Splendour in the Grass 2009 (Day 1)
We give an in-depth rundown on 2009's Splendour in the Grass festival including the good - The Flaming Lips, Happy Mondays, Bloc Party, Doves, Sarah Blasko, Specials, You Am I, MGMT and the frankly rather appalling - Kram, Grinspoon.
HTRK – London – 9 March 2009
HTRK Lexington, London 9th March 2009 I first witnessed Melbourne/Berlin noise-makers HTRK in action at a time where any favourable impression would not come forthwith. This was in a dingy low ceilinged East London venue
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.
They Might Be Giants – Join Us
Join Us finds They Might Be Giants at their "quirkiest, catchiest and most clever", which is simply music to our old-school fan ears.
Joker’s Daughter – The Last Laugh
Producer Danger Mouse and vocalist Helena Costas come together as Joker's Daughter. It's a mixed deck by all accounts.
Deerhunter – London – 18 May 2009
Deerhunter Scala, London 18th May 2009 Palpable expectation, a sold out crowd, a critically received album, a loud northerner standing beside me naively exclaiming “I hope they play something off Turn It Up, Faggot" and
Lotus Plaza – The Floodlight Collective
The second solo project members of Deerhunter, Lotus Plaza is guitarist Lockett Pundt's self-fulfilling dreampop odyssey.
King Creosote – Flick the Vs
The two fingered salute is vigorously given by Scottish anti-folk hero King Creosote on new album Flick the Vs.
Eels – Hombre Lobo
America's rock werewolf Mark Oliver Everett otherwise known as Eels howls twelve songs of desire on his seventh studio disc.
Layabouts – Savage Behaviour
Homeless Records, 2011 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
Suzanne Vega – Close Up Vol. 1 Love Songs
A thematic collection of stripped down tracks from Suzanne Vega's songbook, beginning with the love song.
Taken By Trees – East of Eden
Ex-Concrete Victoria Bergsman heads to Pakistan to seek inspiration for her second album as Taken By Trees.
The Gaslight Anthem – American Slang
More emotional missives from angry, intense, young American men. What steady diet do they feed you on?
Dolores O’Riordan – No Baggage
Can former berry Dolores O'Riordan shake off the skeleton's in her closet and remove the excess baggage? No as it turns out.
Love of Diagrams – Nowhere Forever
Our love for Love of Diagrams knows no bounds especially for the Melbourne noise merchants freshly minted third album.
We Were Promised Jetpacks – Q&A with Darren Lackie (2009)
...And we got them. Darren Lackie drummer from Glasgow's anthem driven rock band We Were Promised Jetpacks does the honours - "We've learnt from our mistakes recording the first album though so who knows with the next one (please let us have a next one, I don't want a job)"