REVIEWS & NEWS
A mildly passionate experiment: Rostam – American Stories *ALBUM REVIEW*
| ⭐⭐⭐ | The ex-Vampire Weekend multi-instrumentalist melds folktronica and Americana for a project that is suitably warming, though is perhaps strongest in its most pared-down moments. His third studio album since his departure from the band, it is a relatively sharp left turn into a more subtle approach. As much Grizzly Bear in this…
Brief, but potent: Lip Critic – Theft World *ALBUM REVIEW*
| ⭐⭐⭐✨ | Having been on the rise for much of the 2020’s now, Lip Critic seem to be as baffled by their own continuing insanity as the rest of us. Their music appears to have a strange mind of its own, darting from one schizophrenic piece of instrumentation to the next. Voice-like sounds emerge…
Necessary political bluntness: Genesis Owusu – REDSTAR WU & THE WORLDWIDE SCOURGE *ALBUM REVIEW*
| ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨ | Australia has a serious treasure at its disposal. Kofi Owusu-Ansah, known by his pseudonym Genesis Owusu, has been methodically moving up the music industry ranks since he debuted back in 2021. The dizzyingly diverse ‘Smiling With No Teeth’ proved to people who were clued in that Kofi was no mere novice. To…
Spinning the wheels: Drake – ICEMAN *ALBUM REVIEW*
| ⭐✨ | Drake has been a walking paradox for a not insignificant portion of his career now. In one breath, he currently stands as the highest selling current day rap and R&B artist. On the other hand, he is handily the most insecure, pick-me narcissist to ever wear the honour of such commercial status.…
Purveyors of vintage pop: The Lemon Twigs – Look For Your Mind! *ALBUM REVIEW*
| ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨ | For a few years now, The Lemon Twigs have locked themselves into a time machine, and gotten to work studying the musical zeitgeists of the 1960’s and 70’s. The old-soul brothers, sons of power pop legend Ronnie D’Addario, have already had a leg up in this venture. Beginning as some sort of…
An adequate entry: Kacey Musgraves – Middle of Nowhere *ALBUM REVIEW*
| ⭐⭐⭐ | Oft content to appeal to radio sensibilities, applying the sort of thin plasticity and quantisation that is just perfect to draw in the lowest common denominator, Kacey Musgraves has been a sort of leading voice in the contemporary country pop space for a decent while. What gets people going about her has…
The tendency to meander: Aldous Harding – Train on an Island *ALBUM REVIEW*
| ⭐⭐✨ | The indie singer-songwriter has almost become a trope in and of itself over the last decade or so. The image of a weathered looking guy or girl with a beaten-up acoustic guitar, sporting torn items of clothing and crooning in painful detail about love in the philosophical sense is not a rarity.…
Bloated, but improved: Noah Kahan – The Great Divide *ALBUM REVIEW*
| ⭐⭐⭐ | Noah Kahan harks back to a not-too-distant era of popular culture that feels almost surreal to look back on. His usually flannel-clad, man bun and beard presentation brings only one word to mind when I see it: “hipster”. You know them. They’re the kinds of dudes asking you if you’ve heard of…
Much like her namesake: M.I.A – M.I.7 *ALBUM REVIEW*
| 🥚 | Against my better judgement, I am reviewing the latest “album” from British-Sri Lankan activist and musician turned religious zealot M.I.A. I stayed away from Kanye and the ‘Bully’ rollout, as his unabashed Nazism over the last few years is perhaps the most egregious abandonment of any sort of moral standing from a…
Ware’s the limit?: Jessie Ware – Superbloom *ALBUM REVIEW*
| ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Since 2020’s ‘What’s Your Pleasure?’, Jessie Ware has been reaping the rewards of a fresh creative revelation. Dance music is irresistible when it’s driven by insistence. The movement of the music is compelled by the artist’s singular mission statement. The intention behind her recent couple of albums has been to apply a…
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