Marc Ribot – Map Of A Blue City (New West Records)
Marc Ribot is a musician you’ve probably never heard of but more than likely you’ve heard his music.
Album Reviews
Calla of Ursa – Animal Reaction (13th Floor Album Review)
Bold, unique, and thematically ambitious Animal Reaction is the latest release from Aotearoa artist Calla of Ursa (Calla Rebecca Knudson-Hollebone). Blending operatic technique, tribal rhythms, acoustic instruments, and cinematic production, the album explores the connections between personal vulnerability and broader struggles, in particular those of women, animals, and the environment.
Robert Forster – Strawberries (Tapete) (13th Floor Album Review)
Robert Forster, Ex-Go-Between and current solo artist has made Strawberries, eight literate, melodic and thoughtful songs that prove that age and creatively have little to do with each other.
Death and Vanilla – Whistle And I’ll Come To You (Fire Records)
Swedish group Death And Vanilla, aesthetically, chronically, and craftily, sit somewhere, as creators, drawing on genres ranging from krautrock, enoism and DIY electronica. The (core) three members Anders Hansson, Magnus Bodin, Marleen Nilsson have been creating together since the 2010’s, drawing on (not exclusively) an (inferred) love of vintage film & TV.
Jenny Mitchell – Forest House (Civilians) (13th Floor Album Review)
Jenny Mitchell offers us an album of exquisite beauty borne of Aotearoa’s South that gives voice to the wisdom and yearning that can reside between the walls of the lives we build.
Ocean Beach – Long Road Home (Freezing Works)
Born and bred in the deep South, Gary Dalhousie is the “cheese monger who learned to play guitar”, now, his band, Ocean Beach has finally released their debut album.
Voom – Something Good Is Happening (Flying Nun) (13th Floor Album review)
It has been nearly two decades since Voom’s last album, but the wait has only deepened the affection for this enigmatic and beloved indie band.
Peter Murphy – Silver Shade (Metropolis Records) (13th Floor Album Review)
While most 67-year-olds are dead-heading roses, improving their golf swing, educating themselves on fine wines or bouncing grandchildren their knee Peter Murphy, the frontman of legendary post-punk pre-goth rock outfit Bauhaus, is still pushing the envelope and recording new music.
Bub – Can’t Even (13th Floor Album Review)
Can’t Even, the debut album from Tāmaki Makaurau’s Bub, stages a whole inner world. Across ten tracks, Priya Sami leads listeners through cycles of love, regret, self-reproach, obsession, and rage, with a voice that is by turns confessional, theatrical, and direct.
Arjuna Oakes – While I’m Distracted (Albert’s Favourites) (13th floor Album Review)
Arjuna Oakes has been described as genre-less in that he’s difficult to pigeonhole. I’d flip that and say he’s genre-ful.