Francis Buseko looks at the brilliant diaristic album made in the fade of tragedy which, while once mired in controversy now resembles the work of a coherent artistic vision

One of the tragedies of Yoko Ono’s career is that she has so often been treated as a symbol before being taken seriously as an artist in her own right. Season Of Glass arrived at the moment when that symbolic weight threatened to become permanent. Released just seven months after the murder of John Lennon, Ono’s fifth studio album appeared at a time when the world seemed ready to define her forever through loss: as widow, survivor, keeper of memory. Instead, she does something characteristically Yoko Ono: she creates art from…

The post Reissue of the Week: Yoko Ono’s Season Of Glass appeared first on The Quietus.

source https://thequietus.com/quietus-reviews/reissue-of-the-week/yoko-ono-season-of-glass-review/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=yoko-ono-season-of-glass-review

Brian Ennals and Blockhead

Boatshoes

“Everything’s burning but everything is hilarious”: Brian Ennals and Blockhead laugh their way to some of their strongest work to date

Boatshoes by Brian Ennals & Blockhead

Brian Ennals has never been one to beat around the bush. In a 2025 interview with the Rap Music Plug Podcast, he describes his characteristically blunt writing as “not really part of my artistry; that’s just how I talk, that’s how I think.” What sets rap apart from other genres, and charges it with power, is its directness: “[its] whole point … is to distill cultural nuances within four-bar structures so that everybody gets it.” What sets Ennals apart from other rappers is his truly unique ability to deliver lines that are…

The post Brian Ennals and Blockhead – Boatshoes appeared first on The Quietus.

source https://thequietus.com/quietus-reviews/brian-ennals-and-blockhead-boatshoes-review/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=brian-ennals-and-blockhead-boatshoes-review

The cult record is getting its first official eco-friendly pressing courtesy of the label

Sacred Bones is giving Mort Garson’s cult ambient record Mother Earth’s Plantasia a new pressing to mark its 50th anniversary.

The updated release will see the album get its first official eco-friendly pressing on 100 percent recycled eco-green vinyl. It will be housed in a 100 percent recycled jacket, wrapped in bio-based shrinkwrap, and also includes the original Mother Earth’s Indoor Plant Care Booklet.

Sacred Bones is also putting on two pairs of special anniversary events for the album in Chicago and New York. The first of those, at Chicago’s Garfield Park Conservatory on 10 and 11 September, will feature guest sets from james K, Makaya McCraven, Helado Negro…

The post Sacred Bones Announces 50th Anniversary Reissue of Mort Garson’s ‘Mother Earth’s Plantasia’ appeared first on The Quietus.

source https://thequietus.com/news/sacred-bones-announces-50th-anniversary-reissue-of-mort-garsons-mother-earths-plantasia/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=sacred-bones-announces-50th-anniversary-reissue-of-mort-garsons-mother-earths-plantasia

It’s the latest taste of what will be the synth pioneers’ sixth and final album

Photo by Mike Owen

Soft Cell have shared a new single, ‘In Heaven (When I Dance With You)’, taken from their upcoming album Danceteria. You can hear it below.

Danceteria will be Soft Cell’s final album, following the death of multi-instrumentalist and producer Dave Ball last year. It takes its title from the legendary New York nightclub that became central to Soft Cell’s lives while they were recording their debut album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, in the early 1980s.

Says frontman Marc Almond of the new track: “‘In Heaven (When I Dance With You)’ is a celebration of the early 80s joyful disco scene. A coming together of the sentiments of the…

The post Soft Cell Share New Single ‘In Heaven (When I Dance With You)’ appeared first on The Quietus.

source https://thequietus.com/news/soft-cell-share-new-single-in-heaven-when-i-dance-with-you/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=soft-cell-share-new-single-in-heaven-when-i-dance-with-you

The anonymous London band’s second album lacks in nuance, but makes up for it for the fascinating connection between dub and krautrock it reveals

Ferries do not deal in certainties. At present, the London-based project are anonymous, electing not to reveal their identities, or any personal information, nor do they play live. The band’s label Bergpolder liken them to “quickly vanishing” ghosts, their default mode to “exist without existing”. Even Ferries’ album titles, Eye Flutter (2025) and now Eye Wander, evoke a middle ground between earthliness and detachment, stasis and motion, that feels uncanny: a perfect analogue to the type of music they make.

