Reviews Archives

First BELLE AND SEBASTIAN album in 7 years is winsome polished pop

May 6, 2022

This is Belle and Sebastian's’ first album to be recorded in Glasgow in more than two decades, and they’ve evolved into a slicker outfit over time.

Category: Albums, Reviews

Rising rock saviours JAMES AND THE COLD GUN make explosive Cardiff return

May 6, 2022

James And The Cold Gun are back for another round and if you witnessed the boundless energy they exerted in their debut show here a while back, consider yourself fair warned.

Category: Live, Reviews Region: South Wales

SOFT CELL are back with gloomy boomer introspection on fifth album

May 6, 2022

What the hell has happened with the world? That’s what Soft Cell ask with their fifth album, *Happiness Not Included.

Category: Albums, Reviews

PERSIANS: as close as one can get to stepping back into the Persian Empire

May 5, 2022

Cardiff University professor Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones takes a different approach to chronicling the rise of the Persian empire: telling the story from a Persian standpoint, rather than a purely from a Western one.

Category: Books, Reviews Region: South Wales

SIX: historical divas compete in this clever, current & campy musical

May 4, 2022

This musical by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss is as modern a piece as you can get: this is not Hilary Mantel’s Tudor Queens.

Category: Reviews, Theatre Region: South Wales

Power, politics & religion collide in Louise Kennedy’s astonishing debut novel TRESPASSES

May 4, 2022

Following Kennedy’s superb short story collection, The End Of The World Is a Cul De Sac, it’s no surprise that her debut novel has proved to be such an impressive story.

Category: Books, Reviews

CAST A LONG SHADOW: Welsh women’s crime anthology mixes melodrama & myth

May 4, 2022

With 20 short stories featuring everything from an avenging gorgon to a little girl impaling the schoolyard bully on a spike, there is enough crime on display in Cast A Long Shadow to make even Wind Street at closing time look quiet.

Category: Books, Reviews Region: Wales-Wide

Witness the birth, boom and bust of Britpop in Adams & Pooler’s literary chronicle

May 4, 2022

The decade that brought us the last truly great chart battle and some of the most iconic songs to ever grace a gig is both brilliantly analysed and celebrated in Britpop: Decades.

Category: Books, Music, Reviews

THE HERRING MAN beautifully embraces Welsh oral storytelling tradition

May 4, 2022

A fine example of Welsh nature writing, The Herring Man is embellished by beautiful hand-drawn sketches that graciously lead you by the hand through this personal story.

Category: Books, Reviews Region: South Wales

METRONOMY bring bank holiday Cardiff crowds to sugary pop high

May 3, 2022

Metronomy do a cracking job of highlighting their full range, spanning seaside-inspired new wave to nu-rave, across their seven albums to date.

Category: Live, Reviews Region: South Wales

WHITE SUN: a perfectly imperfect middle-class critique

May 3, 2022

It feels purposeful that Will Dickie and Peader Kirk's play White Sun's only audience at Chapter is also directly in its firing line.

Category: Reviews, Theatre Region: South Wales

Shudder scores another hit with unnerving folk child horror, THE TWIN

May 1, 2022

A dread fuelled Scandi-horror that blends elements of Midsommar and Rosemary’s Baby to creepy effect, The Twin is another of Shudder Original’s scary successes.

Category: Film, Reviews

Agony and ecstasy but not quite brilliance for black metallers WATAIN

April 29, 2022

Swedish black metal band Watain are back with new album The Agony & Ecstasy Of Watain, which while solid, never quite crosses from good to great.

Category: Albums, Reviews

TOMBERLIN expands sound with delicate, expansive soundscapes on second album

April 29, 2022

Following the success of At Weddings, the comforting vocal texture of Sarah Beth Tomberlin is still present during her second album, I Don't Know Who Needs To Hear This.

Category: Albums, Reviews

LOLA KIRKE’s synth country experiment falls thumpingly flat

April 29, 2022

Whilst privilege doesn't equate to an absence of suffering, it certainly means you’ve got to be saying something worthwhile with your music. Unfortunately, Lola Kirke's Lady For Sale doesn't.

Category: Albums, Reviews

Rapper/food fiend ACTION BRONSON excels in COCODRILLO TURBO’s quieter moments

April 29, 2022

Following the first rap album dedicated to dolphins, the newie from Action Bronson, Cocodrillo Turbo, aims to snap pretenders in half with its hefty jaws.

