Dimensions festival review: Larry Heard keeps sunburned crowd in thrall
Set in a stone fort, this dance music festival was a triumph, with daytime beach and boat parties giving way to rocking nights of Chicago and Detroit house
Gary Numan: Android in La La Land review – electronic music pioneer in sparky doc
Steve Reed and Rob Alexander’s film follows the tortured star in the run-up to the release of his latest album Splinter
Cassius: Ibifornia review – funky pop, sunshine and cliches
It’s a decade since this pre-Daft Punk French electronic duo’s last album, 15 Again, but they’ve kept themselves busy producing other artists such as Phoenix and the Rapture. On Ibifornia, Philippe Zdar and Boom Bass’s bulging contacts book produces an … Continue reading
Green Man review – from fusion to folk in the misty mountains
There’s a five-star welcome in the hillside as Belle and Sebastian bring a weekend of wonders to a rock’n’roll climax
Gonjasufi: Callus review – the stuff of psychedelic nightmares
The American yoga teacher and producer returns after four years with his third studio album. The follow-up to Mu.zz.le, Callus is decidedly darker than its predecessor, assaulting the ears with endless hazy vocals, wailing synths and moody bass guitar improvisations … Continue reading
Crystal Castles: Amnesty (I) review – brilliantly disjointed electropop
Crystal Castles’ fourth album is the first since frontwoman Alice Glass left in 2014, replaced by Edith Frances. What that means for the band’s chaotic live shows – Glass was agitator-in-chief – is not yet fully clear, but what it … Continue reading
Thom Sonny Green: High Anxiety review – Alt-J’s unexpected talent
Thom Sonny Green’s day job is drumming for Alt-J, but you shouldn’t hold it against him. His surprising debut solo album, High Anxiety, is the result of three years of relentless touring and recording in hotel rooms, parking sombre electronic … Continue reading
Crystal Castles: Amnesty review – digital cacophony from synth antagonists
That synth antagonists Crystal Castles are even releasing an album in 2016 is something of a surprise. In 2014, vocalist Alice Glass announced “the end of the band”, citing problems with “self-expression” and working difficulties with founding member Ethan Kath. … Continue reading
Factory Floor: 25 25 review – industrial acid thumpers get slightly less abrasive
There are some things you can deduce about Factory Floor from their name, and some you can’t. They do not have much to say on industrial relations, for example. On the other hand, they do make a lot of clanging … Continue reading
Hieroglyphic Being: The Disco’s of Imhotep review – healing by frequencies
Joining the dots between Chicago house and the Sun Ra Arkestra is Jamal Moss, prolific user of aliases (Africans With Mainframes is one), coiner of genres (Cosmic Be-Bop) and prolific fryer of brains. By contrast with last year’s feted, more … Continue reading
Nao: For All We Know review – retro soul debut with funk to spare
An assured first offering from the east Londoner combines fast sonic cuts and painterly production with defiantly old-school touches
DM Stith: Pigeonheart review – brilliantly compelling
(Octaves/Outset Recordings)
MSTRKRFT: Operator review – back to the noughties too soon?
(Last Gang Records)
Lou Rhodes: Theyesanseye review – atmospheric, gently pastoral folk
Best known as half of Manchester electronica duo Lamb, Lou Rhodes has been quietly fashioning a concurrent solo career in atmospheric, gently pastoral folk for some years. Her fourth album sees love balladry and witchy woodland acoustica collide. Cellos, plucked … Continue reading
MSTRKRFT: Operator review – rowdy dance duo’s wince-inducing return
Ah, the heady days of mid-2000s dance music, for which enough time has now passed to officially allow for nostalgia, especially as French electro-house duo Justice and their rowdier Canadian cousins, MSTRKRFT, have returned. Its anthems were maximal, lacerated by … Continue reading