Review: Having played a slew of inimitable and unforgettable television comedy characters over the past decade or so, from Toast of London's Stephen Toast to Douglas Reynholm in The IT Crowd, Dixon Bainbridge in The Mighty Boosh and Todd Rivers in Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, you could be forgiven for expecting Matt Berry to use songwriting and music as another form of hilarious release. That's definitely not the case. There's plenty of release on I Gotta Limit, but this is anything other than satire. The first new music to come from Berry's 2025 album, Heard Noises, the two tracks here are pure joy, authentic and genuinely impressive on a technical level. Exchanging lines in a duet with Kitty Liv for the titular number, the vibe is part Northern Soul, part psych rock, and pretty much all completely captivating.
Review: Blundetto unveils a captivating folk single here that features the ethereal voice of French singer Juliette Magnevasoa. 'La Playa' is an acoustic-rich cover of Marie Laforet's 1970 classic and this rendition has a new vocal whose unique timbre adds depth and all-new charm. Together, the artists create a delicate harmony of softness and melancholy and blend soothing tones that evoke timeless beauty. Already heralded as a classic gem, this subtly evolved new version of 'La Playa' offers a serene and heartfelt sound for intimate moments.
B-STOCK: Record is slightly warped, otherwise in excellent condition
The Tinker & The Crab
Wear Your Love Like Heaven
Review: ***B-STOCK: Record is slightly warped, otherwise in excellent condition***
A pair of classic Donovan tracks get pressed up to this new 7" from The state51 Conspiracy. They are taken originally from his seminal double album A Gift From a Flower to a Garden and come in a beautifully printed new sleeve with golden details and limited to just 500 copies. Both are mixed in mono and first is the delicate falsetto of 'The Tinker and the Crab' with is Americana overtones and light flute motifs next to the acoustic guitar strumming and 'Wear Your Love Like Heaven' is another lushly layered folk rock sound.
Everything Is Recorded, Noah Cyrus & Bill Callahan - "Porcupine Tattoo" (3:31)
Everything Is Recorded - "Norm" (feat Bill Callahan) (3:04)
Review: XL boss Richard Russell's Everything Is Recorded returns with 'Porcupine Tattoo', an unexpected yet compelling collaboration with Bill Callahan and Noah Cyrus. The track, released via XL Recordings, came about during sessions at LA's infamous Chateau Marmont hotel, when Russell asked Callahan who he'd most like to write a song for. Callahan's surprising answer: Noah Cyrus. The result is a stripped-down folk tune with subtle gospel undertones, featuring Callahan's deep, pitched-down vocal layered alongside Cyrus' delicate voice. Russell's production, iminimal yet atmospheric, ihighlights the contrast between Callahan's gravelly tone and Cyrus' ethereal presence. Recorded during a rain-soaked week, the track evokes a sense of melancholy and intimacy. On Side-2 'Norm', is a tribute to comedian Norm Macdonald, featuring only Callahan. This release continues Russell's tradition of creating genre-blurring, evocative collaborations.
Review: Long-faced Boston blues trio GA-20 deliver a swampy, bluesy take on Dolly Parton's classic, 'Jolene'. While the original Parton number's lyrics dealt in the instantly-memorable theme of a queen bee stealing the singer's beloved - "just because you can" - the original song could nonetheless be accused of obscuring the melancholic feel of the lyrics, by lending them an uptempo dance backing. GA-20 might be credited with fixing that problem here, stripping things back to a lilting blues plod, convincingly reworked into a vintage, boxy, sepia-toned context.
Review: Omena once again calls on the superb sounds of Golden Retriever for this adventurous new EP that very much takes you away from the here and now and deposits you somewhere warmer. 'Part Lake' opens up with the joys of a spring day - acoustic strings rippling out as sun beams down. 'Andro Dunos' slows to a crawl and has a more star-gazing feel while 'Digambara' is a gentle rhythm that casts you out to sea. Two variations of 'Modulations' allows you to get lost in some lush synth tapestries and 'Kizuna Encounter' then ends with another lovely sonic day dream that empties your mind.
Los Chicos Tristes (feat Jensine Benitez - El Michels Affair remix) (2:41)
Review: Ahead of their new album Sonido Cosmico, Hermanos Gutierrez return with a smouldering single which shows off their affinity for wistful guitar soliloquies on a short n' sweet 7". The brothers' sound is rooted in 1950s Latin American rock n roll, all quivering tremolo and languid reverb as a casing for their mesmerising melodies. 'Low Sun' captures that melancholic moment as the day shortens in evocative fashion, making this a record primed for sentimental moments aplenty whether you're playing the record for yourself or an audience of kindred chillers who appreciate Balearic vibes hailing from the Southern Hemisphere.
