Cloudspeakers

Portland’s Menomena have always been the kind of band that reward repeated listens. Unfortunately, Mines, their fourth release, lacks the immediacy that drew listeners into the whirlpool ingenuity ... Lees meer

Although she has worked in many jazz contexts, American drummer Cindy Blackman’s widest exposure has come as a long-standing member of Lenny Kravitz’s band. Tony Williams was the first drummer she ... Lees meer

Only a few short years out of her teens, this Nashville singer-songwriter belies her youth. Rose’s debut album proper (following the ‘Dead Flowers’ EP) is loaded with songs about heartbreak, delive... Lees meer

Riotous energy pulses through this exuberant set from Grupo Fantasma, who put a 21st-century twist into salsa and Latin sounds. Underpinned by heavy rock grooves and percussive layers, arrangements... Lees meer

Inspired by the Greek myth of doomed lovers Hero and Leander, and named after a Cy Twombly painting, the third album by vocalist Hanna Tuulikki, viola player Aby Vulliamy and multi-instrumentalist ... Lees meer

The recent suicide of Mark Linkous, aka. Sparklehorse imbues this posthumous release with oppressive waves of melancholy, but this often-inspired record - heartbreaking and uplifting in equal measu... Lees meer

Originally intended as a sequel to last year’s Relapse, Recovery looks to re-establish Eminem as the strong, inescapably bratty voice of modern rap he once was. Fully embracing his struggles - drug... Lees meer

Richard Fairhurst won 1994 ‘Young Jazz Pianist of the Year’, and caught the ear with a series of albums with his group Hungry Ants, but has not really made the impact that his early emergence sugge... Lees meer

Forget Shakira: the benchmark song of World Cup 2010 was a reworking of Miriam Makeba’s 1967 hit ‘Pata Pata’. Johannesburg-born Makeba, who died in 2008, was nicknamed Africa’s Skylark, evoking the... Lees meer

In spite of their bookish, nigh-on twee designate, Glasgow four-piece Mitchell Museum swerve any suspected B&S insinuations and instead deliver a loveable bluster of swaggering, jangly rock’n’roll.... Lees meer