ALBUM REVIEWS
Tina Turner – Queen of Rock 'N' Roll
IN the year that rock and roll lost its queen, Tina Turner fans are being treated to an early Christmas present: a 55-track compilation spanning the star’s stellar career. Across three CDs, the collection ranges from her 1975 cover of Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love to the 2020 Kygo remix of What’s Love Got to Do With It, making this the first record to bring together the eight-time Grammy winner’s full catalogue of singles. From funky self-assured cool to heartfelt power ballads, all her best tracks are on here, including the Bond theme for GoldenEye, We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome) and Private Dancer. Turner’s dynamic vocals and powerful stage presence come through most vibrantly on the live tracks, including Tonight and River Deep – Mountain High.
Alex Nicol – Been A Long Year Vol 1 & 2 Review by Matthew George
JUST as winter starts biting, here’s a charming alt-folk album from Montreal’s Alex Nicol to brighten these dark evenings. His high, fragile voice and hushed instrumentation is reminiscent of cult 1980s dreampop band Galaxie 500, with maybe a touch of Thom Yorke and Nick Drake. The deceptively simple arrangements involve strummed acoustic guitar, shimmers of mournful pedal steel and occasional strings. It takes a lot of hard work to sound this effortless, engage attention without demanding it, and make melancholy so appealing, and Nicol nails it here. The lyrics on Vol 1 cover the four years since his debut album, when bereavements caused grief and sorrow, while Vol 2 is more outward looking, addressing climate change and the flaws of masculinity.
Beans on Toast – The Toothpaste and the Tube Review by Naomi Clarke
HOW to raise awareness of the ever-growing number of social and political issues is a question plaguing many minds nowadays. It appears Beans on Toast’s answer is to address them directly with his gravelly vocals paired with buoyant accompaniment. The folk singer, real name Jay McAllister, is back with his latest winter offering, having released a studio album on his birthday of December 1 every year since 2009. The Toothpaste and the Tube sees the return of his familiar sound as a protest poet and captivating storytelling abilities across 13 tracks. Work to Do touches on the destruction of the environment while The Three Stooges explores corruption, but the sting of the despair is offset by joyous percussion throughout.
Guided by Voices – Nowhere to Go But Up Review by Matthew George
IF this were the first Guided by Voices album, would its classic rock sound, fuzzed up guitar riffs and earworm melodies find more favour? We’ll never know, as Robert Pollard’s irrepressibly prolific outfit are on to their 39th album since 1987, which can lead to them being taken for granted. Nowhere to Go But Up shows the inevitable influence of Pollard’s perennial favourites The Who, but has more prog rock elements than some GBV albums. There are almost no choruses, just two repeated lyrics in 40 minutes and cryptic song titles like Local Master Airplane, Stabbing at Fractions and Jack of Legs. While Guided by Voices are best experienced live, Pollard is unlikely to tour Europe again, but the endless waves of albums help fill the gap for loyal fans.