If January felt a bit slow in terms of big new albums, then February is when 2014 really gets going. There’s big albums out just about every week in February, starting off with the return of Bombay Bicycle Club and Broken Bells on 3 February. The following week sees dubstep-diva Katy B take centre-stage with…
Lana Del Rey – Born To Die [rating:4.5/5] Buy Born to Die Since she suddenly sprouted up from nowhere last year with a teaser single as polished and perfect as her heavily stylised image, Lana De Rey has been treated with varying degrees of suspicion and scepticism. When ‘Video Games’ went viral it all seemed…
White Lies album review – Ritual Before they released their debut album almost exactly two years ago, Londoners White Lies provoked a level of excitement, anticipation and expectation not seen since the Arctic Monkeys decided to create a Myspace account. And just like the Arctic Monkeys, White Lies’ debut album just about managed to fulfil…
Tribes – Baby [rating:4/5] Buy Baby For those of us looking for an exciting new band to herald the next explosion of great British guitar music, Camden four-piece Tribes’ debut album has long been earmarked as the possible game changer. When they demoed the likes of ‘Sapphos’ and ‘We Were Children’ last summer they sounded…
The Big Pink – Future This [rating:2/5] Buy Future This Production duo Robbie Furze and Milo Cordell are back with their second album as The Big Pink and, after their talk of taking a different approach this time and even ‘going hip hop’, Future This picks up almost exactly where first album A Brief History…
OPINION: We Are Africans. Here’s Our View Of Beyoncé’s ‘Black Is King’ Esther Ngumbi, a professor from Kenya, and Ifeanyi Nsofor, a doctor in Nigeria, react to the megastar’s movie-length music video — and to criticisms from other Africans. Read more on NPR
Do you remember the feeling of tearing the plastic wrap off of a jewel case and popping it open to reveal a shiny new disc? If this experience lives on in memory only for you, you are not alone. When the compact disc was first revealed to the public in 1982, its arrival foreshadowed the…
The Maccabees – Given To The Wild [rating:7.5/10] The Maccabees have always seemed to us as the epitome of ‘indie landfill’ – so much so in fact that we had decided to not even bother reviewing this, their third album. However, given the wide range of reviews of Given To The Wild currently online –…
Mogwai – Rave Tapes {rating} Buy: Rave Tapes Scottish post-rock veterans Mogwai return with their eighth studio album Rave Tapes, which continues the exploration of melodic grooves which began with their 2011 album Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will. Back in the day Mogwai were known and appreciated primarily for the ‘quiet-to-loud’ dynamic of…
Since releasing their debut album way back in 2002, The Decemberists have slowly become the discerning music fans alternative folk band of choice. While they’ve never really threatened to progress beyond their cult status, a Decemberists album can always be relied on to provide a solid dose of catchy, distinctive and above all melodic folk-rock….
