Album Reviews
Album Review: Mörk – Still Dreamin’: shape-shifting soul-jazz energy from the Budapest band.
Okay so we know that as far as new scenes go Rio gets touted as the upcoming centre of 21st century tropicalia pop and Geneva continues to excel in pushing its very individual avant / post punk refresh. Well, it now seems that Budapest may be building up to having its own moment with its …
Album Review: us & sparkles – When The Birds Kick In
A red sun sparkles through heaven’s space with a slate-colored haze: When The Bird Kicks In marks the departure towards a new vibe within the us & sparkles universe: warm pigments, woody ambiences and an overall witty attitude lay the ground for a psychedelic trip across a wild west inspired soundscape. The air shines dense and muggy: …
Album Review: Iván Muela –‘Ether’: a subtle and sublime merging of neo-classical and experimental music.
Writing a review of pianist/composer Iván Muela’s latest album ‘Ether’ feels almost like a redundant endeavour. Here is a recording likely to affect the listener differently each time they tune in, so any attempt to describe the music will only capture that one single encounter, the next time your emotions may shift. So perhaps the …
Album Review: Anna Erhard –‘Botanical Garden’: jibing, jiving joy to be found in this slacker pop gem.
There’s something actually refreshing about a singer/songwriter who describes their ‘creative process’ as “…something makes me frustrated, and then I turn it into a little passive-aggressive song…just obsessing about stuff that’s not that important, actually!” So said Berlin based, indie pop realist Anna Erhard when asked about how her latest album ‘Botanical Garden’ which is …
Review: Asian Dub Foundation celebrate 30 years with a consummate compilation
Asian Dub Foundation are celebrating their 30th anniversary, and to mark this they have released a compilation of some of their finest collaborations from across their 3 decade storyline. They’re a genre to themselves. Their rhythms and bass lines, rooted in their south Asian heritage means that there has been very little to compare their …
Album Review: Psychlona’s ‘Warped Vision’ elicits the distinct clarity of a band on a steep upward trajectory
UK stoner rock giants, Psychlona are set to release their fourth long-player, Warped Vision in the coming days, with the album set to cement them into the upper echelons of the international ‘desert-rock’ scene. Welcoming two new members into the band following the surprise departures of Martyn Birchall (bass) and Dave Wainfor (guitar) due to …
Album Review: Jack Rock – Explorations of a fourth dimension
Electronic music was always the sound of the future. Imagined soundtracks of what the world could be. The music of technology mirrored our utopian visions of the new possibilities, ideas and expanded consciousness that technology would bring. This stands in stark contrast to the reality we live in. With technology revealing its sinister side, it …
Album Review: Raffy Bushman – ‘Here Today Gone Tomorrow’: More thrilling post-bop nu jazz from the London pianist and composer.
For a musician who puts out an annual album release, pianist, cellist and composer Raffy Bushman manages to keep surprisingly under the muso-radar but you sense that’s just how he likes it. His music is part, yes a significant part, of what he recognises as his whole life. Watching any of the documentary shorts, which …
Album Review: Blue Nation – Ordinary People
Blue Nation’s fifth album, ‘The Ordinary People,’ has been long in the making and sees the band bring together a collection of material that has had time to mature, grow, and adjust, just like the band have done together. As the band states, “This album is a testament to our growth, not just as musicians, …
Album Review: Ross McHenry – ‘Waves’: A deep and dynamic set from the renowned Aus-jazz bassist/composer.
It’s sobering to think that it was way back in 2013 that Ross McHenry was landed with the ‘future of Australian Jazz’ strapline. If that was then then what is now? Well there’s probably a raft of other musicians who’ve picked up the ‘future of’ tag in the time that’s passed but as a bassist, …