Big Star: Complete Third box set review – definitive version of cult masterpiece

Related: Mike Mills: why I love Big Star Big Star’s cult masterpiece is the sound of disintegration, of things falling apart – and of Alex Chilton’s drug-fuelled lurch away from the powerpop of Big Star’s first two albums. Recorded in … Continue reading →

Kitty Empire: best rock and pop of 2016

Mavericks were lost, Dylan bagged a Nobel (and then went quiet), the Knowles sisters sparkled, and grime moved centre stage

Mullum music festival review – folk and fun amid a sea of dreadlocks

Nut farmers, Indigenous musicians and alt-pop pantsuit wearers share the limelight with a faux Russian folk choir at this small-town festival that spans Mullumbimby’s main street

Lambchop: Flotus review – Kurt Wagner’s skilful swerve into electronics

Related: Lambchop’s Kurt Wagner: ‘I wanted to make a record my wife would like’ As bullish statements of hope-you-like-our-new-direction intent go, the first track released from Lambchop’s 12th album took some beating. Kurt Wagner’s Nashville collective have long been more … Continue reading →

Angel Olsen review – hear her roar

The spectral-voiced ‘queen of sad’ challanges her fans to keep up with a groove-laden assault on folksy cliche

Pretenders: Alone review – Chrissie Hynde still a magnificent one-off

Related: ‘The history of punk was always HIS story’: the women rewriting rock What was originally intended as a Chrissie Hynde solo album finally appears, packaged as a Pretenders release, with the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach aboard as producer. A … Continue reading →

Hiss Golden Messenger: Heart Like a Levee review – rootsy and persuasive

When MC Taylor first attracted attention as Hiss Golden Messenger, he drew tentative comparisons with those titans of contemporary Americana, Bill Callahan and Will Oldham. He may not quite have hit those peaks yet, but his sixth full-length record is … Continue reading →

Julia Jacklin: Don’t Let the Kids Win review – impressive indie country debut from Australia

The debut album from Julia Jacklin was trailed by an ear-catching single called Coming of Age, in which Jacklin, over cheerily grungey backing, announced: “I gotta find myself a girl / Who makes my straight toes curl.” It proved to … Continue reading →

Barry Gibb: In the Now review – fine continuation of the Bee Gee legacy

The last surviving Bee Gee’s second solo album (and first in 32 years) understandably echoes the band’s world-famous music. Gibb’s sons Stephen and Ashley fill the late Robin and Maurice’s giant shoes and reproduce trademark harmonies around Gibb’s quivering lead … Continue reading →

John Prine: For Better, Or Worse review – marriage duets, country-style

(Oh Boy)

Billy Bragg & Joe Henry: Shine a Light review – Essex to Carolina on railroad songs

Related: Laying down tracks: Billy Bragg and Joe Henry take a railroad trip to the blues Billy Bragg once toured the UK by British Rail, rocking up in cities with guitar in hand and loudspeakers on his shoulders. More than … Continue reading →

John Scofield: Country for Old Men review – jazz guitarist pays tribute to country greats

Following last year’s Grammy-winning Past Present, the improvisationally wily but sociably funky jazz guitarist John Scofield now presents a tribute to the country songs of American icons including Hank Williams, Merle Haggard and Dolly Parton, with pianist/organist Larry Goldings, bassist … Continue reading →

Margo Price review – honky tonk’s new queen of heartache

Margo Price’s bleak backstory and terrific songs make it hard to understand why she’s been overlooked for so long

Margo Price review – life-affirming misery from Nashville’s gutsy new star

Price is a country traditionalist who turns the hard-luck stories of her life into irresistably vivid and vibrant music

Ward Thomas: Cartwheels review – slick country pop and millennial whoops

With their perfectly polished harmonies and smiling dispositions, Lizzy and Catherine Ward Thomas aren’t going to do much to dispel the myth of telepathic twindom. Hailing from the Hampshire village of Liss rather than a rural corner of the US, … Continue reading →