Back catalogue: All genres

Review: Are Working Men's Club the best band to have emerged from northern England in the past decade? We'd say there's a very, very good chance. Catch them live on stage and Sydney Minsky-Sargeant, Liam Ogburn, Hannah Cobb and Mairead O'Connor are utterly captivating, and their combination of post punk, rock, electronica, and acid house transfers very well onto record too. Their DJ sets, for which 'Syd' leads the charge, are also nothing short of quality. Informed by genre-less masters such as Andrew Weatherall, Ivan Smagghe and Erol Alkan, as this latest Megamix goes to show, the idea is to create these deeply immersive cosmic soundscapes that aim directly for the dance floor, taking phrases and sounds from their songs, reworking, rethinking and rearranging them into something fresh and high energy. Impossible not to make an impact.

Review: Nick Cave and Warren Ellis returned to Australia for sixteen shows last year, taking their 2021 album Carnage on the road, along with songs from the Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds catalogue. Three performances at the Sydney Opera House on December 16-18 were the climactic shows of an emotional trip, captured for a new live album, Australian Carnage - Live At The Sydney Opera House. Cave himself said of the project: "Every show was moving and unforgettable, from the intimacy of playing in theatres and arts centres, to the vast and uplifting nights at Hanging Rock, through to our final three nights at the inimitable Sydney Opera House."

Review: The 1985 boxset is a comprehensive collection of The Waterboys' musical endeavors during that year. It features a diverse range of materials, including unreleased tracks, demos, outtakes, and live recordings. The set also includes a remastered version of their acclaimed album This Is The Sea. The boxset offers a glimpse into the band's creative process, with numerous alternate versions, song sketches, and covers. It also showcases the band's eclectic musical influences, ranging from traditional Irish folk to experimental rock. Despite its length, the boxset is a cohesive and engaging listen. The remastered This Is The Sea is a highlight, with Tom Verlaine's guitar playing adding a new dimension to the classic album. Other standout tracks include the previously unreleased instrumental 'Meridian West' and a cover of Bob Dylan's 'Sweetheart Like You.' Overall, the 1985 boxset is a valuable addition to the collection of any Waterboys fan. It provides a comprehensive overview of the band's creative output during a particularly fertile period. The boxset also offers insights into the band's musical influences and their commitment to their craft.

Review: Seeing properly, well done reissues of classic material like 'This Is the Sea' has us proud to be in the business of selling vinyl. One of the most critically acclaimed albums of 1985, this became the highest selling and most enjoyed Waterboys albums in their storied career. Thanks in large part to the internationally successful song and heavily MTV rotated songs in 'Whole Of The Moon'. Singer and songwriter Mike Scott, was an all-time creative high when he wrote this album. The song even received an Ivor Novello Award six years after being written in 1991. Each song on this album took on a life of their own and most are featured on many of their best of compilations. Tracks like 'Bang the Drum' and 'This is the Sea' and 'The Pan Within' are dearly beloved by fans of the band. 'Old England' and 'Spirit' are great examples of the folk and pop blend the band perfected. 2025 will be the 40th anniversary of the album. Do not miss out on getting a copy of what Rolling Stone magazine reviewed as "...Spellbinding..."

Review: The Cuckoo Storm might never have been, were it not for a social media post Adrian Crowley wrote on a wintry late-night walk in a quiet neighbourhood of Dublin during lockdown. Struck by Waterson's previous album Death Had Quicker Wings Than Love (co-written with David A Jaycock), Crowley wanted to mark the moment, and so pressed 'send' into the ether with no way of knowing what would follow. Drawn to his voice and seeing a kindred spirit in his poetic lyrics, Waterson was touched by his message and responded by asking if he would be interested in working together. His answer was a resounding 'yes.' Cuckoo Storm followed; a deeply compelling album and serendipitous collaboration comprising eleven beautifully crafted songs, sung by two matching voices that are a powerful match. Waterson's brilliantly distinctive voice is underpinned by Crowley's rich baritone, and together it's an intoxicating mix.

