The National – High Violet
By Nathan Goldman • May 20th, 2010 • Category: Album ReviewsRiding high on the charts, The National have found a resounding voice where “High Violet’s loneliest, weightiest moments feel like shared sorrow.”
Riding high on the charts, The National have found a resounding voice where “High Violet’s loneliest, weightiest moments feel like shared sorrow.”
They finished their UK tour last night in London, giving off one of the most energetic hometown performances that Webcuts has ever witnessed — not to forget the unexpected appearance of Sonic Youth’s “100%” in the set. The Big Pink‘s debut album of last year, A Brief History of Love still won’t be denied. A [...]
Of Harlem, this brief explanation should suffice — “those who don’t sicken quickly of energetic, repetitive three-chord rock will have a lot to love”.
Visual document of The White Stripes Canadian invasion of 2007. No Seven Nation Army required.
West London’s Mystery Jets return with a free download of “Flash A Hungry Smile”, a synthesizer-fuelled perfect pop anthem and first track to be taken from their third album Serotonin, due for worldwide release on July 5. The band worked on the album with legendary producer Chris Thomas (Sex Pistols “Anarchy in the UK”, Pulp’s [...]
One of the albums that slipped through the cracks during Webcuts unexpected hiatus last year was the debut album from Philadelphia’s experimental synth/pop proponents Cold Cave. An album that had we rallied to put together a belated best-of for 2009 would’ve easily made it into our top 10. Making amends with a treat for y’all, [...]
In certain circles, Webcuts’ love for Ted Leo is almost as legendary as the man himself, and with the restraining order now expired, it’s game on motherfucker! Having made music now for close to two decades with punk-pop heroes Chisel, and for the last decade as Ted Leo & The Pharmacists, Ted Leo epitomises the phrase “he bleeds for his art”, but mostly Ted just sweats for it. He was also the man who once graciously performed his cover of Split Enz’s “Six Months in a Leaky Boat” to console a certain Webcuts scribe who was in Paris to part company with a vivacious young German dissident. Ah, memories… Recently signed to Matador Records, Ted went into the studio last year to record his follow-up to 2007′s Living with the Living curiously entitled The Brutalist Bricks. Louder and angrier than ever (with a love song included to boot), The Brutalist Bricks finds Ted and the Pharmacists in fiery form. We’ll endeavour to catch up with the man in person when he tours Europe next month but for now you can watch the band perform a track we gave away as a free download last month with the 2 minute 45 second snarl of “The Mighty Sparrow”.
High Violet is Brooklyn quintet The National‘s first full-length release since 2007′s acclaimed long-player Boxer and all eleven tracks were recorded in the band’s own studio. The first single ‘Bloodbuzz Ohio’ is due for release on 7″ vinyl and digital download on May 3 with the album arriving one week later on May 10. Fans can now download [...]
We chew the fat with The Horrors on their recent Australian tour about last year’s remarkable second album Primary Colours, and their thoughts on cover versions: “I think it’s a funny idea that this is a conversation you’re more likely to have now than at any other time in the history of rock ’n’ roll, considering most bands really started playing cover versions, being The Beatles or The Stones or even the Sex Pistols. It was something that was just kind of part and parcel of being in a group and part of a live repertoire.”
The smell of reunion is in the air as Pavement’s back catalogue is harvested for the new-comers in this career-spanning collection.