Phil Mongredien
Primal Scream: More Light - review
(Ignition) Primal Scream's recent output has been blighted by an overreliance on their default setting of "ersatz Stones". Thankfully their 10th album finds them stepping out of their comfort zone again: nine-minute opener 2013 is a bold mix of shrieking
Shovels & Rope: O' Be Joyful - review
(Dualtone) South Carolina-based married couple Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent specialise in a stripped-back and primal mix of country and bluegrass that has inevitably prompted comparisons to Johnny and June Cash and the White Stripes. Their debut a
Frank Turner: Tape Deck Heart - review
(Xtra Mile) Old Etonian-turned-punk-frontman-turned-acoustic-troubadour Frank Turner hit the jackpot with 2011's England Keep My Bones , and was rewarded with a slot at the Olympics opening ceremony. Sensibly, the follow-up doesn't radically tinker with
will.i.am: #willpower - review
(Interscope) What with his TV talent show duties, a voice acting career and an ambassadorial role at Intel (its five-note musical ident is inelegantly shoehorned into Geekin'), it might look as if making music is no longer will.i.am 's chief concern. Th
Paramore: Paramore - review
(Fueled By Ramen) The commercial emo that has earned Tennessee's Paramore platinum sales is still present on their fourth album, as are the unremarkable ballads, but there's also a new willingness to try other genres. The results are mixed: Ain't It Fun'
Bill Ryder-Jones: A Bad Wind Blows in My Heart - review
(Domino) The 2011 release of If
British Sea Power: Machineries of Joy - review
(Rough Trade) Whether curating their own micro-festival in a North Yorkshire pub or busking atop the Great Wall of China, British Sea Power can make a claim to be one of the more intriguing British bands of the past decade. But their fifth album finds th
Suede: Bloodsports - review
(Warner) On their first album in 11 years, a re-formed and revitalised Suede appear to have succeeded in turning the clock back to 1996. Snowblind and the excellent Hit Me in particular reprise the thrilling pop dynamics of Trash and Beautiful Ones to
Bon Jovi: What About Now - review
(Mercury) With the Nashville curveball of 2007's Lost Highway increasingly looking like a one-off, Bon Jovi's 12th studio album finds them on familiar ground, arena-pleasing blue-collar anthems of everyday struggle sitting alongside overblown power bal