For the love of music
For the greater part of a decade, and for die-hards much longer, The National has immensely impressed with album after album of ridiculously comforting highs and words that best some of the current great authors' purposes. The band's music has always prevailed on what many would claim to be simple measures of technique but what the real lovers … [Read more...]
Graph Rabbit, a duo comprised of Brooklyn-based artist Austin Donohue and Shy Kedmi (with an assist from producer Allen Farmelo) released Snowblind on its own label, Butterscotch Records, in October 2012. Anyone pining for a mellowed out Thom Yorke or a toned down Jonsi will find a blissful sonic and vocal utopia on this subtly wondrous … [Read more...]
Although very much a sociable entity in the fertile Boston underground rock scene of the early-‘90s, Come still stood aside from many of their peers. Not indebted enough to Hüsker Dü and plaid shirts to be like Buffalo Tom, not as melodically-honeyed as Belly to follow an indie-pop path and not into sufficient soap opera hedonism to keep up … [Read more...]
Although it’s easy for new artists to push themselves out into the world via digital outlets, nothing really makes for a better fledgling calling card than the timeless 7” single. This is something that Critical Heights knows well via the label's string of one-off and stepping-stone single releases, with this offering from Virginia Wing being … [Read more...]
Pregnant, the moniker Daniel Trudeau adopted when he was about to become a father must be out of date by now but his imagination remains fertile as he draws on a broad palette of genres, instruments and effects to produce more muddled DIY compositions on this second release on Mush Records. Pottery Mill continues on the same experimental path as … [Read more...]
Almost like Christmas, the experience of Record Store Day largely depends on your location and the company you keep. Whether you jostled with Brick Lane hipsters outside Rough Trade East, trekked to a Leeds industrial estate for the inaugural addition of the affable Norman Records to the scheme, enjoyed the glowing community spirit in the … [Read more...]
Nils Aellen contacted me directly after reading my review of Sophie Hunger's The Danger Of Light album. Aellen is also Swiss and from the Lausanne district, although so far as I can make out that's where any connections between him and Sophie Hunger end. A musician so far unknown outside the Swiss gig circuit, he's made an album that could bring … [Read more...]
With 2012’s trilogy of LPs from the reformed ‘classic-era’ Guided By Voices, Robert Pollard undoubtedly exceeded expectations for the band’s recording comeback. The challenge for 2013 is to prove that the GBV reunion is no fleeting detour from his other projects but a living, breathing and ongoing entity. Pollard has also set the … [Read more...]
I’m a recent convert to David Bazan. Last year I came across some video of him playing live, in what appeared to be somebody’s front room, and was really taken by his directness, his economical style, and his warmth. I was delighted to discover, shortly afterwards, that he was making a record with the Kadane brothers (Bedhead, The New Year), … [Read more...]
The titular refrain of “Cash, Diamond Rings, Swimming Pools” aims straight for the brain where it will remain as the feel-good mantra of the summer. Berlin-based Bulgarian and international sensation D E N A, AKA Dena Todorova, has two previous songs to her name, “Games” and “Boyfriend”, and has just released her 4th song, “Thin … [Read more...]