Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Unknown Mortal Orchestra
Ex-New Zealander's Unnecessarily Long Band Name evoke retro 60's thrills on their self-titled debut.
Taken by Trees – Open Field
Rough Trade, 2007 [7/10] Fill up a glass of red wine, put on Open Field, take a seat down in a comfy chair and enjoy the debut of Taken By Trees, a delicate album that
Lykke Li – Wounded Rhymes
A break-up album like no other, Sweden's pop princess Lykke Li hits an emotional core that has Webcuts in awe.
Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks – Los Angeles – 25 July 2009
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks played to an audience brimming with the intoxicating scent of bearded, checked-shirt sporting aging rock dudes. Vanessa From Queens was missing but the gang was all there.
Jonneine Zapata – Brisbane – 7 October 2010
Jonneine Zapata's Cast the Demons Out came out of nowhere and managed to do what it said on the tin. And all indications were that live was where she excelled. Comparisons were bandied around from PJ Harvey and Patti Smith for there strong vocal ranges to Jim Morrison and Mick Jagger for their bold sexual stage presence. Apart from the smoldering mic stand gripping, her onstage persona also alternates between standing still with an ice cold stare, holding her arms aloft swaying like an eagle, and my favourite, lurching around the stage like a drunken marionette. Unsettling? Maybe but never boring.
Too Pure Singles Club – Interview with Paul Riddlesworth (2011)
For the last three years the Too Pure Singles Club has been releasing monthly 7" singles to subscribers featuring a selection of rising UK and international alternative acts, many of whom are unknown outside their own country (their own town even). The appeal of a singles club is more than just a piece of vinyl every month by a band you're unlikely to have ever heard of. Actually, that is the appeal. Hit or miss as they can be, you never know which one of these limited run singles will turn out to be your next favourite band.
M83 – Saturdays = Youth
Virgin, 2008 [7/10] I have a very vivid memory of M83's previous album Before the Dawn Heals Us being played at a thunderous volume while sleeping at a friend's house early one morning, and it
Esben and the Witch – Violet Cries
Over-indulgent Gothic melodrama from Brighton's Esben And The Witch. How do you like your nightmares? Black with 2 sugars, thanks.
Alela Diane – To Be Still
Nevada City's beguiling folk heroine Alela Diane returns with a white diamond of a second album. Be still, our beating heart.
Factory Floor – Interview (Static, 2010)
Part extreme noise terror, part euphoria, East London’s Factory Floor have made a name for themselves as being loud and uncompromising, or as they stress in the interview below "brutal". Having walked half-way in during their set supporting American synth act Cold Cave earlier this year, Factory Floor's performance was very much a "what the fuck?" moment, unsure as to either quickly vacate the room or take stock of the diffused electronic/industrial free-form concotions they were composing. We stayed, with reservations... Chris Berkley of Static caught up with Gabriel Gurnsey and Nik Colk from Factory Floor shortly after their appearance at the Offset Festival in London in September to find out more.
Shearwater – The Golden Archipelago
Shearwater seem to have run aground on The Golden Archipelago. Not quite paradise, nor a place you'll likely return to soon.
The Screaming Tribesmen – Igloo
It should be obvious by now, but if you want to sell me your record, couple it with some chiming chords, a memorable lyric and a catchy hook, and I'm all yours for the
1990s – Interview with Jackie McKeown and Michael McGauhrin about 1990s and Yummy Fur (2007)
During the decade that was the 1990s Jackie McKeown fronted the highly influential but commercially ignored Glaswegian act The Yummy Fur, an ensemble that went through as many reshuffles as a blackjack dealer in Vegas.
Divine Fits – A Thing Called Divine Fits
Merge, 2012 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
Black Cab – Brisbane – 17 July 2010
It took eleven years, three albums and a European tour for Melbourne space rockers Black Cab to broach Brisbane but they did and yes, it was worth the wait. Even the prospect of a half empty venue, an OCD stricken punter and the one colour Hi-Fi lights were not enough to dissuade Black Cab in performing anything less than a mesmerising set of original material and two stunning encores that paid homage to the whole space/drone/shoegaze rock genre. Able support was provided by Brisbane alt.rock kings Grand Atlantic.
Malcolm Middleton – Sleight of Heart
Inertia, 2008 [7.5/10] Malcolm Middleton, previously one half of gritty Scottish miserabilists Arap Strap, establishes the modus operandi for his fourth album Sleight of Heart right from the get go. When he sings "We're having