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The Walkmen – London – 25 August 2010

By |August 27th, 2010|Categories: Live Reviews|Tags: , , , , , |

“You’re one of us, or you’re one of them“. Hamilton Leithauser, fist wrapped tight around the microphone as if he's trying to strangle it, is howling those words. The rest of The Walkmen, heads bowed (as they remain throughout most of the set) play complicit and provide the carnival-esque roar to ram Leithauser’s words home. It’s not so much a question or a suggestion but a statement. For better or for worse, for way back when the band were selling their own white label records at the Middle East in Boston in 2001, I’ve been one of "us".

Cold Cave – London – April 4 & 5 2011

By |April 19th, 2011|Categories: Live Reviews|Tags: , , , , , |

In a long black leather jacket and hoodie and stacked heels, Cold Cave's Wes Eisold looks like any other kid you see in Camden on a Friday night, except that he's not and it isn't and before he even opens his mouth, you're thinking "wow, that leather jacket really is the shit" and it is. It's also a special day for 80's synth-obsessives Cold Cave, as Eisold curtly informs the assembled at Rough Trade Records - "Welcome to our album birthing day". Their second album, the strangely positive sounding Cherish The Light Years showing a marked change from the same Cold Cave that played London back in May 2010.

Splendour in the Grass – 2010 – Woodford

By |August 11th, 2010|Categories: Live Reviews|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

It's Summer festival time in Europe, but over in Australia it's Winter and Webcuts was there to brave the chill and celebrate Splendour in the Grass' tenth birthday with 32,000 others at the new Woodford location in Queensland. Over the three day weekend our reviewers witnessed a phenomenal selection of old and new favourites including -- Ash, Band of Horses, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Cloud Control, The Drums, Grizzly Bear, Jonsi, LCD Soundsystem, Paul Kelly, Pixies, School of Seven Bells, Scissor Sisters, The Strokes, Tame Impala, The Vines, Yeasayer, and believe it or not, a whole lot more!!

Pixies – Brisbane – 31 July 2010

By |August 6th, 2010|Categories: Live Reviews|Tags: , , , , , |

A few nights before this Pixies warm up concert for Splendour in the Grass, I had a vivid dream. In it I was the tour manager or press officer for the band and they were being put up in a luxury hotel with a huge swimming pool which they were swanning around in and (in)famously not getting along and refusing to do the show. It ended with me giving them a “look all the great rock’n’roll bands are dysfunctional, but when you’re on stage for that hour and a half you come together, that's when you work, that's when you function!” speech. And then I drove them to the Zoo in a black hummer.

Various Artists – SCORE! 20 Years of Merge Records: The Covers

By |April 3rd, 2009|Categories: Album Reviews|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

A star-studded cast pay tribute on this anniversary compilation, but who invited Times New Viking?

Animal Collective – Interview with David Portner (Static, 2009)

By |May 29th, 2009|Categories: Interviews|Tags: , , , , , , , |

Having just released the second single "Summertime Clothes" from their acclaimed eighth album, Merriweather Post Pavilion, Chris Berkley from Static spoke to David Portner from Baltimore, Maryland's favourite sons, Animal Collective and asked, among other

Stars – Interview with Evan Cranley on The Five Ghosts (2010)

By |July 14th, 2010|Categories: Interviews|Tags: , , , , |

The new Stars album The Five Ghosts is a focused and streamlined record that in some ways harks back to their synth-pop roots of their first album, albeit being much darker in tone and theme. While Stars' diminutive front-man Torquil Campbell, and its glamorous front-woman Amy Millan, may get the most of the star light we recently had words with the quiet achiever of the band, Evan Cranley. Evan reveals to us details about the process and direction that the new album took, the decision behind the Séance EP, his jack of all trades role in the band, the novel approach to touring the new songs and how to create a fantastic remix.

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