New releases on CD & DVD
Album: Basia Bulat - Basia's Palace
Wednesday, 19 February 2025
Canadian singer Basia Bulat has tried on various musical hats during her career but is most associated with singer-songwriterly folk-pop. Her last album was the melancholic, string-swathed The Garden but with Basia’s Palace, her seventh album, she seems in a jollier frame of mind.
Blu-ray: Golem
Tuesday, 18 February 2025
In Jewish folklore, a golem is an inanimate clay figure, brought to life when a magic word is placed inside its mouth. Piotr Szulkin’s dark 1979 film debut makes reference both to this legend and to Gustav Meyrink’s unsettling 1914 novel, moving the action forward from the latter’s fin-de-siècle Prague to a geographically non-specific dystopian future.
Album: Tim Hecker - Shards
Monday, 17 February 2025
The question of personality in abstract and ambient music has always been a fascinating one. Without conventional signifiers of expressiveness, and...
Album: Park Jiha - All Living Things
Saturday, 15 February 2025
Park Jiha is a super-talented and gloriously inspired Korean multi-instrumentalist. Her new album follows Philos (2018) and The Gleam (2022) and...
Album: Rizzle Kicks - Competition Is For Losers
Friday, 14 February 2025
After more than 10 years away, Rizzle Kicks are finally back, and it feels long overdue. Their music was a huge part of my childhood –...
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Album: Fantastic Twins - Suite of Rooms
Dramas within dramas and rooms within rooms in this elegant little puzzle box |
Album: Manic Street Preachers - Critical Thinking
Lots of words but not so many catchy songs |
Blu-ray: High and Low
Akira Kurosawa’s multi-layered Japanese noir, brilliantly plotted |
Album: Squid - Cowards
South-coast five-piece continue their fitful journey into rock experimentalism |
Album: Rats on Rafts - Deep Below
The spirit of The Cure rematerialises in the Netherlands |
Album: Hifi Sean & David McAlmont - Twilight
Indie veterans burrow deeper into their new electronica-flavoured guise |
Album: Biig Piig - 11:11
Pop so slick it slides right by you... until you start paying attention |
Blu-ray: Stray Dog
Kurosawa's post-war Tokyo noir gleans societal guilt as a cop hunts his purloined pistol |
Album: Inhaler - Open Wide
Dublin indie rock quartet expand and adapt their sound |
Album: Guided By Voices - Universe Room
Unique soundscapes and a dynamic approach with clear standout tracks |
Album: The Weeknd - Hurry Up Tomorrow
The Canadian superstar's latest is mopey and overlong but has its moments |
Album: Cymande - Renascence
A brave and mostly brilliant attempt to revive half-century-old magic |
Album: Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - The Purple Bird
Will Oldham exudes suitably laidback vibes from deep in the heart of Nashville |
Album: Gary Kemp - This Destination
The master songwriter can't help but write a catchy tune |
Album: Ludovico Einaudi - The Summer Portraits
Long summer holidays remembered |
Album: FKA Twigs - Eusexua
A transformative electronic journey across diverse sonic and emotional landscapes |
Album: Tunng - Love You All Over Again
Tunng go full circle after 20 years of dreams and conjuration |
Blu-ray: Mikey and Nicky
Elaine May's edgy 1976 crime drama deglamorises the gangster archetype |
Album: Mary Chapin Carpenter, Julie Fowlis & Karine Polwart - Looking For the Thread
It's only January but this is an album of the year |
Album: Larkin Poe - Bloom
Heavy blues-rock riffery guides the Lovell sisters’ introspective new songs |
Album: Kele - The Singing Winds Pt. 3
The road less travelled has led to a fantastically focused creative identity |
Album: The Weather Station - Humanhood
Canadian singer-songwriter makes sense of a period of crisis |
Album: Ethel Cain - Perverts
Cain’s new album is a far cry from her debut - and much more painful |
Album: Moonchild Sanelly - Full Moon
The rising South African sex'n'beats whirlwind is on ripe dancefloor-friendly form |
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