CDs/DVDs
Albums of the Year 2023: Jim Legxacy - HNPMSaturday, 30 December 2023
In 2023 Dave and Central Cee had the longest running number one UK rap song ever with "Sprinter", a song about the logistics of being very rich. The real star of the show, however, was the spritely, luxurious instrumental which was partially... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2023: Bokanté - HistoryFriday, 29 December 2023
Is it just me, or has the task of getting hold of basic information so that we as writers can tell colourful and reliable stories about music – rather than being dutiful recyclers of marketing blurb – become increasingly difficult in 2023?... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2023: Baxter Dury - I Thought I Was Better Than YouWednesday, 27 December 2023
Just like our current government, I’m terrible at long termism. Fortunately, my inability to know what the future holds doesn’t cost lives as it largely concerns fashion, paint colours and music. Over the decades, there are songs I’ve loved with a... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2023: Rhiannon Giddens - You’re the OneFriday, 22 December 2023
My CD player died some time ago, that is to say it sticks or skips whatever I do to clean it. Dismantling the fancy stack in which it sits and installing a replacement is a hassle, but even so it would once have been unthinkable that I could survive... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2023: Cécile McLorin Salvant - MélusineThursday, 21 December 2023
If Mélusine is encountered without knowing its background or themes it would still be remarkable. There is no need to know anything about what frames this journey through Chanson Française, electronica, jazz and show-tune sensibilities with lyrics... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2023: PJ Harvey - I Inside the Old Year DyingWednesday, 20 December 2023
PJ Harvey never fails to deliver – much as I hate that over-used word, the go-to assurance from politicians who promise the earth and dump nothing but shit. With Polly Harvey, she reaches into the unknown, true to her creative impulses, and... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2023: Janelle Monáe - The Age of PleasureMonday, 18 December 2023
It was a year of bleak and brutal conflict, ugly and stupid imposition of power, overt Fascism in the mainstream public sphere, decay of infrastructure and apocalyptic weather. So what better than a record of total pleasure? And Janelle Monáe’s... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2023: Lana Del Rabies - Strega BeataSaturday, 16 December 2023
2023 was a year that was best defined for me by some astounding and unanticipated live performances. Iggy Pop for one put on a fine show, that was enhanced by an unexpected brass section, at Crystal Palace on one of the last weekends of glorious... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2023: Kesha - Gag OrderFriday, 15 December 2023
Some years there’s no obvious Album of the Year. 2023 is not such a year. Any one of five albums could have been my choice. I chose Kesha from that esteemed selection because her fifth album bombed commercially, and I want to BIG IT RIGHT UP.The... Read more... |
Album: Tarja - Dark ChristmasWednesday, 13 December 2023
In Finland Tarja Turunen is an institution. There, she’s regarded as a kind of heavy rock-flavoured fusion of Sarah Brightman and Maria Carey. She first came to prominence as the multi-octave singer for symphonic metal kingpins Nightwish but, since... Read more... |
Album: Kate Rusby - Light YearsMonday, 11 December 2023
The regular appearance of Kate Rusby’s folkie Christmas albums have almost become a Yuletide tradition in themselves at this time of the year. 2023’s Light Years being, somewhat incredibly, the seventh in the series.Festive albums are generally, of... Read more... |
Album: Samara Joy - A Joyful HolidaySaturday, 09 December 2023
This six-track EP on Verve/UMG brings the breakthrough year of 2023 for Samara Joy to a neat close. In February she won two Grammys, as Best New Artist and Best Jazz Vocal Album for “Linger Awhile”. In July she was Downbeat’s Critics’ Poll’s Rising... Read more... |
