Indie
Southern Sunrise – Elspeth
Before we get into this, I ask that you set aside the tweeness of naming a song “Elspeth” and the connection that will inevitably form in your mind between the guitars in this song and Noah and the Whale’s execrable “5 Years’ Time” (pedant’s note: fuck’s sake, they didn’t even add the apostrophe – I …
Streets of Laredo – Hey Rose
Despite obvious problems with their national rugby union side, I have a massive soft spot for Kiwis. I didn’t know this bunch were from NZ (albeit now based in Brooklyn in New York), but I’m also a sucker for country and a bit of folk and their name seemed to fit that bracket. I was …
Not Forgotten – The Magnetic Fields – 69 Love Songs
The first thing that hits you about 69 Love Songs, before you even hear the first note of the music is the scale of the damn thing. Three CDs. Three hours of music on one theme. A big statement that sits between your Magic Numbers and Manic Street Preachers albums. It takes some nerve to …
NOT FORGOTTEN – JASON LYTLE – YOURS TRULY, THE COMMUTER
“The last thing I heard I was left for dead” – Now that’s an arresting way to open your solo debut, especially if you were the main creative force of one of the best, yet almost universally overlooked bands of your generation. Sometimes you just don’t realise what you had until it’s gone. Grandaddy were …
Video of the Day: Just Lions – Monsters
So I’m too late for Hallowe’en. Who gives a rat’s arse ? I was on holiday carving Pumkins (sic) and doling out sweets and had scant time for the interweb there. Now I have the time and who better to help me make up that gap than Just Lions. I know, I know, I already …
Not Forgotten: Kenickie – At the Club
The guitar bands that rose to prominence in the UK through the mid 90s in the UK were a mixed bunch. There were a handful of thoroughly enjoyable bands, but on the whole as it was largely either ridiculously pretentious, impossibly dull or lowest-common-denominator rubbish. It was even worse for the female fronted groups, as …
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: 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 …
Meet: Goodbye Van Occupanther – Tim Smith and life after Midlake
In the fall of 2007 I read an article in Spin Magazine about this band named Midlake. Denton, Texas boys with a penchant for dark, folksy songs that had the feel of both Fairport Convention, Fleetwood Mac, and a Ray Brandbury story. It was a review of a live show and the journalist put them …
Hard at work: Altadore in the studio
The fact is that I am a pretty impatient man. It’s something that I struggle with on a daily basis and I can end up expressing it in various ways. Fortunately for you one of those has been repeatedly harassing David Katz of Altadore to give me updates on new music. Well, the band have …