New Zealand Net Radio plays a song from our #albumoftheweek every hour from 9am to 12pm Monday to Friday. Listen in @tunein at https://tunein.com/radio/New-Zealand-Net-Radio-s305138/
Over the holiday period in the absence of major releases we’ll cast our eyes back over some classic releases. Bruce Springsteen’s album from 1984 became so ubiquitous that it possibly suffered from overexposure at the time. There is no doubt however that this is a superb collection of songs. With 19 million sales this landmark album is superbly realised. AllMusic as usual provide a good review.
Well the music year is winding down, and everyone has already started trotting out the “Best Of” lists. Although new releases are quieting we’ll look back a few weeks to an album that got a bit crowded out (and didn’t get enough attention). Ziggy Alberts is an Australian folk musician who has put together a sweet and contemporary set of songs with great melody and singing. Enjoy!
This album doesn’t seem exactly new – a bit like Rita Ora’s recent album, in the streaming age albums seem more like roundup compilations of recent singles. Some of these have been around a while – “I Miss You” featuring Julia Michaels has been around since October last year for example. That said, the classically trained musicians have kept producing consistently great pop. With 22 collaborators in tow we’ll enjoy some familiar and new tracks this week. “Baby” with Marina & The Diamonds and “Mama” with Ellie Goulding are particular standouts among the new material.
Rita Ora’s new album has been greeted with universal acclaim. Six years in the making (due to legal disputes with her label) a lot of the album feels familiar. This is a function of the streaming age, with singles being dropped over time. We’ve been listening to the late Avicii with Rita on “Lonely Together” and “For You” from the Fifty Shades Freed soundtrack for a fair while now but there are plenty of new treats here. NME described it accurately as “a confident pop gem that stands tall on its own”. We look forward to it this week.
Mumford and Sons surprisingly achieved huge success in the 2000s with banjo strumming folk, against all the odds. Their 2015 album Wilder Mind ‘electrified’ them to mixed responses. This album continues their evolution with new sounds, although lead single “Guiding Light” still has the banjo-esque sound. This album has received some mixed reviews, however trust us – there are some great and varied tunes here.
Only a couple of years after the smash hit album Evolve comes Imagine Dragons’ fourth album, 12 tracks of solid pop rock, written to conquer the charts. Although the singles don’t seem quite as strong as the last album this is still a great listening experience, if you enjoy melodic thumping rock.
Groovy bluesy music – from Australia! The Teskey Brothers have released a deluxe version of last year’s Half Mile Harvest with two great new tracks – “I Get Up” and “Say You’ll Do”. A fantasic album evoking the Motown sound.