Reviews

Peter Bruntnell – Ends Of The Earth

For a man so steeped in the honeyed hickory grit of Gram Parsons, newcomers to Bruntnell could be forgiven for mistaking his English 'burb origins for Bakersfield, Ca. New Zealand-born, Surrey-raised and westward soul-bound, he finally drew acclaim with 2000's superb third LP, Normal For Bridgwater. Its follow-up is equally fine, studded with guitars (courtesy of 21-year-old James Walbourne and Son Volt's Eric Heywood), faint washes of piano, peals of steel and a forlorn, imagistic delivery and way around a melody reminiscent of Joe Pernice.

Frenzy Reunited

Kristin Hersh

James Luther Dickinson – Free Beer Tomorrow

Thirty years on, Memphis giant releases sophomore solo album

Shipping News – Three-Four

Full-length debut from Louisville lo-fi trio

Cass McCombs – Not The Way

Promisingly dazed US singer-songwriter

Sex’n’Sax Machine

Unmissable reissue of No Wave don's two 1979 albums on one CD

Tremeloes – Marmalade

Deep baroque pop from '60s stalwarts and psych-pop from Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da Glaswegians

Rory Gallagher – Wheels Within Wheels

Much lamented Irish guitar hero's roots exposed

A Revenger’s Tragedy

Scousepunk reworking of classic revenge tale

Nico—An Underground Experience – Heroine

By the early-to-mid '80s, Nico was holed up in Manchester on the comeback trail junkie habit in tow. A live performance at the Library Theatre, Heroine is a funereal study of stark cool, drawing on The Velvet Underground—"All Tomorrow's Parties", "Femme Fatale"—alongside rather less celebrated fare from Camera Obscura (1985) and Drama Of Exile (1981). The inferior An Underground Experience places her in a nameless club—haunted, drawn and distant.
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