Back catalogue: All genres

Review: You should never assume too much when it comes to Eartheater. Powders on Mad Decent and finds the maverick modernist at her most vulnerable and exposed. Where she's so often warped and manipulated her voice as part of her hyper pop experimentation, here she comes through in strikingly direct terms whether soaring over elegant threads of synthesis (on gorgeous opener 'Sugarcane Switch') or covering System of a Down's 'Chop Suey' in fragile, acoustic fashion. Even after so many albums, it feels like we're still in the process of understanding the many dimensions of the Eartheater creative universe, and here is but one new galaxy to explore.

Review: Easy Life's new record is 45 minutes of bliss. It's their best since the Leicester five-piece's Life's A Beach and all 15 cuts will enrich your life with brilliant tunes such as 'Beeswax' and 'Dear Miss Holloway ft. Kevin Abstract. The soulful sounds all tackle the various issues that we all struggled with during the covid-19 pandemic. Lead vocalist Murray Matravers sings "I've been moving lateral, horizontal, vertical" just one minute into the first track on the album and it sums up the pace of this one perfectly. The band's cult fan base will lap this up while new fans are also sure to come flocking.

Review: Echo & The Bunnymen's first ever best-of compilation, first released in 1985, gets a reissue. Accruing all the hits, we begin with the seminal 'Rescue' before careening through 'Never Stop', 'The Killing Moon' and 'Seven Seas', recalling the new wave band's emotive drawl and gushing instrumentals, coinciding with the time in which their contemporaneous album, 'Songs To Learn and Sing', was released.

Review: Rhino have embarked on a grand reissue mission and plan to put out all of the Echo & The Bunnymen's first four albums. Here we have a remastered version of Ocean Rain on 180-gram black vinyl. It was the fourth of the band's albums and was related back in 1984. It reached number four on the UK Albums Chart thanks to singles like 'Silver', 'Seven Seas' and personal favourite 'The Killing Moon.' The album got the band back to the top of their game after the rather less than warm reception to previous album Porcupine the year before thanks to its new found romantic sweetness and the band's bittersweet melodies.

Review: Echo & The Bunnymen came back with renewed vigour when they reformed in 1997 and recorded Evergreen. The album was headed up by 'Nothing Lasts Forever', which lodged in the UK's musical psyche as the Britpop wave receded and everyone was craving a little more maturity in their indie bands. 25 years on, the album ranks as of the band's finest, as vital to their story as the classic 80s records, and it's a welcome treat to see it pressed up once again, on fetching white vinyl with a yolky centre, no less.

Review: Easily outgrowing the original perception of them as stadium-indie bringers of gloom, Editors have evolved steadily with each record, and seemingly found themselves increasingly more comfortable each turn along the way. 'In Dream', the fifth from the Birmingham outfit, finds them expanding on the widescreen sweep of their sound, experimenting further with electronics, yet still maintaining a core of intimacy and introspection that has become their trademark. Thus, perversely, what may be their darkest record to date is also their most uplifting, with indelible songwriting, synth filigree and nocturnal atmospherics colliding to provide a black-clad tour de force.

Review: For their sixth full length album 'Violence', melancholic Birmingham alt-rockers Editors have adopted a grander synth-pop sound to frame their typically dark songwriting in. This change in direction comes from collaborating with the album's producer Leo Abraham and composer Blank Mass, who helped the band hone their electronic craft. The songwriting pairs grandiose stadium riffs with assertive synth-work; 'Hallelujah (So Low)' goes straight for the jugular with fat synth leads and lo-fi drums, and the chorus of lead single 'Magazine' balances sections of punchy electronic swagger with singalong melodic euphoria. On 'No Sound But The Wind', there's a glimpse of an earlier Editors sound, more atmospheric and spacious than the tracks that surround it - unsurprising as it's a song the band first debuted back at Glastonbury 2008 and have been re-working since. Following 2015's somewhat confused 'In Dream', Editors sound reinvigorated and confident in the direction 'Violence' is taking them in.

Review: Much loved UK outfit Editors have that tag because they always manage to confound expectation and stay one step ahead. They first emerged more than 20 years ago now as a group of friends who formed a band at university. Their debut album was Mercury Prize-shortlisted and since then thy have always been bold and brave in their approach. EBM is their first album since Blanck Mass became a full time member and, as the title suggests, is heavily influenced by EBM with physical and angular grooves, soot black moods and real urgency.

