Album Reviews
Album Review: BC Camplight – How to Die in the North
Okay, confession time. Prior to hearing How to Die in the North, I was utterly ignorant of the work of BC Camplight. Simply put, his was not a name that I was familiar with and it was the fact that he was signed to Bella Union that caught my eye more than anything else. Home …
Album Review: The Krayons – Ready, Steady, Nuke!
The original ‘angry young men’ were, as you may well know, a group of lower middle/working class writers from the 1950’s. Disillusioned by society, they weren’t afraid, and in fact went out of their way, to make criticise and attack the establishment. In more recent times, the term has been applied, for much the …
Say Psych: Album Review, Create and Consume by The Love Dimension
The thing that strikes me about the opening to this album is how it manages to sound both hot and cold and the same time. There is an icey tingle infused by the warmth of the Californian sun as the West Coast melody kicks in. Thereafter, this opening track (the beginning of ‘Side X’), ‘And …
Album Review : Language of Shapes :: Mother Mountain
Language of Shapes inhabit a musical world all their own. Not that they don’t allow certain musical influences to seep into that world and show themselves now and then, but for the most part LoS score their wonderful little universe all their own. Their self-titled debut from 2012 showed a band brimming and bursting with …
Album Review: Taylor Swift – 1989
I’d intended to go in one direction when I began writing this, that being to just do a straight up review of the record. As it is I’ve ended up going in quite another, taking detours with Billy Bragg, the AMAs, the Spotify row, Bob Harris’ ‘My Nashville’ documentary, and Taylor. ‘1989’ is a high-profile …
Psych Insight: Album Review, Mugstar/ Cosmic Dead split (Evil Hoodoo)
I have to admit that I’m not a big fan of split LPs, I know that they are a great thing for many bands since it gets their music out there for pretty much half the cost, and introduces them to a wider audience; but as a buyer of records I still like the idea …
Album Review : My Drunken Haze – My Drunken Haze
One listen to Athens, Greece quintet My Drunken Haze and their self-titled debut, you can tell they’ve done their homework. Their sound is colored with hues found on a late-60s psychedelic color wheel. They veer more on the side of pop than rock, but that’s not to say a fuzz pedal isn’t engaged here and …
Album Review; Ariel Pink – Pom Pom
I must confess to being late to the Ariel Pink party. His debut album ‘House Arrest’ came out in 2002, completely under my radar. I stumbled across this new album, ‘Pom Pom’ whilst perusing Spotify for something new to listen to. I had no idea what to expect, but it was clear from the opening …
Album Review: Polybius – Be Seeing You
It’s difficult to know whether Polybius were formed, or born, or indeed anything. Best to assume the Sheffield / Rotherham based duo were forged. Certainly the (musical) DNA of Warp and Voltaire and Clock DVA have played heavy on the duo, only known as EV and the Random (“our personal names are irrelevant”) and they …
Not Forgotten – The Shins – Wincing the Night Away
It’s happened to me more times than I like to think – I discover a great band with a small but interesting discography, I’ve just missed them on tour, but great things are expected of their next album. So I patiently wait. And wait. Finally the album is released. It’s not quite as good as …