Michael Sumsion

Former Thee Oh Sees keyboardist and singer Brigid Dawson steps out from her perennial role of nifty team player to fashion one of 2020’s majestic, smouldering and shape-shifting releases. Back in 2017, Brigid Dawson cooked up three lovely tunes of melodic wonder to Memory Of A Cut Off Head, the Forever Changes-inspired album she concocted as OCS with John Dwyer. However, … [Read more...] about Brigid Dawson & The Mothers Network: Ballet of Apes – Review

Antipodean crate-diggers and baroque collagists The Avalanches harness the power of collaboration in conjuring 2020’s finest sunbeam psychedelia.  Melbourne’s premier exponents of ‘plunderphonic pop’, The Avalanches, laboured for sixteen years to produce a sequel to their dazzling patchwork of samples, Since I Left You; when the equally blissful Wildflower finally arrived, … [Read more...] about The Avalanches: We Will Always Love You – Review

Meditative singer-songwriter and post-dubstep poster boy James Blake rounds off the year with a stripped-down EP of covers of classic songs, some of which were debuted during his Lockdown request sessions.  James Blake has kept himself busy during this tumultuous year by taking requests from fans for cover versions of other artists’ material and performing them on social … [Read more...] about James Blake: Covers EP – Review

Less an indie-rock excursion than an exercise in subdued intimacy and chill-wave cruise control, Konnor Ervin’s latest opus, Koney, deftly employs spacey atmospheres and slinky melodies to conjure a hazy brand of soft-pop magic. Since the middle of the 2000’s, the Kansas native Konnor Ervin aka Koney has established a discrete indie-pop style and a solid track record as a … [Read more...] about Koney: Koney – Album Review

Imperious lynchpin of British jazz Matthew Halsall returns with an eighth album that anchors his yearning, meditative and organic improvisations to heartfelt themes of ecology, nature, stars and rainforests. The Mancunian trumpeter, composer, DJ and label owner Matthew Halsall has long resided at the vanguard of the thriving UK modern jazz scene, issuing a slew of critically … [Read more...] about Matthew Halsall: Salute To The Sun – Review

Spanning five decades, the ambient master and ex-glammer rounds up killer songs and themes from classic films such as Trainspotting, Dune, Beyond The Clouds and Heat for the first ever compilation of his film and television soundtrack work. Brian Eno could never be accused of resting on his laurels, playing it safe and disengaging with the modern world. Hot on the heels of … [Read more...] about Brian Eno: Film Music 1976-2020 – Review