New releases on CD & DVD
DVD/Blu-Ray: Priscilla
Tuesday, 23 April 2024
There’s a scene in Priscilla where Elvis stands above his wife, who is scrambling to put her clothes in a suitcase. Priscilla has just confronted him about a letter she found from the actress Ann-Margret, confirming her suspicion that the King of Rock'n'Roll has been unfaithful. Elvis's legs in their white trousers tower before her like the pillars of Graceland.
Album: Fred Hersch - Silent, Listening
Monday, 22 April 2024
The previous solo piano solo album from Fred Hersch, one of the world’s great jazz pianists, was called Songs from Home, released on the New York indie jazz label Palmetto Records towards the end of 2020. Silent, Listening, released this month on ECM could not be more different in it moods and in its aims.
Album: Taylor Swift - The Tortured Poets...
Saturday, 20 April 2024
Taylor Swift’s unfathomable ability to articulate human emotion shines as brightly as ever in her latest double album The Tortured Poets Department:...
Album: Jonny Drop • Andrew Ashong - The Puzzle...
Friday, 19 April 2024
As I sat down to write this review, the sun came out. It was a salutory reminder of the importance of context: where I’d previously thought “mmm,...
Album: Pearl Jam - Dark Matter
Thursday, 18 April 2024
Thirty years, and over 75 million copies sold. It’s been a long journey from Nineties Seattle for Pearl Jam, the grunge era icons fronted by...
Album: Paraorchestra with Brett Anderson and Charles Hazlewood - Death Songbook
An uneven voyage into darkness |
Album: EMEL - MRA
Tunisian-American singer's latest is fired with feminism and global electro-pop maximalism |
Album: A Certain Ratio - It All Comes Down to This
Veteran Mancunians undergo a further re-assessment and reinvention |
Album: Maggie Rogers - Don't Forget Me
Rogers continues her knack for capturing natural moments, embracing a more live sound |
Album: Lizz Wright - Shadow
Brilliant album from superlative vocalist |
Album: Shabaka - Perceive its Beauty, Acknowledge its Grace
A quiet and reflective breakthrough |
Blu-ray: Happy End (Šťastný konec)
Technically brilliant black comedy hasn't aged well |
Album: Nia Archives - Silence is Loud
Sweeping up generations' worth of influences into a giddy pop rush |
Album: Fabiana Palladino - Fabiana Palladino
A remarkably sleek and sophisticated debut |
Album: Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties - In Lieu of Flowers
Aaron West’s carefully crafted next chapter is storytelling at its finest |
Album: Khruangbin - A LA SALA
Same old same old, and all the better for it |
Album: The Black Keys - Ohio Players
A safe, contained album from a band that made its mark with searing blues rock |
Album: The Libertines - All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade
The riotous spirits of the Noughties mellow into a surprising maturity |
Album: Beyoncé - Cowboy Carter
So much more than an Country album |
Album: Anoushka Shankar - Chapter II: How Dark It Is Before Dawn
A sonic journey through space and time |
Album: Jane Weaver - Love In Constant Spectacle
The most welcoming album to date from Greater Manchester’s musical individualist |
Album: Ride - Interplay
Oxford indie kings not only on form, but breaking new ground |
Album: Sum 41 - Heaven :x: Hell
A bittersweet goodbye album from the Pop Punk legends |
DVD/Blu-ray: Padre Pio
Shia LaBeouf stars in Abel Ferrara's latest grungy spiritual quest, earthed by landscape and politics |
Album: Sheryl Crow - Evolution
The song remains pretty much the same for US soft rocker |
Album: High Llamas - Hey Panda
Former Microdisney mainstay Sean O’Hagan reshapes his music |
Album: Waxahatchee - Tigers Blood
Soaked in Southern spirit, the Alabama-born songwriter embraces her country era |
Album: The Jesus and Mary Chain - Glasgow Eyes
A remarkable Indian summer for East Kilbride's finest |
Blu-ray: Beautiful Thing
Much-loved film adaptation of a classic 1990s play has aged well |
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DVD/Blu-Ray: Priscilla
There’s a scene in Priscilla where Elvis stands above his wife, who is scrambling to put her clothes in a suitcase. Priscilla has just...
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