Destroyer – Kaputt
Lyrically and musically, simply one of the best records you'll hear all year. Dan Bejar -- Genius. Kaputt -- Divine.
Liz Phair – Funstyle
From "Exile In Guyville" to exiled in general. It hasn't been smooth sailing for Liz Phair. In fact you could say things have been downright un-Phair.
Beach House – Teen Dream
Makers of mood music for moderns, Baltimore's daydream duo return with their sweet and sombre third album, Teen Dream.
Fink – Sort of Revolution
You say you want a revolution? Well, Fink's folk-tinged Sort of Revolution falls sort of... short.
The Gaslight Anthem – The ’59 Sound
SideOneDummy, 2008 [9/10] The ’59 Sound starts, fittingly, with a sound of romance and antiquity -- a needle laid to vinyl. A spindly guitar riff echoes faintly in the distance, then suddenly erupts into an
Taken By Trees – East of Eden
Ex-Concrete Victoria Bergsman heads to Pakistan to seek inspiration for her second album as Taken By Trees.
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
Who The Hell Are… Seize The Chair?
You have to question the motives behind a band who put a picture of two gurning band members on the front cover of their debut 7", or when asking the record company for a promo photo being offered 'the one where they're all dressed up in drag', or 'the one where they're chewing grass' (we passed on both). Sheffield's Seize The Chair have the air of a band who clearly and delightfully just don't give a fuck. In fact they probably just want to make music and have a laugh. Which, if you've seen that record sleeve, you'll be laughing too.
Fruit Bats – Tripper
Chicago's Fruit Bats return to their familiar "effortless and sweet" indie folk ways on their fifth album, Tripper.
Who The Hell Are… Silk Flowers?
Dial back to the summer of 2010 having spent the afternoon hanging out with electro-be-spectacle Amanda Warner aka MNDR, we get a tweet from her inviting us to come down to Camp Basement in Old Street to watch synth experimentalists Silk Flowers, a Brooklyn three-piece that she’d recently produced an album for. Standing facing each other in a semi-circle surrounded by banks of synths, the band were undoubtedly not of this planet, but one Krautrock based in nature, appearing wholly entranced in their own music which veered from instrumental collages to deadpan delivered pop.
Dinosaur Jr. – Farm
No jokes about rock dinosaurs please, Mascis, Barlow and Murph defy expectation with their ninth disc.
Factory Records – Communications 1978-1992
Long-overdue retrospective from the label that brought you the Happy Mondays, but don't hold that against them...
Against Me! – White Crosses
Fifth album from these Floridian punkers. File under "anarchy, unfulfillment and frustration".
Mercury Rev – Australian Interview (Static, 2009)
Touring Australia on the bequest of the all-conquering Coldplay, Mercury Rev stopped into visit Static's Chris Berkley to talk about their latest album Snowflake Midnight and an impressive career that cannot be reigned in by simple film analogies.
Helvelln – Interview with Jeremy Gronow – Part 1
It's ok for you to think "who? never heard of 'em". Honestly, you'd have to be aged 35+, Australian, and a regular listener of Triple J or Triple R. Maybe you watched Neighbours. In the finicky annals of Australian music history, and with no disrespect to Helvelln, they barely warrant a mention. To briefly summarise, Helvelln were an inspired pop/rock 3-piece formed in Melbourne in the late 80's, released two singles and one album and then broke up in the early 90's. Google them and you'll get pictures of mountains. Impressive and rocky, but hardly rock n' roll.
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.