
Blur announced some massive Wembley gigs and that was that, right? Wrong. They have surprised everyone by announcing a new album! It’s called The Ballad of Darren and is out July 21 via Parlophone. Their first since ‘The Magic Whip’. And there’s a new song too, called ‘The Narcissist.’ Damon Albarn: “This is an aftershock record, reflection and…

Donald Trump’s use of ‘YMCA’ (and to a lesser degree, ‘Macho Man’) by the Village People has been a curious thing. For someone who is, and represents everything virulently homophobic and a whole other bunch of phobics in the US, it’s particularly strange that he’d plump for a song that is not only very camp,…

You’ve invariably picked up a Beatle LP, seen that famous green apple, got an emorous sense of well-being, and got on with your day (unless you’re one of those terrible hipsters who think it’s fashionable to hate The Beatles – you do you, boo). Anyway, the famous split apple across two sides of a Beatle…

The late Japanese composer and Yellow Magic Orchestra founder Ryuichi Sakamoto’s management have shared the last playlist compiled by the late, great musician. Calling it ‘Ryuichi’s Last Playlist’, they wrote: “We would like to share the playlist that Ryuichi had been privately compiling to be played at his own funeral to accompany his passing. He…

When SBTRKT were around last time, they were known for their forward thinking dancefloor chuggers, designed for those kids who weren’t necessarily into dance music and a bit frightened of Techno Lads on pills, but still wanted to scuff their sneakers up on the dirty dancefloors. ‘Pharaohs’ and ‘Wildlife’ were solid gold bangers, but in…

Jazz never died, but it did feel harder to find since major music publications effectively turned their back on it some time in the ’70s. Jazz is of course, in rude health and as disparate as it ever was. With that, we were super thrilled while listening to baritone sax’er Zoh Amba’s new one, which…

Island Records is one of the most legendary record labels in the history of rock, pop, reggae and more. Especially iconic is the ‘Island pink’ years, where the records sported a gorgeous baby pink label and was home to some of the finest records ever cut on the lathe. With that, following first volume, there’s…

It certainly seems there’s a quiet revival of boom bap rap in recent years, underlined obviously, by the all-conquering Doechii LP released last year. Of course, she’s not the only one putting a fresh twist on golden era hip hop, and now we look to the new one from prodigious talent Che Noir. Hailing from…

We wrote a very glowing review of the wonderful album by Tortoise cohort Jeff Parker and his IVtet, being one of the best jazz LPs we’ve bought in years. In case you missed, Parker and his band did a blissfully wonderful and super invigorating set for the always great NPR Tiny Desk. Watch it here.
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