Review: BBC 6 Music favourite Guy Garvey and his Editors band are one of the most beloved indie acts of their generation. Their 2005 debut and Mercury Prize nominated album The Back Room is a real fan favourite that now gets a special remaster and reissue on limited gatefold clear vinyl. It features the band's Top 10 single 'Munich' as well as others like 'Bullets', 'Blood' and 'All Sparks', all of which helped it to reach reached No. 2 in the UK album chart and go on to pick up more than one million sales worldwide. All these years later, it still stands up whether or not you were a fan the first time around.

Review: Talk about taking your sweet time. Anyone want to hazard a guess at how long Blinking Lights & Other Revelations took to finish? Thought not. In truth, Eels started work on it in 1998, but it wouldn't see the light of day until 2005. Marking the start of a new era for the band, contractually at least - their deal with David Geffen and Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks Records having dissolved the previous year - the album was high concept, too.
As per frontman E, writing on the band's official website at the time of Blinking Lights' release, the record is about "God and all the questions relating to the subject of God." Suddenly the extended production period makes sense. Then you see it has 33 tracks listed on the sleeve and it all becomes clear. A classic piece of alternative rock with big, bold ideas, it should always be remembered as one of the first landmarks to come from America this millennium.

Review: Birds In The Ground is the 2004 album by the American indie rocker Eiafuawn, aka. Duster member Clay Parton. Fans of the eminent slowcore band will be pleasantly surprised by this comparatively obscure curio, which peppers its folky-bluesy, nigh poppy singer-songwriting basis with bursts of noise and sprawling sonic collage. The reissue also includes bonus tracks and unreleased demos, but the main wonder is its audiophilic, emo drawl - a complex project for sure, and one we're sad didn't hear more exploration.

Review: When Mark Eitzel first unveiled 'The Ugly American' there were a few murmurs about the fact this was his second album of non-original material, seizing on moments from his back catalogue with a revisionist's eye (or ear). But this was missing the point, a collaborative concept sees work written during his American Music Club era given an injection of new inspiration thanks to a group of Greek musicians he hooked up with. Bringing winds, reeds, bouzouki and mandolins, among other instruments, the result is transcendental and yet familiar, a folk-ish journey through the mythologised landscapes of southern Europe as seen through the outsider's gaze, with a culture clash at play thanks to the western indie pop foundations. The combination works effortlessly, with some moments of real ingenuity, and better yet it will sound great on 180g vinyl.

Review: If there's been one defining element of 2017 so far, it's been the stress that it's put a good proportion of the Western world under, and with this in mind it seems that there couldn't be a better time for a new Elbow album, and for the always mildly world-weary yet magnanimous and uplifting strains of Guy Garvey and co. to offer succour. Just as well then that it's perhaps their most richly crafted effort to date, offering warm optimism, a widescreen sweep of sound and their mainman's plangent croon in full effect, amidst an aural landscape that will do more than satisfy long terms fans of their elegiac art, rather something of a balm for these afflicted times.

Review: If you read any interviews around Elbow's ninth studio album, Guy Garvey's open admissions that this is the Bury, Greater Manchester band's most patient and hushed work to date are unlikely to pass you by. The frontman is clearly pleased with what the outfit managed to pull together, offering a great example of why remote working during lockdown actually led to some pretty inspired projects if you look in the right places.

Whether Flying Dream 1 would have sounded like this had it been made through a standard studio process is a big question mark we're not in a position to answer. The group themselves are probably still pondering that one. What is clear is that it feels like a coherent, complete work, which is somewhat at odds with the reality of members contributing individual elements from different locations. Technicalities aside, this is a step away from the grandeur Elbow are often associated with, and distinctly void of gnarl, and it sounds

