Ray Finlayson | Beats Per Minute

Album Review: The Darcys – Fear & Loneliness

Ray FinlaysonNovember 26, 2020

If you want to see a clear shift in style and mood from a band, then The Darcys are a perfect example. Just compare the monochromatic album covers of their fir...

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Album Review: Laura Fell – Safe From Me

Ray FinlaysonNovember 20, 2020

Looking back on a relationship that has ended can tell us how much we've healed. How we talk about the other person – be it with warmth, disdain, or ambivalenc...

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Album Review: Ben Chatwin – The Hum

Ray FinlaysonNovember 18, 2020

Do you hear that? The hum of electricity pylons? The seemingly silent passing of radio waves through the air? The quiet electric buzz of a recording studio ful...

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Hindsight 2020: The best albums we didn’t review

Emma Bauchner, Ray Finlayson, Rob Hakimian, Brody Kenny, Kyle Kohner, Ana Leorne, Chase McMullen, Gareth O'Malley, Grady Penna, Josh Sand, Tim Sentz, Harrison Suits Baer, Carlo Thomas, John Wohlmacher and Scott ZanassiNovember 9, 2020

Well, here we are, with this nightmare of a year nearing a close. Before we dive into our proper year-end coverage, we wanted to take a moment to show some lov...

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Album Review: Andrew Bird – HARK!

Ray FinlaysonNovember 5, 2020

For many of us, Christmas will be very different this year. Whether it's because we can't be in the presence of our families on the 25th, or because we can't g...

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Ellie Bleach despairs with a bitten tongue on the downcast balladry of “I Thought I Saw You Last Night”

Ray FinlaysonNovember 3, 2020

It's been five months since Ellie Bleach released her last single (the inspired baroque pop hit "He Bought Me Nikes"), and since then it sounds like she's been...

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Album Review: Matt Berninger – Serpentine Prison

Ray FinlaysonOctober 15, 2020

It's normally a pretty big deal when the lead singer of one of most famous indie bands decides to release a solo album but for Matt Berninger it seems hardly a...

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Lucy Gaffney’s “Send Me Away” delivers a moment of autumnal calm

Ray FinlaysonOctober 12, 2020

It has been (and still is) a busy year for all of us, and during these times the right song at the right time can soothe like the most healing of balms. "Send ...

News / Media

Album Review: HESS – Lamplight Motel

Ray FinlaysonOctober 9, 2020

Working away from a group of fellow band members, a single songwriter can reveal that bit more, dig that little deeper, and be that bit more honest, all while ...

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Remain in Light at 40: A Celebration of Talking Heads’ landmark album

Rob Hakimian, Carlo Thomas, Kyle Kohner, Ray Finlayson, Chase McMullen, Harrison Suits Baer, John Wohlmacher and Michael CyrsOctober 8, 2020

Today marks 40 years since October 8, 1980, the release date of Talking Heads' era-defining fourth album Remain in Light. It's hard to believe that an album th...

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