18.08.2025-GLOBELAMP Romantic Cancer (Nefarious,2018)

 

LO FI / PSYCHEDELIC

   The title of this album reveals all you need to know about Globelamp’s latest release: it is a collection of love songs laced with a heartbreak that consumes all of the record’s other elements. California singer-songwriter Elizabeth La Fey, also known as Globelamp, missed the mark on her third full-length album, “Romantic Cancer.” The record is completely stripped, comprised of basic acoustic riffs, sporadic vocals and guitar plucking.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/fx350w

17.08.2025-HYPE WILLIAMS Rainbow Edition (Big Dada,2017)

 

HYPNAGOGIC POP

   Although lighter in its detached emotional touch, whoever’s making this, the mystery of the music dovetails with the puzzle of Hype Williams as perfectly as it ever has – 20 weird ideas of hypnagogic pop at different stages of gestation.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/fty076

14.08.2025-PABLO NOUVELLE All I Need (Armada,2016)

 

DOWNTEMPO

   Pablo Nouvelle is a moniker for Fabio Friedli from Bern, Switzerland. A former architecture student turned film-maker and musician, Fabio makes songs from a combination of new sounds and old samples. He works under the name Pablo Nouvelle, out of a love of the French cinematic nouvelle vague of the late 1950s and early 1960s.

   The début album "All I Need" was released in 2016 via Armada Music and it features vocals by Sam Wills, James Gruntz, Josef Salvat, Liv and Lulu James amongst others.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/d86g4r

13.08.2025-ADA LEA What We Say In Private (Saddle Creek,2019)

 

INDIE ROCK

   The title of Ada Lea’s debut album hints at late night confessions and intimacies. What We Say in Private does have these moments, especially on the solo blues of ‘Yanking The Pearls Off Around My Neck’. Yet initially conceived as a concept record of two distinct sides, it’s also infused with breezy colour.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/wv0ded

11.08.2025-IOANNA GIKA Thalassa (Sargent House,2019)

 

DREAM POP

   The album is named in honour of the Greek spirit of the sea, which I mention if only to highlight the sense of aural vastness and awe that Gika is establishing here. The epic opening track ‘Roseate’, in all its sophistication and variety, complexity and beauty, acts as a sonic manifesto. It points the way towards what Gika intends to do with the rest of the album. The sound is both expansive and complex, atmospheric and soundscape-y. It is all absorbing and overwhelming.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/xik60j

08.08.2025-MAGNETIC MAN Magnetic Man (Startime International,2010)

 

DUBSTEP

   With amiable singles “I Need Air” and “Perfect Stranger”, Magnetic Man redefined dubstep and ruled the airwaves, adding vocals to an otherwise instrumental class and making their eponymous debut as accessible as possible. Magnetic Man merges a heavy fixation of drum & bass with glitchy, electro-pop enthusiasm. They enlist vocals from rising British pop stars Angela Hunte and Katy B, r&b soul slinger John Legend, reggae tyrant Ms. Dynamite, and squeaky, 8-bit addict Sam Frank. Though it’s assuredly intended for clubs, save for opener “Flying Into Tokyo”, Magnetic Man diverges in varying styles that make this record multi-dimensional, which might disappoint some hardcore dubstep fans.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/5n2gyc

07.08.2025-PASCAL PINON Sundur (Morr Music,2016)

 

FOLK POP

   There is something exceptionally Icelandic about Pascal Pinon right from the start of Sundur. You can hear Sigur Ros, Björk and the fascinating island’s landscape and culture deep inside the bones of the band and the music it makes.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/s6ez31

05.08.2025-DYLAN LeBLANC Coyote (ATO,2023)

 

COUNTRY / FOLK

   Dylan LeBlanc’s Coyote is suspenseful because the listener can sympathize with its main character and still wonder if he is a monster of his own making.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/i8u3iw

03.08.2025-SOFIE LIVEBRANT Lighthouse Stories (Playground Music,2014)

 

FOLK

   Sofie had a passionate idea of making songs out of Jeanette Winterson’s novel Lighthousekeeping. 

