Spoon – Transference
The anticipated follow-up to the fan and critic fave Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, fails to meet expectation, begging the question, 'Where were Spoon transferring to?'.
Lightspeed Champion – Life is Sweet! Nice to Meet You
Dev Hynes brings us more songs of bittersweet romance on his sophomore release as Lightspeed Champion.
Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks – Mirror Traffic
Pavement reunion done and dusted, Stephen Malkmus and Co. get back to making adult indie rock on album number five.
Slowdive – Just For A Day / Souvlaki / Pygmalion
Champion Shoegazers Slowdive get the back catalogue reissue treatment. We'll have the Souvlaki to go.
The Walkmen – London – 20 February 2009
The Walkmen Scala, London 20th February 2009 While they are most certainly welcomed, perhaps even loved, as a band, The Walkmen are quickly becoming as anachronistic as their name. Coming onstage to an enthusiastic response,
Cold Cave – London – April 4 & 5 2011
In a long black leather jacket and hoodie and stacked heels, Cold Cave's Wes Eisold looks like any other kid you see in Camden on a Friday night, except that he's not and it isn't and before he even opens his mouth, you're thinking "wow, that leather jacket really is the shit" and it is. It's also a special day for 80's synth-obsessives Cold Cave, as Eisold curtly informs the assembled at Rough Trade Records - "Welcome to our album birthing day". Their second album, the strangely positive sounding Cherish The Light Years showing a marked change from the same Cold Cave that played London back in May 2010.
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.
Howler – This One’s Different
From the label that gave you The Libertines and The Strokes, here's another young and disaffected indie guitar band.
Is Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” the Greatest Pop Song Ever?
Inescapable, inexplicable, infuriatingly addictive and an irrefutable pop phenomenon. She is Lady Gaga and she has come to take your children. If this were true, I'm sure it would be a fair trade but in reality, her goals are much, much higher. She is Lady Gaga and you know full well why she is here. A fashion and style icon, Gaga has made her two years in the public eye seem like a special kind of Chinese water torture. Chances are you’ve either succumbed to her spell, or fighting the effects with all the strength you can muster.
Telekinesis – Telekinesis!
A protégé of Death Cab's Chris Walla, Telekinesis, certainly has the über producer's influence all over its thirteen power pop tracks.
Top Ten – B-Sides
The B-side is every music geek/fan’s favourite thing to debate over. It’s the one place where an artist is allowed to record whatever they see fit, and the one place where a fan can expect
The Cult – Love (Omnibus Edition)
Get out your eyeliner and your crushed velvet blouse as The Cult's Love is dusted down and dressed up in this sublime 4CD boxset.
The Decemberists – The Hazards of Love
EMI/Rough Trade, 2009 [7/10] Where once The Decemberists were a modest modern rock band, albeit outsiders with literate leanings that rarely leaned toward rock's excesses, they have gradually extended their artistic aspirations into the musical
HTRK – London – 9 March 2009
HTRK Lexington, London 9th March 2009 I first witnessed Melbourne/Berlin noise-makers HTRK in action at a time where any favourable impression would not come forthwith. This was in a dingy low ceilinged East London venue
Cat Power – Dark End Of The Street
A christmas gift from Chan Marshall aka Cat Power. You might want to keep the receipt...
Villagers – Howling at the Moon (Static, 2010)
Villagers is the nom de plume of one Conor O'Brien, the young Irish gent with the piercing blue eyes positioned above these words. Having released his debut album Becoming A Jackal on Domino Records last month to widespread acclaim (surely topping the album charts in Ireland is nothing to be sneered at), O'Brien has been steadfast in moving his Villagers around the country like a pack of wayward Irish gypsies.