fun. – Aim and Ignite
We take aim at the confusingly labelled American trio fun.'s first offering and find it's a fun album, period.
Fever Ray – Fever Ray
Karin Dreijer Andersson one half of The Knife now gives us Fever Ray, in the morning and fever ray all through the (Swedish) night.
Twin Sister – Vampires With Dreaming Kids / Colour Your Life
How many times do you get given a record and for it to feel like a breath of fresh air? Here you are then.
Times New Viking – Born Again Revisited
Born Again Revisited or bad idea revisited? Public opinion be damned. Is this the worst album we've heard all year?
Cold Cave – Of Dark Days and Light Years (2011)
Cold Cave's debut album of 2009 Love Comes Close was a unique display of synth-oriented mood disorder, venturing out from the bedroom to the dancefloor, filled with idealistic tales of romance and disillusionment. Band leader Wes Eisold’s spin on the world appeared to share a voice (in both dour baritone and content) with Magnetic Fields Stephin Merritt, if he'd spent his adolescence listening to The Cure and Depeche Mode instead of showtunes. On their second album, Eisold moved beyond the testing of the waters that was Love Comes Close and turned its successor, Cherish The Light Years into his dark dream made manifold.
Spoon – Interview with Britt Daniel and Jim Eno (Static, 2010)
Spoon's latest album, Transference, seemed to show the band finding new ways to tie their own shoelaces, searching out their own "Mystery Zone" or what Britt Daniel will later say in the interview "we gotta try to please ourselves first". Notable for being our first interview where the band asks us the questions, Spoon have perhaps realised there's more to making music than pleasing yourself. You've still got to please your Mom too...