While they’d definitely played out the Radiohead’isms by the end of this album’s predecessor ‘RE-ANIMATOR’, this departure sometimes feels more like a simplistic regression than an exciting evolution. The snarl and cynicism is mostly missing from the ... read more
Some Molina hero worship here but it's just so good, intimate and tender from the start
It was only when I recalibrated to accepting 'Song Cycle' as a cross between Joanna Newsom's (Van Dyke Park's co-produced) 'Ys' and the antiquated weirdness of Bob Drake's ever shifting and eclectic 'The Skull ... read more
So it's established that a lot’s working against 'Rattle & Hum', but stay with me, there’s a ... read more
I guess 'You Don't Say' is the 'most '80s' of the efforts here and isn't miles away from Robert Palmer or Lindsey Buckingham's output at the time, plus that itchy rhythm could have featured on Talking Heads' 'Little Creatures' maybe? - anyway, I like it, it's fun hearing RT deliver some straightforward pop music.
What surrounds this atypical number is a set ... read more
When 'After Everything...' is hot we end up somewhere very close to 'career best' form (the double whammy of 'After Everything' and 'The Awful Ache') - these tracks are all elegant guitar vistas, delicately wistful vocals and an ... read more
I resisted as long as I could but it's just another evocative set of classy Caledonian goodness.
Leven sometimes adds backing music to parts of the readings and he also tries to choose the best song from his catalogue to match each part of the story. Meanwhile Rankin's story references Leven and specific songs at points too.
The real draw here is the banter between the two of them that's so enjoyable (Leven's Michael Caine bit creased me up), ... read more
‘Nighthawks’ for most enjoyably awful song of the year? Sounds like the theme tune for a cartoon….that happens to be X-rated.
Whether these ballads choose to be synth'y or Springsteen'ish the result remains the same...boredom totale.
The sort of album to give a bad name to the song writing descriptors ... read more