Album Reviews
Album Review – Corsicana Lemonade by White Denim (Downtown Music)
I am the first to admit that I am a bit of a snob when it comes to music. I know what I like and by the same token I know what I do not, and for some reason I am not very keen on bands who become too popular. I am not sure what …
NOT FORGOTTEN – THE ISLEY BROTHERS – SHOUT!
How hard must it be to write a brilliant pop song? You know, one of the all time, genuinely timeless greats that doesn’t rely on the technology or gimmicks of the age, one that can withstand any number of heavy-handed and unsympathetic cover versions by even the most cloth-eared performer. “Shout” is one of those …
Not Forgotten: Half Man Half Biscuit – 90 Bisodol (Crimond)
Even after all these years I find there’s something very admirable about Half Man Half Biscuit and the way they have conducted themselves throughout the last quarter of a century. Remaining on the miniscule Probe Plus label since their debut release, they remain singularly anti-career in their approach. They do not tour, but play one …
Album Review: A Sagittariun – Dream Ritual
When I was growing up there was this sort of obsession with fast food. McDonalds were springing up everywhere, and if you had to wait for longer than ten minutes for anything at all there was something going wrong and you had very right to complain to the rafters about it. These day of course, …
Say Psych: Album Review – Stars Are Our Home by Black Hearted Brother (Sonic Cathedral)
Neil Halstead will be familiar to many as one of the main driving forces behind shoe gaze stalwarts Slowdive and country folk band Mojave 3, and is part of the trio, along with Mark van Hoen (Seefeel, Locust) and Nick Holton (who produced and appeared on Halstead’s recent solo albums), who go to make up …
Album Review: Yuck- Glow & Behold
Yuck dropped one of the most surprising and enjoyable chunks of music nostalgia in 2011 with their debut album. There was plenty to sit back and get reminiscent about on that record. My Bloody Valentine, Dinosaur Jr, Lush, and even bits of Pavement’s DNA were found all over that ratty, scrappy record. But the nice …
NOT FORGOTTEN – GROUNDHOGS – SPLIT
Oddly enough, the first time I heard of The Groundhogs was a minor ‘Forgotten Heroes’ piece on them in Melody Maker back in the late 90s as apparently a number of Brit Pop acts had been influenced by them. With both The Melody Maker and Brit Pop and both consigned to history since I first …
NOT FORGOTTEN – THE FLAMING LIPS – TRANSMISSIONS FROM THE SATELLITE HEART
Like many of us here in the UK I only discovered the multifaceted joys of The Flaming Lips after they had released the glorious, world-beating, The Soft Bulletin. Being the curious sort I did the appropriate research into their history and felt emboldened to explore their back-catalogue (well the other albums they had released on …
EP: Just Lions – Paper Cage
A heavy, heavy sound. Juddering with bass and muscle, particularly from the guitar. This isn’t the sweet, wishful Just Lions of “Monsters” from earlier this year. Perhaps it’s the basements and bedrooms in which they’ve been tracking their latest EP influencing what is a more claustrophobic sound on this new 3-track EP. Title track “Paper …
NOT FORGOTTEN – EELS – HOMBRE LOBO: 12 SONGS OF DESIRE
Lust, desire and romance have been the most popular subject matter for songs for millennia now – it’s pretty much what keeps the whole music industry going regardless of genre, fashion or the political background of the era. Some of the greatest wordsmiths throughout history have spent their whole lives trying to write the perfect …