Back catalogue: Indie/Alternative

Review: After 15 years of live space-rock improvisations and jam sessions around Europe, Bambi Davidson finally got round to delivering their second LP last month. Warmly received by old fans and new, here we find the title track repurposed as an extensive 13 minute exercise in spatial expressionism. Dreamy, deep and full of endless twists and turns, this is the epitome of modern cosmicity. Claremont never cease to surge forward.

Review: 2022's stunning album Once Twice Melody was a fine example of Beach House doing what they do best - living bang up to that name, with intimate-but epic instrumentation falling somewhere between surf-y jangle and grand shoegaze. 'Become' is definitely on a similar tip, and as such feels much like an extension of the long form.
Dig a little deeper, though, and scratches begin to show. While the full-length record represented Beach House reaching for the stars, or at least the moon, and stepping into the role of festival headliners, here the sense of pure confidence and occasion is less pronounced. That may not be a bad thing, mind, because while Once came across like a finished article, refined and prepared, things here seem somehow rawer, as though we're sitting in on a session as oppose to getting the signed off product.

Review: Being a 'supergroup' - as Boygenius trio Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus are commonly described - has its pitfalls, one of which is finding time to record and promote your music. It was for this reason that it took the threesome almost five years to record their debut album, The Record, which was released to critical acclaim (the NME called it an 'instant indie classic') earlier this year. The fact that 'The Rest', an EP of unheard songs (literally - no previews were available online prior to release), has followed so quickly suggests that it was recorded at the same time. Either way, it was produced by the band alongside a team of six producers) and delivers more memorable songs in their now familiar American indie-rock style. A treat for fans, all told.

Review: The 60s Liverpudlian rock quartet are famed for their song '6 Day War', which has been sampled from the likes of DJ Shadow in Tokyo Drift and Pusha T on his album released earlier this year. This track is undoubtedly a classic, written in the aftermath of the ongoing Arab-Israeli war of 1967, '6 Day War' is one of the best anti-war tracks of all time. The slow jam-rock ballad comes from the band's album 'Oh What a Lovely War!' released in 1973 which has not been released in Britain until now, making this a landmark pressing. The record is a psychedelic soft-progressive rock LP with emphasis on heavy guitars like in 'Lay it Down' and even pulls from folk rock in 'Dirty Delilha Blues'. Colonel Bagshot were almost criminally overlooked, though their music seems to consistently stand the test of time and it's easy to hear why. The sound is quintessential Liverpool rock, even down to the naming conventions being evocative of The Beatles.

Review: Experience two of Joy Division's iconic post-punk tracks like never before with exclusive 7" vinyl from Numero Group. Codeine's 1994 rendition of 'Atmosphere' captures the essence of solitude with a melancholic yet melodic twist that marked the iconic Manchester band's poignant farewell. Meanwhile, Bedhead from Dallas offers a fresh perspective on 'Disorder' and transforms it into vibrant indie rock. Encased in a sleek black and silver sleeve adorned with embossed braille lettering, these twin readings pay homage to Joy Division's enduring legacy while inviting listeners to explore new interpretations of their timeless classics.

Review: Following a few years spent focusing on his ambient, drone and instrumental shoegaze focused GLOK project, former Ride man Andy Bell has finally got round to recording a new album of songs. Titled Sonic Cathedral, the album is undeniably nostalgic in tone, not only reacalling the jangly and sonically dense days of shoegaze and jangly indie-pop, but also the funkier and more intoxicated indie-dance records of that period (think Weatherall productions and remixes of the period, the Stone Roses and - whisper it quietly - Candy Flip). It's a bold and hugely enjoyable blend, with Bell sashaying between the tactile, Spiritualized-ish 'The Notes You Never Hear', the krautrock-goes-funky flex of 'Space Station Mantra', the Beck-esque 'Music Concrete' and the Tony Allen/Afrobeat-influenced 'Apple Green UFO'.

Review: Since they emerged in 2019, there's been a fair amount of hype around Black Country, New Road, with one noted media outlet calling them, "the best band in the world right now". While that might be a little over-the-top, there's no doubting that they're a unique proposition - as this much-anticipated debut album on Ninja Tune proves. Stylistically, they're hard to pin down, variously fusing post-punk guitars, fuzzy Stereolab synths and folksy strings with thoughtful, story-telling spoken word vocals (think Arab Strap), restless bass guitar and drums and sax sounds that have more in common with the more experimental end of jazz than alternative rock. It's an usual mixture, but a hugely alluring and surprisingly coherent one. For The First Time is, then, a genuinely impressive debut album.

Review: Dean Blunt is nothing short of an enigma. Whether you're reading one of his interviews of few words, listening to the records that seem to both celebrate the avant-garde and obsess over it, or watching him descend into strange, otherworldly cacophonies on stage, usually shrouded in smoke, he's never really been an easy guy to pin down. And that's exactly what he's always been going for.

It's something of a surprise, then, to learn that Black Metal 2, the long-awaited, seven years in the making sequel to his critically acclaimed Black Metal, is actually pretty straight forward. In a Dean Blunt kind of way. Opening on the compressed strings and near-spoken word of 'Vigil', the record takes us into the deep dark depths of strange, hook-fuelled guitar poetry, and we never want to find our way back.

Review: It has been some five-plus years since the last full Bon Iver album but the wait has been well worth it. This one follows the introspective SABLE, a sparse, vulnerable EP born from isolation and inner turmoil. Where that was shadow, this is light-a lush, radiant celebration of love, connection and emotional rebirth. Written at April Base in Wisconsin with collaborators like Jim-E Stack and Danielle Haim, the album leans into clarity and intimacy and gets rid of the signature dense abstraction for more honest and heartfelt pop. The vocals are delivered with openness and purpose as they explore desire, hope and devotion. While still acknowledging lingering shadows, this full-length is a story of growth that isn't about fairytale endings, but about the lessons love teaches.

Review: Rainn Byrns looks so fresh faced and young that one suspects his parents don't remember the 1960s, let alone him. Nevertheless, the decade has clearly a big influence on this Texas-born, Swindon-bred South Londoner's music, although within that there still remains quite a lot of scope for variety. 'I'm Her Man' echoes the battered but innocent psyche of Syd-era Floyd, 'Never Ending Story' the strut and swagger of The Doors and then the approachable weirdness of late Beatles, and everything from The Byrds to Simon & Garfunkel crops up elsewhere. There's nothing cynical or engineered about that though, it seems entirely natural and Byrns proves himself both capable of penning a memorable melody but also delivering it in an endearingly stoned Southern drawl. 'Tailspin', which reminds us of The LAs at their jangly finest, was our favourite entry point, but there are loads here and lots to like.