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
Laetitia Sadier – The One Million Year Trip (2011)
Quietly released last year was the first proper solo album by Stereolab's Laetitia Sadier. A touching tribute to her sister, who in Sadier's words "went on a million year trip/and left everthing behind", The Trip saw Sadier step out from the shadow of Stereolab to make a very revealing album, not only in the way she dealt with her loss, but in how she paid tribute to artists that influenced and inspired her. An album that sparkled in its minimalist approach, The Trip showed a side of Sadier unseen, one that was filled with warmth and emotion, and those little philosophical quirks that you've come to expect.
TV on the Radio – Interview with Jaleel Bunton (Static, 2008)
Having just released one of the stand-out (and Webcuts approved) albums of 2008 with the awe-inspiring brilliance of Dear Science, Static's Chris Berkley spoke to Jaleel Bunton, drummer of Brooklyn's roof-raising TV On The Radio as
Elliott Smith – An Introduction To…
It's hard to believe that he's been gone 7 years now. This collection attempts to define one of last great songwriters of the 20th Century.
Arcade Fire – Los Angeles – 8 October 2010
You know you've had a good day when you wake up in a resort in Palm Springs and end up almost 24 hours later face down, literally face down, in a plate of tacos in downtown LA, head throbbing and ears ringing. There’s no way to rationalise it, nor the fact that between such decadent highs and lows, Webcuts was in attendance to witness the second night of Arcade Fire’s two night stand at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. On a night where the streets (well, one street) were filled with yellow NYC cabs and fake snow, Arcade Fire required no illusory set-dressing to impress Tinseltown.
Way Out West – Gothenburg – 15 August 2009
The third day of Sweden's 2009 Way Out West is a quieter affair but we still manage to squeeze in Patrick Wolf, Jenny Wilson, Vampire Weekend, Wolfmother, Lily Allen, My Bloody Valentine and Deerhunter.