Review: Waxahatchee is emerging, butterfly like, from a cocoon that has kept her safe for most of her career. There was nothing ugly or hidden about Katie Crutchfield's older output. But it was intimate, quiet, thoughtful, vulnerable and, at times, almost a little nervous. At least some of those adjectives became irrelevant with the last LP, Saint Cloud, and now she follows up that ten-foot-tall 2020 triumph with Tigers Blood, continuing in a similar vein. Having significantly increased the size of her audience with the preceding, infinitely rousing record, Crutchfield simultaneously looks to please those newcomers and win even more over here. The tracks are similarly open armed, proud and accessible, but the razor sharp songwriting - dealing with everything from trying to stay still without being bored, to self doubt - has lost none of its impact, and the instrumental arrangements have arguably never been stronger.

Review: 
Jane Weaver's Love In Constant Spectacle stands as a pivotal moment as it presents the artist's most heartfelt, direct, and personal collection yet. Bursting with vivid imagery, the album captures the very essence of the artist, pushing her distinct sound and poetic vision to unprecedented heights. While evoking the nostalgia of her early work, it boldly explores new realms, weaving intricate tales with vibrant hues, shapes, and languages. Teaming up with acclaimed producer John Parish, renowned for collaborations with PJ Harvey and Aldous Harding, the album strikes a delicate balance between familiarity and innovation. It's a surreal odyssey through the human experience that showcases the artist's ceaseless evolution.

Review: Following on from her latest Fenella project The Metallic Index, genreless folktronica oddity Jane Weaver, returns from the land of muted synth lines and hypnagogic instrumentals to deliver the first full-length baring her name since 2021's exceptional Flock. Her 12th album overall, Love In Constant Spectacle offers up Weaver's most succinct, direct and straightforward compositions in well over a decade, with the the beauty of these cuts lying in their simplicity. Motorik synth patterns, fuzzed out neo-psychedelic guitar lines and lush bubbles of digital fizz bounce around Weaver's melancholic musings on the trials and tribulations, big and small, of everyday life and love.

Review: Jamie Webster's 10 For The People perfectly encapsulates the Liverpool singer-songwriter's heartfelt narratives and soulful melodies. Released in 2021, the album is a poignant exploration of working-class tales and social commentary, blending folk and rock influences. Known for his association with football culture, Webster's tracks like 'This Place' and 'Living for Yesterday' resonate with authenticity meaning that 10 For The People not only showcases the artist's lyrical prowess but also solidifies his place as a voice for the people. His album is a sincere and evocative musical offering that speaks to the experiences and struggles of us all.

Review: The Wedding Present are an archetypal indie band if ever there was one. They first formed in 1985 and quickly made their way to prominence as part of the C86 scene - named after the cassettes to which NME recorded new tunes from hot bands of the times. Founder and only constant band member David Gedge wrote intelligent lyrics and paired them with fast-paced jangle-pop rhythms. Their debut album George Best in 1992 was a big one and Watusi - while coming some time later - was still sharp and commercially successful, with big tunes being the likes of 'It's A Gas' and 'Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah'.

Review: It's taken three years for Westerman to follow up that acclaimed debut album, Your Hero Is Not Dead, and to say the Athens-based pop outsider has been through a lot since would be nothing short of an understatement. After all, much of this record took form during the pandemic, a time that was difficult enough for bands, let alone soloists who had just offered the world their first intimate self-portrait.
That period was defined by intense isolation, heartbreak, fear, and anxiety, and some of those emotions have made it onto LP two. The title itself is a reference to humanity's innate flaws and weaknesses, while - perhaps ironically - the production sounds almost like a celebration of what it means to be alive. Live sounding, every breath, movement of hand down an acoustic guitar, and imperfection is captured in this expansive but intimate journeyman indie rock.