Review: Greater Manchester art-rock auteurs Elbow return with their highly anticipated tenth full-length Audio Clarity. Known for their "one for the masses, one for the few" dynamic that saw 2019's experimental Giants Of All Sizes offset by 2021's lush, intimate Flying Dream 1; their latest venture appears poised to recapture the avant-garde post-rock machinations of their earliest work, pre-dating the Mercury Prize winning success of 2008's The Seldom Seen Kid, and harking all the way back to their more challenging Cast Of Thousands days. Described by vocalist/lyricist Guy Garvey as "gnarly, seedy grooves created by us playing together in garagey rooms", the mathematic, slow burn of lead single 'Lovers' Leap' twists odd time signatures around interlocked grooves while building towards a post-funk finish, sonically and compositionally highlighting their more involved, frenetic approach as opposed to their recent output's more minimal set-building. In short, Elbow are back for themselves and whoever else cares to follow them yet again down their labyrinthine tapestry of artful ruminations.

Review: Multi-instrumentalist, music-maker, and singer-songwriter Elderbrook shares his second album 'Little Love' for ADA, channelling a mixture of big, bold electronic and more sensitive acoustic pop elements to express the lows, highs and neutrals of becoming a father. Speaking of "glimmers in your eye" and "being there if you need me", this is a promise of unconditional love in album form, with its overarching mood being one of surety.

Review: British synth-pop supergroup Electronic consisted of Bernard Sumner of New Order, Johnny Marr of The Smiths, Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys and Karl Bartos of Kraftwerk. The combined clout of these names surely amounted to enough credit to patent the name "Electronic", which always to us felt partially like an attempt to become synonymous with the music genre itself (as if these guys weren't synonymous with it already). On Get The Message, a 2006 compilation named after the second single from their debut album, we hear a thorough checking of their contribution to the golden decade that is the 1990s, cycling chronologically through the group's greatest hits, as well as some extra rarities and tidbits for curious fans.

Review: Spring is certainly in the air on the third outing from Elephant Gym. The Taiwanese (Kaohsing) rock band have set out to delve pretty deep into our minds, projecting sounds that bore holes and become earworms, bringing about a state that's almost hypnotic. The impressive thing is, that's done with a collection of 12 tracks that pack so much personality and - at times - energy, they couldn't possibly have this effect.
As an album, this sounds like prog rock balladry ('Dream Of You'), good time jazz ('Dear Humans'), spellbinding piano solos ('Dreams', 'Wings'), experimental funk ('Witches'), and numerous raw, dense, psychedelic odysseys that can be challenging to unbox and absorb, but, once immersed, the full experience is mind-bogglingly rich and rewarding, with a multitude of genres happening, interpreted by one star attraction.

Review: Leeds indie stars English Teacher serve up a fantastic debut album here with 'This Could Be Texas'. Preceding hits 'The World's Biggest Paving Slab', 'Nearly Daffodils' and 'Mastermind Specialism' have all topped BBC 6 Music playlists and helped build the band quite the following. Their rise continued to soar after they appeared on Later With...Jools Holland, and they have since played a sold-out UK and US tour. Lead singer Lily Fontaine's vision for the album was "an odyssey to space, revealing Doncaster's likeness. It's about navigating in-betweens, cherishing home, and tracing Desire Paths." Fontaine reflects on being mixed-race in post-Brexit several times throughout the album and it comes here on lovely green vinyl.

Review: Enter Shikari belong to a particularly impressive hardcore subset that seem to get better with each passing year and record. A Kiss For the Whole World is their seventh studio outing, but it sounds almost like a band exploding into action for the first time. A high energy declaration of intent and bold approach to stamping their personality down on the planet they so eagerly want to embrace.

Uplifting would be another - far simpler - way to describe what's here. These are anthems in the truest sense, with tracks like 'Dead Wood' reaching for the kind of euphoric sonic heights few outfits can hope to come close to. A rousing, unifying number. Of course, in typical Shikari fashion, it's not actually all so lead- single-worthy, with some of the finest moments far less in your face. Such as the classical-inspired 'Bloodshot (Coda)', or the half-time drum & bass tech of 'Feed Your Soul'.

