ALBUM REVIEW

ALBUM OF THE MONTH: Last Man Dancing by Jake Shears (June 2023 and gig at Village Underground)

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

TRACKLIST: Too Much Music; Do The Television; Voices; I Used To Be In Love; Really Big Deal; Last Man Dancing; 8 Ball; Devil Came Down The Dancefloor; Mess Of Me; Doses; Radio Eyes; Diamonds Don’t Burn

SETLIST: Too Much Music; Really Big Deal; Any Which Way; Meltdown; Do The Television; Voices; Comfortably Numb; I Used To Be In Love; Creep City; Laura; Take Your Mama; Last Man Dancing; I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’; Devil Came Down The Dancefloor; 8 Ball; Destiny; Invisible Light; Filthy/Gorgeous

We’ve recently read Shears’ memoir Boys Keep Swinging and it’s a fascinating insight into the mindset of the former Scissor Sisters’ frontman who has struggled for inspiration.

  • Read on for reasons including how Shears invited his audience to his east London home after this gig
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ALBUM OF THE MONTH: The Love Invention by Alison Goldfrapp (May 2023, and gig review HERE at Outernet)

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WORTH A LOOK?: ****

TRACKLIST: NeverStop; Love Invention; Digging Deeper Now; In Electric Blue; The Beat Divine; Fever (This Is The Real Thing); Hotel (Suite 23); Subterfuge; Gatto Gelato; So Hard So Hot; SLoFLo

SETLIST: Hotel (Suite 23); Love Invention; Believer; Digging Deeper; In Electric Blue; NeverStop; Number One; The Beat Divine; Impossible; Anymore; SloFlo; Gatto Gelato; Strict Machine; Rocket; So Hard (So Hot); Ride A White Horse; Fever (This Is The Real Thing)

The Love Invention is an early contender for album of the year so far and this was our 1st visit to this new underground and modern Soho venue for Alison Goldfrapp’s debut solo gig.

  • Read on for reasons including where to see her next at an outdoor gig in London in July
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ALBUM OF THE MONTH: Fuse by Everything But The Girl (April 2023)

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WORTH A LOOK?: ****

TRACKLIST: Nothing Left To Lose; Run A Red Light; Caution To The Wind; When You Mess Up; Time And Time Again; No One Knows We’re Dancing; Lost; Forever; Interior Space; Karaoke

Rewind 24 years to 1999 and Tony Blair’s Labour government was 2 years into power, the year before the UK had hosted its 1st Eurovision in 15 years and duo Everything But The Girl released album Temperamental.

  • Read on for reasons including how we’d love to see both Tracey and Ben tour this 1st album in 24 years
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ALBUM OF THE MONTH: Live In A Village Hall by Welly (March 2023)

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By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****1/2

TRACKLIST: Me And Your Mates; Home For The Weekend; Deere John; Take 5; Michelangelo; Locally Made Jam; Flowers; 501

‘The sweet smell of Lynx and regret.’ Remembering. Misremembering. Nostalgia. Youth. Cities by the sea. Welcome to Welly, your new favourite singer/band.

  • Read on for reasons including why you should see Welly in a village hall because they’ll be playing larger gigs next
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ALBUM OF THE MONTH: The Cut Up by Jo Bartlett (February 2023)

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By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

TRACKLIST: Fortress; And I Loved You; Greener; Aldershot; Eilean; Our Reward; Camden; Hwyl; Hero

A confession: as a teenager we used to go to Aldershot’s Buzz Club which Bartlett ran featuring intimate gigs by bands that would go on to great things including The Stone Roses, The Charlatans, The Beautiful South and Blur.

  • Read on for reasons including what next for Bartlett as well as how to glimpse Indie Through The Looking Glass
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ALBUM OF THE MONTH: Cabaret starring Eddie Redmayne and Jessie Buckley (January 2023)

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WORTH A LOOK?: *****

Our sister sees a lot of West End musicals and so we take her to see this production of Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club and she later writes on Facebook: ‘I think it was possibly the best show I have ever seen.’

  • Read on for reasons including how this production is ripe for a successful Broadway transfer
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ALBUM OF THE MONTH: Sophie Ellis Bextor’s Kitchen Disco: Live At The London Palladium (November 2022)

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WORTH A LOOK?: ****

RELEASED: 25 November 2022

TRACKLIST: Take Me Home; Disco Inferno; Wild Forever; All Night Long; Hypnotized; Mixed Up World; Young Blood; There Are Worse Things; Love Is A Camera; Dancing Queen; Get Over You/Lady/Groovejet; Crying At The Discoteque; Like A Prayer; Heartbreak (Make Me A Dancer); Murder On The Dancefloor; Our House; Favourite Things

Live albums are always a fascinating snapshot of an act at a particular moment in time and this gig was much-postponed thanks to Covid but 1 we gave 5* to back in March.

  • Read on for reasons including why this gig was 1 of our favourite things of 2022
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ALBUM OF THE MONTH: Hold The Girl by Rina Sawayama (October 2022)

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WORTH A LOOK?: ****

TRACKLIST: Minor Feelings; Hold The Girl; This Hell; Catch Me In The Air; Forgiveness; Holy (‘Til You Let Me Go); Your Age; Imagining; Frankenstein; Hurricanes; Send My Love To John; Phantom; To Be Alive

There’s no mistaking the ambition of Sawayama’s 2nd album and with an Elton John collaboration under her belt she will doubtless hope Hold The Girl builds on the success of her debut.

  • Read on for reasons including how to see Sawayama on tour this autumn
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ALBUM OF THE MONTH: Autofiction by Suede (September 2022) and GIG REVIEW: Suede at PRYZM

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WORTH A LOOK?: *****/****

WHEN?: Thursday 15 September 2022, touring until 25 March 2023

TRACKLIST: She Still Leads Me On; Personality Disorder; 15 Again; The Only Way I Can Love You; That Boy On The Stage; Drive Myself Home; Black Ice; Shadow Self; It’s Always The Quiet Ones; What Am I Without You?; Turn Off Your Brain And Yell

SETLIST: She Still Leads Me On; Personality Disorder; 15 Again; That Boy On The Stage; I Don’t Know How To Reach You; Black Ice; Shadow Self; What Am I Without You?; Sabotage; Outsiders; It Starts And Ends With You; Turn Off Your Brain And Yell; Life Is Golden

It’s the night before Suede release their 9th studio album Autofiction and the run-up to it could have not been more perfect if more than a little rough around the edges – although that, of course, is the point.

  • Read on for reasons including why Autofiction is exactly the sort of album Kate Bush would make if she was wanting to go punk
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ALBUM OF THE MONTH: Prioritise Pleasure by Self Esteem (August 2022)

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WORTH A LOOK?: ****1/2

TRACKLIST: I’m Fine; Fucking Wizardry; Hobbies 2; Prioritise Pleasure; I Do This All The Time; Moody; Still Reigning; How Can I Help You?; It’s Been A While; The 345; John Elton; You Forever; Just Kids

A cheat, perhaps? It’s taken us a while to ride the buzz to this sophomore album but thanks to a friend’s recommendation this has barely been off our playlist all summer.

  • Read on for reasons including how we’d love for Prioritise Pleasure to win this year’s Mercury Prize
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