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MNDR – Feed Me Diamonds

Ultra, 2012 [rating:6/10] "Pop music is a platform to say something. You don't have to only talk about parties." Interesting quote from ex-noise artist now shiny electropop-idol-in-waiting, Amanda Warner. Pop music has always been a platform to say something, but this shouldn't make you believe that Warner is positing herself as Lady Bono or worse, Lady

By |2018-07-25T04:50:04+01:00October 30th, 2012|Categories: Album Reviews, Reviews|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments

Divine Fits – A Thing Called Divine Fits

Merge, 2012 [rating:8.5/10] The concept of the ‘supergroup’ is relative and often abused. The formation itself is prone to suspicion, akin to selling out your bandmates in favour of some fresh thrills. Often it's the point in a band's career when the chief songwriter hits a stalemate or a stale state -- ie: the last

By |2018-07-16T12:10:55+01:00October 16th, 2012|Categories: Album Reviews|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments

Cat Power – Sun

Matador, 2012 [rating:7/10] Time and distance, be it geographical or emotional, have always been great assets to a songwriter. The ability to cease all activity, to step off the treadmill and get his/her shit straight, to let real life take precedence. In a career that's had its share of ups and downs, Chan Marshall has

By |2018-07-16T10:36:12+01:00October 7th, 2012|Categories: Album Reviews|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments

Wild Nothing – Nocturne

Bella Union, 2012 [rating:6.5/10] Jack Tatum thought he must've hit a goldmine when his 2010 debut album as Wild Nothing was so rapturously received with little to no preceding fanfare. This North Virginian native, and his album, Gemini, proved to be a beguiling release, a wistful summer-sounding, 80's referencing aside to the music of Tatum's youth. Full

By |2018-07-16T10:39:00+01:00October 1st, 2012|Categories: Album Reviews|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

Various Artists – 15 Years Of Bella Union Records

Bella Union, 2012 [rating:8/10] 2012 marks the 15th anniversary of the birth of Bella Union, a record label started by Robin Guthrie and Simon Raymonde of Cocteau Twins that was created, initially, to release their own recordings with no obvious aspiration to challenge the big UK independents of the day, yet somehow wound up acquiring a

By |2018-07-16T10:41:10+01:00September 20th, 2012|Categories: Album Reviews|Tags: , , |0 Comments

Bob Mould – Silver Age

Merge, 2012 [rating:8/10] 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 and give the man your money. But if you need a little more, here goes...  Given that Mould has spent the

By |2018-07-16T10:43:05+01:00September 18th, 2012|Categories: Album Reviews|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

The Walkmen – Heaven

Bella Union, 2012 [rating:8/10] From the outset, The Walkmen's seventh album Heaven ('seventh heaven' geddit?) does much to reignite interest in a band, who to be completely honest, have regularly under-performed on record (critically, backslaps all round, but commercially, nada) to the point where wives/girlfriends, etc, are sure to have said "when are you going to

By |2018-07-16T10:45:41+01:00June 3rd, 2012|Categories: Album Reviews|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

Beach House – Bloom

Bella Union, 2012 [rating:5/10] Since their self-titled debut in 2006, Portland duo Beach House have become a band synonymous with the 'dream-pop' side of contemporary music, a tag that suitably sums up Beach House's immaculate sound. Their debut and follow-up Devotion were snapshots of a band evolving, both primitive and delicate in instrumentation and style. It

By |2018-07-16T10:50:07+01:00May 17th, 2012|Categories: Album Reviews|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

The Dandy Warhols – This Machine

Beat The World, 2012 [rating:7.5/10] At this stage in their career, The Dandy Warhols stand as an infinitely renewable resource. With the major label shackles thrown and now releasing their own records, the only standards Courtney & Co have to meet is their own. This is often the point where casual fan and band shrug

By |2018-07-16T10:49:10+01:00April 28th, 2012|Categories: Album Reviews|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

Layabouts – Savage Behaviour

Homeless Records, 2011 [rating:5.5/10] To call Layabouts chest-beating/car-loving/girl-banging rock n' roll as being derivative is to say rock n’ roll is derivative of rock n’ roll. If you stay true to the message, the music you make is un-fuck-with-able. Spain’s Layabouts make the kind of music that only Europeans are capable of -- the totally

By |2018-07-27T03:36:00+01:00November 12th, 2011|Categories: Album Reviews, Reviews|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

Peter Murphy – Should The World Fail To Fall Apart

Cherry Red, 2011 [5/10] While the other three members forged on with nary a breath to contemplate what lay behind them, it took the ex-Bauhaus frontman 3 long years to record his first solo album. Here Peter Murphy’s path was a more cautious one, making tentative steps with ex-Japan bassist Mick Karn for their unspectacular

By |2021-01-02T10:23:12+00:00September 4th, 2011|Categories: Album Reviews|Tags: , , , |0 Comments