Depeche Mode - Spirit
“After decades of premier league blockbuster fame, Depeche Mode’s deluxe sex-dungeon soundtracks inevitably offer few fresh twists. That said, Spirit, their second album for the Columbia label, is still a pleasingly punchy, crunchy and angry affair.
Making his debut working with the group, producer James Ford (Arctic Monkeys, Foals) finds fertile middle ground between crackling vintage synthesisers and chunky rock beats, while Martin Gore’s lyrics are the most politically explicit of his career, urging a revolutionary response to volatile times.”
Obituary - Obituary
“After 33 years of making joyously gnarly death metal records, keen observers may now be expecting Obituary to chill out a bit. Nope. Not happening. As if to hammer home the definitive nature of this self-titled effort, the Floridian crew’s tenth, opening track Brave starts like a bomb going off and then spends two minutes kicking the shit out of everything in sight.”
Pulled Apart By Horses - The Haze
“Nostalgia can be a dangerous thing. Seduced by memories of a time when their music was made purely for the hell of it, these Leeds indie-scene veterans attempt to recreate that spirit here – or, as they put it, “to go with our guts and fuck everyone else”.”
KXM - Scatterbrain
“A funny thing about supergroups is that the hype and excitement around their formation often leads to the subsequent debut album being overrated, and by the time the band eventually find their own style everybody’s lost interest. Will KXM follow this trend?”
Magic Pie - Reissues
“Whether it’s steak and kidney or chicken and mushroom, shepherd’s or cottage, there’s something magic about a pie. A fact duly recognised by Norwegian songwriter/producer Kim Stenberg, who in 2001 formed progsters Magic Pie to commemorate the savoury confection. For added piquancy he laced the music with a diverse array of mind-altering influences (Flower Kings, Kansas, Deep Purple, Dream Theater and more) to serve up his shortcrust psychedelic experience.”