Category: Albums, Reviews

BLOC PARTY hits but ALPHA GAMES doesn’t quite slap

April 29, 2022

There's brooding, brawling on bruising on Alpha Games, but Bloc Party don't quite hit hard enough to leave a lasting impact on album number six.

Category: Culture, Music, Reviews

After a three year wait, DUA LIPA finally brings FUTURE NOSTALGIA party to Cardiff

April 28, 2022

After a long wait, the 90 minute Dua Lipa show in Cardiff felt like it whipped along, and like some of the best parties, was over too soon.

Category: Live, Reviews Region: South Wales

New poetry for April: uplifting verse in LITTLE DEAD RABBIT & documenting disability in 163 DAYS

April 28, 2022

Mab Jones is back with another brace of poetry reviews for April, from Astrid Alben's Little Dead Rabbit to Hannah Hodgson's 163 Days.

Category: Books, Reviews Region: South Wales

THE AERIALISTS vibrantly brings infamous Cardiff balloon accident to life

April 28, 2022

This fictionalised account reimagines the ill-fated journey of 14-year-old Louisa Maud Evans, who in the late 19th century tumbled from a hot air balloon over the Bristol Channel.

Category: Books, Reviews Region: South Wales

Seminal author Alice Walker’s life intimately revealed in GATHERING BLOSSOMS UNDER FIRE

April 27, 2022

Gathering Blossoms Under Fire comprises entries from the journals of Alice Walker, spanning a life’s journey and memories of one of the most important writers of the 20th century.

Category: Books, Reviews

Real-life tragedy in THE MISSING WORD becomes comforting fiction

April 27, 2022

Words have long been used to help explain our place in the world, but as Concita De Gregorio’s novel The Missing Word makes clear, for parents who have lost a child there is no name.

Category: Books, Reviews

WE MOVE collects sensitive short stories about the South Asian experience

April 27, 2022

In this golden age of the short story, it can be difficult to stand out from the crowd, but Gurnaik Johal has managed to achieve just that with his debut collection, We Move.

Category: Books, Reviews

Jacqueline Wilson’s BABY LOVE: an unflinching teen pregnancy tale

April 27, 2022

Baby Love is the 100th title from Jacqueline Wilson, and perhaps this iconic children’s novelist toughest read of all.

Category: Books, Reviews

First BELLE AND SEBASTIAN album in 7 years is winsome polished pop

Rising rock saviours JAMES AND THE COLD GUN make explosive Cardiff return

SOFT CELL are back with gloomy boomer introspection on fifth album

PERSIANS: as close as one can get to stepping back into the Persian Empire

SIX: historical divas compete in this clever, current & campy musical

Power, politics & religion collide in Louise Kennedy’s astonishing debut novel TRESPASSES

CAST A LONG SHADOW: Welsh women’s crime anthology mixes melodrama & myth

Witness the birth, boom and bust of Britpop in Adams & Pooler’s literary chronicle

THE HERRING MAN beautifully embraces Welsh oral storytelling tradition

METRONOMY bring bank holiday Cardiff crowds to sugary pop high

WHITE SUN: a perfectly imperfect middle-class critique

Shudder scores another hit with unnerving folk child horror, THE TWIN

Agony and ecstasy but not quite brilliance for black metallers WATAIN

TOMBERLIN expands sound with delicate, expansive soundscapes on second album

LOLA KIRKE’s synth country experiment falls thumpingly flat

Rapper/food fiend ACTION BRONSON excels in COCODRILLO TURBO’s quieter moments

BLOC PARTY hits but ALPHA GAMES doesn’t quite slap

After a three year wait, DUA LIPA finally brings FUTURE NOSTALGIA party to Cardiff

New poetry for April: uplifting verse in LITTLE DEAD RABBIT & documenting disability in 163 DAYS

THE AERIALISTS vibrantly brings infamous Cardiff balloon accident to life

Seminal author Alice Walker’s life intimately revealed in GATHERING BLOSSOMS UNDER FIRE

Real-life tragedy in THE MISSING WORD becomes comforting fiction

WE MOVE collects sensitive short stories about the South Asian experience

Jacqueline Wilson’s BABY LOVE: an unflinching teen pregnancy tale

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