Gorillaz review – Damon Albarn refuses to be pigeonholed in hip-hop jamboree
The Blur frontman brings his animated band’s world tour to the UK, and it’s the house vocalists – such as Peven Everett and Jamie Principle – that really shine
Björk: Utopia review – a lush, airy fresh start
Björk exudes a lust for life again on her self-styled ‘Tinder album’, a hope-filled set powered by flutes and birdsong
Kim Myhr: You | Me Myhr CD review – blissed-out twangs for big-sky vistas
Here’s an album that feels beautifully out of season. Norwegian composer/experimental guitarist Kim Myhr is a master of slow-morphing rhythms and sun-dappled textures that seem to glow from the inside. His electronics are mellow and inviting; his 12-string acoustic guitar … Continue reading
Björk: Utopia review – romance, angst and troublingly thin tunes
The musician’s self-professed ‘Tinder album’ spins from ecstasy to frustration by focusing more on soundscapes than melody
Stimmung review – Singcircle take us back to Stockhausen’s future
A rare performance of Stockhausen’s legendary Stimmung, replete with terrible erotic poems, recaptured the spirit that inspired a generation
Pnau: Changa review – the perfect winter tonic
Australian trio Pnau, led by Nick Littlemore, one half of ludicrous space-pop outfit Empire of the Sun, clearly have no concept of timing. Changa, their fifth album, is a DayGlo riot of fizzing pop, squelchy disco and festival-ready anthems that … Continue reading
Call Super: Arpo review – outstanding after-hours techno
Behind the decks, Joe Seaton, AKA Call Super, mixes up a cosmopolitan blend of techno and house, but his own productions are pitched at those dissonant, poignant moments after the night has ended, when you’re wandering home past people off … Continue reading
Rabit: Les Fleurs Du Mal review – dancefloor deconstructed too far
In underground clubbing there has been a recent vogue for “deconstructed” tracks; agglomerations of barely rhythmic noise that can prove brutally funky. Rabit, a producer who previously created icy grime-like tracks and blasts of apocalyptic techno, has now deconstructed to … Continue reading
James Holden & the Animal Spirits: The Animal Spirits review – shimmering astral jazz
James Holden is an Oxford University maths graduate turned DJ, producer and synth wizard who made his name with a suitably cerebral variety of Aphex Twin-inspired rave music. In the last decade, he’s forsaken DJing to front a live band … Continue reading
Fever Ray: Plunge – a mood of menace
Trailed by a mysterious video, preceded by an arresting single, To the Moon and Back, and stealth-released on Friday, Fever Ray’s first new music in eight years finds Karin Dreijer (she seems to have lost the Andersson) in fierce form. … Continue reading
John Maus: Screen Memories review – nihilistic synth pop
Apparently John Maus has spent some of the six years since his last album finishing his doctorate in political philosophy. Perhaps he should have taken a degree in common sense, given his worrying assignations with the “alt-right”, and daft assertions … Continue reading
Simple Things festival review – neo-glam, power punk and the giddy glow of trance
From HMLTD and IDLES to Nadine Shah and the British Paraorchestra, the festival season wound down with an eclectic lineup – and no need for wellies
Destroyer: Ken review – shot through with scorn
(Dead Oceans)