My review of My Magic from a decade ago!
Before I get into this review, a caveat – I was involved in putting together the music of this film, so if you wanna take this with a pinch of salt, feel free.
Continuing our lookback at our publishing history with a decade-old review of Brass Bed!
BRASS BED Midnight Matinee (Self released)
I’m guessing that Brass Bed got their name from Dylan’s Lay Lady Lay but I could be wrong.
Blast from the distant PoP past – 15 years on…
THE JAYHAWKS Rainy Day Music (Lost Highway/American)
After the greater pop emphasis of Sound of Lies and Smile, the Jayhawks return to the roots rock approach of their earlier albums (especially Hollywood Town Hall and Tomorrow the Green Grass) with this, their first album with the Lost Highway label (also home of that other alt-country standard bearer, Ryan Adams).
An ELO review from 2001!
If the announcement of a new ELO album, after a 15-year absence, raised eyebrows, then the realisation that Zoom is essentially Jeff Lynne playing everything caused many brows to furrow.
Back in the hazy-dazy days of 2001, I had put together a feature on one of my favourite bands, the Electric Light Orchestra, which included reviews of then-new album Zoom and the Eldorado re-issue and Flashback boxset.
Continuing our look back at the Power of Pop archives…with a review from Sherwin Tay.
JEREMY Glow In The Dark (Jam)
A “theatre of the mind” would be an appropriate approximation of Jeremy’s music; a whirring coalescence of Pink Floyd, shot through a tunnel of Tangerine Dream(s) lined with smidgens of Sigus Ros, emerging on an astral plane where celestial guitar virtuosos retire to as existentialism sleeps off its tribulations.
Christopher Nolan’s game-changing Dark Knight is a decade old! Here’s my contemporaneous review.
It makes a whole lot of sense that the second film in Christopher Nolan’s reboot of the Batman franchise is called The Dark Knight. After all, Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Returns revived the moribund comic book industry (together with Watchmen) and challenged fans to take the super hero a bit more seriously than before.
10 year old review!
P. HUX Kiss the Monster (Nine 18)
My 1st encounter with P. Hux came in the unlikeliest places. A discount CD store somewhere in a Sydney suburb in 1997. That’s where I found Deluxe, which I consider to be one of the finer power pop albums in that pristine period of pop renaissance that was the late 90s.
Continuing our look back at our review history. Here’s one from 2002!
XTC
Coat of Many Cupboards
(Virgin)
Be warned! This 4-CD box is NOT for neophytes but for the diehard fans who can’t wait to get their grubby hands on any XTC material.
Another blast from the past out of the PoP archives. One of our favourite albums of 2001!
THE ROSENBERGS
Mission: You
[DGM]
The Rosenbergs have created a bit of brouhaha with their turning down a spot on Jimmy (Iovine) and Doug’s (Morris) Farmclub.com due to unfavorable contractual terms in favor of a more progressive deal with Discipline Global Mobile, the label co-owned by Robert (King Crimson) Fripp and David Singleton.
From 2003, a review of The Beatifics’ excellent album, The Way We Never Were, taken from the previous incarnation of Power of Pop (at tripod.com, no less!)
THE BEATIFICS
The Way We Never Were
(Bus Stop)
I’ve always loved 60s/70s styled melodic guitar pop. To me, there’s nothing that comes close musically.
Here’s another blast from the past for this throwback Thursday – a 2003 review of one of my favourite artists!
A gentle reminder that 2018 marks the 20th anniversary of Power of Pop and we continue to re-post items from the past. Today, it’s a review from 14 years ago! Enjoy!
EPICYCLE Jingo Jangle (Cirkle)
Sad to say but I believe that the powerpop genre has been going through a slump for some time now. With the odd notable exceptions, there has not been a genuine powerpop masterpiece this side of the millennium and even since perhaps Jellyfish’s Spilt Milk.
25th February would have been George Harrison’s 75th birthday. Thus it seems appropriate to repost a review of his final album from 15 years ago.
You’re coming back to Singapore! What was it like playing in Singapore 1st time around?
Well, it was very brief sadly. We didn’t really see much of the town but looking forward to coming back this time and spending a little bit more time there. It was one of the most beautiful concert halls I’ve played in, no doubt I really saw that but it was a flying visit. But on this occasion I might come a couple of days early on my own. The band will join me the day before the gig. I’m also coming back to do a concert called Music Matters on the 26th of May, so I’ll probably spend a few days there then as well. I’m doing a talk and a workshop.
FLEET FOXES Self-titled (Sub Pop)
This is probably one of the toughest reviews I’ve ever written. Ever since I first listened to this debut full-length from Seattle’s Fleet Foxes, I’ve been wondering how in the world I would be able to string together a couple (or more) sentences that would do justice to this masterpiece! For a band to be able to meld the rustic melodic beauty of Brian Wilson/Van Dyke Parks’ Smile and the heartfelt echoes of 70s singer-songwriter movement, is almost unbelievable.
Iron Man marks Marvel’s first self-developed and self-financed film (in a ten-film deal with Paramount) and the way that this Jon Favreau-directed, Robert Downey-starred blockbuster translates the comic book so successfully onto the big screen augers well for the other Marvel films to come.
PRETENDERS “Back on the Chain Gang” (off the album, Learning to Crawl)
This is the 5,000th post of this Power of Pop website that was revamped on WordPress in 2008.
