Posts Tagged ‘2008’

You Am I – Dilettantes

By Craig Smith • Nov 14th, 2008 • Category: Album Reviews

Australian alternative legend’s [strong]You Am I[/strong] make a glorious return to form with Dilettantes — “You Am I have turned around their most impressive release in recent years that succeeds without having to rehash the same old moves. “



Various Artists – Be True To Your School (A Fortuna Pop! Compilation)

By Craig Smith • Nov 14th, 2008 • Category: Album Reviews

Fortuna Pop!, 2008 Fortuna Pop! is the pre-eminent label for those special acts that can’t find a home anywhere else. Think of it as a shelter for the abandoned, misunderstood band either bursting with unrecognised talent or just looking for a place to crash. The sticker on the CD says “25 SMASH HITS from the [...]



Interview with TV on the Radio

By Craig Smith • Nov 4th, 2008 • Category: Interviews

Having just released one of the stand-out (and Webcuts approved) albums of 2008 with the awe-inspiring brilliance of Dear Science, Static’s Chris Berkley spoke to Jaleel Bunton, drummer of Brooklyn’s roof-raising TV On The Radio as the band embark on their American tour. Webcuts was on hand recently to see TV On The Radio debut their [...]



Deerhunter – Microcastle

By Craig Smith • Oct 28th, 2008 • Category: Album Reviews

4AD, 2008 It’s refreshing to listen to a band riding on a wave of no hype. No Myspace campaigns, no sycophantic hipsters attempting to crystal ball the next Vampire Weekend. Bradford Cox could probably walk into a bar anywhere and not get a second glance, and even then only for his rakish frame and elongated [...]



The Walkmen – You & Me

By Craig Smith • Oct 23rd, 2008 • Category: Album Reviews

Fierce Panda, 2008 The Walkmen have always sounded like a band out of time. From the ashes of once great Jonathan Fire-eater, they arrived on the New York scene shortly before the great Strokes explosion of 2000. Appearing as the infinitely more inviting alternative they lost out in the pin-up stakes but proved their?worth with [...]



Exclusive Interview with Constantines

By Craig Smith • Oct 21st, 2008 • Category: Interviews

Back in the UK touring their latest album Kensington Heights, Webcuts managed to square away some interview time with Constantines guitarist/vocalist Steve Lambke before their recent headline show at London’s Wilmington Arms. Constantines – Live at the Wilmington Arms, London – 18th September 2008 You played last night with Shearwater. From where I stood both [...]



The Organ – Thieves

By Craig Smith • Oct 19th, 2008 • Category: Album Reviews

Mint Records, 2008 Vancouver’s The Organ shared that same shadowy intellectual existence that made them sound like a darker version of The Smiths, without Johnny Marr’s trademark flair and Morrissey’s veiled humour. Helmed by singer/lyricist Katie Sketch, they created a delicate sound that brooded and pined, Sketch’s lyrics reading like private diary entries turned into [...]



TV on the Radio – Dear Science

By Craig Smith • Oct 13th, 2008 • Category: Album Reviews

4AD, 2008 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 to give us their own potent and poignant sign o’ the times. TV on the Radio’s chief technician David Sitek once [...]



Jay Reatard – Matador Singles ’08

By Craig Smith • Oct 9th, 2008 • Category: Album Reviews

Matador, 2008 Memphis native Jay Reatard (Jay Lindsey) has been making a name for himself since the late 90s, in bands like The Reatards and Lost Sounds, mixing up garage rock and synth punk. Recently signed to Matador Records under his own name, his output with them to date has been a succession of hit [...]



Supergrass – Brisbane – 2 October 2008

By Caleb Rudd • Oct 5th, 2008 • Category: Live Reviews

“How you doin’? You alright?” asks an out of breath Gaz Coombes during their first Brisbane show in several years. The assembled punters shout back “yeah!”, hoping that the next song will be the golden goose turned albatross hit “Alright”. It isn’t, but no one is really displeased when it turns out to be another [...]