CDs/DVDs
Blu-ray: Moonrise KingdomTuesday, 03 December 2019
Moonrise Kingdom is stuffed with director Wes Anderson’s familiar tropes. Elaborate sets, artfully designed props and Bill Murray all feature, the usual eccentricities tempered by genuine affection for the film’s young heroes. Anderson’s eighth... Read more... |
CD: U-Bahn - U-BahnMonday, 02 December 2019
Despite their name, U-Bahn are from Melbourne. Instead of looking to Germany for their musical inspiration, their minds are on a vintage band from Ohio. “Beta Boyz”, the first track on their eponymous debut album, reassembles the key elements of... Read more... |
CD: 10.000 Russos - KompromatSaturday, 30 November 2019
It’s seven years since Portugal’s muscular psychedelicists, 10.000 Russos got together and five since they released their barnstorming, self-titled EP. In that time, they’ve put out numerous other EPs, singles, appearances on compilation discs and... Read more... |
CD: Function - ExistenzFriday, 29 November 2019
There couldn't be much that's more techno than for a musician to have had a quarter-century career, only just be releasing his second solo album, and making it a quadruple. David Sumner aka Function is a true scene trouper: starting out in New York... Read more... |
CD: Pete Tong & HER-O - Chilled ClassicsThursday, 28 November 2019
Ever since rock’n’roll began, the orchestral cover version has played a contentious role in popular music. It has sometimes signified a revision of raw musical styles for those who prefer being spoon-fed; it has sometimes represented aspirations to... Read more... |
CD: Biscuithead & the Biscuit Badgers - Thought PorridgeWednesday, 27 November 2019
I was hooked after perusing Thought Porridge’s track listing; who wouldn’t want to hear songs with titles like “The British Cactus & Succulent Society” or “Mournful Colouring Book”? The latter is laugh-out-loud funny, its downbeat list of... Read more... |
Blu-ray: Les Demoiselles de RochefortTuesday, 26 November 2019
Where to start with Les Demoiselles de Rochefort? Begin with director Jacques Demy’s technical brilliance: the opening minutes are eye-popping, and even feature a transporter bridge. Teesiders, take note. La La Land's beginning is nifty, but... Read more... |
CD: Jack Peñate - After YouMonday, 25 November 2019
Do you remember Jack Peñate? His name may have been forgotten by some, or not heard yet by others. But his new album After You, following from Matinée (2007) and Everything is New (2009), is worth the listen for the fans of smart, intricate pop... Read more... |
DVD/Blu-ray: Moby DickSunday, 24 November 2019
John Huston’s film of Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick; or, The Whale (1851) is a conundrum.Despite below-par blue screen work, it’s a fantastic achievement in terms of re-creating the unequal combat of Captain Ahab's Crew vs. Great White Sperm... Read more... |
CD: Simon Thacker's Ritmata - TàradhSaturday, 23 November 2019
Composer, classical guitarist and ensemble leader Simon Thacker has spent the past decade immersed in distinct musical cultures; from the reinterpretations and reimaginings of the musical traditions of eastern Europe and the Roma people that... Read more... |
CD: El Khat - Saadia JeffersonFriday, 22 November 2019
Israel isn’t generally kind to the Jews who have come from somewhere other than eastern Europe and Russia. Music has provided one of the avenues through which this despised and often culturally Arab minority has been able to make itself recognised.... Read more... |
CD: Coldplay - Everyday LifeThursday, 21 November 2019
For all they've inspired swathes of the most crushingly mundane music of the modern age from Sheeran on down, Coldplay have always been at their best at their most grandiose. That is, when they shake off Chris Martin's I'm-a-normal-bloke schtick and... Read more... |
