ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 20 OCTOBER 2023

Our roundup of another busy week of new releases including several outstanding albums. Pip Blom              Bobbie With her third album, the ever-impressive Blom moves in a synth-led direction inspired by Micachu and the Shapes. The album includes duets with Alex Kapranos and Personal Trainer’s Willem Smit that work especially well. Emma Anderson              Pearlies Co-founder of […]
The best music can banish even the weariest mood. That has certainly been true for this album from Leon Keita, the latest release from Analog Africa, a German-based label that over the past 16 years has been devoted to excavating some of the finest music from the African continent made during the period from the […]

ALBUM REVIEW – LEON KEITA: LEON KEITA

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 13 OCTOBER 2023

As 14 October marks National Album Day, it would be rude not to listen to a new album this weekend. Here Silent Radio issues its guide to this week’s releases. The Drums          Jonny    Heartbreaking, playful, raucous, and serene all in turn, it confronts the deep-rooted childhood trauma founding member Jonny Pierce experienced growing up in […]
Critically acclaimed superstar Holly Humberstone is back with her delightful debut album entitled Paint My Bedroom Black. Feeding us with 13 tracks worth of memories, heartbreak and the inner workings of her life you can’t help but find yourself hooked from the very beginning. If I was to have an album soundtrack a film about […]

ALBUM REVIEW – HOLLY HUMBERSTONE: PAINT MY BEDROOM BLACK

ALBUM REVIEW – THE STREETS: THE DARKER THE SHADOW THE BRIGHTER THE LIGHT

Mike Skinner, a musician and producer, legend (responsible for my parents’ marriage) established the British music project The Streets. The group is noted for its peculiar blend of UK garage, hip-hop, and electronic music, with lyrics that frequently explore everyday hidden truths like drug life, romance, and honesty. Rather than talking about limos and fancy […]
Self titling an album is a big move; it’s a band signifying that the album is their definitive sound and a true representation of their work. So, if you’re going to do it, you’ve got to do it right. Returning with their third album, Pennsylvania-based trio Catatonic Suns are back with a self-titled album. A […]

ALBUM REVIEW – CATATONIC SUNS: CATATONIC SUNS

ALBUM REVIEW – SUFJAN STEVENS: JAVELIN

An early successful album can cast shade over an entire career. Sufjan Stevens’s 2005 release, ‘Illinois’, was one of the first great albums of the 21st Century. Following on from 2003’s ‘Greetings From Michigan The Great Lake State’, it was the second full length release of what he claimed would be a set of song […]
Silent Radio’s guide to another exceptional week of releases, several of which are covered in greater depth elsewhere on this website. Mutual Benefit                 Growing at the Edges     A lovely, expansive record that revels in jazz and country riffs together with chamber folk arrangements. A Savage              Several Songs About Fire              Second solo album from Parquet […]

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 6 OCTOBER 2023

ALBUM REVIEW – PETER BREWIS: BLOWDRY COLOSSUS

It is easy to imagine the Brewis brothers issuing a mutual challenge for 2023. Who can make a record that sounds least like Field Music. David was first out of the blocks with the early 70s singer-songwriter flavoured, acoustic and string quartet backed, ‘The Soft Struggles’. Now, coming out of left-field, Peter has emerged with […]
Having a stressful day? Let Modern Nature help you with that. ‘No Fixed Point In Space’ is an album which pours out a soothing concoction of ethereal, otherworldly tunes from the musical innovator Jack Cooper. Whereas Cooper’s previous bands, Ultimate Painting and Mazes were taking their cues from more indie rock treasure troves, his song […]

ALBUM REVIEW: MODERN NATURE – NO FIXED POINT IN SPACE