Category: Album Of The Week

Essentially Pop Gets To Chat With Sacha Puttnam Who Is To Release ‘Spirit Of Cinema’ On November 6th

November 4, 2020

I’m a self confessed lover of soundtrack music. The first vinyl I ever bought was the soundtrack from ‘A Fistful of Dollars’ and ‘For A Few Dollars More’ by Ennio Morricone. That led to ‘Great Western Film Themes Collection’, and ‘ The Good, The Bad & The Ugly’, and I was hooked. These days I have over 150 soundtracks on vinyl and a majority of these are Morricone. So, when I got the chance to chat with Sacha Puttnam: classical musician, soundtrack composer and rock keyboard playing son of legendary movie producer Lord David Puttnam, it’s hard to underestimate my excitement. Add to that the fact that he is just about to release a stunning collection of reimagined soundtrack music from some of his father’s greatest films, which unsurprisingly number among some of the greatest films ever, and you may still underestimate.

Erasure’s New Album ‘The Neon’ Takes Us To Wherever We Want To Be

August 21, 2020

Out today via Mute Records, Erasure’s album, ‘The Neon’, could be just as easily be a trip back in time, as much as it’s a contemporary album. It’s all about how you view it. Those of a certain age might be transported to the days of neon fingerless gloves, teased up hair like birds’ nests, and stirrup pants and Doc Martens (brogues or boots – your choice), paired with oversized painter shirts. But then again, it’s very much a contemporary album, touching on very modern themes. A lot of the issues of the 80s are revisited – albeit in slightly different form – today, and albums like ‘The Neon’ are what we needed then, and now, to take our minds off those things.

Eileen Gogan And The Instructions: ‘Under Moving Skies’ Calls To Mind Other Irish Artists But That’s Not A Bad Thing

June 5, 2020

When you hear the lyrics of ‘More Time’, the first track on Eileen Gogan And The Instructions new album, ‘Under Moving Skies’, you know it’s by an Irish artist. Sure, you might argue, Eileen Gogan’s very name is a bit of a give away, but I think it goes further than that. There’s a certain melancholy to Irish music; you’ll hear it in The Cranberries, The Corrs, U2 – even more recent Irish artists such as Inhaler, Jedward, Columbia Mills, and Robert O’Connor have it. Kodaline has it. And Eileen Gogan has it in spades.