Welcome once again to the annual tradition of Song Bar’s favourite album releases of 2023. This is Part 2, and Part 1 was yesterday. There’s no such thing as a chart rundown or ‘best of’ here, and these come in no particular order …
Read moreFavourite albums of 2023 Part 1: Anna B Savage to Young Fathers
Welcome once again to the annual tradition of Song Bar’s favourite album releases of 2023. This is Part 1, and Part 2 is also out here. There’s no such thing as a chart rundown or ‘best of’ here, and these come in no particular order. This is all about quality and innovation …
Read moreBaxter Dury: I Thought I Was Better Than You
New album: Droll, dark, crisply phrased, downbeat, self-deprecating, sleazy and funky? It can only be the West London artist, in a candid, unflinching sixth solo album that draws on his strange childhood as son of famous Ian, echoing his brilliantly funny and painful 2022 memoir Chaise Longue
Read moreFever Ray: Radical Romantics
New album: Sweden’s Karin Dreijer returns with her first Fever Ray LP since 2017’s Plunge, this third packed with rich, eerie, complex, multifarious songs about the bewilderment of love
Read moredEUS: How To Replace It
New album: The Belgian rock band who formed in 1991 return with their first for 10 years, an LP feels refreshed and re-energised, frontman Tom Barman and co’s songs with a spring in their step
Read moreUnloved: The Pink Album
New album: This third LP by trio behind the soundtrack to TV series Killing Eve, Belfast producer David Holmes alongside singer Jade Vincent and musician Keefus Ciancia, is a huge, sprawling cinematic 22-tracker filled with alluringly oddball, woozy, dark pop, electronica, 60s French noir and psychedelia
Read morePublic Service Broadcasting: Bright Magic
New album: The historical archive-inspired band’s fourth LP is entirely centred around the city of Berlin, and is a far more impressionist and instrumental than previous, with German language vocals and a nod to Weimar era and David Bowie’s Low album
Read moreNew albums: Bob Dylan, Jehnny Beth, Wesley Gonzalez, White Denim, Drab City, Larkin Poe, Orlando Weeks, GoGo Penguin, Blanco White
One of the best from Bob in years leads out this week’s team of releases, alongside some outstanding work from former lead singers from other bands, including from Savages, The Macabees and Let’s Wrestle, among others
Read moreNew albums: Run The Jewels, The Nightingales, Sports Team, Rolling Blackouts CF, Brigid Dawson, Brigid Mae Power, LA Priest, The Stroppies, Westerman
As well as a powerful Run The Jewels release raising funds for protester legal rights, this week’s selection is packed with excellent independent bands’ work, especially The Nightingales, plus Brigid Dawson, Sports Team, The Stroppies and more
Read moreNew albums: Mark Lanegan, Moses Sumney, Hayley Williams, Blake Mills, I Break Horses, Watkins Family Hour, Modern Studies, Kavus Torabi, Ecuador various
This week’s roundup includes a gritty but musical journey to accompany Mark Lanegan’s memoirs, a solo album the the Paramore singer, and Part Two of Moses Sumney’s extraordinary funk/jazz falsetto album
Read moreNew albums: Car Seat Headrest, Damien Jurado, Ghostpoet, Happyness, Michael J Sheehy, Lavinia Blackwall, The Soft Pink Truth, Rose McGowan, Ben Lukas Boysen, Various for NHS
This week’s roundup includes some new music self-definition from Car Seat Headrest and Happyness, an eclectic mix from Ghostpoet, and two wonderful solo albums by Michael J Sheehy and Lavinia Blackwall
Read moreNew albums: The Strokes, Laura Marling, Jackie Lynn, Pokey LaFarge, Flat Worms, Margaret Glaspy, Irma Vep, Hailu Mergia, Denzel Curry + Kenny Beats, DJ Python
Strong new LPs from The Strokes and Laura Marling reflect signs of the times, while eclectic records from Jackie Lynn and Pokey LaFarge, and excellent postpunk from Flat Worms and Irma Vep are also among this week’s 10 picks
Read moreNew albums: Dana Gavanski, Waxahatchee, Sorry, Dua Lipa, Sufjan Stevens, Pearl Jam, Stephen Malkmus, Wu Fei, Abigail Washburn, The Chats, Shabaka Hutchings, Daniel Avery, Brian Fallon
This week’s huge roundup includes a wide range of the soft and loud, the traditional and the experimental, from beautiful songwriting by Dana Gavanski and Waxahatchee, Aussie punks The Chats, and ambient music from Sufjan Stevens
Read moreNew albums: Grimes, Agnes Obel, King Krule, Pictish Trail, Lanterns on the Lake, Douglas Dare, Peggy Sue, Best Coast
A truly eclectic lineup characterises this week’s roundup with a concept album from Grimes, a work of ethereal beauty from Agnes Obel, space electronic-folk from The Pictish Trail, and much more …
Read moreNew albums: Algiers, Halsey, Courteeners, Eminem, Mura Masa, Mac Miller, Keeley Forsyth, Alice Boman, Bill Fay, Bombay Bicycle Club, Pinegrove, Whyte Horses (with John Grant), Ivor Cutler tribute
A mixture of dark and light, hope and hopelessness decorate this week’s huge roundup of releases across many genres, including oddities and eccentricities, passions and playfulness from Emimen to Ivor Cutler, Halsey to Keeley Forsyth
Read moreBillie Eilish to FKA twigs to Weyes Blood: favourite albums of 2019 – part 2
The second part of this year’s LP favourites again includes several superb female artists. Also check out the first part published yesterday
Read moreAldous Harding to Richard Dawson to Michael Kiwanuka: favourite albums of 2019 – part 1
The first part of our selection of the pick of albums from 2019 by Song Bar readers and the Landlord editor, in alphabetical order by title, not a ‘best of’ or countdown. The second part is here.
Read moreNew albums: Chance The Rapper, Kaiser Chiefs, Lloyd Cole, Burna Boy, Violent Femmes, School of Language, Karine Polwart
Bright sparks of the 80s attempt past glories, as do Kaiser Chiefs, Nigeria’s Burna Boy brings Africa to grime, but a Trump satire, Chance The Rapper’s wedding album and Karine Polwart’s covers are this week’s standout releases
Read moreNew albums: Karen O & Danger Mouse, Cinematic Orchestra, Stephen Malkmus, Nilüfer Yanya, Uranium Club, Chai, Kathryn Tickell, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Low Life, Dwight Trible
This week’s selection includes a collaboration between the Yeah Yeah Yeahs singer and Danger Mouse, plus The Cinematic Orchestra, Stephen Malkmus going electronic, and original sounding pop from Nilüfer Yanya
Read moreNew albums: Jon Spencer, Marianne Faithfull, Liars, Bill Ryder-Jones, Though Gang (David Lynch), audiobooks, Charles Mingus, Two Medicine, Dead Can Dance, Molly Nilsson, Pip Blom
Jon Spencer’s explosive solo to Marianne Faithfull’s gentle honesty, Bill Ryder-Jones love songs to music by the film director David Lynch, this week’s album roundup embraces a wealth of experimentation and styles
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