The Charlatans – Some Friendly (20th Anniversary Expanded Edition)
20th Anniversary? Seriously? You're twisting my melon, man! Wait, wrong band...
The Drones – London – 8 June 2009
Watching Gareth Liddiard sing is like witnessing a drunk arguing with his own reflection. His posture is one of vexed irritation, his face is strained, the tendons on his neck bulge, his entire frame in spasm.
Who The Hell Are… Ramona?
It's not so much lurking in the 3 minute bluster of their debut single “How Long”, but a part of its DNA, where you quickly catch onto Ramona’s game. In the first 10 seconds
Steven Heath – The Airport Fire
Peak Plasma Conc., 2008 [6/10] "A soundtrack for driving around the city at night" is how Australia's Steven Heath depicts his latest release and it's not a far fetched description; the overall feeling that it
Stars – The Five Ghosts
Critic proof Canadian indie-poppers release their fifth disc of tunes but like its subject matter we find it lacks substance.
The Decemberists – The King Is Dead
The Decemberists discard the costumes and dispense with the theatre slipping into more familiar musical threads on album number 6.
Dean Wareham – Black Postcards
Penguin Press, 2008 [rating:7/10] "I don't wanna stay at your party/I don't want talk to your friends/I don't wanna vote for your president/I just wanna be your tugboat captain." Over simple chords, and a shaky
Contiuum Books 33 1/3 – Television, Rolling Stones, Dinosaur Jr
Behind every great album is more often than not, an even greater story waiting to be told. The pursuit for higher understanding of artists and their most influential pieces of work and how the two came to pass has long been the ultimate goal of the ardent music fan who thrives on having every recorded nuance and historical detail mapped out like a combined atlas and encyclopedia of the human body. One of the more indispensible series of music books published that actually does, more or less, what is expected above, has been Continuum's 33 1/3. With the recent addition of The Rolling Stones Some Girls, Dinosaur Jr's You're Living All Over Me and Television's Marquee Moon to their honour roll, 33 1/3 show no sign of scraping the bargain bin anytime soon.
Plants and Animals – La La Land
For a band who call their music "post-classic rock", Canada's Plants and Rags have at least one thing going for them.
Why? – Eskimo Snow
The unlikely paring of hip-hop and indie rock actual make for compatible bedfellows with Californian band Why?'s fourth full length album.
Twin Sister – London – 25 November 2010
Latching hold of our ears earlier in the year with their double EP release Colour Your Life/Vampires With Dreaming Kids, Long Island’s Twin Sister had secured a place on our date card long before their they announced their first UK tour. Sneaking across the pond in October, we’d caught the band supporting rising stars, The Morning Benders at the Music Box in Los Angeles (apologies boys, I owe you one live review) and were suitably impressed. Jaded beyond jaded as the years drag on and the revolving floorshow of new bands yawn in our faces with old ideas, it was refreshing to witness a band breathe colour and life into their music.
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 Soft Pack – The Soft Pack
No hard hits from San Diego's The Soft Pack, just bland indie rock with some scant memorable moments.
The Scare – Oozevoodoo
If you've been with The Scare lately, you'll be lucky if it's only voodoo you're oozing, otherwise you better see a doctor.
Hoodoo Gurus – Interview with Dave Faulkner (2008)
Living proof that great bands and great songs endure all, Sydney's Hoodoo Gurus are the epitome of the walking jukebox, with a back catalogue of classic singles and albums that have become as much part
Deerhunter – Rainwater Cassette Exchange
Hot on the heels of Microcastle comes this warmly welcomed five track EP from Webcuts' band de jour.