Nimo & The Light are clearly inspired by a disparate, wide-ranging group of influences, but it’s quite innovative how they take them all and combine them into something fresh and new.
Released today, Morrissey’s California Son lacks far too many of his unique qualities sadly to make it a great album
FINAL NOTICE! isn’t revolutionary although it calls for revolution, but it’s a perfect listen for any fan of classic ’70s glam rock with a modern twist.
What makes Bonney’s work special is his outsider take on Americana. Though his music works with familiar elements – acoustic guitars, violin, steel guitars, folk- and country-derived melodies – it maintains an exotic feel.
As the epic seven-minute closer “So Below” proves, the band is full of the desire and innovation necessary to push the boundaries of their genre.
Like an undiscovered artifact of the original new wave days, Oscillator sounds fresh and exciting, including signposts of its era while still coming off as iconoclastic.
Raising Cannibals is not unlike the work of *The Magnetic Fields*—inextricably attached to the music traditions of the past and yet could only possibly be the product of one singular artist.
For an album that has risen from the ashes, Pleasant Grove Hotel doesn’t sound like it at all and Outerfield have crafted a coherent, strong collection of songs.
The source of some of the most daring and even intimidating sounds in popular music, free jazz flourished in the sixties thanks to the innovations of Ornette Coleman and the endorsement of John Coltrane, among others. While plenty of classics have stayed in the racks over the decades, there are great records that have also fallen out of print, as with any other genre. Fortunately, ORG Music has begun rescuing many of these gems, reissuing them in new vinyl editions that are facsimiles of the originals.
With its debut LP Burst, the mighty Brutus exploded out of Belgium two years ago to redefine the term power trio. Now the band returns with its much-anticipated follow-up Nest. To say that the young threesome meets and exceeds its promise is practically an understatement.
F*ck You_ is both subtle and surprising in its charms, and it bears repeated listening to fully uncover the meanings behind Annamay’s evocative lyrics.
Cobalt has been an immediate success in the electronic charts in his home of Italy, and it certainly is strong enough to possibly be Seti’s breakthrough in the States and internationally.
It’s difficult to understate the influence that Ray Charles’ Modern Sounds in Country and Western had upon its initial release during the Civil Rights Movement. This reissue welcomes fresh listening to an acknowledged treasure of American music.
Versal is a highly accomplished and original statement from an artist who clearly puts his entire soul and personality into his work.
Prior to recording the EP, Ames visited Buenos Aires, and the songs have a strong Latin feel but rather than an opportunistic novelty as is often the case, it’s a natural and respectful incorporation.
Legends In Their Own Minds might not be a complete reinvention of Sundogs’ influences, but they created something which could have easily existed in the stacks of vinyl somewhere alongside Led Zeppelin and Eric Clapton.
Ten Years of Solitude is a genre-bending, deeply personal one-of-a-kind statement from an artist with as much vision as individuality.
Guitarist Pete Greenway, bassist Dave Spurr and drummer Keiron Melling – AKA the longest-running version of The Fall – knew they couldn’t just replace Mark E. Smith when he died last year. The Fall without Smith would be a parody of itself. At the same time, the trio had developed a chemistry and rapport that couldn’t just be abandoned. So they did the smart thing: added vocalist/guitarist Sam Curran, reconstituted as Imperial Wax and didn’t even try to sound like their old band.
Whether Revolution is a beginning of something new, an ending of the band’s old style, or a transition between the two, it certainly remains Torres’s most finely executed statement yet, and ends with the exciting open question of what will follow.
Adams proves himself capable of numerous styles here, and Nest of Vipers just might be one of his best albums yet.
The Divorce Party is a bit of a hodge-podge of an album, but it also includes some of Bitter’s Kiss’ finest work yet.
LP3 excitedly shatters the notion of expectation in American Football, blurring their legacy into a foreign concept.
Matmos’s newest effort broadens their toolkit considerably, featuring all things plastic from silicone gel breast implants to PVC pipes.
A New Heart doesn’t quite live up to the work of Thomas’ influences, but he certainly does a fantastic job following in their footsteps, creating a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
Postplay subverts the past, invents the future, and refuses to rest in the present, thus becoming something which stands to become a minor classic in its own right.
It Will Come Out of Nowhere is the inspired rejuvenation of a band whose vision and voice will always outlast any interpersonal changes.
Subterranean Reality isn’t groundbreaking, revolutionary punk, but nevertheless it’s punk at the highest caliber and of a quality that will even rival the band’s heroes.
From The Roots To The Sky is a challenging listen to say the least, but the high level of skill from the performers and the hidden depths it conceals also make it one of the most rewarding.
Dance Into The Desert is a remarkable debut album which encloses a large amount of craft and attention to detail within a deceivingly modest pop format.
Dedicated to improvisation, the keyboardist’s omnivorous tastes and punk rock attitude keep at least one foot outside the tradition at all times.
Few manage to create something that at once feels removed or distant from the composer and yet still retains a high degree of raw emotional honesty.
Made Out Of Stars occasionally feels like a collection of odds and ends but it’s impossible to complain because the quality of songwriting and execution is just so pitch perfect.
the calm | the storm is a conceptually perfect work from a band at their peak, and proves that no wait is ever too long if the results are this rewarding.
Two years after Boo Boo, Chaz has channeled that chill opera’s focus on jadedness and turned it outward into riposte.
Sum Of All Parts, with its four songs, should leave fans more than satiated until Mark Peters, with or without The Dark Band, enters the studio again.
Even with only four songs there is more to the Havoc Siren than on most LPs three times longer. “Solstice” is the climax and brings elements of shoegaze, plodding along, crescendoing before coming down to an abrupt ending which is leading this listener to go and check out the band’s back catalog.
The UK Singles Volume One puts a twist on what could have otherwise simply been another greatest hits collection.
Spark is brimming with as much heart and soul as technical skill, and it must easily rank as one of 2018’s most flawless folk albums.
Elise is a very strong, confident effort from a musician who is still discovering his image, but it shows a remarkable amount of promise.
Fresh reissues allow listeners to appreciate these overlooked Badfinger albums from 1974 for them for the gems they are.
Remember when U2 and the Alarm wrote unabashedly uplifting anthems, with simple, catchy guitar hooks, lighter-waving arrangements and lyrics that unironically championed love and joy over hate and gloom? Divine Weeks remembers.
In contrast with his music’s meticulous prog-rock precision, real-world paranoia, isolation, and gothic gloom, Steven Wilson fills the venerable Royal Albert Hall with thrills, abandon, camaraderie and euphoric spirit.
“It’s already been seven years since R.E.M. called it a day,” says BBC producer Mark Cooper. “It’s lonely without them.” This pile of well-preserved pop may not stop everybody from hurting as R.E.M.‘s retirement enters its eighth year, but it can coax smiles to temper the loss.
Gauntlet Hair has been reborn as cindygod. The change in name and lineup also comes with a revamped industrial and at times chilling demeanor.
“Piroshka is a UK supergroup formed from members of Lush (Miki Berenyi), Moose (KJ “Moose” McKillop), Elastica (Justin Welch), and Mick Conroy (Modern English). For those expecting this new group to sound like any of those other groups, think again.”