Review: Following the success of last year's My Beautiful England, his first solo album for two decades, David Westlake has decided to offer up an expanded reissue of his 1987 debut, Westlake (now retitled D87 in reference to the NME's legendary indie tape, C86, on which he featured). Westlake recorded the album following the collapse of the band he'd led, The Servants, with the help of fellow post-punk era songwriter Like Haines of The Auteurs. The original album, which bristles with jangling and layered, Johnny Marr style guitars, expressive vocals, good grooves and occasional strings, still sounds great, and this time round comes backed with recordings of a 1987 'session' for Janice Long's BBC radio show.

Review: Short-lived So Cal band Wheezing Maniac will bring back many nostalgic memories for those old enough to have been wooed by seminal skateboarding video H-Street's Hokus Pokus. Two of its most iconic tunes were by this outfit - 'Dollar on a Platter' and 'Don't Come Close' and both showcase their off-kilter invention and high-energy sound perfectly. The band only recorded 17 tunes in all and each one makes it onto this Shade Through the Night Door reissue on Putojefe Records. A fine remastering job brings them up to scratch and makes this an essential one for the collection for fans old and new.

Review: Who doesn't love the White Stripes? One can quite predictably measure a band's impact on commercial music history by way of just how many full-blown reissues they've released, many of which aim to repackage and represent albums to their fullest, most honest effect. By that metric, this ubiquitous duo are more than certainly going down in history; Elephant, the Stripes' fourth album, is lent the sonic perfection and signature packaging it deserves, with Analogue Productions and Third Man Records teaming up for the ultimate reissue edition here. They present in UHQR format on Clarity Vinyl this modern rock cornerstone, limited to 10,000 copies. It comes with gold foil numbered jackets, housed in a premium slipcase with a wooden dowel spine.

Review: Originally from way out West in Yukon, Konner Whitney has built up a presence on the outer edge of modern country by channeling the sound of Fred Neil, Harry Nilsson and other such heartworn travellers and folding in a subtle streak of punk rock. As well as his two solo albums for Maple Death in the past few years, Whitney has been touring extensively with a band who now form an intrinsic part of the project, and this live album captures them coming back to Montreal following an extensive European tour. It's the best scenario for a live gig - a set of players locked in unison and free to flow, coming home with something to show from their travels. As an introduction or an extended trip into Whitney's sound, this is a stellar LP which proves great, classic songwriting will never tire as an art form.

Review: If you've seen the South Park series on America's mass shooting epidemic 'Ten Dead', track two on Wilco's 13th studio album, will ring a familiar bell. In so far as protest songs go, it's not the most innovative, but the newsreader, matter of fact tone behind the lyrics, which literally count casualties from schoolyard and in-store massacres, really makes the normalisation of horrific violence clear. Enough to make you feel numb, thankfully Cousin is overall a far warmer, alluring affair. Wilco's output has also become more norm-y over the years, but drafting rebel production and songwriting icon Cate Le Bon to assist on this record has certainly paid off. While it's definitely not what you might call 'wildly out there', the result is a mesmerising meld of Americana, folk-rock, acoustic and rousing indie that doesn't stick to any straight lines.

Review: Atmossy avant-pop artiste Wild Nothing (Jack Tatum) presents his next album, Hold, in the immediate aftermath of new parenthood during the pandemic. The latest incarnation of Tatum's style is wistful and longing, yet also driving, centring on the downtempo pop engines of 'Headlights On' or 'Suburban Solutions', both of which are shining examples of an increased danceability, and an autodidactic DIY production approach, born of gutsy necessity during tough times.

Review: Jonathan Wilson's new album Eat the Worm is, he says, a series of songs that have been made in reaction to the production work that he does. It finds him breaking free of any conservatism and taking chances on songs that have come together over the last two years in his own Fivestar Studios in Topanga Canyon, California. Plenty of experimentation can be heard throughout as he channels influences like Jack Nitzsche and Todd Rundgren into 12 beautiful folk and Americana fusions that find him reaching new heights and paying homage to the 60s folk revival of Greenwich Village.

