In his Every Day In May series, GARY STEEL digs up pieces of our rich musical tapestry.
Music
Future Islands – The Far Field (4AD/The Label)
Their fans will love it, but Future Islands’ fifth album sticks in GARY STEEL’s throat.
Daniel Brandt – Eternal Something (Erased Tapes/Southbound) ALBUM REVIEW
GARY STEEL is seduced by a seductive and gently adventurous album. By a drummer, no less.
Methyl Ethel – Everything Is Forgotten (4AD/The Label) ALBUM REVIEW
GARY STEEL makes an indignant stand against a record that sounds like a C90 cassette tape that’s been thrown out of a car onto a gravel road and run over by 100 maniac lorries.
The Map Room – Weatherless (No Label) ALBUM REVIEW
GARY STEEL recommends this album to all those lost souls who find life just too harsh and edgy.
Van Morrison, Mike Nesmith And The Road To Enlightenment
Have you ever looked to musicians and their work as a pathway towards insight on life and transcendence? ANDREW JOHNSTONE on the two artists who influenced his search.
Easy Listening Is Just Too Hard
‘Easy listening’ isn’t easy at all, writes DR RICHARD VAREY.
Soundgarden – Ultramega OK (Sub Pop) CD REVIEW
How did Soundgarden’s remixed and remastered album end up sounding so bad? GARY STEEL’s tinnitus screams his name.
Sinkane – Life & Livin’ It (City Slang) CD REVIEW
Forget those monomaniacal one-genre grinders, here’s something that basks in a multi-hued excitation of genres. GARY STEEL is kind of smitten with Sinkane.
Chinese whisper, or careless whispers?
Vinyl is taking over, didn’t you know it? DR. RICHARD VAREY has his own theories.
Neil Watson – Studies In Tubular (Southbound)
Gary Steel is tired of NZ musicians making albums that are glorified calling cards rather than coherent musical statements.
William Tyler – Modern Country (Merge/Southside) ALBUM REVIEW
It’s Gazza’s Big Ketchup, wherein GARY STEEL chips away at the massive review pile that accrued during 2016.