Legendary Phoenix experimental band Paris 1942 – whose drummer was Velvet Underground icon Maureen Tucker – only existed for a year or so in the early ‘80s before core members Alan and Richard Bishop devoted their full attention to their main band, Sun City Girls. In that brief period, they rehearsed a lot, played a handful of shows and recorded a batch of songs, one of which appeared on a compilation in ’82, with a bunch more belatedly released as an album and an EP a decade later. Frustratingly, this compilation includes most – but not all – of that material, plus 11 previously unreleased tracks, sourced from the band’s mass of tapes. Why not just release it all? Too many repeated songs perhaps, but either way, this 19-song retrospective gives…
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…Oasis have released a 25th anniversary reissue of their Wembley Stadium live album ‘Familiar to Millions’. The recording of their iconic July 21 2000 show at the London venue was released in November of that year, marking their first ever official live album. Now, the record is being reissued in limited edition formats in both 2CD and 3LP formats.
The Gallagher brothers’ boundless, boorish, boasting bluster and blather only felt like brazen British working class moxie as long as they made great records that backed up their obnoxious arrogance. So when the songwriting fell off the last six years, on the bloated Be Here Now and Standing on the Shoulder of Giants, it was like watching helium hiss out of an overstuffed…
Jeremy Dower briefly appeared on the electronic music landscape with a handful of releases during the early 2000s on labels like Plug Research and Chapter Music which brought to mind the Muzak-inspired easy listening mood music of Curd Duca, but with a surreal touch of ambient techno glitchiness not unlike Uwe Schmidt/Atom Heart’s various monikers. Since that time, he’s become much more well-known as a visual artist, film director, and lecturer, and he contributed a chiptune-inspired rendition of Danny Elfman’s iconic theme to The Simpsons for a pixilated version of the show’s opening couch gag, which went viral on YouTube and was then used in the show itself. Soon after Chapter Music made Dower’s brief discography available…
As Farao, Kari Jahnsen has experimented with a range of electronic-acoustic palettes, setting her textured arrangements within indie folk, alt-pop, orchestral rock, glossier electronica settings, and combinations thereof.
With her third album, Magical Thinking, she leans into an R&B-inflected alternative dance sensibility that falls on the sleeker extreme of her output thus far, although it should be noted that both she and producer Ådne Meisfjord (120 Days) are credited with beats, synths, percussion, and, last but not least, zither. So, she hasn’t left her blended, psychedelic-leaning approach behind. It also isn’t entirely club-friendly. The album was recorded between Berlin and Oslo, Jahnsen’s former and re-adopted base, respectively.
Singer/songwriter runo plum started devoting more time to her music in 2020 during COVID-19 shutdowns, resulting in a handful of singles and EPs over the next four years. Not a spare solo act, she wrapped her intimate, introspective songs in atmospheric full-band arrangements early on, and she recorded her debut album in a remote cabin in Vermont with producer Lutalo (a fellow Minneapolis-born singer/songwriter and Winspear labelmate who also played drums on the record) and guitarist Noa Francis (plum’s partner). Titled patching, the breakup- and isolation-inspired album opens with “Sickness,” a song with both a light bounce and notes of melancholy, and with strummed acoustic and electric guitars, all combining to underscore lyrics…
It’s been a significant year for chamber-pop band Winterpills. The Western Massachusetts quintet recently marked their 20th anniversary with a remixed reissue of their debut album — complete with a pair of bonus tracks — and now they’ve returned with This Is How We Dance, their eighth album and first release in nine years.
Across these 12 songs, the rich melodies, shimmering guitars, and evocative lyrics serve as a reminder that even after a long hiatus, Winterpills have lost none of their luster. In fact, they may sound better than ever. Philip Price, the band’s principal lyricist, can summon a mood with just a small turn of phrase, and when his voice intertwines with Flora Reed’s, their harmonies create the luminous core of the band’s sound.
