Navigated the pop/rock underground 2007-2012
Gemma Ray – It’s A Shame About Gemma Ray
Gemma Ray found the best way to deal with the Christmas period was to record a covers album. Not a bad idea really.
Julian Plenti – Julian Plenti is… Skyscraper
Paul Banks discovers that the best path to seduction lies in reduction on his first solo outing as the mysterious Julian Plenti.
Spiritualized – Interview with Jason Pierce (2008)
After a break of five years since their last album Amazing Grace, and a near crippling bout of double pneumonia, Spiritualized are back and in perfect health with their finest album to date with Songs
Who The Hell Are… COOLRUNNINGS?
How Webcuts first encountered Knoxville, Tennessee's Coolrunnings could be best described as a lucky accident. And it's no surprise that the best way to get someone's attention is to slap a photo of some naked chicks skateboarding on the cover of your EP and let them sell it for you. The appropriately titled (and NSFW) Babes Forever was clearly the product of talented and warped minds. The creepy, schizoid mayhem of "Trippin' Balls at Der Wienerschnitzel" and the inspired, almost unabashed, synth-pop of "When I Got High With You" sounded like they were made by some slacker Bill & Teds who'd already embarked on their own excellent adventure.
Atlas Sound – Logos
Bradford Cox of Deerhunter makes us seem like we're slavishly supportive of everything his hand touches, but we mean every word. Honest.
Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Amadeus, Amadeus, rock me Amadeus! Phoenix's fourth album is a show stopper without a Salieri in sight.
Deerhunter – London – 18 May 2009
Deerhunter Scala, London 18th May 2009 Palpable expectation, a sold out crowd, a critically received album, a loud northerner standing beside me naively exclaiming “I hope they play something off Turn It Up, Faggot" and
Idlewild – Post Electric Blues
Idlewild return with their fan-funded sixth album, offering much talk of Warnings (and Promises). But do they deliver?
The Fall – London – 7 May 2010
I’m a band purist at heart. You can cut off all your fingers, but you’ve still got a hand. If you cut off all your band members and keep cutting and cutting and cutting, you can't expect your audience to comply with your decision or to even recognise the music you make. What was it John Peel said about The Fall? "always different, always the same". Well, yes, but... no. Mark E. Smith is The Fall, but The Fall isn't just Mark E. Smith.
Lick – A Bitter Taste of Britpop – Interview with Gary Cosby (2007)
Lick were one of Britpop's great forgotten bands. Forming in Camden in 1994 they made a splash with glam anthems, perchant for eyeliner and sexually charged lyrics. But the dream was all over two years later on the cusp of releasing their debut album. We feature an in-depth Q&A with lead singer Gary Cosby and feature the Turbulence album available for download for the first time.