Crystal Antlers – Tentacles
Young bucks Crystal Antlers release their debut album which unfortunately shatters upon the weight of expectation.
Who The Hell Are… The Capitalist Youth?
Consider The Capitalist Youth, a trio of former high school classmates who play “acoustic indie rock combining a living room full of misfit instruments with lyrically driven songs about summer camp, existential crises and gubernatorial indiscretions”. They don’t write and play the kind of music that will leave listeners dumbstruck over their redefinition of a genre, but they’re able to adeptly inject something into their music that only a handful of others have done well: humanity, with a laid back sense of humor, and without any of the awkward pauses that come from other bands who get lucky on a song or two and can’t maintain things the rest of the way.
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.
The Mountain Goats – The Life of the World to Come
Well versed in the Bible John Darnielle's Mountain Goats new album doesn't actually require a religious bone in your body to enjoy.
Pernice Brothers – Goodbye, Killer
All killer, no filler, Joe Pernice and Co. turn up the volume and turn in one of their most enjoyable records to date.
The Charlatans – Who We Touch
Touched by the somewhat friendly eclectic hand of The Charlatans for their tenth album in twenty years.
Alela Diane – Interview about To Be Still (2009)
Folk songstress Alela Diane having crafted one of the most delicate and beautiful albums of the year with To Be Still takes time out of a North American and European tour schedule to answer Webcuts' questions about the Newsom connection, the move from Cali to Portland and Saturday Night Live.
Times New Viking – Rip It Off
Matador, 2008 [rating:7/10] Times New Viking are the future. They're not my future, they're probably not your future, but they are the future. Rip It Off is their third album and first on Matador records
Austra – London – 6 September 2011
Having changed careers mid-stream from a piano-based singer-songwriter with a touch of the Regina Spectors to a Nico-esque bleach-blonde gothic siren, in Austra Katie Stelmanis has found the form to match the function. With a handful of impressive singles released either side of their Kate Bush meets Nine Inch Nails debut album Feel It Break, Stelmanis may have found her creative niche but she still has much to prove. On record, Austra cloak themselves in a throbbing monochrome blanket, but on stage their live show is more telling, more vibrant and commanding, as Stelmanis, flanked by a pair of interpretive dancers/backing vocalists, add any absent colour.
Pony Up – Stay Gold
Give it up, or rather give up your gold, for one of Montreal's premiere exponents of indie-pop Pony Up, and their sophomore album.
Cat Power – Sun
Matador, 2012 Time and distance, be it geographical or emotional, have always been great assets to a songwriter. The ability to cease all activity, to step off the treadmill and get
St. Vincent – Actor
The honeymoon of Marry Me is over for Annie Clark, aka St. Vincent, as she sets her gaze on the big stage in Actor.
The Cult – London – 21 January 2011
When you add up the years, you realise Ian Astbury and Billy Dully have been making music as The Cult for a long-ass time. Sitting in the rafters of the Hammersmith Apollo ("Hammersmith Odeon", Astbury demurs, referring to the venue's previous appellation), the debt paid to the excesses of rock n’ roll have more-or-less treated both kindly. Astbury, the once flower-child/wolf-child looks a little rough round the edges, but when you style yourself on Jim Morrisson and then suddenly become him, what can you expect. Duffy on the other hand, is ageless, looking more like David Beckham‘s older brother than a well-tooled guitar god.
Eels – Hombre Lobo
America's rock werewolf Mark Oliver Everett otherwise known as Eels howls twelve songs of desire on his seventh studio disc.
Deerhunter – Rainwater Cassette Exchange
Hot on the heels of Microcastle comes this warmly welcomed five track EP from Webcuts' band de jour.
Jay Reatard – Australian Interview (Static, 2009)
Capping off an incredibly busy year with a singles compilation for 2008, Nashville native Jay Reatard has been relentlessly touring the globe and still hasn't stopped to catch his breath. Recently blowing away audiences in