    The music is Singer&Songwriting inspired by Northern folk music and is about life, love and death. 

 https://www.sendspace.com/file/ixncgo

02.08.2025-BOTS Pink Palms (Fader Label,2014)

 

INDIE ROCK

   On "Pink Palms," the Bots recorded demos with Albarn and tapped Justin Warfield and Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs for production. The album is a mash of frenetic garage rock and lush indie rock, but mostly the sibling band hopes the album makes listeners look at them a bit differently from their younger punk days.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/wwt5wa

31.07.2025-NEWMOON Space (PIAS,2016)

 

SHOEGAZE / INDIE ROCK

   Newmoon, a Ghent and Antwerp based band with members who’ve previously played in the hardcore punk outfit Midnight Souls, is a band stepping into more challenging and matured territories. Space, their debut album, thrives with waves of reverb, extremely lush atmospheres, imposing riffs, a sound that often taps into more dreamy territories, and vocals that perfectly intertwine with the sonic environment that’s been constructed, deconstructed, and often amended.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/b1g3y4

30.07.2025-BARDO POND Bardo Pond (Fire,2010)

 

PSYCHEDELIC ROCK

   For their eighth studio album Bardo Pond once again bring out their sepia-toned psychedelia jams. Having experimented with various strains of psychedelic rock in the past, on this self-titled record they incorporate psych folk into their guitar freakouts. They even kick the album off with some acid-fried country on the opener ‘Just Once’, although the acoustic introduction is soon lost in a sea of distortion.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/szqxrt

27.07.2025-KATY B Honey (Rinse/Virgin,2016)

 

HOUSE

   Peckham pop hero Katy B has always had one foot in the underground – previous producers include Benga, Joker and DJ Zinc – but she seemed to be headed in an increasingly mainstream direction, typified by the sweeping drama-pop of 2014’s huge ‘Crying For No Reason’ – a track far more Radio Two than Rinse FM. For her third album, however, Katy’s ventured deeper underground than ever before: The collabo list on ‘Honey’ runs to 21 names and features some of the most buzzworthy names in grime, techno, hip hop and drum’n’bass.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/pu8zeh

26.07.2025-RUMER Into Colour (Atlantic,2014)

 

POP / SOUL

   While it’s neither noir-ish nor teen-driven, it is retro and, when it’s over, you’ll likely want to listen to it again and again.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/3z1au3

24.07.2025-SOL INVICTUS The Blade (Tursa,1997)

 

NEOFOLK / MODERN CLASSICAL

   Sol Invictus is one of the essential musical pillars for understanding the cultural foundations of the European neofolk scene, although conceptually, neoclassical musical structures are key to understanding its brilliant compositions and themes. In itself, the presence of wind and string instruments, particularly the violin, takes on great importance in many of its compositions. For this reason, the talented English artist Tony Wakeford, the driving force behind Sol Invictus, has always displayed creativity and an eclectic vision in his works and projects, to which he has lent extraordinary musical solidity, becoming one of its unmistakable artistic characteristics and one of its main hallmarks. 

https://www.sendspace.com/file/wqahio

21.07.2025-GRACE CUMMINGS Refuge Cove (Flightless,2019)

 

FOLK

   Refuge Cove features nine tracks, two of which Cummings had already released as singles. These highlight Cummings’ stunning contralto and her prowess as a songwriter. In the first track on the album, “The Look You Gave,” the opening strums of the guitar give way to Cummings’ enormous voice as she sings about resignation to the moon and the coldness she feels from some unnamed figure. 

     While asking “If I had no strength to fly/ would you be the one to lift me high?” in the minute–long and delicately restrained “Just Like That,” she infuses each note with a sense of longing that somehow we all understand. Cummings writes in the world of the metaphorical, and there is a candidness in her lyrics, even if we do not fully understand the truth that is being told.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/yv3ae6

20.07.2025-BIRD IN THE BELLY After The City (Cargo,2024)

 

FOLK NOIR

   It’s a concept album of sorts, inspired by the work of Victorian-era nature writer, Richard Jefferies, whose novel, After London, described an apocalyptic breakdown of civilisation following an unspecified disaster. The first part of the novel explores society’s descent into barbarism while the second concentrates on nature’s reclamation of a wrecked city.

