Strength is the key word for Mary J. Blige’s 13th album, Strength Of a Woman, on which the R&B powerhouse returns to showcase exactly what her strengths as an artist are. Throughout these 14 soul baring tracks she is unflinchingly … Continue reading Mary J. Blige – Strength Of A Woman (2017 LP)
Pure Comedy continues Father John Misty’s run of super-chic, highly sarcastic albums based in the 1970’s singer-songwriter mould. While 2012’s Fear Fun was cloaked in self-deprecating LA cool and populated by an array of characters – i.e. Sally Hatchet, the … Continue reading Father John Misty – Pure Comedy (2017 LP)
The amount of thought and attention poured into the four tracks on Songs In Your Name make it clear how dedicated Huntly are to their craft. The Melbourne three-piece make pop music with an electronic basis that is highly melodic … Continue reading Huntly – Songs In Your Name (2017 EP)
Elbow have always felt like something of a guilty pleasure to me – perhaps because their music is so unabashedly romantic and sincere. Too often artists that can be labeled as ‘earnest’ walk a dangerous line of self importance, however … Continue reading Elbow – Little Fictions (2017 LP)
‘Spread your arms if you really need a hug’, said Q-Tip in 1990, and on their first album in 18 years, A Tribe Called Quest look out at their country and decide that this sentiment is needed more than ever. … Continue reading A Tribe Called Quest – We Got It From Here…Thank You 4 Your Service (2016 LP)
Roses Always Die is a beautiful record that is shockingly sparse and sardonic in nature. Sarah Mary Chadwick, accompanied throughout only by her own keyboard and what sounds like its factory setting drum beats, challenges the listener with her slightly … Continue reading Sarah Mary Chadwick – Roses Always Die (2016 LP)
Anchor begins with a deep rumbling bass loop, with muffled drums sounds rising rapidly out of the muddy mix. A single synth note and a hoarse, unintelligible vocal moves quickly across the stereo spectrum, forewarning something -possibly menacing, and decidedly … Continue reading NGAIIRE – Blastoma (2016 LP)
PJ Harvey returns after a five-year absence, picking up where she left off with 2011’s acclaimed Let England Shake. Having been informed by trips she undertook to Afghanistan, Kosovo and Washington, Harvey is still appalled and enraged on The Hope … Continue reading PJ Harvey – The Hope Six Demolition Project (2016 LP)
Jazz-pop scuzz-ninjas Mangelwurzel have delivered the goods with Gary, their debut album. The Melbourne sextet’s energetic shows, which are a happy mixture of brash, confrontational charisma, joyous abandon and some serious chops, are a sight to behold and have ensured … Continue reading Mangelwurzel – Gary (2016 LP)
Afterlife, the second album by Melbourne collective NO ZU, is a party. A very well thought out and expertly delivered party, designed to hit you deep in the pleasure glands, as the music shifts and reveals its changing layers. What’s … Continue reading NO ZU – Afterlife (2016 LP)
Cathedrals, the debut longplayer from Melbourne’s Playwrite, is a densely layered collage of voices, keyboards, acoustic guitars and rhythmic instrumentation. The tracks, carefully constructed with producer Jimi Maroudas, exhibit a willingness to flesh out the basic acoustic nature of the … Continue reading Playwrite – Cathedrals (2015 LP)
Interestingly, with its stripped back live band sound and jazz inflected grooves I would have imagined that Hard Hold, the debut album by Melbourne singer Cosima Jaala, would be exactly my cup of tea. Tea, like music, however, has a … Continue reading Jaala – Hard Hold (2015 LP)
