Steve Hackett - The Night Siren
“With Steve Hackett enjoying a career high after successfully dovetailing Genesis revisionism and his own still-ambitious work, the guitarist’s latest showpiece, The Night Siren, is a bold, eclectic mix of multicultural sounds fashioned into his preferred bombastic but rousing rock format, and it displays broad scope while hitting the bullet points his fans demand.”
The Jesus And Mary Chain - Damage And Joy
“There are signs of experimentation: the stylophone-like scrawl that weaves through opener Amputation, with a riff that threatens to reprise Deep Purple’s Smoke On The Water, or the haywire Simian Split. There are some Krautrock tendencies, evidenced on War On Peace with its sudden, motorik quickening of pace. Meanwhile, Facing Up To The Facts is to Pere Ubu’s Final Solution what Sidewalking was to Cameo’s Word Up.”
Jethro Tull - The String Quartets
“Usually viewed as something of an indulgence, with some notable exceptions, the orchestral treatment of the rock genre is not always a successful one. Opting for a string quartet, however – two violins, a viola and a cello – brings a lighter and airier dynamic to Ian Anderson’s folkish vignettes.”
Me And That Man - Songs Of Love And Death
“You might know Nergal, one of the main protagonists here, from his usual haunt with Polish death metallers Behemoth. But this is different. Very different. Collaborating with John Porter, he’s gone for a sparse, parched and dusty approach; one that owes a lot to Tom Waits or Nick Cave, having a darkly brooding undertone that’s both mournful and lonely.”
The Residents - The Ghost Of Hope
“This moving yet strangely exhilarating album is a distant relative of The Residents’ 1979 album Eskimo, their sonic studies of Arctic culture. The Ghost Of Hope uses for its text yellowing cuttings describing the all-too-frequent railway disasters that befell America when the mode of transport was in its infancy.”
Wilko Johnson - I Keep It To Myself: The Best Of Wilko Johnson
“Reminding the world of what he does best, Wilko gathers 25 recordings made between 2008-2012, accompanied by former Blockheads bassist Norman Watt-Roy and drummer Dylan Howe. The trio grab catalogue highlights by the scruff of the neck and give them an invigorated kicking.”
