Latest Reviews

• Classic Pop & Rock

  X5 Simple Minds

  
  A fascinating study of one band's evolution over its first five albums.

  reviewed by Matthew Horton

  • 6 Music Album of the Day

• Rock & Indie

  Pray to Be Free James Levy and The Blood Red Rose

  
  A smouldering album wrapped in velvet strings and suave horns.

  reviewed by Martin Aston

  • 6 Music Album of the Day
  • Dermot O'Leary

• Country

  How Do You Plead? My Darling Clementine

  
  Convincing alt-country from an unfamiliar locale.

  reviewed by Sid Smith

  • Another Country with Ricky Ross

• Rock & Indie

  Bones Young Guns

  
  London-based prospects return with an energetic second album.

  reviewed by Ian Winwood

  • Zane Lowe
  • Rock Show with Daniel P Carter

• Classical

  Complete Piano Sonatas – Volume 1: Heroic Ideals / Eternal Feminine Youth (piano: HJ Lim) Ludwig van Beethoven

  
  Pianist Lim tackles these pieces with invention as much as she does with respect.

  reviewed by Daniel Ross

• Jazz & Blues

  Rolling Bomber Erland Dahlen

  
  Star Norwegian drummer goes solo with a sometimes creepy debut LP.

  reviewed by Wyndham Wallace

  • Late Junction

• Jazz & Blues

  Blue Moon Ahmad Jamal

  
  An unpredictable new set from the influential pianist.

  reviewed by Martin Longley

  • Jazz on 3

• Rock & Indie

  Marcata The Minutes

  
  The Dublin trio’s debut is fun, but offers little to set them apart from the pack.

  reviewed by Rory McConnell

  • BBC Introducing in Northern Ireland

• Rock & Indie

  Maroqopa Damien Jurado

  
  One of Jurado’s strongest albums in an encouraging line of strong albums.

  reviewed by Daniel Ross

  • Gideon Coe

• Rock & Indie

  Sweet Sour Band of Skulls

  
  Big old heaps of bombast litter album two from the grizzled Southampton rockers.

  reviewed by Ben Hewitt

  • Fearne Cotton
  • BBC Radio 1 Review Show

• Rock & Indie

  Put Your Back N 2 It Perfume Genius

  
  Music from a bleakly beautiful twilight zone entirely of its own design.

  reviewed by Martin Aston

  • Huw Stephens

• Rock & Indie

  Melt Young Magic

  
  A cracking debut of invention and intrigue from the New York-based trio.

  reviewed by Mike Diver

  • Rob da Bank

• Pop & Chart

  Format Pet Shop Boys

  
  Confirms that Tennant and Lowe have always been songwriters first and pop stars second.

  reviewed by Tom Hocknell

• Hip Hop, RnB & Dancehall

  MU.ZZ.LE Gonjasufi

  
  A tighter and more cohesive album than its maker’s debut – and perhaps more impressive.

  reviewed by Ben Hewitt

  • Gilles Peterson

• Soul & Reggae

  Necessary Mayhem – Future Cuts Various Artists

  
  The future looks bright for all involved in this compelling compilation.

  reviewed by Angus Taylor

  • Young Lion

• Rock & Indie

  Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose Beth Jeans Houghton & The Hooves of Destiny

  
  Now, it seems, her time has finally come.

  reviewed by David Sheppard

  • Chris Hawkins
  • 6 Music Album of the Day
  • Lauren Laverne

• Classic Pop & Rock

  Chimes of Freedom: Songs of Bob Dylan Various Artists

  
  A largely redundant and frequently downright woeful endeavour.

  reviewed by Paul Whitelaw

  • 6 Music Album of the Day

• Rock & Indie

  Young and Old Tennis

  
  Transplants the pair’s fine ear for a melody onto rather meatier arrangements.

  reviewed by Mike Diver

  • Radcliffe & Maconie
  • Rob da Bank

• Jazz & Blues

  Kindred Spirits Zoe Rahman

  
  A set melding its varied constituents into a deeply personal final form.

  reviewed by Martin Longley

  • Jamie Cullum

• Classical

  Symphony No. 15 (conductor: Bernard Haitink; Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra) Dmitri Shostakovich

  
  The focus is on its genuinely symphonic breadth, the deep shadows and pregnant pauses.

  reviewed by Andrew McGregor

  • CD Review Disc of the Week