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Review
It takes a while to figure out who Hannah Rodgers sounds like when she sings. At first, it seems like St Vincent, with Small Mercies and its opener, Andean Condor,…
Review: Will Young – Lexicon
Back in 2015, one-time Pop Idol winner Will Young could be found on 85% Proof, winding up Thank You, about his ex, with the simple edict: “Fuck you”. Four years…
Review: Hot Chip – A Bath Full Of Ecstasy
To some, Hot Chip have always been pioneers of sensitive indie club-pop, while, to others, there’s something irksome about their inherent anxiety, as well as a sense they’re trying too…
Review: Aurora – A Different Kind Of Human
Given to eccentric pronouncements about collecting dead insects and watching Avatar every day, Aurora Aksnes has cultivated a cunningly alien, elfin look, ice-blue eyes framed by a sci-fi fringe and,…
Review: The Divine Comedy – Office Politics
If you consider Neil Hannon too clever for his own good, then starting his 12th collection by declaring “I jump the queue/ ‘cause I’m smarter than you” won’t help his…
Review: Mark Ronson – Late Night Feelings
Sometimes a simple phrase captures the public imagination. Think of Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow’s “conscious uncoupling”, or Dominic Cummings’ “Take back control”. To these, add “sad bangers”, which Mark…
Reissue: Janet Jackson – Control
The recent reappearance of über-producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis on a track with Sounds Of Blackness felt like a nostalgia kick, a blast from the past – and yet…
Review: NEW ORDER – ∑(NO,12K,LG,17MIF) NEW ORDER + LIAM GILLICK: SO IT GOES…
It’s sobering to realise this souvenir of New Order’s cumbersomely titled collaboration with conceptual artist Liam Gillick is their fourth live collection in less than a decade. Recorded in 2017…
Review: Maggie Rogers – Heard In A Past Life
Who doesn’t love a good rags to riches story? America’s Maggie Rogers was ‘discovered’ by Pharrell Williams in 2016, and by the world when video of his reaction to her…
Review: China Crisis – Thekla, Bristol live
Gary Daly could easily have had a career in stand-up had he not fronted China Crisis for the last four decades. “We’re only on a fookin’ boat!” he exclaims of…