     Bird In The Belly, with their typical mixture of meticulous historical research and dark, gothic ‘folk noir’ are on hand to catalogue every twist and turn in magnificent detail. With some of the songs adapted directly from the novel and others taken from various poems, texts and traditional folksong, the four take us on a spectacular journey through plague, war, famine, death, destruction and, eventually, sunshine, growth and rewilding.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/rpvgzw

18.07.2025-STILL CORNERS Dream Talk (Wrecking Light,2024)

 

DREAM POP

   Anglo-American duo Still Corners return with their sixth album, Dream Talk, a 10-track exploration of ethereal dream pop soundscapes. While staying true to their signature sound, the duo do inject subtle elements of experimentation into proceedings, which makes Dream Talk a slightly different experience than their previous work.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/ksxgmp

15.07.2025-HISTORY OF APPLE PIE Feel Something (Marshall Teller,2014)

 

INDIE / DREAM POP

   The History of Apple Pie have no illusions that they're reinventing the wheel, but Feel Something should silence critics who dismissed the group as another example of record collection rock. It also reintroduces the idea that rock music can still be fun, something far too many of the band's contemporaries seem to have forgotten.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/wxgwhh

13.07.2025-LONE Always Inside Your Head (Greco-Roman,2021)

 

ELECTRONIC / AMBIENT

   Nottingham-born Matt Cutler, AKA Lone, has been one of the most consistent and prolific electronic artist of recent times, churning out seven impressive albums in the last 15 years. After a five-year hiatus, his eagerly-anticipated eighth album sees the introduction of vocalist Morgane Diet, whose ethereal vocals join ambient synths and downtempo breakbeats to create a fresh new sound. Always Inside Your Head marks a fresh new chapter the UK producer. The record never settles in one place and instead blurs the lines between trip-hop, deep house and Balearic beat.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/l11evk

12.07.2025-AYA NAKAMURA Aya (Rec.118/Parlophone,2020)

 

R&B / POP / AFROBEAT

   On her third album, the French-Malian singer artfully slides between lingo and genres—Afrobeats, zouk, R&B—to create a far-reaching pop experience about life, love, and freedom.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/4vuzan

09.07.2025-MNDR Hell To Be You Baby (WonderSound,2021)

 

ELECTROPOP

   Co-produced by Mark Ronson, “Hell to Be You Baby” boasts a distinct early Nineties dance feel. A restless drum groove, gritty synths, and a big house piano anchor the tune, while still allowing it to expand into headier spaces.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/7605c6

08.07.2025-SAN CISCO The Water (Island City,2017)

 

INDIE POP

    The Water as a record personifies the trivialities and tribulations of relationships – making you fall in and out of love across its half-hour run. From descending into the steep decline of uncertainty, to being brought up to the glorious heights of pleasurable, emotional confusion, The Water takes the listener on an emotional journey, from break-up to hook-up in short spaces of time.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/w27c7t

07.07.2025-SUPERHUMANOIDS Do You Feel OK? (Innovative Leisure,2015)

 

ELECTRONIC / SYNTH-POP

   Superhumanoid’s Do You Feel Ok blends the perfect mix of electronic beats and raw emotions. The sound not only gives an electronic touch to the human, but also a human touch to the electronic. It is surprising to hear Urgency, which was released in 2010, and predict that the same band would be producing this strikingly different and remarkable sound. 

https://www.sendspace.com/file/vh6bd2

05.07.2025-ANAIS MITCHELL Hymns For The Exiled (Waterbug,2004)

 

INDIE FOLK

   The first thing that strikes you about Anaïs Mitchell is her voice. It's not as kooky as Joanna Newsom, nor as girlish as Stacey Earle, or even as worldly as Cindy Lauper, but somewhere in between all three. That makes it something of an acquired taste, but if you're a fan of any of these artists, you'll probably 'get' it.

     The second thing that really comes across is that this artist isn't afraid to be political with her lyrics. Maybe that's one reason why feminist folk icon Ani DiFranco signed Mitchell to her Righteous Babe label.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/kf2hrf

03.07.2025-IDIOT GLEE Idiot Glee (Hop Hop,2016)

 

INDIE ROCK

   Idiot Glee is the musical nom de plume of James Friley. After a first listen to Idiot Glee’s new, self-titled album, the glee doesn’t immediately jump out at you. But after repeat listens you start to find it in odd places. A melody here, poignant vocal there and then suddenly you realise that you’ve played Idiot Glee about 30 times, and each time you’ve gleaned something new from it.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/ljrh9y

01.07.2025-ALEX WINSTON Bingo! (Rat Rizzo,2024)

 

INDIE POP

   Written over the course of three years during a mercurial period in her life—which she lovingly refers to as her “swamp era”—the album is packed with sonic elements of old school Americana, psychedelia and an untethered wiliness, all anchored by Winston’s assured pop sensibilities.  Bingo! is an unfiltered snapshot of Alex’s nosedive into the uncertainty and discomfort of growth. The 10-track project is both nostalgic and freshly compelling in its honesty and hard earned optimism.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/rxx9mo

