Kylie Minogue
Step Back in Time: The Definitive Collection
WHEN she released Step Back In Time as a single in 1990, Kylie couldn't have imagined in her wildest dreams that it would one day be a very apt title for this 'best-of' collection.
From I Should Be So Lucky to Dancing, her pop career has spanned an incredible four decades (so far) and this 42-track collection is breathtaking as it relentlessly goes from hit to hit. It includes her seven number ones and the majority of her singles, along with fan favourite Your Disco Needs You and new track New York City.
With a long-awaited appearance at Glastonbury in the legends slot, this is perfect timing for an updated compilation (this is her fourth major hits collection) and an important reminder of how Kylie earned her pop princess status.
8/10
Lisa Allen
Thom Yorke
Anima
IT'LL be no surprise to anyone who's followed Thom Yorke's solo work (almost always supported by longtime Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich) that Anima is a heavily electronic affair. Think Boiler Room rather than The Bends. But a record that begins with mid-tempo Modeselektor-esque grooves also has a series of, frankly, bangers.
That includes its very best moment. The brooding electronica of Not The News, like many of Yorke's greatest songs, is at first bewildering but rewards the listener with a little more of itself on each listen. It's dark, epic and absolutely thrilling.
Yorke's lyrics have so often documented anxiety over societal changes we have no control over – and that theme is perhaps more relevant now than even during the writing of OK Computer. Take The Axe's repeated refrain of "I thought we had a deal" or Runwayaway's "this is when you know who your real friends are".
Whether he's talking about Brexit, climate change or something else entirely, the words could barely feel more resonant in 2019.
7/10
Stephen Jones
The Black Keys
Let's Rock
THE title says it all. After the more experimental and downbeat Turn Blue, followed by a five-year hiatus spent largely on collaborations and production work, Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney have fired up their amps again and returned to the form of 2011's hit El Camino, hitting their stride immediately on album opener Shine A Little Light.
The riff-heavy but lyrically uninspiring Lo/Hi provided the pair with their first number one hit on America's billboard mainstream rock chart but is probably the weakest of the three singles here, surpassed by Eagle Birds and Go. Two of the slower songs, Walk Across The Water and Get Yourself Together, are among the stand-outs, though Breaking Down, Under The Gun and Fire Walk With Me provide a strident march to the finish line.
It may be an album aimed more at returning fans glad to have the duo back rather than bringing new admirers on board, but fans of El Camino will lap it up.
6/10
Tom White
Iggy Pop
Zombie Birdhouse (reissue)
THE decision to reissue Zombie Birdhouse some four decades after its release is an intriguing one: its melange of afrobeat, drone music and stream of consciousness lyrics shine a light on one of Pop's most adventurous musical periods. Yet the record's foibles are even easier to hear with the benefit of time.
Cuts like The Villagers and Watching The News sound just as vital and avant-garde. But on the ballad-y Angry Hills Pop's voice cracks. The record was produced by Blondie's guitarist Chris Stein and it shows, not in the music but in the quality. It's easy to imagine Stein being so awe-struck working with his hero that he didn't have the nerve to tell him when his vocals wandered off key.
Sleeve notes penned by Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh and a previously unreleased version of Pain And Suffering featuring Debbie Harry on backing vocals pad out the reissue package. But there's not a huge amount here to satisfy the collector.
5/10
Alex Green
