From Madlib & Four Tet’s hook-up to Dodie’s debut, Michael Sumsion looks ahead to the great new music due to be unleashed in the new year. 2020 was a tense, anxious and challenging year. Covid has exerted an influence upon the cycle of new music releases, yet we’ve still been inundated with a plethora of challenging and interesting sounds across a multiplicity of genres. … [Read more...] about The Best New Music Releases Coming In 2021
10 Songs That Helped Define 2020
Michael Sumsion selects the stand-out tracks that defined this year, featuring missives from The Avalanches, SAULT, Angel Olsen and Phoebe Bridgers. As we consign 2020 to the past, here is my audit of the best songs of the year, those which provided succour from the turmoil and catastrophe unfurling outside our windows. With gigs, festivals and tours on pause, these artists … [Read more...] about 10 Songs That Helped Define 2020
Twenty-Five Albums Of 2020 You Must Check Out
Michael Sumsion casts his beady eye over the finest albums to grace this most precarious of years. 2020 has been a challenging and gruelling year, no doubt about it. For some, keeping up to date with new releases has been eschewed in favour of retreating to the tried and tested, the nostalgic and the already known. The comforting certainties of yesteryear have consoled … [Read more...] about Twenty-Five Albums Of 2020 You Must Check Out
Madlib and Four Tet: Road of the Lonely Ones – Single Review
Beatmasters Madlib and Four Tet drop their enticing first taster from forthcoming opus, Sound Ancestors. Veteran sound sculptor and crate-digger extraordinaire Madlib has shared the first fruits of his eagerly anticipated forthcoming album with the English producer and electronica lynchpin Kieran Hebden aka Four Tet. The infectious Road of the Lonely Ones pivots around a … [Read more...] about Madlib and Four Tet: Road of the Lonely Ones – Single Review
Best Reissues and Compilations of 2020
Michael Sumsion examines the reissue LPs and compilations that shaped a tumultuous 2020. A discerning, pristine and well-chosen reissue can invite erudite discussion, shine fresh light on hitherto unexplored or discarded areas, scenes and artists of musical history and elicit overdue recognition for musicians who were unlucky or just out of shape with their times. The most … [Read more...] about Best Reissues and Compilations of 2020
Kacy & Clayton and Marlon Williams: Plastic Bouquet – Review
Two Canadians and a Kiwi summon joy from sad-eyed introspection on a rootsy and heartfelt Americana classic in the making with Plastic Bouquet. The advent of the internet has made our world smaller in a plethora of ways, most notably when it comes to the availability of, and access to, a dizzying range of music. It has also been a boon to the spirit of artistic … [Read more...] about Kacy & Clayton and Marlon Williams: Plastic Bouquet – Review