I’m beguiled and conflicted by the group’s second album. Eye Wander spends its runtime drifting in and out…

The post Roads to Ruin: Eye Wander by Ferries appeared first on The Quietus.

source https://thequietus.com/quietus-reviews/album-of-the-week/ferries-eye-wander-review/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ferries-eye-wander-review

Conway Savage

Too Dark To See: Solo and Collaborative Recordings 1992–2010

The late Bad Seed cuts a dashing figure on this compilation of non-Bad Seed material

When Conway Savage slid behind the barroom piano at the Bad Seeds saloon in 1990, he made their Wild Bunch years complete. Captured in the ‘Stagger Lee’ video from 1996’s Murder Ballads, tossing his mane of hair Jerry Lee-style, smoke curling from the cigarette on his bottom lip and glasses lined up on top of his keyboard, Conway had the honkytonk blues at his fingertips.

But, as this double album retrospective (of recordings made concurrent to his role in Nick Cave’s posse) makes clear, this Savage was a gentleman, with a penchant for old songs learned in the…

The post Conway Savage – Too Dark To See: Solo and Collaborative Recordings 1992–2010 appeared first on The Quietus.

source https://thequietus.com/quietus-reviews/conway-savage-too-dark-to-see-solo-and-collaborative-recordings-1992-2010-review/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=conway-savage-too-dark-to-see-solo-and-collaborative-recordings-1992-2010-review

In this month’s pod Luke Turner and John Doran tuck into a meal of humble origins that is now, tragically, under threat

Back in the stressful early days of The Quietus John and Luke would often cheer themselves up by heading to the shops to purchase the constituent parts of a ploughman’s lunch – the traditional trio of bread, cheese and onions. But then, as the site expanded, so did their culinary horizons, and they branched out into Europe and beyond, inventing the French ‘homme de charrou’, the Spanish ‘arado de hombre’, and so on. Regular readers and listeners will know that the site’s founders are big believers in pushing the cause of neglected or threatened culture, so when they heard…

The post Low Culture Podcast: The Ploughman’s Lunch appeared first on The Quietus.

source https://thequietus.com/subscriber-area/low-culture-podcast/low-culture-podcast-the-ploughmans-lunch/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=low-culture-podcast-the-ploughmans-lunch

The band’s third album has been remastered, and will be newly released alongside a raft of bonus material

224993_SHH_7570-14_F52

Suede are reissuing their 1996 album Coming Up to mark its 30th anniversary.

The album has been newly remastered for the reissue, which will be made available across digital, CD and vinyl formats. The CD release will be split across five discs, and will take in brand new stereo mixes of the album, as well as all the B-sides from the original singles and a live BBC radio session. This bonus material will also be made available digitally.

The singles from the album – ‘Trash’, ‘Beautiful Ones’, ‘Saturday Night’, ‘Lazy’ and ‘Filmstar’ will also all get new individual 12-inch vinyl pressings. Starting with ‘Trash’ on…

The post Suede Reveal ‘Coming Up’ 30th Anniversary Reissue appeared first on The Quietus.

source https://thequietus.com/news/suede-reveal-coming-up-30th-anniversary-reissue/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=suede-reveal-coming-up-30th-anniversary-reissue

The record features contributions from frequent collaborators like Eiko Ishibashi, Jim O’Rourke and Johan Berthling

Oren Ambarchi has a new album on the way, titled Cooked.

Marking the Australian guitarist’s first solo release of the year, it sees him return to Drag City, which previously released the LP Shebang, and the Ghosted trilogy with Johan Berthling and Andreas Werliin. The LP spans two extended pieces of music, and takes in contributions from frequent collaborators, such as Eiko Ishibashi, Jim O’Rourke, Berthling, Werliin, Will Guthrie and others.

Listen to a five-minute excerpt of one of Cooked’s two tracks, ‘Hidden Tableau’, below.

Drag City will release Cooked on 25 September 2026.

Cooked by Oren Ambarchi
…

The post Oren Ambarchi Unveils New Album, ‘Cooked’ appeared first on The Quietus.

source https://thequietus.com/news/oren-ambarchi-unveils-new-album-cooked/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=oren-ambarchi-unveils-new-album-cooked

The festival returns to several London venues this November

EFG London Jazz Festival has added a third wave of acts to the lineup for its 2026 edition.

Heading up the latest confirmations is a rare UK performance from Asha Puthli, which will take place at the Barbican. The Mumbai-born artist will be joined by “a specially curated cast of contemporary British artists” on the night, according to the festival.

Also joining the bill and playing at the Barbican during the festival are South African vocal group The Joy, who return after previously playing in 2024. Further additions include Roberto Fonseca & Vincent Segal at Cadogan Hall, and Charlotte Dos Santos at Union Chapel.

They all join the previously announced likes of Goldie, Yasuaki Shimizu,…

The post EFG London Jazz Festival Adds Asha Puthli, The Joy and More to 2026 Lineup appeared first on The Quietus.

source https://thequietus.com/news/efg-london-jazz-festival-adds-asha-puthli-the-joy-and-more-to-2026-lineup/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=efg-london-jazz-festival-adds-asha-puthli-the-joy-and-more-to-2026-lineup