Four albums in and Shout Out Louds have taken the time to polish their strain of saccharin, synth-driven, dream pop. Behind Optica is a band with confidence in their sound, certainly more so than previously heard on albums […]
Music: Album Review: Johnny Marr – The Messenger
Since The Smiths broke up in 1987, Johnny Marr has jumped around from band to band collecting all sorts of accolades along the way. He has played on a US No. 1 album with Modest […]
Music: Album Review: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Push The Sky Away
Well it was about time. Nearly five years have elapsed since Cave’s last full-band outing, 2008’s superb Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!, and with a title as grand-sounding as Push The Sky Away fans might expect a gloriously noisy return […]
Music: Album Review: Widowspeak – Almanac
Having avidly admired the BBC’s ‘Escape to the Country’ for many years, I had high expectations of the musical equivalent Brooklyn duo Widowspeak pursued with the rural recording of their second album ‘Almanac’. Robert Earl […]
Music: Miracles of Modern Science – MEEMS EP
Miracles of Modern Science is the Brooklyn-based quintet which since 2005 has been making indie-pop with a twist: they use baroque-style instrumentation; the results sounding something like Tokyo Police Club backed with strings and mandolin. […]
Music: Album Review: The Bryan Ferry Orchestra – The Jazz Age
Somewhere on Bryan Ferry’s vast country estate, in a small tin shed/science lab, exists a small machine, which he occasionally consults to provide him with advice concerning his next musical move. This machine, which I […]
Music: Album Review: Ricky Hil – Support Your Local Drug Dealer
One of the most surprising records for quite some time, self-professed degenerate Ricky Hil has fashioned himself a stylish and surprisingly authentic album in SYLLD. The son of fashion billionaire Tommy Hilfiger, Hil is able to […]
Album Review: My Bloody Valentine – m b v
After a 22 year stint with no new My Bloody Valentine material, Kevin Shields was heckled at a recent London gig with the question “When’s the album out?” amidst laughter. Shields coolly responded with “Maybe […]
Album Review: Foals – Holy Fire
The new album from Foals, Holy Fire, is a bit of a mixed bag- it just doesn’t have that sense of wholeness and coherence that their previous albums offered, and at first comes across a bit […]
Album Review: Marc Carroll – Stone Bead & Silver
Carroll’s unique concoction of folk, blues, punk and country has shamefully hidden beneath the public eye, despite the Dubliner having the blessing of Bob Dylan. Stone Bead & Silver, Carroll’s fifth album (and admittedly my first […]
Album Review: Darkstar – News From Nowhere
When Darkstar emerged in 2010 with their debut album North on Hyperdub, they were placed firmly within the burgeoning post-dubstep scene, not far from James Blake and the like. Fast-forward to 2013 and links to dubstep of […]
Unknown Mortal Orchestra – II
Written largely on tour, Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s second album, II, deals mostly with the isolation and restlessness felt by main songwriter Ruban Nielson. Yet, on this weird and wonderful adventure, the band sound more comfortable than ever. […]