From wistful singer-songwriters and haunted hip-hop to glacial electronica and strident jazz, Michael Sumsion gives you the low-down on his picks for the best albums to have emerged in 2019 so far. As we reach the final stretch of summer and autumn beckons, the time seems right to take stock and indulge in some sober contemplation about the year’s glut of musical riches. … [Read more...] about The Best Albums of 2019 So Far
Ziad Rahbani: Abu Ali – Review
Ziad Rahbani record Abu Ali, a holy grail for disco connoisseurs, gets a welcome vinyl release on the Wewantsounds label. The Wewantsounds label teased and tantalised seasoned crate-diggers on Record Store Day this year with the boutique, limited edition orange vinyl release of Abu Ali, a mythical, rare-as-hen’s-teeth 12” single from 1978 by the legendary Lebanese classical … [Read more...] about Ziad Rahbani: Abu Ali – Review
Bat For Lashes: Lost Girls – Review
Art-pop connoisseur Natasha Khan aka Bat For Lashes returns with a nostalgic fantasia of synth-pop which pays homage to 80’s sci-fi and fantasy cinema. On her fifth album as Bat For Lashes, the multi-Mercury nominated singer-songwriter Natasha Khan borrows heavily from a palette of 1980’s synth-pop and new wave styles as she navigates her new surroundings in Los Angeles. … [Read more...] about Bat For Lashes: Lost Girls – Review
Penguin Café: Handfuls of Night – Review
Penguin Café return with another impressive mix of genres and ideas amidst soaring melodies and orchestral clarity in new album Handfuls of Night. Penguin Café represent a disparate collective of musicians operating within the cracks between pop, classical, ambient and folk. The troupe were brought together in 2009 by Arthur Jeffes and their genre-twisting sounds take their … [Read more...] about Penguin Café: Handfuls of Night – Review
Jay Som: Anak Ko – Review
On her low-key follow-up to Everybody Works, singer-songwriter Melina Duterte tackles self-acceptance and self-empowerment via a genre-flouting set of understated, atmospheric melodies. Melina Duterte, the Californian artist known as Jay Som, is back with a new album, Anak Ko (meaning ‘my child’ in Tagalog; the singer-songwriter is of Filipino descent), which represents a … [Read more...] about Jay Som: Anak Ko – Review
R.E.M. – Ten Of Their Albums Rated and Ranked
Vinyl Chapters writer Michael Sumsion pores over REM’s catalogue and delivers his verdict on the band’s Top Ten albums. R.E.M. and their seismic career can be divided into three distinct phases or acts: the arty college-rock darlings of the alternative 80’s underground, the supernova crossover pop star era and then the epoch where these elder statesmen came to terms with fame … [Read more...] about R.E.M. – Ten Of Their Albums Rated and Ranked