Cut Copy – Zonoscope
Melbourne Modular boys gone global return for their third album with mixed results. Just what the hell is a Zonoscope anyway?
Various Artists – SCORE! 20 Years of Merge Records: The Covers
A star-studded cast pay tribute on this anniversary compilation, but who invited Times New Viking?
Fruit Bats – The Ruminant Band
Eric D. Johnson’s Fruit Bats sink their teeth in a third album of sweet pop with The Ruminant Band.
Titus Andronicus – The Monitor
Ragged fist-pumping fury from outta New Jersey. Named after one of Shakespeare's earliest tragedies. Fact.
Daestro – Moondagger
Will it be knives out for Detroit's Randoph Chabot aka Daestro or maybe a friendly slap on the back instead?
Chief – Modern Rituals
Totally random, but a friend of mine once got "Chief" tattooed on the back of her neck and the tattoo guy spelt it wrong. There is no metaphor to be found here.
The Stills – Oceans Will Rise
The Stills channel an environmental apocalypse with Oceans Will Rise. Will anyone be left to hear it?
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.
Hatcham Social – Sidewalk EP
One of Webcuts favourite albums of last year, Hatcham Social hit the new year with this 6 track EP of new and familiar.
The Cult – Love (Omnibus Edition)
Get out your eyeliner and your crushed velvet blouse as The Cult's Love is dusted down and dressed up in this sublime 4CD boxset.
Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Amadeus, Amadeus, rock me Amadeus! Phoenix's fourth album is a show stopper without a Salieri in sight.
Hop Farm Festival – Kent – 1-3 July 2011
In the history of modern music festivals, few line-ups could compare with the distinctly 70's flavoured action offered at the Hop Farm Festival last weekend. While The Eagles were wheeled out of retirement as headliners on the first night, the purportedly Morrissey-curated second day included such rock pantheon artists as Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, and Patti Smith. All in all, it's a jaw-dropping stroke of genius, with Morrissey having the hardest of acts to follow the swathe these three so cleanly cut through the Kent countryside. Oh, and did we forget to mention Prince was there too?
The Kills – Alison Mosshart talks Midnight Boom (2009)
Arriving on the scene way back in 2002 with the gritty Black Rooster EP, The Kills took the garage rock aesthetic and beat it down, creating a skin and bones strut that stank of sex
Windsor for the Derby – How We Lost
How did we lose this CD? Never mind, we finally give Austin's other post-rock band's eighth album a run through.
Jay Reatard – London – 13 November 2009
Musicians die. Sometimes quite unexpectedly, most before their time, but not often enough for your brain to idle between song, between string changes or tunings to wonder “will this be the last time?”. You don’t, because you’re too busy enjoying the moment. Having witnessed Jay Reatard play what would be his last ever show in London, he was anything but the vision of a man kicking out the last of his jams.
TV on the Radio – Dear Science
4AD, 2008 [9/10] Brooklyn art/beat innovators TV on the Radio return with their third album, a soulful slice of inspiration and invention, moving away from the doom and desperation of 2006's Return to Cookie Mountain