Savior Of Time (LP 2: On The Road 2003-2005) (4:25)
1968 (3:18)
Hallway (4:48)
Allison Johnson (2:46)
Contrails (4:21)
Montgomery Park (3:28)
Black Road (3:22)
City Of Trembling Leaves (5:12)
Willamette (3:15)
I Hope I Don't End Up On Skid Row (5:49)
Review: Richmond Fontaine's Post to Wire celebrates its 20th anniversary with a deluxe 2LP edition, featuring a bonus live disc on Curacao transparent color vinyl housed in a gatefold sleeve. Recognised by Uncut Magazine as one of the top ten albums of the year, this release is adorned with a hype sticker. Described as a blend between Gram Parsons' slide guitar majesty and Lou Reed's narrated New York, Post to Wire offers a collection of narrated snapshots of life, crafted by frontman Willy Vlautin. Vlautin's songwriting delves into the depths of human desperation and resilience, weaving tales of downtrodden characters with incisive lyricism reminiscent of Raymond Carver. The album's epic centerpiece, 'Broken Hearts,' stands out as a testament to Vlautin's storytelling prowess, binding together characters in a shared journey of struggle and hope. With tunes that evoke familiarity and characters that feel like neighbors, Post to Wire emerges as a great addition to the canon of passionate, literary rock 'n' roll.
Review: Fontaines D.C.'s fourth album, Romance, marks the band's first collaboration with producer James Ford and represents their most adventurous and inventive work to date. Following the success of their acclaimed 2022 album Skinty Fia, which topped the UK and Irish charts and earned them International Group of the Year at the 2023 Brit Awards, Romance is set to push their sound further. The explosive lead single 'Starburster' was inspired by lead singer Grian Chatten's panic attack so features intense breath patterns and shifting dynamics. Elsewhere the band's evolution is there for all to hear with with influences from grunge, electronica, and hip-hop reflecting their ongoing growth and experimentation.
Review: Fontaines D.C's Romance is their most ambitious and inventive album yet. The band's fourth studio effort marks their debut collaboration with producer James Ford and follows the success of 2022's Skinty Fia, which topped the UK and Irish charts. The lead single, 'Starburster,' showcases a dramatic shift in the band's sound. Inspired by frontman Grian Chatten's panic attack at St Pancras station, the track blends feral breaths, a propulsive beat, and shifting lyrical tones that transition from raw intensity to almost-psalmic introspection. Accompanied by a cinematic video from Aube Perrie, 'Starburster' highlights the album's cathartic and visceral edge. Romance reflects the band's evolution from their early punk roots to explore grungier breaks, dystopian electronica, and dreamy shoegaze textures. The album's title symbolises the band's journey from Irish-centric themes to broader existential explorations, influenced by diverse genres and experiences. With deeper, more spiritual undertones and a sonic palette that includes elements of hip-hop and heavy metal, Romance promises to challenge and expand the band's musical identity. Fontaines D.C. will support the album with a world tour, including appearances at major festivals like Glastonbury and Reading & Leeds.
Review: Salerno star Carlo Fontana is the subject of this new release from Futuribile. It is a collection of his most treasured unreleased gems and hard to find classics that provides a perfect overview of his wonderful sound for fans old and new. These lush sounds combine layered brass, jazz horns, sunny keys and crooning, loved up vocals with plenty of sliding bass and rich harmonisations. They're disco ready and perfect for Balearic gatherings as they ooze tropical and exotic charm from front to back. Each one has been remastered to sound as good as gold, too.
Review: Despite Dave Grohl's position in the rock firmament, the man rarely seems content to rest on his laurels, and this is proven once again by the mission he and the band embarked on to come up with Sonic Highways, their eighth album proper. Travelling around America to simultaneously record this album and create the HBO documentary series based on the musical history and local scenes of eight cities, he took inspiration from those he interviewed - from Dolly Parton to Bad Brains - to craft an album rich with the passion that first compelled him to play music. The result is the most life-affirming Foo Fighters record in well over a decade - explosive, melodious and fierily idealistic, it's a modern rock masterclass.
