Heavenly 黑胶唱片和CD

Review: At different times in his life, Baxter Dury has railed against, and embraced, the long shadow cast by his iconic father, Ian. 2021's Chaise Longue book, in which he recounted his - as he puts it - "unfortunately fortunate" childhood - indicated a level of acceptance that had previously eluded him. I Thought I Was Better Than You is, in Dury's words, a musical extension of that. Produced by Paul White and featuring a variety of guests, its blends of laid-back funk, subtle nods to dub, post-punk sensibilities, Chaz Janckel-esque audio imagination and spoken word vocals that - yes - recall his dad at his best, it's a confident, entertaining and lyrically revealing outing of the sort that his old man used to knock out in his sleep.

Review: French dream pop breakthrough Halo Maud follows up her debut record Je Suis Une Ile (I Am An Island) with her second ever LP, Celebrate, which lives up to its name in fantastic fashion. Evidently less introspective than her last, the sonic palette throughout this dozen sunbursts suggests Maud has found her inner John Donne; indeed, opener 'Terres Infinies' is a massive crasher of a three-pronged shoegaze, synthwave and art pop sensibility, and both sonically and titularly suggests a new, deterritorial antithesis to the first album's sense of introspection. Organic, well-rounded instrumentation hears Maud traverse infinite terrains of bright tambourines and detuned synths thereafter.