The Hold Steady – Heaven Is Whenever
Heaven is here, and if the album is half as great as this review, then The Hold Steady should be counting their lucky stars.
Stephin Merritt – Obscurities
Obscurities he called it, but more like a forgotten treasure trove from all chapters of the Stephin Merritt songbook.
Detektivbyrån – Hemvägen
Danarkia, 2006 [8/10] With glockenspiel, accordion and toy-piano Detektivbyrån (Dee-tek-teeve-bu-ron, "The Detective Agency") take their audience on an imaginative musical journey through the urban streets of Paris and the forests of Värmland, the Swedish province
Way Out West – Gothenburg – 13-14 August 2009
Once again Sweden's WoW proved to be worthy of its acronym and Webcuts was there to cover all three days. We (re) acquaint ourselves with the likes of Glasvegas, Grizzly Bear, Florence & The Machine, Echo & The Bunnymen, Wilco, Vivian Girls, Bon Iver and My Bloody Valentine, to name but a few.
The Decemberists – The King Is Dead
The Decemberists discard the costumes and dispense with the theatre slipping into more familiar musical threads on album number 6.