Mr. Maps – Brisbane – 12 Feb 2011
Photos of Mr. Maps' launch for Wire Empire their debut (and so far only) album. Brisbane, February 12, 2011.
Prefuse 73 – Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian
No we have no idea what Ampexian means, but globe trotting Scott Herren otherwise known as Prefuse 73 does on his fifth disc of beats and pieces.
The Darling Buds – London – 22 September 2010
You’d be forgiven for having a sense of déjà vu here. Is it 1989? Did The Primitives and The Darling Buds really both play London within a week of each other? Having been absent from the live scene for most of the '90s and all of the past decade, for both bands to surface at the same time is unthinkable. Unthinkable, but pretty damn cool. It brings back memories of a time when the music magazines invented a scene called ‘Blonde’, where bands were lumped together purely based on the colour of the lead singers hair. Which by their way of thinking meant you were either a Blonde, a Goth or in Fairground Attraction.
…And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead – The Century of Self
Texas' Trail of Dead increase their shelf life with their sixth album, Century of Self.
Kings Of Leon – Come Around Sundown
"a polished genre grab bag record of mostly stale, completely innocuous songs". Kings of Leon - Win!
Who The Hell Are… Bleeding Knees Club?
There's not much point in asking where Bleeding Knees Club got their name. It's the kind of degenerate tag that you'd expect from a couple of Australian garage surf-punks, but for the innocent and curious alike the band spell it out below. If they happen to ask if you want to join their particular club, ladies just say 'no'. Hailing from Brisbane, where every home has its own swimming pool thanks to last year's insane floods, Alex and Jordan of Bleeding Knees Club have "won hearts and minds through a reckless live reputation and with a swag of super-catchy tunes on their debut EP Virginity".
Tracey Thorn – Love and Its Opposite
Former Everything But The Girl frontwoman aptly wrestles with life after 40. "...not all fun and games, but a pleasure regardless".
The Morning Benders – Big Echo
Oh, summery shimmery albums. Why must you hook us so? Berkeley, CA's, The Morning Benders serve up a treat.
PJ Harvey & John Parish – A Woman A Man Walked By
We took at poll at Webcuts, and PJ Harvey is most definitely not a woman one of us would walk by.
The Cult – London – 21 January 2011
When you add up the years, you realise Ian Astbury and Billy Dully have been making music as The Cult for a long-ass time. Sitting in the rafters of the Hammersmith Apollo ("Hammersmith Odeon", Astbury demurs, referring to the venue's previous appellation), the debt paid to the excesses of rock n’ roll have more-or-less treated both kindly. Astbury, the once flower-child/wolf-child looks a little rough round the edges, but when you style yourself on Jim Morrisson and then suddenly become him, what can you expect. Duffy on the other hand, is ageless, looking more like David Beckham‘s older brother than a well-tooled guitar god.
The Mountain Goats – The Life of the World to Come
Well versed in the Bible John Darnielle's Mountain Goats new album doesn't actually require a religious bone in your body to enjoy.
Peter Murphy – Ninth
Ex-Bauhaus frontman Peter Murphy returns with his first new solo album in 7 years, proving that there's still life in the old goth.
Tender Trap – Dansette Dansette
It's summertime twee pop hour and who better to soundtrack but ex-Heavenly and Talullah Gosh popsters back with their third album.
The Breeders – London – 3 September 2008
The Breeders Shepherd's Bush Empire London 3rd September 2008 For a long time The Breeders seemed to go the way of the Pixies. As both Deal sisters battled their demons, Kim with liquor and Kelley
Lotus Plaza – The Floodlight Collective
The second solo project members of Deerhunter, Lotus Plaza is guitarist Lockett Pundt's self-fulfilling dreampop odyssey.
Girls – Australian Interview (Static, 2009)
You've probably seen the x-rated video clip for "Lust for Life". The 'penis as microphone' image is something you really don't recall seeing in pop videos these days, either then or now (and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong). As vague and internet-search challenging as calling your band Girls is, Christopher Owens and Chet "JR" White are both neither, and are, so to speak.