Layabouts – Savage Behaviour
Homeless Records, 2011 To call Layabouts chest-beating/car-loving/girl-banging rock n' roll as being derivative is to say rock n’ roll is derivative of rock n’ roll. If you stay true to
The Twilight Singers – Interview with Greg Dulli about Dynamite Steps (2011)
Dynamite Steps the new album from Greg Dulli's The Twilight Singers is an extraordinarily cohesive album in every aspect: from production to the vocals, the masterful songwriting to the clever sequencing. Grunge guitar workouts give way to piano balladry, shoegaze meets folk and punchy rock. These are all anchored by that remarkable voice which ranges from ragged roar to velvety tenor to strained falsetto singing of love, libido, mortality and the devil. A couple of weeks before the release we spoke with Greg, a man who has seen more than his share of highs and lows in his twenty odd year career, clearly relaxed and affable, about all things dynamite and twilight, from the gutter to the (guest) stars.
Lisa Mitchell – Wonder
Avoiding the solo artist's temptation of self-indulgence, Lisa Mitchell imparts some wide-eyed optimism on Wonder.
Miss Li – Best Of 061122-071122
National, 2007 [rating:7/10] The twelve month period denoted by the title of this compilation (that's how the logical Swedes write the date) was an ultra productive period for Stockholm's Linda Carlsson otherwise known as Miss
They Might Be Giants – Join Us
Join Us finds They Might Be Giants at their "quirkiest, catchiest and most clever", which is simply music to our old-school fan ears.
Austra – Feel It Break
Electro-dance-goth-opera by way of Canada, Austra's debut album Feel It Break is akin to a good night out in loud, dark room. Kinda fun, but where's the door?
The Whitest Boy Alive – Rules
Erlend Øye and company break some rules but also unwittingly create them on their second album entitled, you guessed it, Rules.
Atlas Sound – Sydney – 19 June 2009
I'd be surprised if the majority in attendance were familiar at all with Atlas Sound, but the crammed in masses of which Webcuts was one of the last to make the cut, were calling out requests that even Cox felt too obscure and unplayable.
Magic Dirt – White Boy EP
Standing tall in the face of tragedy, Magic Dirt compile a lucky dip of new, rare and unreleased tracks to coincide with their recent tour.
Prefuse 73 – Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian
No we have no idea what Ampexian means, but globe trotting Scott Herren otherwise known as Prefuse 73 does on his fifth disc of beats and pieces.
Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Amadeus, Amadeus, rock me Amadeus! Phoenix's fourth album is a show stopper without a Salieri in sight.
Idlewild – Post Electric Blues
Idlewild return with their fan-funded sixth album, offering much talk of Warnings (and Promises). But do they deliver?
Silversun Pickups – Swoon
Have the Silversun Pickups swooned too soon? We pickup the pieces of the LA band's second album.
Deerhunter – London – 31 March 2011
With each successive show played in London growing in size from venue to venue, it’s a clear indication of the steady rise of this beloved Atlanta four-piece, and with Shepherd’s Bush Empire being sold out, it's their largest capacity UK headline show to date.
HEALTH – Interview with Jake Duzsik (Static, 2010)
Finding unexpected notoriety through their collaboration with electronic arsonists Crystal Castles, Los Angeles Noise Rock quartet HEALTH have been a prominent musical force in the LA scene over the past couple of years. With their second album Get Colour released late last year, the band have evolved beyond being nihilistic noise makers into an act that is pushing the textural accessibility switch.
The Fall – Your Future, Our Clutter
The Northern white crap that talks back are... back. Smith and Co. hit the 21st Century in style with album number 277 or thereabouts.