28.06.2025-MISS TESS Darling, Oh Darling (Not On Label,2009)

 

JAZZ / SWING / COUNTRY

   Boston singer-songwriter Miss Tess has always had the pipes and the taste to carry off her various ventures into country, blues, and multi-hued swing, but Darling, Oh Darling underlines her overall sound. In the past, that sound has been defined by her voice and the sweet strum and sting of her vintage Weymann electric guitar, but on this set of 12 originals (plus one alternate), it’s the arrangements, with some carefully deployed special guests, that make the difference.

   That means various combinations of growling muted trombone and trumpet, swing clarinet, huffing Ben Webster–like tenor sax, boogie-woogie piano, pedal steel guitar, subtly mixed ooh-ooh-bop-bop-bop backing vocals, and brush-driven drums. There’s also a spare banjo ballad and, in “I Don’t Wanna See You Anymore,” her most overt rockabilly rave-up, a brash kiss-off that’s a departure from her usual wistful resignation and wised-up optimism.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/8arhcl

27.06.2025-CATS ON TREES Neon (Tot Ou Tard,2019)

 

POP

    From resolutely organic tips to synthetic notes, the duo combines different sounds with English words for a successful result.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/zbec2j

   

24.06.2025-ANNELIES MONSERE I Sigh, I Resign (Horn Of Plenty,2024)

 

EXPERIMENTAL

   I Sigh, I Resign is yet another raw and intimate album that retains the signature style of the Belgian musician Annelies Monseré. A follow-up to last year’s stunning, ‘Mares’ which featured in several end-of-year lists, I Sigh, I Resign is a melancholy LP that once again pulls out from the deep and emotional crevices of Annelies creativity and musicality to give birth to a collection of tracks which are nothing short of powerful.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/ahbgcx

22.06.2025-NATHAN FAKE Providence (Ninja Tune,2017)

 

ELECTRONIC

   Providence is a cerebral album with lots of heart: an emotional tonic for the mind that calls to mind some of Autrechre’s best work. It is also a welcome return for Fake, who now continues – hiatus notwithstanding – to build his reputation as one of the UK’s most interesting electronic voices.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/nfbhj5

21.06.2015-ALICIA WALTER I Am Alicia (Sooper,2021)

 

ART POP

   Simultaneously retro, avant-garde, and wide-ranging, I Am Alicia is captivating, not only for its exhilarating harmonics but because of Alicia Walter’s bravura voice.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/l0m2lj

   

19.06.2025-AGNES CIRCLE Some Vague Desire (Avant!,2016)

 

POST PUNK

   With plenty of smooth nuance to appeal to the more introspective side of gothdom, Some Vague Desire shows that The Agnes Circle can charm even when they’re holding themselves in check.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/iiqebl

18.06.2025-BEAUTY OF GEMINA Minor Sun (TBoG,2016)

 

DARKWAVE / GOTHIC ROCK

   Darkness has never been so bright and beautiful as with the ‘Minor Sun’ - THE BEAUTY OF GEMINA's seventh opus since 2006. With thirteen new and diverse compositions, this one of kind dark alternative band from Switzerland around mastermind and vocalist Michael Sele celebrates its ten-year anniversary. There is no better birthday present than this new masterpiece of about 67 minutes of sonic pleasure. Listening to ‘Minor Sun’ for the very first time will leave you speechless with an urge to immediately dive back into it once again. And at the same time it will make you want to tell the whole wide world about it, and that you should absolutely do once you're able to articulate yourself again.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/9op506

16.06.2025-VIRGIN IN VEIL Permanent Funeral (Danse Macabre,2019)

 

DEATHROCK

   "Permanent Funeral" includes 10 songs, all reminding deathrock roots with the horror and some haunting mood and feelings to rise as the album moves on. Punk, horror guitar riffs along with haunting vocals from Jacques Saph. 

     From the punk-influenced "Shattered Glass" and "Darkness at Noon" ta the darkness of "Serpents" and the gothic, horror mood of "Self-Destruction" all the songs of "Permanent Funeral" are absolutely into the deathrock attitude of the band. One of my favourites is "78 Nightmares" with a haunting intro and death punk elements following. A really good deathrock album by Virgin in Veil.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/y0a3y4