Album Reviews
Album Review: Polybius – Be Seeing You
It’s difficult to know whether Polybius were formed, or born, or indeed anything. Best to assume the Sheffield / Rotherham based duo were forged. Certainly the (musical) DNA of Warp and Voltaire and Clock DVA have played heavy on the duo, only known as EV and the Random (“our personal names are irrelevant”) and they …
Not Forgotten – The Shins – Wincing the Night Away
It’s happened to me more times than I like to think – I discover a great band with a small but interesting discography, I’ve just missed them on tour, but great things are expected of their next album. So I patiently wait. And wait. Finally the album is released. It’s not quite as good as …
Not Forgotten: Jethro Tull – War Child
Released in 1974, War Child found Jethro Tull at a crossroads in their career. Having had their previous album, the dense and generally grumpy A Passion Play, critically mauled and a subsequent mis-step by management that saw the band apparently announcing their retirement without their knowledge, War Child was the opportunity for the band to …
Say Psych: Album Review – I’m Your Mind Fuzz by King Gizzard and the Wizard Lizard
It was a rainy Thursday night in Leeds, and I had just had a long and full day which I had found pretty exhausting. I’d dragged myself out of the place where I was staying and, even up to the point of getting to the doors of The Belgrave Music Hall where the band were …
Album Review: Underworld – Dubnobasswithmyheadman – Deluxe
Now that the storm of the remastered re-issue is calming down, I feel its time to write about one of my all time favourite albums. One of the main things that struck me while reading through various reviews from a number of fawning critics was that at the time of its release I don’t remember anyone really …
Classic Compilation: Various Artists – A Whole Lot of Rainbows
As much as I love music, there are times when I have to just step back and say that sometimes it just takes itself too seriously. As much respect as I have for the likes of Radiohead and their ilk, there are times when I wish they’d just cheer up and crack a smile. After …
Album Review: The Orchids – Beatitude#9
It could well be that The Orchids passed you by. The Scottish five piece James Hackett (vocals), John Scally (guitar), Chris Quinn (drums), Matthew Drummond (guitar) and James Moody (bass) formed in 1986, releasing a whole host of material on the tiny but (subsequently) hugely influential and loved Sarah Records label. Splitting up in 1995, …
Not Forgotten: The Waterboys – A Pagan Place
Post-punk in a vaguely similar way that U2, Simple Minds and Big Country were post-punk, in the early 80s The Waterboys were a band laden with potential, fronted by an ace songwriter with a distinctive voice. Trouble was on their self-titled debut, The Waterboys consisted of Mike Scott and a saxophone player called Anthony. They …
Reissue: Supertramp – Crime of the Century
The mid 90s coincided with my late teens and were a period of contrariness and of rebellion for me, though not in the cliched ‘railing against your parents and authority’ sense. Being bullied throughout my teenage years led me to rebelling against my own generation, rebelling against the idea of rebellion itself and confounding the …
Album Review: Various Artists – 12”/80S New Wave + 12”/80S Chilled
Here’s a perfect excuse to dance in front of the mirror with a hairbrush microphone once more, or if your like me, you could just spend hours arguing over what 12″ remix/extended versions are worthy of a re-release instead. Either way this double whammy of 80’s New Wave and Chilled will keep you busy reminiscing, …