Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Unknown Mortal Orchestra
Ex-New Zealander's Unnecessarily Long Band Name evoke retro 60's thrills on their self-titled debut.
Bon Iver – Bon Iver
Can Bon Iver live up to expectation with his self-titled follow-up to the celebrated For Emma, Forever Ago?
Teenage Fanclub – Shadows
A band of such warmth and light, the only way you'd see a 'shadow' here is if you held this Teenage Fanclub CD up in front of you.
Liquid Liquid – Slip In and Out of the Phenomenon
Domino Records, 2008 [6/10] Post punk, new funk, even if its old junk, it's still rock and roll to me. Call it what you want, but history shows that Manhattan's Liquid Liquid were essentially a
Interpol – Our Love to Admire (Ltd Edition)
Capitol/EMI, 2008 [rating:7.5/10] Our Love to Admire was one of Webcuts' favourite albums of 2007. In fact we considered the third album by Brooklyn's Interpol as their most consistent and fully realised work to date.
Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks – Los Angeles – 25 July 2009
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks played to an audience brimming with the intoxicating scent of bearded, checked-shirt sporting aging rock dudes. Vanessa From Queens was missing but the gang was all there.
Bughouse – V For Vendetta
2018 Update: Bughouse released "V for Vendetta / Tax Stamp" on Bandcamp in 2017 with their second album from 2014 Fink Tank the following year: bughouse1.bandcamp.com Bughouse's classic debut single
Alela Diane – To Be Still
Nevada City's beguiling folk heroine Alela Diane returns with a white diamond of a second album. Be still, our beating heart.
Tune-yards – Bird-brains
One of the top records of the year that you never want to hear again? Merrill Garbus is Tune-yards and experimental lo-fi folk is the order of the day.
Helado Negro – Awe Owe
Will you be in awe of Helado Negro's Latin American infused mix of folk and sampled beats? It's very tasty.
Kaki King – Dreaming of Revenge
Cooking Vinyl, 2008 [rating:6.5/10] Having scored a Golden Globe nominated film soundtrack with Eddie Vedder, appeared on recent albums for Tegan and Sara and the Foo Fighters, and being named by Rolling Stone magazine as
Cat Power – Dark End Of The Street
A christmas gift from Chan Marshall aka Cat Power. You might want to keep the receipt...
Robert Lurie – No Certainty Attached – Steve Kilbey and The Church
Slighty less than groundbreaking, but no less worthy, biography of Australian poet, musician and icon, Steve Kilbey of The Church.
Weezer – Death To False Metal
Just how many albums are Weezer going to release (or re-release) this year? What's one more for Christmas?
The Clean – Mister Pop
New Zealand indie legends The Clean are still going, well maybe strong is too kind a word, for their new release Mister Flop, er Pop.
Deerhunter – Sydney – 20 June 2009
Having caught them a few weeks earlier in London, it was like witnessing an entirely different band in the throes of conquering new territory and playing to new audiences.