This Week’s Releases

Man & The Echo - Man & The Echo (1965 Recordings/[PIAS] Australia)

UK outfit Man & The Echo deliver a vibrant debut record that is “genuine and compellingly flavoursome”. It fuses a smorgasbord of influences from country-seasoned crooning to disco, and while at times can “brush awfully close to self parody”, “the energy of the album never wavers”. We gave it three-and-a-half stars and Album Of The Week.

Kerser - Tradition (ABK/ADA)

The sixth record from Aussie rapper Kerser sticks to what its title suggests, and with the muso truly finding his stride in recent years, Tradition doesn’t disappoint. “A bouncy beat with exaggerated brags” makes We The Type a highlight, while the album as a whole sets an “exhausting pace” that is “testament to his creative stamina and the enthusiasm of his fan base”. We gave it three stars.

Lamb Of God - The Duke (Nuclear Blast)

American metal stalwarts Lamb Of God have produced an EP that leaves punters feeling “a little teased with a very scant promise of more to come” while they’re in-between records. It does, however, deliver “furious, tight grooves and solid kit-work” with relentless vocal work from Randy Blythe. We gave it two-and-a-half stars.

and the rest of the releases…

Alex Izenberg - Harlequin (Domino/EMI)

Bic Runga - Close Your Eyes (Sony)

Bruno Mars - 24K Magic (Atlantic/Warner)

Cooper - Lower Impetus (Independent)

Darling James - Theory Of Mind (Independent)

Deni Hines – The Soul Sessions (Independent)

Devilment  - II: The Mephisto Waltzes (Nuclear Blast)

Disturbed - Live At Red Rocks (Warner Album)

DNCE - DNCE (Universal)

Enschway – Freindschway Vol. 2 (Sweat It Out)

Ezekiel Ox – Proper Gander (Independent)

Enter Shikari - Live At Alexandra Palace ([PIAS] Australia)

Garth Brooks & The Trisha Yearwood – Christmas Together (Sony)

Highly Suspect - The Boy Who Died Wolf (300 Entertainment/Warner)

Jai Wolf - Kindred Spirits (Pod/Inertia)

Jess Kent – My Name Is Jess Kent (EMI)

Justice - Woman (Ed Banger/Warner)

Laurel - Park (Counter/Inertia)

Little Mix - Glory Days (Sony)

Metallica - Hardwired… - To Self-Destruct (Blackened Recordings/EMI)

Miranda Lambert - The Weight Of These Wings (Sony)

Rodriguez - Rodriguez Rocks: Live In Australia (Light In The Attic/Inertia)

Sixx:A.M. - Vol 2 Prayers For The Blessed (Eleven Seven/Sony)

Slotface - Empire Records (Propeller Recordings/Caroline)

Tasseomancy - Do Over (Bella Union/[PIAS])

The Iron Eye – Foreign Bodies (Independent)