Grand Duchy – Petit Fours
Grand who? Just call them Mr. and Mrs. Frank Black and everything will be peachy, or desserty...
Paul Dempsey – Everything Is True
First there was Something for Kate now singer Paul Dempsey has gone it alone and produced something for everyone.
Wilco – The Whole Love
Wilco -- "They’ve solidified themselves as the greatest American band playing today, possibly of all time".
The White Stripes – Under Great White Northern Lights
Visual document of The White Stripes Canadian invasion of 2007. No Seven Nation Army required.
Mumford & Sons – Copenhagen – 11 April 2010
A great band once sang “I’m beginning to like country music. They say that’s the first sign of age” and during the last few years I have seen more and more friends go over to the side of banjos, boots and beards. Maybe age is catching up with us but it could also be that country has sneaked its way into the indie scene more and more, being mixed with folk, rock and pop.
Beirut – The Rip Tide
With our review dispensing superlatives like "timeless" and "classic", Beirut's The Rip Tide is one of the must-listen albums of 2011.
She & Him – Volume Two
Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward, a perfect pop couple if there ever were one, are back for a second helping of doo-wop and pop.
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.
Shout Out Louds – Interview (2007)
Just call it the comeback. While the Shout Out Loud's debut album Howl Howl Gaff Gaff showed promise few could have predicated the seismic improvement for follow-up Our Ill Wills -- a veritable treasure chest
M.Ward – Hold Time
As Conor Oberst once proclaimed, "M. Ward for President". As far-fetched as it sounds, Oberst may have a point.
Destroyer – Kaputt
Lyrically and musically, simply one of the best records you'll hear all year. Dan Bejar -- Genius. Kaputt -- Divine.
Future of the Left – Travels With Myself and Another
To hell with good intentions - Future of the Left's second album blows everything else out of the water.
Various Artists – Be True To Your School (A Fortuna Pop! Compilation)
Fortuna Pop!, 2008 [7/10] Fortuna Pop! is the pre-eminent label for those special acts that can't find a home anywhere else. Think of it as a shelter for the abandoned, misunderstood band either bursting with
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.
Blue Roses – Blue Roses
Blue Roses may not exist in nature but there's nothing artificial about Yorkshire songsmith Laura Groves.
Times New Viking – Australian Interview with Jared and Adam (2011)
Was there really once a musical sub-genre called 'Shitgaze'? I mean, somebody actually sat around, coined that term and then hoisted it on a few unsuspecting bands who by fate or ill-fortune found themselves trapped under its audiophile repelling umbrella? Think about it, shitgaze. Would you buy into that? Thankfully it's only a memory, but some of those bands still remain, including Columbus, Ohio's Times New Viking. On the eve of their first Australian tour Chris Berkley of Static spoke to Jared and Adam of Times New Viking, fresh off the plane to promote their most recent album, the discordant but progressively tuneful, Dancer Equired.