Wham, bam… It’s Grandslam, as two much-loved Scottish acts and a great pretender from America are sent to Coventry – one for the very first time… Delving back into Simple…
Review: Cocteau Twins – Treasure Hiding: The Fontana Years
In 4AD’s halcyon years as the keepers of indie-pop’s most ethereal flames, no artists were more closely associated with the label’s ethos than the Cocteau Twins. Indeed, some of their…
Review: Bananarama – Live At The London Eventim Hammersmith Apollo
As Bananarama return to life as a duo, it seems they’ll be as good as their word that the recent reunion with Siobhan Fahey will be the first and last…
Review: Jess Glynne – Always In Between
Jess Glynne sounds like fun. Check out the video for the Bee Gees-flavoured All I Am, which – contrived though it may be – finds her larking around backstage at…
Review: This Mortal Coil – It’ll End In Tears/Filigree & Shadow/Blood
Ivo Watts-Russell is one of the great under-celebrated pathfinders for UK 80s indie music. His 4AD label incubated a sharp, profound, melancholic musical aesthetic whose influence has reverberated ever since.…
Review: Elvis Costello & The Imposters – Look Now
Costello again proves he’s a master of disguise, adopting various personalities – and employing celebrity guests judiciously – on this late-period high points. At the risk of sounding like someone…
Review: Yazoo – Four Pieces/Three Pieces
A new boxset – on either four vinyl discs or three CDs – remasters Yazoo’s two classic studio albums and adds BBC radio sessions and remixes Yazoo’s genesis was rooted…
Review: Blancmange – Wanderlust
One of the streaming revolution’s obvious casualties has been the lyric. Where album sleeves often offered them as sustenance for even the casual fan, these days, it requires a conscious…
Review: Paul McCartney – Egypt Station
Paul McCartney’s dominance of musical culture is such that for most of his 17th solo album, the only person to whom he can be compared is himself. His easy-going way…
Review: Suede – The Blue Hour
This summer, Suede bassist Mat Osman playfully tweeted a photo taken during the Saddleworth Moor fire of a gas-masked woman carrying shopping bags, the band’s logo writ large above. Sadly,…