Michael Sumsion takes stock and presents his personal selection of the Best Tracks of 2019, from cyber-soul to Americana, encompassing brooding ballads, spacey avant-jazz reverie and oddball folk. 10. TYLER, THE CREATOR: Puppet Tyler Okonma aka rapper, producer, director, songwriter and fashion designer Tyler, The Creator, wowed fans and critics alike this year with his … [Read more...] about The Best Tracks of 2019
Roy Brooks: The Free Slave – Vinyl Reissue
Michael Sumsion explores the vinyl reissue of a cult gem from the jazz vaults, Roy Brooks’ exquisite 1970’s masterpiece, The Free Slave. The drummer Roy Brooks was a pillar of the Detroit jazz scene of the 1960s and 1970s, predominantly known for his sterling support for household names such as Yusef Lateef, Pharoah Sanders, Horace Silver, Charles Mingus, Dexter Gordon, Lee … [Read more...] about Roy Brooks: The Free Slave – Vinyl Reissue
Arlo Parks: Super Sad Generation – Review
At the tender age of nineteen, singer-songwriter Arlo Parks has already cemented an exalted reputation in the music industry for her precocious talent, a tremulous synthesis of gritty, poetic lyricism and dusty beats that has garnered her the extolment of ‘breakthrough star of 2019’. Having broken onto the scene last year with her Cola single, a delicate exploration of the … [Read more...] about Arlo Parks: Super Sad Generation – Review
The Best Vinyl Reissues and Compilations: 2019
From Afro jams to soulful gospel, encompassing psychedelia, dub and Krautrock, Michael Sumsion runs his eye over the cream of the crop of 2019 reissues and compilations on vinyl. The vinyl renaissance continued apace in 2019, augmented by a plethora of archival releases. With a spread of geography, genre and theme further widening the scope of product, this year has … [Read more...] about The Best Vinyl Reissues and Compilations: 2019
Khruangbin: Brixton Academy, London – Live Review
Brixton Academy London - 3rd December 2019 Khruangbin, the bewigged instrumental trio from Texas, wowed a capacity crowd at Brixton Academy with their soothing, hypnotic and atmospheric shoegaze guitar-funk soundscapes. Laura Lee, Mark Speer and Donald ‘DJ’ Johnson, the Texan trio otherwise known as Khruangbin, have truly crossed over beyond their ardent, though cult, … [Read more...] about Khruangbin: Brixton Academy, London – Live Review
Tindersticks: No Treasure But Hope – Review
Tindersticks, the rainy-day poets of aching melancholy, return with a record of subdued, stripped-back elegance that delivers emotional intensity in spades. As the russets and crisp temperature of autumn segue into the darker hues of a wintry chill, there seems no better time to welcome a new release by that most misunderstood and bafflingly peripheral of arty chamber-pop … [Read more...] about Tindersticks: No Treasure But Hope – Review