an unsettling 1977 thriller starring Tom Conti and Gay Hamilton

Album: Nick Mulvey - Dark Harvest Pt.1

Thomas H Green

Fourth album from unique singer-songwriter is patchy but contains gold

Album: Miley Cyrus - Something Beautiful

Joe Muggs

Psychedelic soft rock of staggering ambition that so, so nearly hits the brief

Album: Sally Shapiro - Ready to Live a Lie

Kieron Tyler

Dance music-inspired Swedish pop which lacks the necessary vital spark

Blu-ray: Strange New Worlds - Science Fiction at DEFA

Graham Rickson

Eye-popping Cold War sci-fi epics from East Germany, superbly remastered and annotated

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