CDs/DVDs
DVD/Blu-ray: The RiderTuesday, 08 January 2019
A cannily crafted biographical docudrama about the Lakota Sioux broncobuster and horse trainer Brady Jandreau – playing himself as Brady Blackburn – The Rider will resonate with anyone whose dreams have gone up in smoke. Jandreau was 20 when, on... Read more... |
CD: You Tell Me - You Tell MeMonday, 07 January 2019
This 11-tracker begins with 35 seconds of rhythmically bedded instrumental colour which opens the curtain for a lovely, folky slab of art-pop titled “Enough to Notice”. Odd touchstones surface: Skylarking XTC, Stackridge, Dirty Projectors. Yet there... Read more... |
CD: Yak - Pursuit of Momentary HappinessSunday, 06 January 2019
“Are you tired of being pissed and confused?” opens the epic title track of Yak’s second album. Later on singer Oli Burslem brokenly croons, “For now I’m in pursuit of momentary happiness; it’s vacuous and a game gonna lose [sic]. Do you remember... Read more... |
CD: Daniel Knox - ChasesceneSaturday, 05 January 2019
Genuine authorship in popular music often manifests as eccentricity. Commercially driven musical entertainment thrives on treading familiar paths, tweaking well-established genres, often rooted in the various traditions of African-American styles... Read more... |
Blu-ray: DaisiesFriday, 04 January 2019
Věra Chytilová’s 1966 film Daisies almost defies description, though what initially seems like 75 minutes of plot-free silliness does coalesce into something bordering on the coherent. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, to quote Seinfeld.... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2018: Courtney Barnett - Tell Me How You Really FeelThursday, 03 January 2019
It’s been a great year for music: trailblazing and unforgettable EPs from Stella Donnelly and boygenius; the triumphant returns of Robyn, and Janelle Monáe; flawless albums from Kurt Vile and Tunng; stunning re-imaginings from St Vincent and... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2018: Ashley McBryde - Girl Going NowhereWednesday, 02 January 2019
Ashley McBryde had a very busy year in 2018. After the Arkansas singer-songwriter and "curly-headed bourbon enthusiast" played a tiny stage at Country To Country, she released her debut album to huge acclaim and a Grammy nod; toured with fellow no-... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2018: Janelle Monáe - Dirty ComputerMonday, 31 December 2018
Janelle Monáe had already established herself as pop’s next great innovator with The ArchAndroid and Electric Ladyland, two albums full of earworms, high production and retro-futuristic lyrics. This all-too-brief musical career seemed in jeopardy... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2018: Joan Baez - Whistle Down the WindSunday, 30 December 2018
We end 2018 “down to the wire, runnin’ out of time”, as Joan Baez sings in Eliza Gilkyson’s “The Great Correction”, the penultimate song from Whistle Down the Wind, the album which – at 77 – she says will be her last, though perhaps there’ll be a... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2018: Mari Kalkun - IlmamõtsanThursday, 27 December 2018
Any of the individual elements making up Ilmamõtsan would be enough. Unified, they imbue Ilmamõtsan with beauty and an understated power. That questing Estonian singer-songwriter Mari Kalkun does not sing in English is no barrier to being affected.... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2018: William Parker - Voices Fall From The SkyWednesday, 26 December 2018
A 3CD set featuring 17 singers, 34 tracks and over three hours of uniquely rewarding music, my Album of the Year, Voices Fall From The Sky by the NYC-based musician, improviser, composer, educator and author William Parker, represented an... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2018: Ry Cooder - The Prodigal SonMonday, 24 December 2018
Rudderless, and under the unpredictable and self-interested leadership of crazy and authoritarian populists, the world finds, as ever, some solace from music. I’ve spent a lot of time exploring '90s Dub Techno this year, not least the work of... Read more... |
