nick pett
EP Review: Runaway June – Backstory
When I picked this up I realised I’d been away from Country for quite a while. Too long as it turns out. I needed a kick of something different. I’ve got the same levels of lyrical heartbreak and heartache, less queer and feminist protest. But I’ve traded noise, rage, hush, understatement, for harmonies and hooks …
Album Review: Ezra Furman – Twelve Nudes
So, if you’re going into this, you need to prepare yourselves. You need to brace yourselves for the rawness, the thunder, the desperation, the tenderness, the rage, the love, the abyss, the hope. Don’t expect to be comfortable when you listen to this. Furman gives us one break – the remarkable lovesong ‘I wanna be …
Album Review: Bruce Springsteen – Western Stars
Let’s not beat about the bush: this is … alright. It’s got all the elements of a Bruce Springsteen: well-worn faces and expressions, like favourite jeans; stories that are going to ring burnished bells; characters who will make listeners smile and sigh. But they don’t get beyond that; their impact is, for the most part, …
Album Review: House and Land – Across the Field
It’s always this way for me, with music like this. Everything about it evokes the country; but not the country seen from far away of slow rolling slopes, soft meadows, trees whose green is bright and joyful seen from above and outside. Not this country. This is the country up close. The grass is stone-ridden …
Album Review: Tall Tree 6Ft Man – Boundaries
It’s amazing what potluck it can be picking up a reviewing assignment. Sometimes it’s an artist you know, sometimes someone you’ve asked for or hunted down desperately over the years. Other times it’s a leap in the dark: you open the email, click on the soundcloud link, start listening and pick through the bio and …
Track: Kamasi Washington – Street Fighter Mas
Baby Huey and a cosmic jazz orchestra made a child amongst the stars. In their benevolence and love, they gifted us their firstborn, Kamasi Washington. He has a new album out this month, Heaven and Earth (released 22 June on Young Turks), his attempt to tackle “global chaos”. Leading off that LP is “Street Fighter Mas”, …
Album Review: Ben Abraham – Sirens
There have been several moments in reviewing this album where I have wanted to give it a ‘6’. ‘Sirens’ has a warm, lush sound, and the straightforwardness of his delivery and songs suggest a singer-songwriter that believes in his material. You feel like this guy’s alright. Surely he’s better than a ‘5’ ? But that’s not …
The Provincial Archive: Bad Connection
“But Craig, isn’t rock ‘n’ roll dead ?” No. Turns out that our Edmonton heroes, The Provincial Archive, are reincarnated proof. Back as a three-piece, having said good bye to Ryan Podlubny and Nathan Burge, new single ‘Bad Connection’ finds them in fine, punching form. Singer and guitarist Craig Schram, and drummer Bramwell Park, have been …
Live Review: The Staves – The Roundhouse 9.11.15
School night out. Early start in the bar of the Roundhouse. Camden Brewery beer. Hot dogs and ale over the road at Joe’s. More beer back in the venue. Beautiful music from the Staveley-Taylors. Back into the bar for more beer. Urgh. And an über taxi home. Dirt. I think I’ve just about recovered and …
Film Review: The Survivalist
We’re used to experiencing the post-apocalyptic world: explorations on both big and small screens have taken us through countless interpretations. But as I began to watch The Survivalist, playing at this year’s London Film Festival, I struggled to recall to mind one that combined a verdant environment and isolation. What we have become used to …