Author: Jim Pusey Page 4
Sigur Ros - Kveikur Album Review
It took me just three minutes to fall in love with Sigur Ros' seventh album Kveikur. It's not because that's when something momentous happened, rather that's how long it took to overcome any preconceptions of...
Review posted on 25th June 2013
The Thermals - Desperate Ground Album Review
There's something reassuring about the urgency that runs through the veins of The Thermals' sixth album Desperate Ground. It's the Portland trio's first record in three years, but there's no sign they've mellowed with age....
Review posted on 28th May 2013
Primal Scream - More Light Album Review
Bobby Gillespie is a man that's been able to capture the cultural zeitgeist numerous times in the past. Primal Scream's new album More Light has its sights set on similar territory, but despite its all-star...
Review posted on 20th May 2013
Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires Of The City Album Review
Vampire Weekend's third album Modern Vampires Of The City may just be the most ambitiously and confidently produced album you're likely to hear this year. Part of the joy of the material presented here is...
Review posted on 20th May 2013
Phoenix - Bankrupt! Album Review
Phoenix's new album Bankrupt! is a more complicated record than it may seem at first glance. Yes, opener 'Entertainment' has the expected and heady mix of synths and guitars that have propelled the French quartet...
Review posted on 13th May 2013
Rilo Kiley - Rkives Album Review
Jenny Lewis sounds positively life affirming when she declares "It'll Get You There" on new Rilo Kiley compilation Rkives. The irony is of course that the band is dead and this record is an affectionate...
Review posted on 8th May 2013
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Mosquito Album Review
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are evolving and quickly. New album Mosquito may well be the clearest sign yet that their scrappy New York Punk roots were merely one incarnation of this versatile three-piece. Karen O...
Review posted on 25th April 2013
The Besnard Lakes - Until In Excess, Imperceptible UFO Album Review
If you can get past the 50s B-movie title of The Besnard Lakes fourth record you'll be duly rewarded. The Canadian quartet have started to become the Great White North's equivalent of Sigur R½s. It's...
Review posted on 22nd April 2013
Josh Kumra - Good Things Come To Those Who Don't Wait Album Review
Josh Kumra has come a long way in the last 6 years. A product of the fertile Swindon music scene, as a teenager he used to record acoustic session tracks for a live music show...
Review posted on 2nd April 2013
Telekinesis - Dormarion Album Review
While Michael Benjamin Lerner's Seattle band Telekinesis is relatively unknown in the UK, they've managed to build a solid fan base in the States since 2009. That's thanks in part to favourable airplay by NPR...
Review posted on 2nd April 2013
The Flaming Lips - The Terror Album Review
The Flaming Lips thirteenth studio offering is a difficult album in every sense of the word: difficult to love, difficult to decipher, and difficult to listen to. Perhaps it's the absence of traditional song writing...
Review posted on 25th March 2013
Eels - O2 Academy Bournemouth March 2013 Live Review
There was a lot of love in the room for the Eels show in Bournemouth. Much of it was actually on stage, with Mark Oliver Everett going out of his way to sidestep the spotlight...
Review posted on 25th March 2013
Willy Moon - Here's Willy Moon Album Review
Willy Moon certainly knows how to make an entrance. From the crooner cool of the cover of his debut, Here's Willy Moon, to the swathes of strings and Hip Hop beats on opening track 'Get...
Review posted on 18th March 2013
Josh Rouse - The Happiness Waltz Album Review
It's hard not to want to be Josh Rouse. He writes effortlessly catchy melodic pop songs about his idyllic life, which seems to be an endless stream of lazy Sundays. There's not a hint of...
Review posted on 6th March 2013
Jimi Hendrix - People, Hell & Angels Album Review
Let's get this out of the way straight out of the gate: People, Hell & Angels is by no means essential Hendrix, neither is it a cynical cash in. It's certainly one of the better...
Review posted on 4th March 2013
Keaton Henson - Birthdays Album Review
Singer-songwriter Keaton Henson's second album Birthdays really is an album of two halves. It develops the hushed and emotionally frail sound found on his bedroom produced debut effort Dear. But crucially it introduces some explosive...
Review posted on 21st February 2013
Jim James - Regions Of Light And Sound Of God Album Review
There seems to be a growing trend for well-known frontmen to indulge in a bit of moonlighting. In the last year alone we've seen The Hold Steady's Craig Finn and Death Cab for Cutie's Ben...
Review posted on 6th February 2013
Local Natives - Hummingbird Album Review
It seems funny to start thinking of such things so early in a calendar year, but I'm going to call this right now. Local Natives' second album Hummingbird is going to be one of the...
Review posted on 4th February 2013
Pink - Greatest Hits.So Far!!! Album Review
Following the success of Pink's 6th album 'The Truth About Love', it's no surprise that her greatest hits collection has been re-released. While it doesn't feature any material recorded after 2010, it's a surprisingly comprehensive...
Review posted on 29th January 2013
Villagers - Awayland Album Review
Conor O'Brien's Villagers second album (Awayland), as the title suggests, is an ambitious and immersive effort that's primarily concerned with creating its own dreamscape. It's a bigger record both in terms of scope and execution...