Review: In many ways, the debut solo album from Ed O'Brien could have sounded like anything - the Radiohead guitarist has been involved in plenty of sonic experimentations with that outfit, while comrade in arms Thom Yorke has managed to triumph both on the indie rock and electronic club music circuits, elements that could easily have found their way onto this record. The truth is 'Earth' doesn't really sound like Radiohead, or most contemporary electronic permutations. You could almost argue there is an air of nostalgia running through the release, certainly 'Shangri-La' feels that way, shades of Madchester and the great indie-dance crossover days are more than audible. From there we have lo-fi pop edginess ('Banksters'), the sweet and innocent acoustic job 'Long Time Coming', and the breathy, loose, broken and floaty 'Olympik'. In short, it grooves, grows, ebbs and flows in a way that shows a true master at work.

Review: A third album of wonderfully intimate, idiosyncratic songwriting from multi-instrumentalist Stephen Gilchrist - formerly the Stuffy in the much loved Stuffy & The Fuses - in his Stephen EvEns guise. The name may be singular, but from the choir of voices singing the opening tune 'A Song For Europe' to the child's voice at the end of seafaring epic 'Hello Salty Salty', this is very much a community effort and feels like it, with Stephen's core collaborators Jimi Scandal (guitar) and Crompton Whesp (drums) joined by guests like former Curve/Echobelly bassist Debbie Smith, longtime Cardiacs keyboard player William D Drake and Hurtling/My Bloody Valentine guitarist and keyboard player Jen Macro. The mood palate is on just as grand a scale as the personnel list, from the Nick Drake-style acoustic guitar/strings interplay of 'Firefly' to the beefy hip-hop backbeat of 'BBQ Head & 7 Bells', a two part track, the first half dedicated to the joys of cooking in the garden, the second about paranoia and the threat of violence. Elements of psychedelia, some gorgeous analogue synth tones, a penchant for a quirky time signature and/or arrangement all add to what's already a very tasty concoction that anyone with an ear for a tenacious earworm or two will love.

Review: By the time they released "Amplified Heart" in 1994, Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn had spent a decade churning out admired but relatively commercially unsuccessful "lite-jazz" albums. Then, on the back of a string of on-point club remixes (Todd Terry's chart-topping version of "Missing" included), the set surprisingly became a runaway success. To celebrate the album's 25th birthday, "Amplified Heart" has been given the audiophile reissue treatment. It suits the album's gently breezy, emotion-rich feel, with Thorn's evocative, lovelorn vocals perfectly matching Watt's sunset-friendly blend of acoustic guitars, soft-touch double bass, trip-hop style beats and Balearic-minded electronics. It remains one of the duo's greatest albums and should be in every discerning listener's collection.

Review: Everything But The Girl have transposed themselves from fragile indie pioneers to cross-fertilising their unique songwriting with drum & bass and house in the 90s, with the likes of 'Walking Wounded' becoming unexpected dancefloor anthems. True experimenters, the duo of Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt now continue to tap into today's zeitgeist - making their comeback in 2023, and arriving without prior announcement, this time they turned their tender production choices to styles such as future house and UK garage. Echoes of Bicep and Overmono teem on this record, as heartfelt retellings of personal strife and brushes with death make up its lyrical subjects.

Review: Already on their seventh studio album, synth-pop kings Everything Everything return to the fore with Mountainhead, a concept album critiquing modern-day zealotry, economic warfare, and narcissism, centring on the idea of mirrors at the top and snakes at the bottom. A primeval analogy for the modern psychic climate in fourteen-track form, the topic at hand certainly sounds ominous; but the music is nonetheless always as enjoyable as EE's music usually permits. In contrast to prior albums Man Alive and Raw Data Feel, both of which made rigorous use of Artificial Intelligence to generate and effect sound, Mountainhead is deliberately processing-shy, with the band publicly avowing their not using any plugins and effects. Whether this represents an appeal by the band for their audience to downshift and embrace a less future-obsessive life, you be the judge. A powerful metaphor for the economic warfare of everyday life, Mountainhead is an urgent message wrapped in a chart-topper.

Review: English art and indie rockers Everything Everything made quite the impact with their debut album in 2010. The record went on to peak at number 17 in the UK album charts but announced them as masters of a number of different styles with math rock, r&b, hip-hop, electronica, baroque and choral music all drawn upon while singer Jonathan Higgs delivered his complex verses in a rhythmic, falsetto style. The album is repressed here as it was back then - though a deluxe version is also available on these pages - and reminds us just how good the band was at crafting intricate tunes.