Alela Diane – To Be Still
Nevada City's beguiling folk heroine Alela Diane returns with a white diamond of a second album. Be still, our beating heart.
The Charlatans – Some Friendly (20th Anniversary Expanded Edition)
20th Anniversary? Seriously? You're twisting my melon, man! Wait, wrong band...
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
Mute/EMI, 2008 [rating:8/10] The passing of time has done nothing to dampen Nick Cave's spirit or soften his tongue. In the preceding decade spent mostly strapped to the piano like a bible-addicted lothario, it gave
Who The Hell Are… Deaf Club?
Heavy on atmosphere with a melodic depth that harnesses Banshees-like percussion against rippling guitar-work and bears more than a passing resemblance to the rhythmic whirl of Warpaint and the siren song of Esben and the
The Clean – Mister Pop
New Zealand indie legends The Clean are still going, well maybe strong is too kind a word, for their new release Mister Flop, er Pop.
Who The Hell Are… KIDCITY?
Introducing KIDCITY. Two people, One word, uppercase for menacing effect. But really, aren't they just too cute for words? Which is apt, seeing as the music that these two Canadian 21-year-olds make is more like haunted voices leaking from an overloaded digital landscape. "Somewhere between Enya and Dr. Dre", someone said. Sure, why not. It might be simple enough to place them within the geographical radius of another glitchy electronic duo, Crystal Castles, but Kelly Ann's vocals soothe, rather than antagonise, as the cracked beats and blistered frequencies dial up the intensity. Significantly impressed, we had no choice but to ask 'Who the hell are... KIDCITY?"
Chromatics – London – 6 November 2012
Chromatics Heaven, London 6th November 2012 On a night when everyone is locked in an US election day trance, American synth-noir act Chromatics were the alternative for those choosing pop over politics.
The Heavy – The House That Dirt Built
UK retro-funk n' soul act The Heavy roll out the grooves and ask the question "How you like me now?". Our answer awaits.
Spoon – Interview with Britt Daniel and Jim Eno (Static, 2010)
Spoon's latest album, Transference, seemed to show the band finding new ways to tie their own shoelaces, searching out their own "Mystery Zone" or what Britt Daniel will later say in the interview "we gotta try to please ourselves first". Notable for being our first interview where the band asks us the questions, Spoon have perhaps realised there's more to making music than pleasing yourself. You've still got to please your Mom too...
Destroyer – Dan Bejar talking about Kaputt (2011)
It's been said by Webcuts in the past that Destroyer's Dan Bejar is the Woody Allen of pop music. His idiosyncratic, poetic touch is less that of a lyricist but a storyteller with a revolving cast of characters (mostly women), and picking up on the ripples and waves they create to make them a part of his own interior monologue. An essential eighth of the mighty New Pornographers, Bejar has been recording as Destroyer since the 90's. Kaputt, his ninth album is a sumptious, rhapsodic slice of 80's melodrama, immersing itself entirely in the era from the vintage instrumentation to Bejar's own penchance for seeking the sublime out of what some might find the ridiculous.
Vivian Girls – Vivian Girls
Brooklyn twee-punksters the Vivian Girls hit the reverb heights in a hail of cartoon tattoos and converse on their debut album.
Die! Die! Die! – Form
New Zealand's Die! Die! Die! make their third incision into the heart of rock n' roll but fall short of delivering the expected death blow.
Various Artists – Dark Was The Night
North America's finest show their charitable side with this awe-inspiring collection. Just call it "No Alternative Part 2".
PJ Harvey & John Parish – A Woman A Man Walked By
We took at poll at Webcuts, and PJ Harvey is most definitely not a woman one of us would walk by.
Way Out West Festival – Gothenburg – 2009 – Part 1
Once again Sweden's WoW proved to be worthy of its acronym and Webcuts was there to cover all three days. We (re) acquaint ourselves with the likes of Glasvegas, Grizzly Bear, Florence & The Machine, Echo & The Bunnymen, Wilco, Vivian Girls, Bon Iver and My Bloody Valentine, to name but a few.
Howler – This One’s Different
From the label that gave you The Libertines and The Strokes, here's another young and disaffected indie guitar band.