Who The Hell Are… Zoo Animal?
Picture the scene... in a dark Minneapolis jazz club, three anonymous musicians take the stage. The usual rituals of tuning and testing, smiling and carrying on, and then the lead singer steps up to the microphone. It only takes a few songs to appreciate the underestimated prowess of the band; the churning bass, the precision in the drumming, and a fiesty singer whose melancholy adroitness shines through her toned-down Joplin-esque voice and ferocious, half-prostrated guitar solos. This is Holly Newsom and Zoo Animal, a band marked by a soulful yet minimal electrofolk sound and introspective, sometimes spiritual lyrics.
Popaganda Festival 2010 – Stockholm
Webcuts turns its attention to Stockholm’s charming Popaganda festival to lift our post-festival blues. Swedish local acts such as the electro pop Navet, folk sisters First Aid Kit, Stockholm indie stalwarts Shout Out Louds, dance kings Familjen and pop sensation Robyn rub shoulder to shoulder with Scottish indie legends Belle & Sebastian, elegantly dressed UK synth-pop duo Hurts, London indie-soul act The Magic Numbers and reigning electro-geek heroes Hot Chip.
Robert Forster – The Evangelist
EMI, 2008 [8/10] Robert Forster and Grant McLennan were two months into writing the next Go-Betweens album when on May 6th 2006, Grant McLennan died suddenly of a heart attack at age 48. An indescribable
Hatcham Social – You Dig The Tunnel, I’ll Hide The Soil
There's no hiding Hatcham Social. "You Dig The Tunnel" kicks the dirt long and high in a dazzling display of pop sensibility.
Wet Illustrated – 1x1x1
Sizzling psyche-pop debut from San Francisco three-piece Wet Illustrated. A little Feelies, a little Sonic Youth.
Bibio – Ambivalence Avenue
Turn left off Apathy Street, hang a right on Take It or Leave It road and there you'll find Ambivalence Avenue the new offering from Bibio.
Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest
The stakes are high on Deerhunter's 4th album. Can they beat Webcuts album of the year 2008, their own magnificent Microcastle?
Destroyer – Kaputt
Lyrically and musically, simply one of the best records you'll hear all year. Dan Bejar -- Genius. Kaputt -- Divine.
Miss Li – Late Night Heartbroken Blues
National, 2006 [8/10] With three albums within a twelve months period and a best of album summarising her first year released, Miss Li may be the most productive artist in Scandinavia today, if not ever.
Dean & Britta – London – 30 July 2010
Releasing their soundtrack to 13 of Andy Warhol's screen tests was an opportune moment for ex-Galaxie 500/Luna star Dean Wareham to fully express his love for Velvet Underground and the stars of Andy Warhol's Factory. The screen tests alone, wavering between the visually arresting and the arrestingly mundane, were elevated into a new realm with the musical accompaniment provided by Wareham and partner Britta Phillips. Bringing the 13 Most Beautiful show to London (having frustratingly been given its UK premiere in Dunfermline last year) was a long-anticipated occasion.
Versus – On the Ones and Threes
Out of nowhere comes a near perfect album by a near forgotten band that rewrites their own history in one superlative-inducing swoop.
The Scare – Interview (2007)
Craig Smith takes us on a journey from Brisbane to Birmingham with Wade Keighran bass player for punk rockers The Scare. Taking in emotional break downs and playing the UK festivals, to the booze soaked recording of Chivalry and being wide eyed in L.A. -- this is the definitive account of The Scare's rags to musical riches tale.
The Monochrome Set – The Independent Singles Collection
Cherry Red, 2008 [7/10] England 1979 -- punk was morphing into the more experimental post-punk and saw landmark releases from PiL, Gang of Four, The Cure, Joy Division and The Pop Group. And then...then there
The Heavy – The House That Dirt Built
UK retro-funk n' soul act The Heavy roll out the grooves and ask the question "How you like me now?". Our answer awaits.
Pete Fijalkowski – Interview about Polak, Adorable and Broken Heart Surgery (2008)
Pete Fijalkowski former frontman for two of England's most criminally ignored bands, Adorable and Polak, talks about his solo album Broken Heart Surgery.
Castanets – Texas Rose Thaw & The Beasts
Every rose has a thorn and so too does the fifth album by Raymond Raposa's folk-beat one man band Castanets.