Album: Marcus Mumford - (Self-Titled)

★★★ MARCUS MUMFORD - (SELF-TITLED) The Mumford & Sons frontman finds catharsis in his solo debut

The Mumford & Sons frontman finds catharsis in his solo debut

I can still taste you and I hate it/That wasn’t a choice in the mind of a child and you knew it/You took the first slice of me and you ate it raw/Ripped at it with your teeth and your lips like a cannibal/You fucking animal.” 

Album: Suede - Autofiction

★★★ SUEDE - AUTOFICTION Wistful post-punk thuggery from Britpop's comeback kings

Wistful post-punk thuggery from Britpop's comeback kings

Suede were both prototypes and outliers of the Britpop pack, and their 2010 reunion managed a rare, creatively substantial second act; given their resurrection after guitarist Bernard Butler’s fractious 1994 exit, this may even be the band’s epic, open-ended Act 3.

Album: The Afghan Whigs - How Do You Burn?

★★★★ THE AFGHAN WHIGS - HOW DO YOU BURN? Still finding wisdom in excess

Greg Dulli's veterans head for the hedonistic horizon, still finding wisdom in excess

Hedonism and romance still drive Greg Dulli’s rock’n’roll on his main band’s ninth album.

Album: Tom Chaplin - Midpoint

Music that was always middle aged ironically ages gracefully

Travis, Coldplay, Haven, Elbow, Snow Patrol, Aqualung, Embrace, Starsailor, Turin Brakes, Athlete, Elbow, Doves… and of course Keane. The turn of the millennium deluge of sincere young men opening up their feelings to the world, their voices cracking into falsettos over grandiose post-U2 rhythms, really was quite a major cultural movement, wasn’t it? Easy to mock – and indeed the target of some real hatred – but absolutely inescapable, and as defining of its time as any hipper sound.

Album: Muse - Will of the People

Muse's ninth doesn't stick the landing despite some promise in its varied sound

From three young lads making music to escape adolescent boredom, inspired by heavy doses of Nirvana and Deftones, Muse now regularly make stadiums around the world their own with seas of thousands adoring fans their home. 

Album: Demi Lovato - Holy Fvck

★★★★ DEMI LOVATO - HOLY FVCK Wounds on her sleeve: surf the F word with maximum energy

Surfing the F word with maximum energy

Demi Lovato doesn’t do things by halves. She has one of the most powerful voices around, as suited to the yang of punchy hard rock as it is to the sensual yin of R&B or or the contagious sweetness of girly pop.

theartsdesk on Vinyl 72: Blondie, Joe Meek, Asha Puthli, Minions, Prince, Horse Meat Disco and more

TAD ON VINYL 72 Blondie, Joe Meek, Asha Puthli, Minions, Prince, Horse Meat Disco and more

The most extensive regular record reviews in the universe

This month’s reviews take in everything from New York new wave pop to apocalyptic electro to kitsch exotica. There are no genre boundaries at theartsdesk on Vinyl, just a constant desire to play music loud, whether new or reissues, then share what it felt like. Dive in!

VINYL OF THE MONTH

Congotronics International Where’s the One (Crammed Discs)

Album: Jack White - Entering Heaven Alive

★★★ JACK WHITE - ENTERING HEAVEN ALIVE Playful, varied, relaxed and enjoyable new one from the former White Stripe

Playful, varied, relaxed and enjoyable new one from the former White Stripe

Jack White’s last couple of albums, Boarding House Reach from 2018 and Fear of the Dawn from April this year, were both driven by experimentalism, dipping into electronics, hip hop, noise and more. They were both, to differing degrees, admirable in intent, coming from an artist perceived as zealously retro, but they were also only partially successful.

Haim, OVO Hydro, Glasgow review - charismatic siblings personable as ever

★★★ HAIM, OVO HYDRO, GLASGOW Charismatic siblings personable as ever, complete with chat

The sisters kept the chat going but ran out of steam

Sweetness never lasts too long at a Haim gig. No sooner had Alana Haim, the youngest of the Californian siblings, finished a speech about her delight about being back in Glasgow by announcing she was going to “smell the f****** roses” then bass-playing elder sister Este piped up with “I’m smelling my armpits. They are ripe.” It summed up a chat-heavy show that at times felt like part gig, part stand-up comedy try-out.