Pavement took different forms on each of the five albums they released during their initial hot streak in the ’90s, setting the tone for both the indie rock of their day and all that followed with each iteration. While their album output was relatively scant, the impression they made was outsized, and their combination of songwriting excellence and genre-defining laconic style made for multiple classic tunes on most of their albums. Hecklers Choice: Big Gums and Heavy Lifters is like a best-of compilation, and not Pavement’s first. In 2010, Quarantine the Past collected over 20 of the band’s best-loved and most-requested songs, making for a playlist that omitted a lot of the experimental sidetracks and oddball moments that showed up on most of the albums.
After releasing debut single ‘Norwegian Wood’ in 2023, Picture Parlour were met with an immediate cascade of praise – one which even included an endorsement from Courtney Love. Two years later, their rise has been steadier than that flash-in-the-pan start suggested it would be, and the wait has paid off. Here, the band sound like they’ve been ripped straight from the ‘70s – indeed, one needs look no further than their Pink Floyd-inspired album cover or guitarist Ella Risi’s swaggering, Zeppelin-esque riffs (see: ‘Cielo Drive’) to be transported back in time.
Throughout The Parlour, raw, uncut electric guitar drives Katherine Parlour’s blazing vocals, with pure rock’n’roll spirit carrying them through – think Amy Winehouse fronting T. Rex. But while…
Bourj Hammoud Groove celebrates the music of Armenian-Lebanese artist Ara Kekedjian, a key figure in shaping Beirut’s distinctive Estradayin pop sound. Blending disco rhythms, synth-pop textures and Armenian melodic traditions, Kekedjian crafted a sound both rooted in community and universal in appeal.
…Born in 1946 in Bourj Hammoud, Lebanon, Ara became a central figure in the Armenian pop scene of the 1960s and 70s. With his mix of Armenian rhythms, hard-hitting drums, funky guitars, and charismatic stage presence, he carved out a bold sound in Estradayin (Armenian) pop rock.
In the 1970s, the Beirut suburb Bourj Hammoud became a hub of creativity and it was home to countless labels, record shops, and venues.
Rebuilding is a poignant new film about recovery and resilience from American director Max Walker-Silverman and starring hot property Josh O’Connor as a stoic rancher looking to rebuild his life after a wildfire destroys his land. A quiet and sensitive picture, the makers decided the artist to bring its musical side to life was folklore forager and discerning composer Jake Xerxes Fussell, who in turn enlisted the services of producer and musician James Elkington to share the load.
This power couple have plenty of proof of their productivity, most recently with Jake’s lovely When I’m Called album, which James produced and played on, plus 2022’s Good and Green Again, with James in the chair again. For this project, the pair collaborated remotely until…
Winner of the Golden Lion Best Film prize at the 2025 Venice Film Festival, Father Mother Sister Brother is the eagerly-awaited new film from Jim Jarmusch, featuring the collaborative soundtrack by Anika and Jim Jarmusch. Funny, tender and astutely observed, this is an intimate exploration of the universal intricacies of family dynamics. Starring Tom Waits, Adam Driver, Mayim Bialik, Charlotte Rampling, Cate Blanchett, Vicky Krieps, Indya Moore and Luka Sabbat.
Jim Jarmusch and Anika first crossed paths at the Sacred Bones 15th Anniversary celebration in 2022, where both Anika and SQÜRL performed. Jim was immediately struck by Anika’s performance, while Anika admired Jim as a mentor who had stayed true to his unique vision throughout his career.
Including sessions recorded by Art Pepper for Savoy from 1952-54 Surf Ride was originally released in 1956. Featuring three groups of players, the album collects twelve, mostly Pepper composed, cuts including “Holiday Flight” – with Pepper’s playing throughout on superior form. This new edition of the album is released as part of the Original Jazz Classics Series on 180-gram vinyl pressed at RTI with all-analog mastering from the original tapes at Cohearent Audio and a Stoughton Tip-On Jacket.