Review posted on 25th January 2013
Paul Weller - Dragonfly EP Review
Paul Weller's new EP Dragonfly is essentially a victory lap. Following his trilogy of experimental albums that concluded with Sonik Kicks earlier this year, the Modfather has bundled a number of unreleased songs from the...
Review posted on 2nd January 2013
The Staves - Dead & Born & Grown Album Review
Fresh from supporting Bon Iver in the States, Watford's The Staves have released their anticipated debut record Dead & Born & Grown on Atlantic. It's a notable album, not least because it delivers on the...
Review posted on 4th December 2012
Coldplay - Live 2012 Album Review
Coldplay's new Live 2012 release is far from a way to cash in on the platinum success of Mylo Xyloto, despite a release date suspiciously close to Christmas. While the more cynical members of the...
Review posted on 28th November 2012
Patti Smith - Banga Album review
Patti Smith's eleventh studio album Banga may be named after a dog, but it certainly isn't one. While the high priestess of punk poetry may still be a challenging proposition for the casual listener, her...
Review posted on 5th November 2012
DJ Shadow - Reconstructed: The Best Of DJ Shadow Album review
There's something effortless about Josh Davis' sampling technique. It defies the usual genre classifications, without becoming a gimmick. While his DJ Shadow moniker has been associated with some of the finest examples of turntable trickery...
Review posted on 30th October 2012
Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros - Streetcore Album review
Streetcore may not quite reach the heights of its predecessor (2001's Global a Go-Go), but despite a ragged patchwork nature of rescued studio takes, it's certainly a fitting bookend to Joe Strummer's career.Following his sudden...
Review posted on 23rd October 2012
Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros - Global A Go-Go Album review
Joe Strummer's foray into World Music with the Mescaleros has been largely overlooked in the pages of recent rock history. Perhaps that's because, a year later, Damon Albarn did much the same thing with Mali...
Review posted on 18th October 2012
Band Of Horses - Mirage Rock Album review
Band Of Horses' fourth album Mirage Rock is a record that isn't quite sure what it wants to achieve, but it seems perfectly happy to do so without sounding directionless. Much of the production sheen...
Review posted on 15th October 2012
Egyptian Hip Hop - Good Dont Sleep Album Review
Classed as genre defying after the release of their Hudson Mohawke produced 2009 E.P 'Some Reptiles Grew Wings', the Manchester four piece seemed to have drifted away from each other since then, with lead singer...
Review posted on 8th October 2012
Frightened Rabbit - State Hospital EP Review
As the nights draw in there's something fitting about Frightened Rabbit releasing a fresh slice of their brand of autumnal Scottish musings. State Hospital may be an EP of material that didn't thematically fit on...
Review posted on 2nd October 2012
Suggested
Leisure Festival - Dreamland in Margate
On the same day that Glastonbury welcomed back Margate's adopted sons, The Libertines, Margate itself put on it's very own Leisure Festival as it...
Pretty Fierce talk to us about collaborating with Doja Cat, emetophobia, arena tours and staying "true to yourself" [EXCLUSIVE]
Sheffield's very own all girl group Pretty Fierce are still on a high after the recent release of their debut single - 'Ready For Me'.
Will Varley & Jack Valero - The Astor Theatre Deal Live Review
Three nights before the end of his current tour Will Varley returned to his home town of Deal to delight a sold out crowd in The Astor Theatre.
WYSE talks to us about her "form of synaesthesia", collaborating with Radiohead's Thom York and the prospect of touring with a band [EXCLUSIVE]
With only a few days to go before Portsmouth based songstress and producer WYSE releases her new single, 'Belladonna', we caught up with her to find...
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Bay Bryan talks to us about being a "wee queer ginger", singing with Laura Marling and being inspired by Matilda [EXCLUSIVE]
Colorado raised, Glasgow educated and Manchester based Bay Bryan is nothing if not a multi-talented, multi-faceted artist performing as both...
Keelan X talks to us about staying true to "your creative vision", collaborating with Giorgio Moroder and being "a yoga nut" [EXCLUSIVE]
Former Marigolds band member Keelan Cunningham has rediscovered his love of music with his new solo project Keelan X.
![Luke De-Sciscio talks to us about having the courage to be yourself, forgiving that which is outside of one's control and following whims [EXCLUSIVE]](https://images.contactmusic.com/images/home/homepage/luke-de-sciscio-abof-a.jpg "Luke De-Sciscio talks to us about having the courage to be yourself, forgiving that which is outside of one's control and following whims [EXCLUSIVE]")
Luke De-Sciscio talks to us about having the courage to be yourself, forgiving that which is outside of one's control and following whims [EXCLUSIVE]
Wiltshire singer-songwriter Luke De Sciscio, formally known as Folk Boy, is set to release is latest album - 'The Banquet' via AntiFragile Music on...
Annie Elise talks to us about the challenges a female producer has to face and "going through a year of grief and sickness" [EXCLUSIVE]
Electronic music pioneer and producer Annie Elise says that the release of her first EP - 'Breathe In, Breathe Out' feels "both vulnerable and...
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