Derek Smalls

Smalls Change (Meditations Upon Ageing)

Twanky/BMG

Apr 25, 2018 Music Web Exclusive

If you were expecting Smalls Change (Meditations Upon Ageing), by Spinal Tap's bassist Derek Smalls (aka comedian Harry Shearer), to be variations on the band's "Jazz Odyssey," then you'll be sadly mistaken. More

Speedy Ortiz

Twerp Verse

Carpark

Apr 24, 2018 Music Issue #63 - Courtney Barnett

With the success of their previous album Foil Deer, Speedy Ortiz seemed to conclusively cross over from having been a band beloved by a discerning but rabid relatively few into being a big deal.  More

Makeness

Loud Patterns

Secretly Canadian

Apr 23, 2018 Music

Dance music thrives on artifice. Many respectable computer jockeys don't live in the sweaty ecstasy of their creations; many fans never experience that proper alignment of groove to feet in the club. More

Alexis Taylor

Beautiful Thing

Domino

Apr 20, 2018 Music Issue #63 - Courtney Barnett

Some artists use solo albums to experiment outside the day job while others cut the background noise. The latter is the case for Hot Chip founders Alexis Taylor and Joe Goddard, who, separated from each other, double down on what they each individually bring to the band. More

Juliana Hatfield

Sings Olivia Newton-John

American Laundromat

Apr 20, 2018 Music Web Exclusive

Nope, it's not a gag or a belated April Fool's prank, this is a real thing. Juliana Hatfield's last album, the innocently named Pussycat was an album-long, bile filled attack on Donnie Trump. Now she's vented, it seems she's feeling a little mellow and ready to kick back with an album of covers celebrating the unlikely figure of Australian country/pop/disco diva, Olivia Newton-John. Really.   More

The Cars

Heartbeat City: Expanded Edition

Rhino

Apr 19, 2018 Music Web Exclusive

The Cars would have opted for someone slightly more laid back than Robert John "Mutt" Lange to produce their fifth album, 1984's Heartbeat City. Lange was on a roll—Foreigner 4, Back In Black, and a couple of multi-platinum albums by Def Leppard were already under his belt in the early part of the '80s, before he agreed to work with Boston's finest.  More

The Cars

Expanded Edition

Rhino

Apr 19, 2018 Music Web Exclusive

Shake It Up is one of two records from The Cars' back catalogue to be reissued with expanded editions, the other being the hit-filled, Live-Aid approved Heartbeat City. Sandwiched between that monster album and the low-key weirdness of Panorama, 1981's Shake It Up gets a bit forgotten. And that's a shame.

GUM

The Underdog

Spinning Top

Apr 18, 2018 Music Web Exclusive

One of the most impressive things about Tame Impala—apart from their three terrific full-length albums and mercurial live performances—is just how talented all members of the band have proven to be individually.  More

Poppy Ackroyd

Resolve

One Little Indian

Apr 18, 2018 Music Issue #63 - Courtney Barnett

This classically trained artist melds electronic and classical touchstones into enchanting instrumental pieces that invite active listening as much as they act as soothing ambient backdrops. More

DRINKS

Hippo Lite

Drag City

Apr 17, 2018 Music Issue #63 - Courtney Barnett

Cate Le Bon and Tim Presley are back to serve you more DRINKS. Hippo Lite, the second release from Presley's White Fence side-project, DRINKS, numbs the '60s neo-psychedelia of 2015 debut Hermits on Holiday and instead opts for more discordant instrumentation.  More