The tenth album from Neil Hannon, treading a dangerous tightrope between whimsical charm and farce.
Simon Rueben
Suffer Little Children – the Rise of the Kindie
Simon Rueben discusses the rise of “Kindie” and the idea of getting children on the “right track” musically…
Slowdive – The Shining Breeze Anthology
An excellent collection of songs bringing together the career of the most picked on band of the early nineties. Simon Rueben stands up for Slowdive.
Mansun – Attack Of The Grey Lantern (Collectors Edition)
Simon Rueben takes a look at Mansun’s debut album, wondering whether or not it deserves such a lavish re-release.
Teenage Fanclub – Shadows
More of the same from Teenage Fanclub, but with songs this good, who can really complain?
Recoil – Selected
A collection of songs handpicked by Alan Wilder to represent the best of his solo output. Simon Rueben finds the whole process rather tedious.
The Acorn – No Ghost
The Acorn have easily bettered Glory Hope Mountain with No Ghost, but this is something that will not be fully realised with the first listen. Simon Rueben reviews.
The Boo Radleys – Giant Steps / Wake Up! (Box Sets)
The Boo Radleys were always a bold, inventive band, saddled with a song that speaks nothing of their wider work, and these releases are an ideal way to explore them further.
Keane – Night Train EP
Keane’s latest EP, recorded during their recent tour, is a rather curious collection of songs that swing from the rather good to the completely terrible.
Sennen – Age of Denial
Listening to a Sennen album is a bit like discovering an item of clothing in your wardrobe that you used to wear a lot in the early 1990’s…
Apparatjik – We Are Here
As a project, this doesn’t seem like a ‘supergroup’, whatever that means. It is more akin to a group of friends who got together to make ambitious, yet still commercial, music. It is not being heavily marketed. Buying it takes a special effort, an effort well worth taking.
Emma Pollock – The Law of Large Numbers
For Emma Pollock’s second album, she’s back on Chemikal Underground, and still making some lovely pop music, according to Simon Rueben.