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More of Tony Allen’s work posthumously in collaboration with guest artists
Album review: Entertainingly diverse posthumous album bringing together recordings by the great drummer and Afrobeat pioneer with Femi Kuti, here matched here with guests from soul to hip hop, including Sampa The Great, Skepta, Damon Albarn, and Lava La Rue
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Flat White Moon
Album review: The eighth LP from Sunderland brothers Peter and David Brewis brings together a wealth influences and accessibility, cleverly marrying pop, funk and postpunk with echoes of the Beatles, XTC and Todd Rundgren
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Matthew E. White and Lonnie Holley
Album review: This first collaborative release between the Virginia songwriter, producer, and founder of Spacebomb Records and the Alabama sculptor is an experimental fusion of jazz, funk, electronica and exclamatory spoken-word observation
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Tiggs Da Author’s album covers almost every style under the sun
Album review: Sprightly, catchy and filled with hooks, the Tanzania-born London singer, producer and musicians full debut has something from many genres, from funk to African, jazz, pop, hip hop, reggae, gospel and soul
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The American Negro by Adrian Younge
Album review: Weighty but vital, the composer’s spoken-word and soulful album of 26 tracks about the history of racism in America is profound, passionate, powerful and current, as well as harking back to the spirit of Gil Scott-Heron and Marvin Gaye
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Jane Weaver’s 11th album, Flock
Album review: The Liverpool and Widnes-raised artist returns with a mesmeric and uplifting 11th album that takes a variety of elements - electronica, psychedelia and acid folk morphing into fabulous alternative pop record that really takes flight
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Yol, meaning road, is Altin Gün’s third album
Album review: Wonderful third album by the Amsterdam-based Turkish, Dutch, Indonesian and British band who infuse traditional Turkish songbook material with elecro-pop, funk and disco sounds in a way that feels authentic and uplifting
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High time for some the days of disco … SG Lewis
Album review: Aiming to capture a full-on mainstream club and disco feel, the British producer’s new LP mixes light funk and soul flavours that very much borrow from the Daft Punk and Chic cookbook
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Madlib, aka Otis Jackson Jr
Album review: A majestic journey into sampled and recreated classic sounds with his own original, eccentric twists, Madlib, aka American rapper, producer and multi-instrumentalist Otis Jackson Jr's newest LP is in turn produced by Four Tet
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Aaron Frazer: Introducing …
New album: Introducing Song Bar’s first new album review of 2021, appropriately with an excellent debut LP, Aaron Frazer has a high, falsetto voice reminiscent of Smokey Robinson and Curtis Mayfield with notes of 60s and 70s soul and funk
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Great albums of 2020: clockwise from top: Agnes Obel, Phoebe Bridgers, Bob Dylan and Sault’s Untitled (Rise)
Albums of 2020 roundup: Out of crisis comes great art. A year of lockdowns, no gigs, alternative sounds, experimentation and surprises. This is the second half of our roundup of favourite albums of 2020. Part 1 was here
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Lianne La Havas, Fiona Apple and Yves Tumor are among three artists who have released outstanding LPs
Albums of 2020 roundup: A year of lockdowns, alternative sounds, experimentation and surprises. This is the first half two roundups of a total over 50 favourite albums of the year that musicians stayed at home. And here’s Part 2.
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This week’s nine is filled with contrast, but also many 2020 themes …
Album reviews roundup: A selection of contrasts – some dark, 2020-slanted Christmas other recent seasonal releases and other recents and earlier releases, from Chilly Gonzales to Mark Lanegan and a Beethoven anniversary piece
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Nine more albums to help complete further selections reflecting on 2020
Album reviews roundup: From the former Beatle to a country/pop mainstream artist, 2020’s running theme seems inspire isolation, survival, DIY and experimentation. But as this selection shows, there are also many new, innovative artists out there
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Nine more albums to investigate …
Album reviews roundup: Psychedelia, jazz, prog and electronica dominate this week, including a synth album by the Smashing Pumpkins, eastern flavours by King Gizzard, exquisite Norwegian vocals by Ane Grun and a superb debut by Jack Cheshire
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This week’s selection …
Album reviews roundup: This week’s selection includes a surprise but strong return for the Aussie rockers, three innovative debuts in in hip hop, pop and folk, and an outstanding series of instrumentals by a Welsh guitarist
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This week’s magic nine
Album reviews roundup: an exceptionally experimental and original lineup includes Tunng’s special death project, Iceland’s Olafur Arnalds at his most vulnerable, Tiña, the cosmic jazz funk of Planet Battagon, and for balance, some Kylie disco
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This week’s very colourful square of album covers is matched by the quality of the music
Album reviews roundup: This week’s selection again reflects the times - divided political America to grief and isolation, but also presents an abundance of creativity, wit and musical invention crossing everything from jazz to hip hop
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The latest square of nine new albums
Albums reviews roundup: The latest selection includes a big reunion for the Boss. a mass collaboration via Fraser T Smith, Stormzy and more, exquisite work by This is The Kit, and reflective breakup by Laura Veirs
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Nine more albums of note
Album reviews roundup: Hip hop comes up strong this week with Black Thought and a recent Public Enemy release with heavyweight guests, but there’s not shortage of other highly original artists from Future Islands to Sylvan Esso
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