The music on this Savoy LP is quite brilliant, but the packaging leaves something to be desired. The recording dates are all incorrect and there are only 12 performances included (around 37 minutes). There are quartet outings with either Russ Freeman or Hampton Hawes on piano and tracks…
Calling Chin Up Buttercup a breakup album may be factually accurate but it’s woefully inadequate when describing the music aimed at reconstructing life after turbulent relationship heartache and loss.
The experiences used to flesh out each song cover the full cycle of grief, denial, acceptance etc., all while wrapped up in the need to bottle up any misery. The album title being a sardonic note on the social compulsion to plaster on a smile when everything inside is crumbling.
As Austra, the incandescent alter ego of Katie Stelmanis returns having dealt with those electric currents of grief and laid them to rest following the abrupt ending of her long-term relationship in early 2020. The emotional weight of that sudden erasure is seen everywhere.
The title of this latest album from Wyldest (aka Zoë Mead) feels like an existentially accurate description on today’s world turmoil.
An examination of the world on a micro and macro level, it sees the London-based singer-songwriter – who has long been acutely talented at portraying introspectiveness in her writing – look more outward for personal upheaval, finding more artistic freedom in the process.
‘After the Ending’ paints this picture vividly. Wyldest’s vocals lilt over shimmering guitars via pop-imbued melodies. It may sound bright, but the track was actually written after Mead received a diagnosis of endometriosis. This forced her to contemplate the prospect of a life-threatening illness and temporarily pause…
To understand Doves’ enduring appeal, one must look past the anthemic sweep of their sound and into the nuanced poetry of their lyrics. Their songwriting achieves a rare balance, framing intimate battles of love, loss, and resignation against a gritty, panoramic Northern backdrop.
It is this duality that allows their words to transcend the typical swagger of British rock: “Son, what have you done; you’re caught by the river; you’re coming undone…” (Caught By The River) stands out for its harrowing elegance.
Whether capturing fleeting acceptance; “If this is our last Summer, why should we care?” (Snowden). Or the sudden jolt of time passing;“You turn around and life’s passed you by…” (There Goes The Fear). They ensure their melancholic heart…
A new box set highlight Propaganda’s significant legacy within the history of synth-pop. The Düsseldorf group’s work for the Zang Tuum Tumb label will be the focus of the new 6CD set A Secret Sense of Rhythm, A Secret Sense of Sin (The Complete ZTT Propaganda).
Propaganda was the first band to sign to ZTT, the label co-founded by Trevor Horn, whose music as a member of the Buggles, Art Of Noise, and Yes plus extensive production work earned him stature as one of the key architects of 1980s music. In their earliest recordings, captured for ZTT between 1983 and 1985, Propaganda were crucial contributors to that moment, as chronicled on the new anthology.
Disc 1, Secret, focuses on Propaganda’s 1985 debut album A Secret Wish, which featured…
Titling her new EUSEXUA companion album Afterglow might have suggested that FKA twigs was set to use her second album of 2025 to take things from the pulverising, euphoric beats of the club towards contemplative, hazy conversations back at hers for the afters. Press play on opening track ‘Love Crimes’, though, and it seems she has simply stepped outside for a cigarette break, before returning inside to be smacked in the face with techno bass even harder and more ferocious than anything on the first album.
Inspired by her experiences clubbing in Prague while filming for The Crow, EUSEXUA was a dazzling techno-pop reinvention for twigs, with both her most sugary pop hooks and hardest beats. Across her first two albums, LP1 and MAGDALENE…
…Jim Staley on trombones, Ikue Mori on electronics, and John Zorn on alto saxophone.
Friends and musical cohorts since the early ’80s, these three master improvisers come together to perform a freewheeling set of outrageous and mind-blowing improvisations. Recorded at Roulette, founded in 1978 and one of New York’s most adventurous venues, the music is full of surprising twists and jumps from one mood to another with mercurial synchronicity. Dedicated to the memory of Downtown theatrical genius Richard Foreman, Alchemical Theatre presents nine pieces of telepathic, counter-intuitive New York improvisation by three legendary figures of the Downtown scene.