Review: Alzo's 1973 hit single 'Lover Man' is heard reissued by the amorous hommes over at Elznavour. Hailed by the label as two romantic bangers - selectly chosen from the American soft rock musician's second LP Takin' So Long - Elznavour are keen to highlight the songs' equally tragic pull, for Alzo sadly passed away in 2004. Echoing the muted hey-heys of Sixto Rodriguez on the A, before launching into a cinematic psyche-soul number predictive of much modern pop music , 'Come On, Come On', on the B, this is a premium slice of well-cured rock music on 7", recalling the music of an unforgettable musician.
Review: This EP is the first collaborative work by Andrea Belfi and Jules Reidy. Berlin-based and hailing from Italy and Australia respectively, the duo blends compositional precision with improvisational freedom. During a residency at Berlin's Callie's-a 19th-century factory turned arts space-they and engineer Marco Anulli crafted four expansive tracks in which Belfi's masterful drumming interlaces with Reidy's shimmering guitars and electronic textures. The opener layers just-intoned guitar figures over delicate brushwork and climaxes with a synthetic surge and tracks like 'Oben' and 'Alto' explore shifting grooves, propulsive rhythms and dynamic soundscapes.
Review: Having played a slew of inimitable and unforgettable television comedy characters over the past decade or so, from Toast of London's Stephen Toast to Douglas Reynholm in The IT Crowd, Dixon Bainbridge in The Mighty Boosh and Todd Rivers in Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, you could be forgiven for expecting Matt Berry to use songwriting and music as another form of hilarious release. That's definitely not the case. There's plenty of release on I Gotta Limit, but this is anything other than satire. The first new music to come from Berry's 2025 album, Heard Noises, the two tracks here are pure joy, authentic and genuinely impressive on a technical level. Exchanging lines in a duet with Kitty Liv for the titular number, the vibe is part Northern Soul, part psych rock, and pretty much all completely captivating.
Review: In December 2001, at Maida Vale Studios, Bill Callahan's Smog delivered a raw, haunting session for the BBC. Alongside bandmates Jessica Billey, Mike Saenz and Jim White, Callahan's performance embodied a Lynchian mood of U.S. darkness in the wake of 9/11, covering Stevie Nicks, Lou Reed, and Smog tracks with a sombre, tour-worn edge. Callahan reflects, "It's all live, no overdubs. The session felt encapsulatedisomething foreign, yet intimate." The band's reimagining of 'Beautiful Child' in a minor key, the fiery rendition of 'Cold Discovery', and the moving take on 'Jesus' highlight the raw, unfiltered essence of this live recording.
Review: Blundetto unveils a captivating folk single here that features the ethereal voice of French singer Juliette Magnevasoa. 'La Playa' is an acoustic-rich cover of Marie Laforet's 1970 classic and this rendition has a new vocal whose unique timbre adds depth and all-new charm. Together, the artists create a delicate harmony of softness and melancholy and blend soothing tones that evoke timeless beauty. Already heralded as a classic gem, this subtly evolved new version of 'La Playa' offers a serene and heartfelt sound for intimate moments.
Review: Singer, songwriter, former Navy sailor and Oklahoma native Zach Bryan first rose to fame in 2019 with his self-released debut country album DeAnn. Bryan's raw storytelling approach attracted a dedicated following, justifying many follow-ups - his latest EP Summertime Blues included. Something of a sibling piece to the recent album American Heartbreak, the EP deploys sweet vocal lilts, banjo strums and fiddle bowings to channels many brooding, blue-collar emotions, reflecting lives lived on the road and bittersweet days gone by.
Review: Estonian rock band Centre El Muusa hail from Tallinn and in vitally started out as experimental electronic duo Centre Electronique Muusa before evolving into the current set up in 2018. They have dropped a couple of tasty albums since 2020 and now contain with their explorations and fusions of the worlds of jazz, rock, folk, world and country with hints of kraut on the new 7" for Funk Night. 'Moonlight Horses' is a psyched out world of campfire guitars and star gazing riffs that leaves you feeling fully hippie-d up. 'Catching Stars' then heightens the trip with more angular guitars and a big wall of garage-rock sound.
B-STOCK: Record is slightly warped, otherwise in excellent condition
The Tinker & The Crab
Wear Your Love Like Heaven
Review: ***B-STOCK: Record is slightly warped, otherwise in excellent condition***
A pair of classic Donovan tracks get pressed up to this new 7" from The state51 Conspiracy. They are taken originally from his seminal double album A Gift From a Flower to a Garden and come in a beautifully printed new sleeve with golden details and limited to just 500 copies. Both are mixed in mono and first is the delicate falsetto of 'The Tinker and the Crab' with is Americana overtones and light flute motifs next to the acoustic guitar strumming and 'Wear Your Love Like Heaven' is another lushly layered folk rock sound.
Review: Two towering labels, Alternative Tentacles and Crispin Glover, break the mould for a momentary merger on this artistic collision of rogue planets: a new split reissued 7" housing that infamous syncretic, Patrick Fitzgerald, Motorpsycho and Jello Biafra, and their twin versions of Fitzgerald's original song 'Punch'. Fitzgerald is best known as a pioneer of folk punk, famously channelling his sardonic wit into a fleeting, light but somehow also epical sound. 'Punch' first surfaced in 2009 as a one-off single released under Crispin Glover's remit; it's now heard once more in both versions, tracking incendiary denunciations of politics on Fitzgerald's part, amid a suicidal, guitar-driven ascension into the air.
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