The Dodos – Time to Die
There's a time to be born and, as The Dodos, given their extinct namesake should know, a Time to Die. But man, what a way to go.
Savages – London – 11 October 2012
Savages Electrowerkz, London 11th October 2012 Does anyone remember the post-punk explosion of 2005 when every second band seemed to be cribbing off each other's influences sheets, and labels with derivative names
Jay Reatard – Matador Singles ’08
Matador, 2008[rating:7/10] 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
Ramona – London – 17 April 2011
It's easy to love Ramona, even though everything about them is so flawless and en pointe, unheard for a scruffy bunch of Brighton by-way-of-New-York rockers. Picks in hand, they transform a handful of chords into polished punk perfection, fronted by the coquettish bleach-blonde tomboy Karen Anne, a second generation Edie and Debbie who knows how to hang from a mic stand like she was hanging from your shoulder. Absent from the stage this year so far, they cycle through their set in a brisk half hour, including encore, and you're crying out for a flubbed note, an unrehearsed run through a song they just wrote in the van, or general indifference to whether anybody is listening.
Spoon – Transference
The anticipated follow-up to the fan and critic fave Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, fails to meet expectation, begging the question, 'Where were Spoon transferring to?'.
Stephin Merritt – Obscurities
Obscurities he called it, but more like a forgotten treasure trove from all chapters of the Stephin Merritt songbook.
Contiuum Books 33 1/3 – Television, Rolling Stones, Dinosaur Jr
Behind every great album is more often than not, an even greater story waiting to be told. The pursuit for higher understanding of artists and their most influential pieces of work and how the two came to pass has long been the ultimate goal of the ardent music fan who thrives on having every recorded nuance and historical detail mapped out like a combined atlas and encyclopedia of the human body. One of the more indispensible series of music books published that actually does, more or less, what is expected above, has been Continuum's 33 1/3. With the recent addition of The Rolling Stones Some Girls, Dinosaur Jr's You're Living All Over Me and Television's Marquee Moon to their honour roll, 33 1/3 show no sign of scraping the bargain bin anytime soon.
Mr. Maps – Mimicry of Lines and Light
Mr. Maps may not be the territory but this Brisbane instrumental rock band are a pretty amazing act to get lost in.
Way Out West Festival – Gothenburg – 2008
Gothenburg's 2008 Way Out West Festival - Buzzcocks, The Sonics, Okkervil River, Sonic Youth, The National, Grinderman, Broder Daniel, Silverbullit, Caesars, Neil Young,.
Belle & Sebastian – Los Angeles – 8 October 2010
On an odd rainy night in downtown Hollywood, weather befit more for their homeland than ours, Belle and Sebastian, Glaswegian art school rockers of yore, played to a sold out crowd of mostly thirty-somethings, brave enough to stand outside...in not just any ordinary venue. Instead, they stylishly bowed and plucked their instruments amongst the mausoleums and graves of some of Los Angeles’ elite. Adding to the macabre setting was the screening of Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting that preceded the show. Taking the stage, B&S lead singer Stuart Murdoch asked “Did you see me? I was in the bar scene!”.
Bob Mould – Silver Age
Merge, 2012 Alterna-rock statesman hot from bringing a little 90's Sugar to the 10's masses returns with shit-hot album. If that's all the convincing you need, you might as well stop reading now
The Sisters of Mercy – London – 9 April 2009
The Sisters of Mercy The Forum, London 9th April 2009 For a band who have refused to release records since 1994 and now only operate as a touring act, The Sisters of Mercy must have
Pixies – Brisbane – 31 July 2010
Although the Pixies had visited Brisbane only back in March this time the set list was uninhibited by the myopic focus on Doolittle. Thus we got the full spectrum of the Pixies’ canon.
The Horrors – Australian Interview (Static, 2010)
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 Low Anthem – Oh My God, Charlie Darwin
Oh my god! The third album from this Rhode Island folk trio proves to be a natural selection.
Stars – The Five Ghosts
Critic proof Canadian indie-poppers release their fifth disc of tunes but like its subject matter we find it lacks substance.