Review: Recorded in the wake of drummer Taylor Hawkins death, Foo Fighters 11th studio album has been trailed as their "most personal yet". That's understandable, and lyrically Hawkins' tragic demise looms large - at times, the songs sound like the band going through the grieving process in public. It's a bold statement, with music - produced by long-time collaborator Greg Kunstin and featuring Dave Grohl on drums - that self-consciously references the raw energy, fuzzy riffs, and sweat-soaked energy of the band's 1995 debut album. Only time will tell where it sits in their catalogue - in terms of greatest moments, at least - but on first listen it's a raw, raging, melancholic alt-rock masterpiece.
Review: But Here We Are is the new album from Foo Fighters, and marks the band's return after a year of staggering losses, personal introspection and bittersweet remembrances. Evidently a well-justified most-personal-album-yet moment for Grohl and co., the album follows the untimely passing of the band's longtime drummer and founding member, Taylor Hawkins, in 2022. Murmurations that Foo Fighters were going to be an entirely different band going forward have now been proven correct: while noted to have been intentionally made to channel the naivete of their debut namesake LP, songs like 'Rescued' and 'The Teacher' also bring several decades' worth of 'maturity' to theirs sound. They add a new, central theme: the fleeting nature of life.
Review: Remarkably, the last Foo Fighters retrospective dropped way back in 2009, so this career-spanning 'best of' is undoubtedly well overdue. As a starting point for exploring their catalogue - or, for confirmed fans, having all the band's best bits in one place - The Essential Foo Fighters does an excellent job. There are naturally plenty of grungy, high-energy, guitar-laden alternative rock smashers present - 'Rope', 'Monkey Wrench' and so on - but also nods towards the more classic rock-orientated end of their work ('Cold Day In The Sun', the Beatles-esque 'Big Me'), punky and funky indie club anthems ('All My Life') and a smattering of acoustic and semi-acoustic gems ('Waiting On a War' and a wonderfully sparse, folksy take on 'Everlong'). Like Ronseal products, it does exactly what it says on the tin.
Review: They're a Marmite band no doubt, especially among those who followed the altogether more deviant and dengerous Nirvana that brought FF frontman Dave Grohl to the world's attention initially. But there's no denying the fact that the Foo Fighters' anthemic, surging power chord pileup of a sound has turned them into a prospect that - whether live or record - now massively eclipses their predecessor in popularity. This is the definitive double-LP compiliation of all of the Foo Fighters' most essential cuts, including 'Everlong', 'Monkey Wrench' and 'Rope' and many more.
Review: Foodman is now well known for his left-of-centre sounds having toured the world plenty of times. Back when his debut album arrived in 2012 though he was barely known at all. It came on Orange Milk and was a wonky fusion leftfield experimentation and beat music inspired by Chicago juke. It came back then on cassette only but now the same label has pressed it up to vinyl and that means it is sure to become a cult classic all over again. The often sorts, sketchy tracks are full of wonderful ideas, a lot of MIDI sounds, bizarre designs and great use of negative space.
Parc De Belleville (feat Wilf Petherbridge) (4:13)
What You Saw (feat Ma Moyo & Mahon) (4:56)
Review: London beatsmith and "city rivims" producer Footshooter is one of a small cadre of inner city artists whose work makes a point of fusing UK jazz, West Coast-ish hip-hop and UK dance production, all tied together by an experimental bow. His latest LP, The Oasis, unveils itself as an upended jazz and broken beat finesser, all while nailing a collaborative form, with studio-mates James Mollison (Ezra Collective), Natty Wylah and Brother Portrait all in tow. Where lead track 'Cycles' evolved from a simple loop, growing in depth and space, Mollison's saxophone brought appended magic; meanwhile, tracks like 'Boomerang' and 'Surrey Canal Road' underscore a mood of hyperlocal, industrial South London poignancy.
Review: Returning seven years on from their critically acclaimed sophomore opus Take Me Home, Dutch prog-rock auteurs For All We Know deliver their most grandiose sonic spectacle to date with the third full-length By Design Or By Disaster. The brainchild of Ruud Jolie; guitarist of symphonic metal legends Within Temptation, the LP sees the returning line-up of Leo Margarit (Pain Of Salvation), Kristoffer Gildenlow (ex-Pain Of Salvation) and Marco Kuypers (ex-Cloud Machine), whilst tapping the modern Dutch soulful r&b crooner Wudstik to handle lyrical/vocal duties. Soaring, swelling, cascading crescendos and dexterous noodling riffage weave and meander around saccharine melodies, leading to a vintage style of prog rock fearlessness delivered with modernised vision and a deft touch.
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