Review: Mr Bongo serves up the new collaboration here from Mandaworld (bereft known as Amanda Hicks) and partner Matthew Tavares, who is Matty of the much loved jazz outfit BADBADNOTGOOD. The pair have a magical musical synergy that really shines through here as they interweave and uplift one another. 'Warm You' is a real classic that fits in the canon of timeless ballads. It is a dreamy pop song doused in oodles of reverberating guitars and mellow shoegaze vibes that evokes a world of nostalgic feelings. 'Spoonfeed' is just as warm and lush but a little more subdued.
Review: This Record Store Day 2019 exclusive finds Mumford and Sons at work in the famous Electric Lady Studios in New York. It was there that they decided to serve up four carefully reimagined versions of tracks from their acclaimed Delta album. Each one shows a different, incredibly tender side. 'Woman' is first with its gentle piano keys and closely mic-ed vocals soothing the soul, while 'Guiding Light' has more upbeat but still lo-fi guitar riffs and 'Wild Heart' is another showcase of the beautifully raw and emotive vocals of lead singer Marcus Oliver Johnston Mumford. 'If I Say' is a rousing, heart swelling closer.
Review: Mumford & Sons drop a surprise single release alongside Pharrell Williams, 'Good People', delivering on a long-awaited promise to hop in the studio together after years of knowing each other. Finally falling back on their immediate instincts, 'Good People' hears the band and the solo wunderkind sing of tiredness and revelation, making adept use of a dry, driving, sportsmanlike instrumental palette (think hand claps, stomps, gospel harmonies). Though cryptic in theme, the mood on this one-off is one of triumph and impending miracle works to come.
Review: First released on streaming platforms last summer, Wilco's 'Hot Sun Cool Shroud' EP was uniformly praised by critics. Much more than a stop gap between albums (it arrived roughly 12 months after the outfit's lauded 13th studio full-length, Cousin), the six-track set bristles with inventiveness while flitting between styles and tempos. So, opener 'Hot Sun', a sticky slab of Americana-tinged jangly indie brilliance, is followed by the reverb and solo-laden alt-rock squall of 'Livid' and the gentle, string-laden swoon of 'Ice Cream'. And so it continues, with the fuzzy positivity and weary vocals of 'Annihilation' being joined by the pleasant, impossible-to-pigeonhole experimentalism of 'Inside The Bell Bones' and the twinkling, heartfelt melancholia of 'Say You Love Me'.
Review: 2024 ushers in a brand new Barry Adamson album, Cut To Black, marking an exciting new shift in direction for the utterly singular Nick Cave associate and experimental blues-pop musician. Cut To Black, led by the swaggeringly roomy 'Demon Lover' (perhaps nodding to the great corporate espionage film of the same name, in due keeping with Adamson's love for spy thriller soundtracks, and his incorporation of their sound into his music), the record embraces his trademark genre-hopping proclivity, spanning pop, soul, jazz, hip-hop and gospel. A totally unique LP for the present era, Adamson's latest oeuvre topup is a must-have for fans of all things Cinematic Soul, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Post Punk, Massive Attack, Unloved and more.
Review: Grief can be intensely painful, overwhelming and hard to process, but also provide inspiration for those who make creative expression their life. For Pakistani-born, Brooklyn-based artist Arooj Afhab, the death of her beloved brother provided the inspiration for what some reviewers have called her greatest work yet: beautiful, poignant and soul-aching 2021 set Vulture Prince, which here returns to stores via a deluxe edition that boasts an extra track (the stunning 'Udhero Na'). Deeply emotional, the set pushes her weighty, emotionally inspiring vocals to the fore, with Afthab swapping experimental electronics and leftfield beats for a mixture of acoustic guitars, heavenly string arrangements (harp, violin, uptight bass) and traditional Pakistani instruments. The results are rarely less than stunning.
Review: Alabaster DePlume's latest album is a meditation on self-worth and healing, drawing from his poetry book Looking for My Value: Prologue to a Blade, he crafts 11 tracks that feel deeply personal yet universal. His saxophone, sometimes fluid, sometimes jagged, acts as both voice and emphasis on the likes of opener 'Oh My Actual Days' swells with sax and Macie Stewart's ghostly strings, a slow march toward reckoning. 'Thank You My Pain' turns its mantra-like refrain into a rhythmic meditation on discomfort. 'Invincibility' lifts into choral release, a breath after holding under water. The instrumental 'Prayer for My Sovereign Dignity' is an anthem for self-possession, while 'Form a V' channels the discipline of jiu-jitsu, inviting confrontation. Unlike his past, more improvisation-led works, this is tightly composed, arranged and produced by DePlume himself - and the result is direct, unflinching and deeply felt.
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