Album Reviews (See all)
For Your Pleasure // Roxy Music
The raspy sax, dramatic vocals, and ostentatious instrumentation could just as easily have a place in a gaudy musical as they do on this album.
Ants from Up There // Black Country, New Road
There is so much going on, and the ambitions shown are so bold and brilliant, that you can’t help but root for the record even when it’s falling a little short.
CRAWLER // IDLES
IDLES’ most considered, sonically thoughtful, and complex release to date, taking the band down a new path while preserving their strengths.
Hushed and Grim // Mastodon
As much fun as its riffs and crunching tone can be, the album feels like a product of veterans going through the motions. For a really long time.
Skin // Joy Crookes
Weaving larger-than-life arrangements with razor-sharp yet feather-light lyricism, Crookes sits as the centerpiece of a kind of big band pop.
Friends That Break Your Heart // James Blake
Blake’s vocals are, predictably, beautiful; Blake’s production is, predictably, meticulous; and it’s all, predictably, quite predictable.
Pinkerton // Weezer
Come for the singalong hooks of “El Scorcho”, “Pink Triangle”, and “Falling for You”, stay for Rivers Cuomo’s tales of loves lost and loves unrequited.
Electric Warrior // T. Rex
Romping rock and roll sounded like a breeze for Marc Bolan, and when you add some vintage Visconti wizardry into the mix, you can’t really go wrong.
Articles (See all)
Our 10 favourite albums of 2021
This is the end, beautiful friend. Of the year that is. Which means it’s time for us to rank our favourite albums.
Our 10 favourite singles of 2021
A lot of things about 2021 somehow managed to be worse than in 2020. Not the music, though. The music has been terrific. These were our favourite singles.
Max Richter’s evocative activism soothes the soul
Deep, lush composition meets powerful spoken word delivery in Max Richter’s latest project, producing a potent, uplifting concoction.
Artist-friendly music streaming alternatives to Spotify et al.
The big dogs of music streaming aren’t great for musicians, but there are other options. Here are services putting artists first (or at least, not dead last).
Interviews (See all)
Thomas Ashby: ‘When you’re in a studio that’s your space to be the biggest you you can be.’
Thomas Ashby is a singer/songwriter from Herne Bay. We discuss living together during the time he recorded and released his third EP - 'Backlash'.
Colourful Sevens: ‘I love making music by myself – I can treat my songs as diary entries.’
The Manchester musician talks about his most recent project (Moon), the merits of working alone, and the wisdom of Roger Ebert.
Paul Marchesani: ‘I always knew my music was connected in some way.’
Paul G. Marchesani is a freelance producer and radio host from Philadelphia who's building a shared musical universe one album at a time.
Dylan Seeger: ‘Albums take you on journeys that 4-minute singles will never replicate.’
Dylan Seeger is a musician and designer living in New York, as is tradition. We talk Claye, the pressures of recording solo, and (sound) circumcision.
Listening Parties (See all)
‘Quite comfortably the best thing I've listened to this year’ - André and Andrew listen to Shame
Crunchy guitars and relentless percussion abound in Shame's new record 'Drunk Tank Pink'. Yes we're two weeks into the year, but a highlight all the same.
André and Fred listen to r/qotsa’s Best Of album
r/qotsa put together the ultimate Queens of the Stone Age playlist: ...Vulgar Songs for Villains (Rated R). We put it to the test.
“Looks like Oaysis have competition” – André and Fred listen to Liam Gallagher
"Looks like Oaysis have competition." André and Fred's first impressions of 'As You Were', the debut solo album by professional manc Liam Gallagher.
“This is like a classy Disney tune” – André and Fred listen to Lorde
“This is like a classy Disney tune” – André and Fred listen to Lorde