Review: Following on from 2019's muted, folk-leaning Birth Of Violence, as well as the weighty Bloodmoon: I collaborative LP with experimental hardcore heroes Converge, which arrived in 2021; the Wiccan mystic that is Chelsea Wolfe returns with her highly anticipated seventh full-length She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She. Shying away from the acoustic or metallic sonics of prior projects in order to embrace a blistering new era of frosted trip-hop, chopped and screwed with industrial tinges, echoing a more ugly, gothic interpretation of Portishead at their most macabre, the endeavour also marks her first since departing long-time label-home Sargent House following a litany of controversies, in favour of the ever-expanding dynamic roster of Loma Vista (HEALTH, Militarie Gun, Soccer Mommy).

Review: Gothic songstress Chelsea Wolfe makes her illustrious return on the much anticipated seventh full-length She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She. Following on from 2021's immense collaborative project with artcore auteurs Converge, the album shall serve as Wolfe's first solo endeavour since the minimal, folk-centric Birth Of Violence released in 2019, while serving as her first output since departing long-time label-home Sargent House (following a diatribe of controversies best saved for another time) in favour of Loma Vista; home to outsider artists of numerous sonic shapes. As this new chapter appears to be marrying elements of industrial fury with complex trip-hop motifs akin to Merzbow producing for Portishead, all the while maintaining her sultry, Wiccan hypnotism; 2024 looks set to be the year of the Wolfe.

Review: Trailed by her label Loma Vista as "a rebirth in process", Chelsea Wolfe's tenth studio album wears its weighty and deeply personal inspirations (cutting ties with friends and lovers and the extensive period of healing that follows) as a badge of honour. While these themes are most explicitly explored in the lyrics (and shine through her delicate, frequently weary vocal performances), there's a darkness and brooding intensity to some of the music on show that undoubtedly suits its subject matter. For proof, check the gnarled, raw and fuzzy Nine Inch Nails-meets-Tricky flex of 'Whispers In The Echo Chamber', the claustrophobic sound design and razor-sharp guitars of 'Everything Turns Blue', the Mezzanine-era Massive Attack growl of 'Tunnel Lights' and the breathlessly brilliant closing cut, 'Dusk'.

Review: Some 20 years into their existence, Brooklyn band Woods are truly in control of their destiny. Headed up by Jeremy Earl, this twelfth studio album took shape from his loops which were then passed around the other band members to build upon, with guitarist Jarvis Taveniere piecing the end results together. It's a kaleidoscopic listen which folds in easy listening whimsy, brain-fried psychedelia and pastoral wonder - all impressive for a band more typically associated with New York. Already widely hailed as one of their finest works, this vinyl edition comes via the band's own Woodsist label.

Review: Woods are in bloom again, inviting you to disappear into a new spectrum of colors and sounds and dreams on Perennial. Formed in Brooklyn in 2004, Woods have matured into a true independent institution, above and below the root, reliably emerging every few years with new music that grows towards the latest sky. Operating the Woodsist label since 2006 and curating the beloved homespun Woodsist Festival for the musical universe they've built, Perennial is the sound of a band on the edge of their 20th anniversary and still finding bold new ways to sound like (and challenge) themselves. The album's resulting 11 songs, four of them instrumental, are in the classic Woods mode - shimmering, familiar, fractionally unsettling - but with the half-invisible infinity boxes of Earl's loops burbling beneath each like a mysterious underground source.

Review: Returning with their first full-length since 1988's Laying Down Law, Australian art-rock auteurs The Wreckery (made up of former members of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, The Birthday Party, Plays With Marionettes) appear set to make up for their near four-decade absence with a macabre, city-lit jaunt through dingy clubs, bleak narratives, and the type of film noir soundtrack-indebted avant-garde post-punk quintessential to the 80s scene. While their original demise came from creative differences from certain members desiring a more mainstream direction and the others dully devoted to challenging art-rock experimentalism, this dichotomy and rift ultimately led to what made The Wreckery such a sonically uncertain and musically dangerous outfit. Fake Is Forever serves as a return to form, victory lap and dark new chapter for the band all at once, complete with scathing lyrics, fuzzed out atonal bedlam, bombastic baritone sax and minute flourishes of delicacy.