Lykke Li – Wounded Rhymes
A break-up album like no other, Sweden's pop princess Lykke Li hits an emotional core that has Webcuts in awe.
Hoodoo Gurus – London – 4 July 2008
Hoodoo Gurus The Forum, London 4th July, 2008 Photo by Craig Smith. "I can still recall the time" began Dave Faulkner, as he stood in front of 1500 Australians (and some locals) at London's
Noah and the Whale – Last Night on Earth
A surprising record or a record full of surprises from this indie-pop quartet? Note reviewer in "I loathed it now I like it" situation.
The Hold Steady – Heaven Is Whenever
Heaven is here, and if the album is half as great as this review, then The Hold Steady should be counting their lucky stars.
The White Stripes – Under Great White Northern Lights
Visual document of The White Stripes Canadian invasion of 2007. No Seven Nation Army required.
Arctic Monkeys – Humbug
Bah, it's the third Artic Monkeys album Humbug - which actually doesn't turn out to be half bad.
The Stills – Oceans Will Rise
The Stills channel an environmental apocalypse with Oceans Will Rise. Will anyone be left to hear it?
The Faint / Ladytron – Atlanta – 17 April 2009
Variety Playhouse Atlanta, GA 17th April 2009 The black-clad kids were out in force as the rolling The Faint/Ladytron sideshow pulled into Atlanta, Georgia, offloading what could be unkindly dubbed an ‘electroclash revival’ as both
Why? – Eskimo Snow
The unlikely paring of hip-hop and indie rock actual make for compatible bedfellows with Californian band Why?'s fourth full length album.
Villagers – Howling at the Moon (Static, 2010)
Villagers is the nom de plume of one Conor O'Brien, the young Irish gent with the piercing blue eyes positioned above these words. Having released his debut album Becoming A Jackal on Domino Records last month to widespread acclaim (surely topping the album charts in Ireland is nothing to be sneered at), O'Brien has been steadfast in moving his Villagers around the country like a pack of wayward Irish gypsies.
Ripe – Moondriven
..with a rejuvenated reappraisal of the career of Melbourne psyche-drone-pop quartet Ripe and their space-rock epic "Moondriven", now with 33 1/3% more added insight courtesy of an exclusive interview with guitarist and vocalist Peter Moran who talks about the making of their landmark Australian debut The Plastic Hassle. Fans of Sonic Youth, Swervedriver and Dinosaur Jr take note.
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.
MGMT – Congratulations
One of the hotly anticipated releases for 2010, MGMT shake things up with their follow-up to Oracular Spectacular but the title is anything but ironic.
Belle & Sebastian – Los Angeles – 8 October 2010
On an odd rainy night in downtown Hollywood, weather befit more for their homeland than ours, Belle and Sebastian, Glaswegian art school rockers of yore, played to a sold out crowd of mostly thirty-somethings, brave enough to stand outside...in not just any ordinary venue. Instead, they stylishly bowed and plucked their instruments amongst the mausoleums and graves of some of Los Angeles’ elite. Adding to the macabre setting was the screening of Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting that preceded the show. Taking the stage, B&S lead singer Stuart Murdoch asked “Did you see me? I was in the bar scene!”.
Who The Hell Are… The Volcano Diary?
Sometimes a mood, feeling or memory can be condensed into a single album or song. It can be due to overexposure to that certain piece of music at the time of a memory being made, like, let's say, Christmas, or it can be the result of new music that already sounds familiar hitting on certain emotional chords, no pun intended. And new music that feels old, strange tunes that feel like a lifelong pal, is not necessarily an indictment of inherent quality, but it is certainly a step in the right direction. So goes with The Volcano Diary, a very new band that feels like they've been making music for decades.
Wire – Red Barked Tree / Gang of Four – Content
Wire and Gang of Four wrote the book for post-punk, kind of. Are they still innovators or merely curators with Red Barked Tree and Content?