Lightspeed Champion – Life is Sweet! Nice to Meet You
Dev Hynes brings us more songs of bittersweet romance on his sophomore release as Lightspeed Champion.
HTRK, Ipso Facto, ROMANCE – London – 24 July 2009
Ipso Facto recently trimmed the fat, excising keyboardist Cherish Kaya in favour of the perfect rock triangle. The sound is now suitably streamlined, focussed and finessed -- the girls now move a like well-oiled, well-coiled machine.
Frightened Rabbit – The Winter of Mixed Drinks
Impressive third album from these exemplary Scots. It sounds like the Winter Webcuts had... except more productive.
Cold Cave – Cherish the Light Years
Can goth new-wavers Cold Cave come close to the lo-fi synth-brilliance of their debut Love Comes Close? Now, that's the question.
The Faint / Ladytron – Atlanta – 17 April 2009
Variety Playhouse Atlanta, GA 17th April 2009 The black-clad kids were out in force as the rolling The Faint/Ladytron sideshow pulled into Atlanta, Georgia, offloading what could be unkindly dubbed an ‘electroclash revival’ as both
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.
Blur – Midlife: A Beginner’s Guide To Blur
The predictable commercial foibles of a greatest hits compilation are largely avoided here; each of the tracks have been carefully selected by the band and many of them are touched-up or alternative versions.
Wilco – The Whole Love
Wilco -- "They’ve solidified themselves as the greatest American band playing today, possibly of all time".
of Montreal – Brisbane – 4 March 2009
But it was the harmony rich blend of disco, psychedelia and pop that made Hissing Fauna... and The Sunlandic Twins surprise alternative pop classics that had The Zoo crowd dancing into the groove.
Tom McRae – The Alphabet of Hurricanes
If only England had their version of the Wild West, otherwise Tom McRae might've found himself in much stronger grounding.
Okkervil River – I Am Very Far
Very unsure about this album, the sixth from past Webcuts pet faves, Okkervil River. I Am Very Far from their best.
Black Cab – Brisbane Interview (2010)
Sometimes the best music is just under your nose, as in literally right under your nose on your desk hiding in a spindle of CDs. That’s what happened with Melbourne's Black Cab as after receiving a promo of their third album Call Signs mid last year it was put on said spindle and largely forgotten about until the video for the first single, the chugging rock epic “Church of Berlin” was seen, which quickly made me hunt out the promo disc and give it my full, rapt attention. With Calls Signs recently being given an European release we talked to Andrew and Steve about their visit to the sunshine state, the sexiness of “Sexy Polizei”, the allure of Germany as a source for lyrics, covering alternative classics and new recordings.
The Lemonheads – Varshons
Evan Dando and a cast of several come together to make the ultimate Lemonheads record so far. With an album featuring songs by Wire and Christina Aguilera, it's both "Strange" and "Beautiful".
The Fall – London – 7 May 2010
I’m a band purist at heart. You can cut off all your fingers, but you’ve still got a hand. If you cut off all your band members and keep cutting and cutting and cutting, you can't expect your audience to comply with your decision or to even recognise the music you make. What was it John Peel said about The Fall? "always different, always the same". Well, yes, but... no. Mark E. Smith is The Fall, but The Fall isn't just Mark E. Smith.
Suzanne Vega – Close Up Vol. 1 Love Songs
A thematic collection of stripped down tracks from Suzanne Vega's songbook, beginning with the love song.
The Honeys – Interview with Bruce Begley about Star Baby (2008)
All my favourite bands break up too soon. Some dissolve and leave no trace they ever existed, others leave behind a body of work, be it that beguiling debut or just one crucial single that