Popcorn? When this CD turned up on the doorstep I was expecting bubblegum pop or some-such but what I actually heard when I pushed the play button was nothing of the sort. So what is Popcorn music? I’ll refer to the liner notes of “Sweet and Salty Popcorn” to explain. Popcorn is a “genre” (movement […]
Well this is certainly a good deal of music for your money with Dusty Kid’s third album coming in at round about the two hours mark spread over two CDs which are limited to just 1000 copies on the Isolade label. III is interestingly mixed with the use of vintage consoles and everything being recorded […]
Recorded in 1963 and released in July of the same year on the Verve label (and then later in 97 where there were extra tracks) this is Ella Fitzgerald and the Count Basie Orchestra with Quincey Jones being responsible for the arrangements (Fitzgerald later worked with Jones on the 1989 “Back on the Block”) and […]
Empyrean Isles was recorded in 1964, released on the Blue Note label, established Hancock as a serious artist and is now available on hi rez format (this copy came from HighRes Audio in Germany) The album contains two of Hancock’s most famous compositions – “One Finger Snap” and the brilliant “Cantaloupe Island” which is one […]
Out 27th January on the Kompakt label Pop ambient 2014 is the 14th instalment of this series of albums presided over by label head honcho Wolfgang Voigt. Pop Ambient kicks off with “The God of Pads” Ulf Lohmann who’s had a six year hiatus and it would appear he’s back in fine form with the […]
Like me, the name Leon Haywood may well be a new one to you but don’t let that stop you from reading further because this one is a bit of a hidden gem. Haywood is best known for his crossover hit “I Want’a Do Something Freaky To You” from 1975 which has been sampled by […]
Charo, or Maria del Rosario Mercedes Pilar Martinez Molina Baeza as her parents would have known her, is a Spanish-American singer, actress, comedienne and flamenco guitarist well known back in the day for her somewhat flamboyant style and her catchphrase “Cuchi-Cuchi” (‘Cuchi’ is a Spanish slang term for a woman’s genitals. However, Spanish speaking countries […]
Even if you’ve been living under a rock for the last 35 years or so you must have heard either some of Loleatta Holloway’s disco charged tunes or at the very least one of the many tunes that sample her …”Love Sensation” anyone? “Queen of the Night” was first released in ’78 on Gold Mind/Salsoul […]
The Koto is the traditional 13 string Japanese instrument and Kimio Eto is widely regarded as its master. He began training on the instrument at the age of eight and composed his first work aged eleven. Amazingly he was blind from the age of five according to the sleeve notes and this makes this record […]
I stopped listening to BBC Radio 1 a long time ago but that’s not to say I don’t enjoy dipping into that totally uncool territory that is the hit parade as I believe it’s called by the younger people. We bought last year’s Live Lounge sessions and enjoyed it a great deal despite my preconceptions […]
Now Sounds have raided the vaults of Hollywood’s Capitol Records to bring us 24 slices of psychedelic pop pie from the late 60s with many of the tunes being on CD for the first time, all sourced from the original master tapes and compiled and produced by Steve Stanley. Needless to say I was a […]
Another band I missed first time round as I was in full on house and techno mode in 1991 when Quality Street, the band’s only album, was first released. This re-release on the 3 Loop Music label is a two CD package with the original album, a CD of selected B sides and two Radio […]
Let me go on record by saying that I’m a bit of a fan of The Polyphonic Spree. Let me also say that I’m a bit of a sucker for all things festive. So I was quite excited when “Sounds of the Holidays Vol One Holiday Dream” dropped through the letterbox recently.
There’s been a bit of a trend recently towards metal supergroups (the heavy music community is practically salivating at the prospect of Killer Be Killed), but Mutation is one that may slip under the radar. Well I’m gonna do my best to see that it doesn’t. Describing themselves as a “collective”, the band is comprised […]
Arcade Fire. The Canadian indie heroes have been pretty quiet of late… the only murmurs that have permeated our newsfeeds were allegations of pop diva Delta Goodrem ripping off their classic track “Rebellion (Lies)”… Until they announced they were releasing a double album!
Bird Radio (Mikey Kirkpatrick) is originally from Hereford, is a graduate in music from Goldsmiths College in London and has his own production company (Avacado Music) which has produced over 30 recording projects. The world needs more artists like Bird Radio who are not afraid to stand apart from the mainstream musical dross with which […]
Nu metal. Time has made a generic misnomer of the term. It’s no longer “nu”, and in many pundits’ eyes & ears, isn’t even metal. Whatever your opinion of the bands lumped into that category, general consensus is that Korn were among the pioneers and just about the cream of the crop. This is either […]
Of the slew of ’90s/alt/grunge acts releasing albums of late, Pearl Jam is pretty much the only one which boasts a steady line-up and a consistent timeline of releases dating back to their debut. They’re late to the party if you choose to compare the most recent release dates, but they’ve been omnipresent for the […]
I have to admit I’ve been a bit remiss in reviewing this particular record. It arrived a while ago (it was released on the Comeme label in late October) and it’s been hammered on the main rig ever since. So let’s backtrack a little – I reviewed the “One Night in Comeme Vol iii” compilation […]
Kaito (Hiroshi Watanabe) hasn’t released a full length album since his “That Was the Way” and that was three years ago and so it was with a good deal of anticipation that I received his latest effort “ Until the End of Time” on the Kompakt label. It kicks off with the massively uplifting “Sky […]
“Hey there sugar with your eyes so blue, ridin’ around in your red HQ!”. Haha, those lyrics… they warm the cockles of my rural Aussie heart! After releasing a couple of well received EPs, the four Findlay siblings and best known band from the tiny rural town of Darraweit Guim if you can believe it, […]
Grace Slick’s “Dreams” was originally released on the RCA label in 1980 and here it rears its head again on Morello Records. Now, cards laid on the table I like Grace Slick a lot – who couldn’t fail to love someone who when invited, mistakenly, to the Whitehouse planned to spike then President Nixon with […]
Seasoned readers of the Album review section of Hifi Pig will already be aware that you have a bit of a space-case fanboy of the undisputed kings of the spacerock genre in the form of yours truly and so it was with a good deal of excitement that I went and collected the latest release […]
Brand new to me but a staggering forty five years old Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera’s eponymous album is enjoying a re-release on Grapefruit Records and it’s a really entertaining listen indeed. Starting out as an R&B/Soul band called the Five Proud Walkers, EGVO took a pretty dramatic change in direction in 1967 after supporting Pink […]
“So much to see here in the darkness…” Australia (and indeed the world) is enjoying a wealth of heavy music right now. Metalcore, new-school thrash, death and progressive metal are all thriving and our newsfeeds are chock full of new releases, gigs, tours, mind boggling arrays of sub-genres and all manner of heavy goodness. Yep, […]
Kathryn Williams is Liverpool-born but resides in the fine city of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Crown Electric, the company Elvis used to drive for before finding fame, is her tenth album and her first solo record in four years. The album is the distillation of over sixty songs that were narrowed down to the thirteen we hear on […]
If you’re new to Drugstore (and I am) then here’s a brief history lesson. They’re labelled as a dream pop (whatever that is) band who formed in 1993 and debuted with an eponymous album which reached 31 in the UK charts…their second album from 1998, “White Magic for Lovers”, reached number 45. In total they’ve […]
Big Sexy Noise is made up of Lydia Lunch, James Johnston and Ian White of Gallon Drunk fame they offer an all out brutal attack on the senses with this double album – the band’s last studio album from 2011 and a live recording made in Italy. The studio album “Trust the Witch” is proper […]