album review
ALBUM REVIEW: Heavenly – ‘A Bout De Heavenly’: seminal sevens compiled in time for Santa
Rolling down through Heavenly’s career through the prism of the single, you can see what a great band they were at that seemingly most humble, but powerful and demotic of formats, all packed full of the goodness of proper indiepop
ALBUM REVIEW: Late Night Final – ‘A Wonderful Hope’: Public Service man takes an ambient diversion
Public Service Broadcasting’s J. Willgoose takes a glorious ambient diversion – pretty doesn’t cover it
ALBUM REVIEW: Anna Järvinen – ‘Vestigia Terrent’
A dazzling collaboration with Dungen for Swedish chamber-pop diva
EP REVIEW: Quiet Marauder – ‘Tiny Men Parts’: a critique of the male condition in bounce-along indiepop
Tiny Men Parts nails masculine creepiness and ineptitude with insouciance and tons of guitar pop like they used to make
ALBUM REVIEW: Dark Sparkler – ‘Are You With Me Or Against Me?’: fine modular retrotronica
If you’re a fan of a real exploration of retro synthesisers and the beauty they bring, like soundscapes with atmosphere and depth that stay edgy and have bags of ambience without, y’know, being ambient per se, Are You With Me Or Are You Against Me? could be just the album for you
EP REVIEW: Laura Groves – ‘A Private Road’: pristine and dreamy debut; socially distanced gig announced
A Private Road is a dreamscape, swirling elements of modern electronica, shoegaze, soul and folk into a set on which you really get a sense of Laura while she also remains wraithlike, a blur of whisper and talent at the core
EP REVIEW: Sophie Jamieson – ‘Release’: a brilliant, introspective four tracker
Her voice and songwriting are so very strong; there’s no doubt Release is her best yet
ALBUM REVIEW: Hjalte Ross – ‘Waves Of Haste’: gorgeous, nuanced indie-folk hits you in the chest
Composed at an isolated lighthouse on the Lofoten Islands, Hjalte’s second reaches inside your chest and doesn’t stop squeezing. Truly lovely
ALBUM REVIEW: Various artists – ‘Ambient Layers’: a state of the art, 20-track journey on 7K!
Ambient Layers is quite a trip through the current state of the blissful/emotive sonic arts. There’s so much to burrow into here, experience deeply. Set it on repeat and let it guide you through a whole, amniotic diurnal cycle. It’s really very great.