wed 30/10/2024

New releases on CD & DVD

Album: Peter Perrett - The Cleansing

Guy Oddy

That Peter Perrett is still alive after the decades of bad habits that he inflicted on himself must be something of a surprise to those who’ve followed his career since the mid-70s. First there was England’s Glory, then the truly exquisite Only Ones and more recently an intermittent solo career – all of which have produced searing anthems from society’s seedy underbelly.

Blu-ray: The Outcasts

Nick Hasted

This other major work by the writer of the English folk horror landmark The Blood on Satan’s Claw (1971), Robert Wynne-Simmons, is more restrained than that unsettlingly erotic, dreadful conjuring of rustic demons and collective evil. He argues on his sole directorial feature’s Blu-ray debut that it isn’t folk horror at all, simply an Irish folk tale in pre-Famine days “when magic had a value”.

Album: Pixies - The Night The Zombies Came

Ellie Roberts

The ongoing trickle of quirky rock by Pixies reassuringly continues with 2024’s offering, The Night The Zombies Came. The album is the first with...

Album: Halsey - The Great Impersonator

Thomas H Green

For many performers, flirting with death is a pose or a distant metaphor, or simply don’t-give-a-damn insouciance. This is not the case with Halsey...

Album: Underworld - Strawberry Hotel

Mark Kidel

Purveyors of extraordinary energy and euphoria, Underworld never miss a beat. The new album – 30 years on from their debut, and their exposure...

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Album: Bastille - &

Thomas H Green

Dan Smith attempts to pare back to less bombast but doesn't always succeed

Album: Amyl and the Sniffers - Cartoon Darkness

Guy Oddy

Australian pub rockers are a riot

Blu-ray: Michael Powell - Early Works

Nick Hasted

British film magician's apprenticeship revealed

Album: Tess Parks - Pomegranate

Kieron Tyler

With the Brian Jonestown Massacre association concluded, psychedelic auteur reintegrates with the wider world

Album: Laura Marling - Patterns in Repeat

Katie Colombus

An intimate ode to the miracle of life

Album: Kylie Minogue - Tension II

Joe Muggs

Kylie's relentless energy never fails to impress but are we hearing the law of diminishing returns in action?

Album: Elephant9 with Terje Rypdal - Catching Fire

Kieron Tyler

Thrilling union of prodigious Norwegians

Album: Mystery Tiime - Maudlin Tales of Grief and Love

Joe Muggs

Cold, crisp, bleak reality in a sad set of post-punk sketches

Blu-ray: The Valley of the Bees

Graham Rickson

František Vláčil’s taut, intense medieval thriller is a classic of Czech cinema

Album: MC5 - Heavy Lifting

Guy Oddy

Partial final reformation by proto-punk greats is a mixed bag

Album: Justin Adams & Mauro Durante - Sweet Release

Tim Cumming

The duo’s second set cooks on a recipe of Italian Pizzica, rock, blues and Fairuz

Album: Immanuel Wilkins - Blues Blood

Sebastian Scotney

When adventurous programming goes wrong

Album: The Offspring - Supercharged

Ellie Roberts

Another successful Pop Punk celebration

Album: Ded Hyatt - Glossy

Joe Muggs

A genuinely boggling record mangles a world's worth of pop and avant-garde influences into... something

Album: Permafrost - The Light Coming Through

Kieron Tyler

A chill wind blows in from Norway

Album: Goat - Goat

Guy Oddy

Mysterious Scandinavians put on their dancing shoes

Album: Coldplay - Moon Music

Tom Carr

Pop-rock mainstays 10th album is nauseatingly upbeat

Album: Caribou - Honey

Joe Muggs

Almost a quarter century in, the psychedelic indie-dance individualist still setting off fireworks

Album: The Smile - Cutouts

Graham Fuller

The trio's third album lacks the verve and intensity of 'Wall of Eyes'

Album: Lady Gaga - Harlequin

Thomas H Green

Surprise companion album to her new film is lively, enjoyable and in great voice

Album: Ezra Collective - Dance, No One’s Watching

Sebastian Scotney

A joyous celebration of dance

Album: Jaz Karis - Safe Flight

Joe Muggs

UK soul debut whose smooth surface conceals depth and complexity

Album: Van Morrison - New Arrangements and Duets

Tim Cumming

Van the Man starts to open up the vaults

Blu-ray: Ikiru

Graham Rickson

Kurosawa's profound, touching meditation on mortality and memory

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