Record Store Day Black Friday returns this year with the release of a list of limited edition records available in independent record shops all across the UK. Since 2010, organisers of April’s world famous celebrations of independent record shops, Record Store Day, have worked to shift the culture of Black Friday. Moving away from the…
On with this week’s six smashers. There’s a line on the outstanding new Mark Lanegan Band album, Somebody’s Knocking, that sticks in the listener’s mind long after the record stops spinning: “I felt its sound / down to my darkest, deepest root.” Coming towards the close of the final track ‘Two Bells Ringing At Once’…
In 1997, Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) and a handful of friends retreated to the Joshua Tree desert to isolate themselves from the distractions and comforts of their everyday lives. What began as a casual writing and recording session amongst friends has since become a project of legend. Spanning twelve volumes over the…
Once again we have winnowed 6 splendid recommendations from the chaff of this week’s releases. First is Giants Of All Sizes, the eighth studio album by Elbow. Lead singer and lyricist Guy Garvey describes the album as: “an angry, old blue lament which finds its salvation in family, friends, the band and new life.” This…
Fifty-five years after their first recordings, The Who are back with their first new album in thirteen years. The eleven-track Who was mostly recorded in London and Los Angeles during spring and summer 2019. Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend are joined on the album by long-time Who drummer Zak Starkey and bassist Pino Palladino, along…
Here we go again with the biggest release week for plenty of months. Our distilled 6 this week start with All Mirrors, which tracks the artistic voyage of the wonderful Angel Olsen: her beginnings as a collaborator shifted seamlessly to her magnificent, cryptic-to-cosmic solo work, and then she formed bands to play her songs, and…
Nick Cave responded to a fan question on his Red Hand Files about when a new album will arrive with the following: It is called Ghosteen. It is a double album. Part 1 comprises eight songs: The Spinning Song Bright Horses Waiting For You Night Raid Sun Forest Galleon Ship Ghosteen Speaks Leviathan Part 2…
This has been another cracking week for new releases where distilling the likely lads down to six proved a trial – still, here we go! Michaela Anne has long been lauded for her timeless voice and narrative depth, and Desert Dove takes that to the next level. The songwriting is confessional and unforgettable without being…
The 1975 have announced the follow-up to their Brit-Award winner A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships. The band’s fourth album, Notes On A Conditional Form, is already set to be the most anticipated album of 2020. It features the lead single ‘People’ and the Greta Thunberg call-to-arms album opener, ‘The 1975’. The band are working…
Autumn must surely be on its way – new releases are coming thick and fast again, and we had trouble narrowing it down to just six smashers for this week! We kick off with Why Me? Why Not, a clear upgrade on As You Were but not a radical departure from it, which will come…