Album: Daniel Avery - Ultra Truth

★★★★ DANIEL AVERY - ULTRA TRUTH Introspection and maturation from the leftfield dance mainstay

Introspection and maturation from the leftfield dance mainstay

There is now a kind of “leftfield mainstream” in electronic music. It’s populated by people a decade or more younger than the original acid house generation, but who take their core inspiration from post-rave experimentation of the early-mid Nineties. Dusky, Bicep and to an extent people like DJ Seinfeld, Four Tet and Jon Hopkins all channel the rich melodies and textures of Future Sound of London, Orbital, early Aphex Twin, Underworld and co to arena-filling effect.  

Album: Tropical Gothclub - Tropical Gothclub

★★★ TROPICAL GOTHCLUB - TROPICAL GOTHCLUB Quirky, trippy, yet restrained

QOTSA and The Dead Weather all-rounder injects hard rock with trippy vibes

Queens of the Stone Age. The Dead Weather. The Raconteurs. For those who know these bands intimately, Dean Fertita is no stranger. But to those less familiar he might need a little introducing.

Fertita has long been a prominent, yet, background figure in the American rock and hard rock scenes. An invaluable member of both QOTSA and The Dead Weather, he has also worked with Iggy Pop, The Kills, Beck amongst many others.

Album: Aoife Nessa Frances - Protector

Alluring second album from the distinctive Irish singer-songwriter

There’s a song by Kevin Ayers called “The Lady Rachel”. It was on his 1969 debut solo LP Joy Of A Toy. Play it alongside “This Still Life”, the second track on the second album from Ireland’s Aoife Nessa Frances and the aesthetic kinship is clear. The differing genders of the singer-composers aside, one could swap with the other and snugly fit onto either release.

Album: Taylor Swift - Midnights

★★★★ TAYLOR SWIFT - MIDNIGHTS Synthpop noir and superlative phrasing from an imperious pop star

Synthpop noir and superlative phrasing from an imperious pop star

Taylor Swift’s transitions have become imperious, from the woody hush of her collaborations with The National’s Aaron Dessner, Folklore and Evermore, to the remade reclamations of her early work. Working at pace, she has assembled an impregnable coalition of critical acceptance and creative range.

Album: Goat - Oh Death

Scandinavian shamen return with a lively new ritual

It’s now six years since Goat last released an album of new songs and, despite a live disc and one of B-sides and other odds and sods that have appeared in the meantime, its Requiem title suggested that it might have been their last call to arms. However, do not fear, our favourite pagan psychedelicists are back in the ring and on top form with a lively soundtrack that is more than enough to drag even the most dancefloor phobic up on their feet to shake a leg.

Music Reissues Weekly: Living Daylights - Let's Live For Today

Essex psychedelic pop band’s album emerges after 55 years on the shelf

In the third week of April 1967, Frank and Nancy Sinatra’s “Somethin’ Stupid” topped the UK’s single’s chart. Sandie Shaw’s “Puppet on a String” was number two, and The Monkees’ “A Little Bit me a Little Bit You” snapped at her heels. Englebert Humperdinck’s recent number one “Release me” was at number five. All very pop, very mainstream.

Bob Dylan, London Palladium - busy painting his masterpiece

★★★★★ BOB DYLAN, LONDON PALLADIUM A night of concentrated spirits

A night of concentrated spirits as Dylan's 'Rough and Rowdy Ways' tour comes to town

It’s the second night of a four-night run at the London Palladium of the Rough and Rowdy Ways World Tour – no other Dylan jaunt has taken an album for its title – and it begins with a blast of symphonic violence from the first movement of Beethoven’s Ninth. The house lights fade to black, the symphony segues into a modal tune-up on stage, Dylan and his four-piece – second guitarist Bob Britt is not here tonight – barely visible in silhouette.

Let's Eat Grandma, Patterns, Brighton review - odd-pop duo remain a contagious one-off

★★★ LET'S EAT GRANDMA, PATTERNS, BRIGHTON Odd-pop duo remain a contagious one-off

Musically restless originals bring acuity to their unique take on pop

At the start of the song “Two Ribbons” Rosa Walton and Jenny Hollingworth of Let’s Eat Grandma do a brief schoolyard pat-a-cake hand-game. The song is a guileless ode to female friendship, love even, a paean to their own bond, which was strained at one point by the travails of a music career.

The Orb, Hare & Hounds, Birmingham review - ambient house duo celebrate 30 years of UF Orb

★★★★ THE ORB, HARE & HOUNDS Ambient house duo celebrate 30 years of UF Orb

Another reefer spin with Dr Alex Paterson

Ten minutes before The Orb got on stage at the Hare & Hounds, Alex Paterson was standing in the building’s courtyard with a big old spliff in his hand “clearing his head” and getting ready for action. So, it was good to know that some things don’t change.