Rolling Stone L

This LP is a brilliant effort from RAYE. The orchestral arrangements and production are excellent. I saw myself in much of the lyrics, and the highlights are among the best examples not just of contemporary talent but of music generally. However, if there is one thing preventing me from scoring this project higher, it is its length. In short, it is too long, and there are quite a few filler tracks: Lifeboat, Goodbye Henry, Skin and Bones, and Fields are cuts that aren't bad per se, but ... read more

I'm really starting to like RAYE. The fact that record labels rejected this woman will never cease to baffle me. A song I really didn't know I needed.

Mahler's third symphony, the longest in the standard repertoire, is ambitious in the best possible manner. A common criticism of his work is its length. With the symphony pushing one hour and forty minutes, it is easy to regard it as bloated but to do so is to misunderstand its purpose and Mahler himself as a composer. He famously said, "A symphony must be like the world. It must contain everything." To comprehend Mahler is to realise that this "everything" includes the ... read more

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds continue their great album streak with their latest instalment, Wild God. With Push the Sky Away, Skeleton Tree and Ghosteen being very much a trilogy, Wild God marks a slight departure in both tone and arrangements while staying very much in line with the preacher persona that Cave has developed over the past decade.

The compositions here are at the Bad Seed's most grandiose and polished, complemented by sermon-like ramblings. Much like Abbatior Blues, Wild ... read more

Beth Gibbons has been rightly regarded as a musical icon since the nineties for her maungy yet enigmatic and engaging vocal performances accompanied by her heart-wrenching lyrics. This single from her first solo effort is no different, but what is even more fantastic is how it builds upon the brilliance of her thirty-year career. Reaching Out is dense, with beautiful pockets of detail that are only discovered with repeated listens. It's the single of the year so far!

Wild God marks yet another triumphant return for Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. As an individual who champions the ambient genre and loves Ghosteen, it would be wrong to say I am not glad that Cave is changing direction this time. If this single indicates the quality of the upcoming LP, it would appear that Cave's excellent album streak is nearly impossible to break.

Wild God is met with the ferocity of Abbatior Blues and the potent redemptiveness of Ghosteen. If the remainder of the LP follows ... read more

Annie Clark is back in full force, and it is glorious. After the somewhat diverse LP Daddy's Home (from a fanbase point of view), St Vincent takes complete control of production, producing a sexy yet frantic track telling of the deep internal anger that brews from being looked at in the wrong way. Broken Man has all the ingredients of a tasteful St Vincent release while remaining true to the brief of re-invention.

If I have one minor qualm, the overall mixing is quiet, but half of me believes ... read more

This tribute from Tezzo Touchdown is a strong contender for the laziest cover ever put to tape. It is nothing more than poor karaoke. They couldn't even be bothered to provide new production, the epitome of laziness. Tezzo Touchdown provides nothing fresh here.

I fail to see why anybody would greenlight this; Tezzo is singing over the original backing track, so what, exactly, is the point of this cover? The greatness of Paramore's tribute lies in that they brought something fresh to the table ... read more

Once again, Sleater Kinney isn't reinventing the wheel here, but that is part of their appeal for me. Sometimes, I don't wish to listen to something musically challenging; rather, I want to jam and have a great time without having to overthink. No Cities to Love serves this brief brilliantly, producing accessible tracks that allow one to jam to their heart's content while retaining lyrical gravitas. The lyrics are hardly the be-all and end-all of the innovation, but adequate substance exists to ... read more

I enjoyed this far more than I was expecting. Nothing Matters was not a strong single. However, as a whole project, Prelude to Ecstasy has something going for it. I won't delve into the industry plant allegations because that has been discussed enough. This LP is undoubtedly better than any debut released in the past seven years. Still, it speaks of the poor contemporary music landscape rather than unequivocal brilliance.

The Last Dinner Party sometimes wears their influences a little too ... read more

Four years behind the curve for this record, I managed to avoid the discourse that inevitably followed the change in direction for Sleater Kinney at the time. The title of this review is primarily motivated by the shots fired at St Vincent for her production efforts at then and even now. This being the last Sleater Kinney project Janet Weiss appeared on, it is far too easy to conclude that Weiss jumped ship because she was at odds with Annie Clark… Such a conclusion may have some truth, ... read more

A Sun Came is a flawed but charming effort from Stevens, whose personality beams through even at the LP's low points. It would be dishonest to say this record is not without some of the most sonically zany and incohesive work from Sufjan Stevens and a fair few of his peers. The lyrical scarceness from Sufjan in cuts does appear lazy and non-sensical at times, but the instrumentation expats this problem, even if only half-heartedly. Perchance, the greatest problem with A Sun Came is it is packed ... read more

I was not expecting to enjoy this as much as I did. It is more pop-oriented than my ears are used to, but it was a pleasurable experience. Her vocal acrobatics and quirky production choices greatly serve my thirst for the more experimental. Polacheck has produced one of the best records this year. Bravo.

Nick Cave has remained an unparalleled craftsman throughout his forty-five-year career, exploring everything from morbidity to love and religion.
Skeleton Tree, released a year after his son's tragic death in a cliff accident in twenty-fifteen, is jittery, ascetic, and devasting.

Ascetic, a term that describes spiritual discipline, is the core of this record. Here the spiritual discipline is the melodic scarcity in both voice and instruments. Cave meditates over his son's death, and as ... read more

There is no way you will convince me Taylor Swift is not chart-hungry. Chart hungry? Fine. It is not the act that irks me; it is how individuals delude themselves into thinking she is not. Swift is a marketing giant. Business managers could do with advice on how to sell themselves because she is extremely good at it. However, I will need help convincing that Swift puts artistic integrity above everything else.

Also, there is not much new to offer here, and the grading given is based purely on ... read more

With his gravelly vocals, maverick persona, and vivid lyrics, Tom Waits is impossible to replicate. While Waits' stylings appear like he has swallowed a beach's worth of sand, his work remains exceptionally melodic if one digs beneath it. It is easy to put oneself off Waits to begin with. His abrasive tones require a lot of exposure to appreciate.

A character shows itself with almost every project, something that impeccably satisfies the purpose of an album. In the era of Tick Tock and short ... read more

"Avant Garde is French for Bullshit"- John Lennon

Trout Mask Replica is considered one of the most culturally significant records ever. This statement remains true regardless of where each listener sits on the spectrum of enjoyment or, indeed, the contents of this review.

Preface aside, Trout Mask Replica teaches how not to approach music and equally how to produce the most pretentious, critic-appeasing album known to civilisation. Or, of course, if you are a hipster who wants to ... read more