Album Reviews

Dirty Beaches – ‘Stateless’

Alex Zhang Hungtai’s last release as Dirty Beaches, 2013’s double album ‘Drifters/Love Is The Devil’ was discordant, rambling and unstructured. The 34-year-old’s music is...

Dean Blunt – ‘Black Metal’

This second solo album from former Hype Williams man Dean Blunt is easily the most ambitious record he’s ever made. 2013’s ‘The Redeemer’ was...

Hookworms – ‘The Hum’

After Hookworms released their self-titled debut EP in 2011, MB, the band’s bassist said: “The hookworm is a parasite that lives inside its chosen...

The Flaming Lips – ‘With A Little Help From My Fwends’

The thing about pitching an album as "It's 'Sgt Pepper...' but on acid" is that 'Sgt Pepper...' is already very much "on acid", emerging...

Taylor Swift – ‘1989’

‘1989’ is Taylor Swift’s radical reinvention: one to finally alienate her country audience and plant her flag firmly in pop soil. The lead single,...

Ought – ‘Once More With Feeling’

If Parquet Courts' breakthrough 'Light Up Gold' thrilled on account of its short, sharp bursts of punk spirit, then Montreal quartet Ought’s new EP...

Superfood – ‘Don’t Say That’

Before forming Superfood, 23-year-old Dom Ganderton unintentionally helped propel his friends’ bands towards record deals, festival bills and mainstream consciousness. He produced early demos...

Baxter Dury – ‘It’s A Pleasure’

It’s been three years since Dury’s debut ‘Happy Soup’. What made it such a charming record was his knack for wrapping kitchen-sink dramas in candyfloss, but that...

Mark Lanegan Band – ‘Phantom Radio’

Despite writing much of ‘Phantom Radio’ on a phone app called Funk Box, Mark Lanegan boasts a melodic elegance more commonly associated with a...

These New Puritans – ‘Expanded (Live At The Barbican)’

These New Puritans have made their name with disregard for convention and a pursuit of unexplored sounds. On last year’s chilly ‘Field Of Reeds’,...
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