Texas-born Miranda Lambert occupies her own zone between the current mainstream country and the more rootsy sounds of Americana. As she explains, being a major-label artist involves compromise. I love raw albums. I’d love to record an album in a…
Two new records from indie stalwarts. Lucy Dacus edges closer to the mainstream with the genteel Forever is a Feeling. Meanwhile, Dan Bejar continues his erstwhile path, mellower but unmistakably Destroyer. Lucy Dacus Forever is a Feeling 2025, 7/10 From…
Every New Zealand #1 single… 1 Yummy by Justin Bieber Topped the NZ chart for 2 weeks from 20 January 2020 Justin Bieber Canadian pop singer Justin Bieber was discovered via YouTube. His mother uploaded videos of Bieber singing onto…
Congratulations to Tony, who won last week’s R album challenge. Let’s take a break from sorting albums this week and guess which half of the decade songs belong to. Remember that 1985 is in the decade’s second half – more…
The Byrds were one of the most significant American bands of the 1960s. They emerged from the L.A. folk scene, featuring three singer-guitarists: James Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, and David Crosby. Their first single as The Byrds was their chart-topping…
Two female artists this week. Confusingly, Ichiko Aoba is Japanese, while Japanese Breakfast’s Michelle Zauner was born in South Korea. Both records are brief and mellow, but still substantial. Japanese Breakfast For Melancholy Brunettes (and Sad Women) 2025, 8.5/10Zauner’s discography…
The success of Rhino’s 1998 Nuggets boxset justified a follow-up. The sequel covers the rest of the world since the first volume only chronicled the USA. Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts from the British Empire and Beyond, 1964–1969 emerged in 2001.…
There are 25 albums this week, but it’s much easier than that Q abomination. There are plenty of famous albums starting with R. I’m ineligible. Hopefully it’s not too tricky! Congratulations to Rich Kamerman, who scrabbled his way to…
General elections are held every three years in New Zealand, and they’re due soon. Our electoral system is known as MMP – Mixed Member Proportional. Everyone gets two votes – one for a party and one for an electorate MP…
Two new-ish records this week. The erotic pop of FKA Twigs and the power-pop of The Tubs. One is extremely solid, the other is probably the worst album I’ll cover in this column in 2025. Find out which is which!…
