Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest
The stakes are high on Deerhunter's 4th album. Can they beat Webcuts album of the year 2008, their own magnificent Microcastle?
Mr. Maps – Mimicry of Lines and Light
Mr. Maps may not be the territory but this Brisbane instrumental rock band are a pretty amazing act to get lost in.
The New Pornographers – Together
An album that makes us love them more, but not enough to wear their t-shirts. The New Pornographers get it Together.
Deerhunter – Sydney – 20 June 2009
Having caught them a few weeks earlier in London, it was like witnessing an entirely different band in the throes of conquering new territory and playing to new audiences.
Yo La Tengo – Popular Songs
More Pop(ular) Songs from New Jersey's finest. No condo screwing around here, just Yo La Tengo's consistent quality.
The Minus 5 – Killingsworth
No longer young bucks American supergroup The Minus 5 release their eighth album of beautiful stories, pretty melodies and career-defining songs.
PJ Harvey & John Parish – A Woman A Man Walked By
We took at poll at Webcuts, and PJ Harvey is most definitely not a woman one of us would walk by.
The Cult – London – 21 January 2011
When you add up the years, you realise Ian Astbury and Billy Dully have been making music as The Cult for a long-ass time. Sitting in the rafters of the Hammersmith Apollo ("Hammersmith Odeon", Astbury demurs, referring to the venue's previous appellation), the debt paid to the excesses of rock n’ roll have more-or-less treated both kindly. Astbury, the once flower-child/wolf-child looks a little rough round the edges, but when you style yourself on Jim Morrisson and then suddenly become him, what can you expect. Duffy on the other hand, is ageless, looking more like David Beckham‘s older brother than a well-tooled guitar god.
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 Church – Sydney – 6 December 2012
The Church Factory Theatre, Sydney 6th December 2012 The most remarkable thing about The Church, and there are many remarkable things about this enduring Australia band, is how better they get with
MNDR – Feed Me Diamonds
Ultra, 2012 "Pop music is a platform to say something. You don't have to only talk about parties." Interesting quote from ex-noise artist now shiny electropop-idol-in-waiting, Amanda Warner. Pop music has always been
A Hawk and a Hacksaw – Délivrance
Business as usual for New Mexico's A Hawk And A Hacksaw? Just ask "The Man Who Sold His Beard".
Gemma Ray – We’ve Got a Crush on You (2010)
In the cockney rhyming slang lexicon there really should be an entry marked "Gemma Ray" that translates to "The Hard Way" for the sultry Essex singer's career is one filled with false starts, battles with illness and sheer bloody mindedness. Barely finished from touring her last album Ray has just released an album of covers It's a Shame About Ray which draws its song pool from the likes of Buddy Holly, Lee Hazelwood, Etta Fitzgerald, Sonic Youth, Mudhoney, Gallon Drunk and The Gun Club. Webcuts catches up with the brunette with the beehive during a tour in South Africa to talk knives, the new album, Rosemary's Baby, illness affecting songwriting and the recording of new material.
The Low Anthem – Smart Flesh
Providence, Rhode Island indie-folksters The Low Anthem fail to im-press the smart flesh on their sophomore release.
Gemma Ray – It’s A Shame About Gemma Ray
Gemma Ray found the best way to deal with the Christmas period was to record a covers album. Not a bad idea really.
…And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead – The Century of Self
Texas' Trail of Dead increase their shelf life with their sixth album, Century of Self.