Category: Album Reviews

May 27, 2017 / Album Reviews - Archive

NOT EVEN HAPPINESS (Spunk) 8.5/10 You can imagine Julie Byrnes having dreamt these songs, then awaking in the wee hours to hurriedly jot down them down. Her voice, mostly just riding on her own charming acoustic guitar, subtle electronics and Jake Falby’s restrained string arrangements, seems to float in an…

May 17, 2017 / Album Reviews - Archive

QUIET REVOLUTION (Newvelle) 8/10 Again, the sound! This may be Newvelle Records’ finest example of vinyl audio verité yet. All the instruments – Ben Allison’s double bass, Ted Nash’s alto saxophone or clarinet and Steve Cardenas nylon-string or steel-string acoustic guitar – have extraordinary presence. It is as though the…

May 8, 2017 / Album Reviews - Archive

NGIYA AWUNGARRA – I AM HERE NOW (Rouseabout) 9/10 One of the wonders of art is its immediacy. One stares at a painting from 500 years ago or five years ago with the same eyes; one listens to Bach or Miles Davis with the same ears. This is why the…