Favourite Five Recently Reviewed CDs
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Five of the best albums from the recent postings at New Music From Elsewhere. Music too good to let slide into the archives. The Elsewhere place if you are looking for a quick fix of great and interesting albums.
Beck: Morning Phase (Universal)
Because few "heard" Beck's 2012 album Song Reader (it was sheet music for material he hadn't recorded), this one comes as the belated follow-up to 2008's well-received Modern Guilt, although he considers Morning Phase a companion to his excellent Sea Change of '02. That latter album was read as his break-up record (he and his longtime partner split) and although soaked... more >>
Added: 24 Feb 2014
Clap Clap Riot: Nobody/Everybody (Universal)
Clap Clap Riot's previous album Counting Spins was such an instant Elsewhere favourite for its sharp, slightly bratty pop and keen intelligence (see here) that this new one was always going to command attention. But first, this . . . in the heydey of pop in the Sixties what was interesting was how singles came with an identifiable aural fingerprint which set them apart; Farfisa organ,... more >>
Added: 17 Feb 2014
Neil Finn: Dizzy Heights (Lester)
Last week a friend and I were discussing artists with long careers who simply cannot acknowldege their best years are well behind them. While there are exceptions of course, the vast majority of artists in the pop-rock genre do their best work early in their career and much of what follows is repetition with diminishing returns. Unless U2, for example, do a serious career-change as they... more >>
Added: 10 Feb 2014 
2 Comments
Snowbird: Moon (Bella Union)
While there are too many insipid indie bands/artists named after soft wee animals or for inoffensive cuteness (start your list), we sidestep prejudice here. Snowbird is former Cocteau Twin jack-of-all-instruments and astute Bella Union label boss Simon Raymonde with ethereal singer Stephanie Dosen (a Chemical Brothers, Jose Gonzalez, Massive Attack and Midlake collaborator).... more >>
Added: 10 Feb 2014
Rosanne Cash: The River and the Thread (Blue Note)
One of the last songs Johnny Cash recorded was the moving September When It Comes with his daughter Rosanne for her 2003 album Rules of Travel. In a cracked baritone Cash confronted his own weaknesses and impending death, but just as powerful was Rosanne's honey-sweetened counterpoint vocal. Co-written with her husband/guitarist and producer John Leventhal, it remains a... more >>
Added: 27 Jan 2014 2 Comments
