ALBUM REVIEW – EZRA COLLECTIVE: DANCE, NO ONE’S WATCHING

“Dance is life and you can’t be angry when you’re dancing so keep dancing”, states the voiceover on ‘Our Element’, a brief linking track on Ezra Collective’s new album, ‘Dance, No One’s Watching’. While “anger is an energy” as John Lydon once described it, the horrendous fact that he has ended up as a Trump […]
The sixth album from singer-songwriter Gemma Hayes falls into the “grower” category. It is not an album that clamours for attention but through a combination of cunningly low-key instrumentation and storytelling weaves its spell. Having relocated from London to Baltimore, West Cork and taken up residence in the holiday home of her husband’s family, Hayes […]

ALBUM REVIEW – GEMMA HAYES: BLIND FAITH

ALBUM REVIEW – WE ARE WINTER’S BLUE AND RADIANT CHILDREN: NO MORE APOCALYPSE FATHER

If you tell me that Efrim Menuck – founding member of one of my personal favourite bands Godspeed You! Black Emperor – has a new project, I’m already on board. We Are Winter’s Blue and Radiant Children have more prestige than just that alone, though. Joining Menuck are Mat Ball, guitarist in drone doom outfit […]
Another hearty week of new releases. Here is Silent Radio’s summary. Katy J Pearson             Those Goodbyes        Songs which range from achy-hearted, string-laden confessionals to sleek, chic soundtracks for the small hours The Waeve      City Lights       The second album from Graham Coxon and Rose Elinor Dougall is a collection of 10 songs that illustrate the evolution […]

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 20 SEPTEMBER 2024

ALBUM REVIEW – THE COURETTES: THE SOUL OF… THE FABULOUS COURETTES

From The Ronettes through the likes of The Marvelettes to The Pipettes, the suffix ‘ettes’ in a band’s name is a reliable indicator of certain qualities. It is a guarantee of a female fronted act, either 1960s originals or heavily inspired by girl action from that era, and punchy pop songs with big choruses and […]
French-Lebanese trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf’s latest album, ‘Trumpets of Michel-Ange’ sees itself as more than just a record. It is also part of an initiative to make the quarter tone trumpet his father invented accessible via a series of lessons, instruments and recordings. The instrument was crafted with an additional fourth valve which enables the player […]

ALBUM REVIEW – IBRAHIM MAALOUF: TRUMPETS OF MICHEL-ANGE

ALBUM REVIEW – MOLCHAT DOMA: BELAYA POLOSA

Belarus’ biggest post-punk trio, Molchat Doma, are back striking again with their new early ‘80’s Joy Division/ The Cure inspired Atmospheric fourth album, Beyala Polosa, or ‘White Stripe’. This is the band’s first studio album since the release of 2020’s fantastically moody and gloomy Monument. The trio’s best project coming into this album, in my […]
On his Bandcamp page, ‘Down to the Marshes’ is self-proclaimed as being David Lance Callahan’s third and best album, as well as being touted as a masterpiece. These are heady claims, especially as his first two solo albums, ‘English Primitive I & II’ were startling works that drew deserved hyperbole from the more discerning music […]

ALBUM REVIEW – DAVID LANCE CALLAHAN: DOWN TO THE MARSHES

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 13 SEPTEMBER 2024

Silent Radio presents this week’s unruly bundle of releases for your delectation. Juniore               Trois, Deux, Un            Flag-bearers for neo-sixties French-indie cool whose third album channels French classics through the hyperactive lens of B-52s New Wave and 60s American garage-rock. Jade Hairpins                Get Me The Good Stuff          Second album from Fucked Up’s Jonah Falco and Mike […]
Sometimes, a voice can bubble away in the background, a pleasant enough accompaniment on the radio, gradually infiltrating the senses until eventually the realisation dawns that it is something special. Such a description could be applied to my appreciation of Joan Wasser who is about to release her tenth studio album under the moniker of […]

ALBUM REVIEW – JOAN AS POLICE WOMAN: LEMONS, LIMES AND ORCHIDS