British Sea Power – Valhalla Dancehall
Hurrah for English music. Just when you think Webcuts panders almost exclusively to the Americans, British Sea Power save the day.
Caribou – Australian Interview with Dan Snaith (Static, 2010)
Caribou (aka Dan Snaith) is not an artist prone to repeating himself. His second album, 2007's Andorra took '60s psychedelic pop and merged it with complex rhythm patterns, while his LP from last year Swim saw Snaith heading into a denser electronic direction while still retaining a fair amount of pop smarts. Caribou with long time friend Kieran Hebden better known as Four Tet will soon be the Antipodes for a series of shows but late last year Chris Berkley caught up with Snaith whilst on the seemingly never ending tour for Swim where Dan took time out to talk about the art of Caribou live versus recording, his electric friends, how some people perceive Swim to be his dark album and how to win over the doom metal crowd.
Laneway Festival – Brisbane – 2009
We brave the laneways of Brisbane to report on No Age, Jay Reatard, The Hold Steady, Cut Off Your Hands, The Drones, Stereolab, Spiral Stairs, Augie March and more.
Warpaint – London – 26 August 2010
It’s shows like this which give birth to the very nature of rock and roll. The hip-swaying sounds of a band as they rock back and forth, eyes closed, mouths pressed against the microphone with their feet marking the beat. It’s an undeniably sexual thing. This isn't news. It’s why they tried to ban Elvis in the 50’s. He turned young girls on, and it wasn’t so much the man, but the music, the stage, the sweat, the motion -- the rock and roll of it all. Wedged together in this barely ventilated Old Street basement, Los Angeles' Warpaint are presiding over something that had this been the 50's, would've gotten them banned too.
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.
The Lemonheads – Varshons
Evan Dando and a cast of several come together to make the ultimate Lemonheads record so far. With an album featuring songs by Wire and Christina Aguilera, it's both "Strange" and "Beautiful".
Dean Wareham – London – 8 December 2010
Long before he cleared the air/dished the dirt (whichever way you look at it), on his band mates in his autobiography Black Postcards, it was widely known there would never be a proper Galaxie 500 reunion. In the intervening years since their disbandment in 1991, both Dean Wareham and the unit known as Damon and Naomi have gone their separate musical ways to moderate degrees of success. With Wareham’s post G500 outfit Luna winding up in 2005, he’d now put to pasture two bands presumably allowing him time to reflect on past glories with a renewed desire to not let that youth go to waste.
The New Pornographers – Together
An album that makes us love them more, but not enough to wear their t-shirts. The New Pornographers get it Together.
Simon Goddard – Mozipedia
The ultimate bible for Morrissey and Smiths fans, Mozipedia sorts the Suedehead from the Southpaw.
Volcano Choir – Unmap
Bon meets the Bees in this post rock collaboration for Justin Vernon and Collections of Colonies of Bees which results in only a slight buzz.
Austra – Feel It Break
Electro-dance-goth-opera by way of Canada, Austra's debut album Feel It Break is akin to a good night out in loud, dark room. Kinda fun, but where's the door?
Teenage Fanclub – Los Angeles – 11 October 2010
Blake, McGinley & Love doesn’t have the same ring as Crosby, Stills & Nash, but there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be held in the same breath or as widely known. These three Scotsman and the outfit they've steered for the last 20+ years have consistently made albums that rich in harmonies and heart-on-sleeve emotions. If Teenage Fanclub had a spiritual home, it would be a tie between Nashville or Los Angeles, or perhaps started in Los Angeles and ended up in Nashville (as found on their most recent album Shadows).
Destroyer – Dan Bejar talking about Kaputt (2011)
It's been said by Webcuts in the past that Destroyer's Dan Bejar is the Woody Allen of pop music. His idiosyncratic, poetic touch is less that of a lyricist but a storyteller with a revolving cast of characters (mostly women), and picking up on the ripples and waves they create to make them a part of his own interior monologue. An essential eighth of the mighty New Pornographers, Bejar has been recording as Destroyer since the 90's. Kaputt, his ninth album is a sumptious, rhapsodic slice of 80's melodrama, immersing itself entirely in the era from the vintage instrumentation to Bejar's own penchance for seeking the sublime out of what some might find the ridiculous.
Jacob Golden – Interview circa Revenge Songs (2008)
If success was awarded by the amount of struggle and heartbreak an artist had endured, and took into account the innate talent the artist had, Jacob Golden would be multi-platinum and headlining London's Royal
Why? – Eskimo Snow
The unlikely paring of hip-hop and indie rock actual make for compatible bedfellows with Californian band Why?'s fourth full length album.
TV on the Radio – Interview with Jaleel Bunton (Static, 2008)
Having just released one of the stand-out (and Webcuts approved) albums of 2008 with the awe-inspiring brilliance of Dear Science, Static's Chris Berkley spoke to Jaleel Bunton, drummer of Brooklyn's roof-raising TV On The Radio as