New Music Reviews
Gibby Haynes, O2 Academy 2, Birmingham review - ex-Butthole Surfer goes School of RockMonday, 18 August 2025
Gibby Haynes is the wild-eyed crazy man who used to front the Butthole Surfers back in the 1980s and 1990s. At the time, there was none weirder or more out there than the Texan psychedelic punks – and even Ice-T was then prepared to step back and acknowledge their place in the pantheon of musical barbarians. Read more... |
Music Reissues Weekly: The Residents - American Composer's SeriesSunday, 17 August 2025
George & James was originally released in March 1984. Stars & Hank Forever! emerged in October 1986. The two LPs were parts of – and, as it turned out, the only entrants in – a series of albums their creators, San Francisco’s Residents, designated the American Composer’s Series. Read more... |
BBC Proms: Anoushka Shankar 'Chapters' review - somehow, it workedWednesday, 13 August 2025
You can't explain stage presence like Anoushka Shankar’s. It just "is". When she steps out in front of a completely packed Royal Albert Hall, and utters a welcoming, exploratory, London-ish “Hi... welcome to my Prom… Oh, my God!”, a friendly connection with audience is made. Instantly and with disarming ease. Read more... |
Album: Marissa Nadler - New RadiationsWednesday, 13 August 2025
“I will fly around the world just to forget you” are the opening words of “It Hits Harder,” the first track on New Radiations. The song is about a farewell. The album ends with “Sad Satellite,” where the titular heavenly object is used as a metaphor for distance, when the gap is increasing between the narrator and the subject: the latter a character who is “sucking me dry” and “took me for ride”. Read more... |
Music Reissues Weekly: The Final Solution - Just Like GoldSunday, 10 August 2025
The booklet coming with Just Like Gold - Live At The Matrix frequently refers to the band as “The Solution.” It will be the same here. Read more... |
Mogwai / Lankum, South Facing Festival review - rich atmospheres in a south London fieldSaturday, 09 August 2025
Running as part of the South Facing Festival in Crystal Palace Bowl, Thursday’s headliners, Mogwai, and their friends across the water, Lankum, were an excellent pairing, both atmospheric, wonderful musicians whose instrumental (and vocal, in the case of Lankum) virtuosity, were a real joy to listen to. Read more... |
Wilderness Festival 2025 review - seriously delirious escapismThursday, 07 August 2025
Wilderness is the kind of festival where you can overhear a conversation about the philosophical implications of rewilding whilst queuing for Veuve Clicquot, or watch a man dressed as a vicar strip naked mid-cricket match without anyone blinking. It is, in every sense, deeply decent – equal parts bougie and bonkers, like a country house party that accidentally invited in the circus, the club kids, and a few stray shamans. Read more... |
Music Reissues Weekly: Chip Shop Pop - The Sound of Denmark Street 1970-1975Sunday, 03 August 2025
One of the more interesting tracks on Paul Weller’s fascinating new cover versions album Find El Dorado is his interpretation of “When You Are a King,” originally a 1971 hit for White Plains, an ensemble which evolved from the touring version of “Let’s go to San Francisco” hitmakers Flowerpot Men. White Plains, it turns out, are represented on another new release. Read more... |
Album: Bonniesongs - Strangest FeelingWednesday, 30 July 2025
It’s not foregrounded, but as Strangest Feeling beds in after repeated listens it becomes clear that one of its core traits is The Pixies-originated quiet-loud, soft-hard dynamic which oozed into grunge. The second LP from the Irish-born, Sydney dwelling Bonnie Stewart isn’t a grunge album, but it has a kindred sensibility. Read more... |
Music Reissues Weekly: The Pale Fountains - The Complete Virgin YearsSunday, 27 July 2025
The Pale Fountains played their first live show on 12 February 1980 as the support to on-the-up fellow Liverpudlians Wah! Heat. Their final stage appearance – notwithstanding the odd reunion – was on 21 May 1987 at their home city’s The Majestic Club, a venue which also traded as Mr Pickwick’s Read more... |
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