pop
Classic Compilation: Randy Newman – Lonely at the Top: The Best of Randy Newman
I hate Randy Newman. Previous to me discovering his work via Lonely at the Top, I was living in blissful ignorance, occasionally putting pen to paper to scribble down a few lines of poetry or would-be lyrics for a band in need of a non musical wordsmith. I thought I was pretty damn good too. …
Track: Bipolar Sunshine – Major Love
We’ve had dealings with the shimmering electro-led pop of Adio Marchant AKA Bipolar Sunshine before. Well, he’s back after moving from his native Manchester to LA, and fresh from last years huge collaboration with DJ Snake, he’s back with a new track, ‘Major Love’. He’s grabbed what he can from his surroundings with mellow Manchester …
Track: Lawrence Rothman – Stand By
Taken from the new album ‘The Book of Law’, released on November 3rd through Downtown / Interscope, Lawrence Rothman’s new single, draped in a slick R&B covering is called Stand By, and it’s an expression of pain, wrapped up in rather lovely electro-pop clothes, with just enough of melancholy in his words and melodies to …
Album Review : Wand’s ‘Plum’
Going into Wand’s Plum I was expecting a bit of the usual Ty Segall-inspired garage noise, much like what was on the three previous records(Ganglion Reef, Golem, 1000 Days.) Playing with both Segall and Mikal Cronin, Hanson does have a little of both hard-wired into his musical DNA. While there are moments where the weirdness …
Album Review: Randy Newman – Dark Matter
Back in 2004 Green Day released American Idiot, an album on which they took the American government of the time to task for the less than wise decisions that were being made. Wind forward thirteen years, and frankly we need something a little more substantial than a pop-punk power trio to take the current American …
Track: Ryan Egan – Tongue of Yours
What do you do when you’ve injured both your hands, and as a result are left with no instruments? Well in the case of NYC based Ryan Egan, you sing all the chords and then programme the drums instead. The result is ‘Tongue of yours’, taken from his forthcoming sophomore EP, Fever & Bloom, which …
Classic Compilation: Kirsty MacColl – Galore: The Best of Kirsty MacColl
There’s a parallel universe somewhere where Kirsty MacColl receives all the respect she deserves. A universe where the wider public knows her for more than a decent, but overplayed, festive tune, or the wonderful, but ultimately kitsch “There’s a Guy Works Down the Chipshop Swears He’s Elvis”. A universe where her late career highlight “In …
Classic Album: Peter Gabriel – Us
In 1992 Peter Gabriel was the last word in mature pop artists. Having achieved immense success after leaving Genesis in the mid-70s, his solo career had seen plough a compelling art-rock path which found him develop a deep interest in world music that continues to colour his music to this day. He complimented his worthy …
Not Forgotten: Elton John – 17.11.70
After years, if not decades, of wandering about the cultural wilderness, it has reached the point where even the most indifferent music fan has to admit that between 1970 and 1975, Elton John put out some pretty good music. While it is albums like Tumbleweed Connection, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Captain Fantastic and the …
Album Review: Sparks – Hippopotamus
When Sparks roared back to relevance with 2002‘s Lil’ Beethoven, it was treated as a glorious return to form. How long that form would last was another matter. Was it a one off, or the start of a more sustained period of creative success? 2006’s Hello Young Lovers very much confirmed that the previous album’s …