Adrian P - Reviews
Tanya Donelly and the Parkington Sisters
Tanya Donelly teams up with The Parkington Sisters for a homespun yet well-crafted covers collection
Jon Brooks
The Advisory Circle’s Jon Brooks returns yet again under his solo guise to Clay Pipe Music with a record that finds light in the darkness for our anxious time
Lee Ranaldo and Raul Refree
Sonic Youth’s ‘third voice’ Lee Ranaldo moves out of his solo career safe spaces with this intriguing collaborative detour with Raul Refree
Black Lips
Ploughing-up multiple fields of skewed country-rock, Atlanta veterans The Black Lips join up with Fire Records for this gamely-rendered studio return.
Hanging Stars
Continuing to refine and expand upon cosmic Americana templates, The Hanging Stars deliver a third album of well-crafted wares
Arbouretum
Arbouretum return with one of their most sturdy official albums so far, spreading themselves out widely whilst remaining solidly grounded
Juliana Hatfield
Now apparently alternating between albums of her own songs and covers of other artists, Juliana Hatfield returns with her second studio LP of 2019, in the shape of this curiously enjoyable sweep through the songbook of The Police.
Giant Sand
For his second re-recording of an early-Giant Sand album, Howe Gelb leads the way through a skewed refashioning of 1986’s ‘Ballad of a Thin Line Man’
Kristin Hersh
As part of her new label relationship with Fire Records, Kristin Hersh reissues her overlooked 2009 album in a simpler revived form
Simon Bonney
Across this twelve-track anthology, Simon Bonney puts his solo work outside Crime and The City Solution into a refreshed compact context
Sebadoh
Driven by a devil-may-care zeal, this first Sebadoh for Fire Records after a long association with Domino Records, finds the threesome in a rejuvenated yet far looser place
Jane Weaver
Folding-together key cuts from her last two albums, inside recalibrated casings and amidst new interludes, Jane Weaver intrepidly translates her solo live show into the studio
Mekons
On their umpteenth album since the late-‘70s, the metamorphic Mekons reveal themselves to be in surprisingly revived rude health
Hardy Tree
For this three-track EP -spread across a flexi-disc and download to accompany the first volume of her first graphic novel - Frances Castle deepens the roots of The Hardy Tree’s otherworldly soundscapes
Elena Setién
On her first album for Thrill Jockey - but third in all – Spain’s Elena Setién carves out lustrous arrangements around her elegant compositions
Visage Pâle
Biggleswade’s Castles In Space label opens up another promising year with this debut mini-album from Lausanne-based synth-pop-noire outfit Visage Pâle.