Mental As Anything – Essential As Anything / Tents Up
Both mental and essential, Sydney's pop legends Mental as Anything return with a career-encompassing collection and a brand new studio album.
British Sea Power – Man of Aran
British Sea Power take to the Irish Coast to provide a fresh soundtrack to this 1934 documentary on the people of Aran.
Bibio – Ambivalence Avenue
Turn left off Apathy Street, hang a right on Take It or Leave It road and there you'll find Ambivalence Avenue the new offering from Bibio.
Kaki King – Mexican Teenagers EP
Diminutive guitar goddess Kaki King gets caught up with the wrong crowd on Mexican Teenagers.
The Besnard Lakes – London – 19 August 2010
Touring off the back of their third studio release The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night, the Quebec-based The Besnard Lakes returned to London to treat us with some more of their epic Beach Boys meets Spiritualized jams. Given the massive sound present on ...The Roaring Night, there was some anticipation in how the band were going to pull this off as a four piece. With the newer tracks being a lot denser and harder to recreate live without either a 10 piece line up or a maze of effects and loop pedals, assistance came via laptop, which helped embellish the sound and keep true to their recorded material.
Okkervil River – I Am Very Far
Very unsure about this album, the sixth from past Webcuts pet faves, Okkervil River. I Am Very Far from their best.
Sleeper – Smart / The It Girl
Putting on our Britpop goggles yet again, Sleeper's debut album Smart and its follow-up The It Girl get the reissue treatment.
Elliott Smith – An Introduction To…
It's hard to believe that he's been gone 7 years now. This collection attempts to define one of last great songwriters of the 20th Century.
Laetitia Sadier – The One Million Year Trip (2011)
Quietly released last year was the first proper solo album by Stereolab's Laetitia Sadier. A touching tribute to her sister, who in Sadier's words "went on a million year trip/and left everthing behind", The Trip saw Sadier step out from the shadow of Stereolab to make a very revealing album, not only in the way she dealt with her loss, but in how she paid tribute to artists that influenced and inspired her. An album that sparkled in its minimalist approach, The Trip showed a side of Sadier unseen, one that was filled with warmth and emotion, and those little philosophical quirks that you've come to expect.
Sloan – B Sides Win (1992-2008)
In Sloan's case, it was definitely the A Sides that won, but there's some forgotten treats amongst this rarities collection.
Wendy James – London – 9 June 2011
Why hello, Wendy James. It’s been a while. Almost 20 years since I saw Transvision Vamp play at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney. A mostly unremarkable show except for the amount of intimidating drunks in attendance and the fact they played their current ‘hit‘ twice. Australia loved Transvision Vamp, almost in the same way it loved Blondie, decades before. Stick a blonde wig on a mop, put it in front of a bunch of guys in leather jackets and you're set. Transvision Vamp at that time were in their career descent with Little Magnets Versus The Bubble of Babble (my head still shudders at the idiocy of this title) and this was their last roll of the dice.
Centro-Matic / South San Gabriel – Dual Hawks
Cooking Vinyl, 2008 [5/10] (Centro-Matic) [7/10] (South San Gabriel) Will Johnson can seemingly do anything. A prolific songwriter, Johnson has spent over a decade playing indie rock in Denton, Texas' Centro-Matic, putting out a succession
Blood Orange – Coastal Grooves
Putting aside Lightspeed Champion, the chameleon musician/producer known as Dev Hynes unveils his latest project Blood Orange.
Who The Hell Are… Seize The Chair?
You have to question the motives behind a band who put a picture of two gurning band members on the front cover of their debut 7", or when asking the record company for a promo photo being offered 'the one where they're all dressed up in drag', or 'the one where they're chewing grass' (we passed on both). Sheffield's Seize The Chair have the air of a band who clearly and delightfully just don't give a fuck. In fact they probably just want to make music and have a laugh. Which, if you've seen that record sleeve, you'll be laughing too.
Who The Hell Are… KIDCITY?
Introducing KIDCITY. Two people, One word, uppercase for menacing effect. But really, aren't they just too cute for words? Which is apt, seeing as the music that these two Canadian 21-year-olds make is more like haunted voices leaking from an overloaded digital landscape. "Somewhere between Enya and Dr. Dre", someone said. Sure, why not. It might be simple enough to place them within the geographical radius of another glitchy electronic duo, Crystal Castles, but Kelly Ann's vocals soothe, rather than antagonise, as the cracked beats and blistered frequencies dial up the intensity. Significantly impressed, we had no choice but to ask 'Who the hell are... KIDCITY?"
Who The Hell Is… Jonneine Zapata?
Interview with LA-based chanteuse Jonneine Zapata around the time of her debut album Cast the Demons Out.