British India – Interview with Nic Wilson and Matt O’Gorman (2009)
The rise and rise of Melbourne's British India has been something to behold. They've gone from their first release in 2005, the rough and ready Counter Culture EP, to 2007's incendiary debut Guillotine, and from feted
Deerhunter – Sydney – 20 June 2009
Having caught them a few weeks earlier in London, it was like witnessing an entirely different band in the throes of conquering new territory and playing to new audiences.
Kele – The Boxer
The (Bloc) Party is over. Now, it's a dance party and there's nobody here, except Kele and a few diehard Bloc Party fans looking bored.
Tender Trap – Dansette Dansette
It's summertime twee pop hour and who better to soundtrack but ex-Heavenly and Talullah Gosh popsters back with their third album.
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.
Wilco – Wilco (The Album)
Apparently Tweedy had been saving up his impetuousness for this, Wilco's seventh album, as his tongue has never been buried so deeply in his cheek.
Dappled Cities – Interview with Dave Rennick (Static, 2009)
Sydney art-pop quintet Dappled Cities have steadily grown in status in the last ten years with 2006’s Granddance and their most recent psyche-pop opus Zounds. Last year, we spoke to Dave Rennick, guitarist and vocalist of Dappled Cities about birthing and touring the album.
Mark E. Smith – Renegade: The Lives and Tales of Mark E. Smith
Viking, 2008 [rating:6/10] It begins at the end, or the supposed end, where having retired the old guard for a succession of young guns, Mark E. Smith faces up to a musician mutiny on The
Pernice Brothers – Goodbye, Killer
All killer, no filler, Joe Pernice and Co. turn up the volume and turn in one of their most enjoyable records to date.
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?
Who The Hell Are… Seize The Chair?
You have to question the motives behind a band who put a picture of two gurning band members on the front cover of their debut 7", or when asking the record company for a promo photo being offered 'the one where they're all dressed up in drag', or 'the one where they're chewing grass' (we passed on both). Sheffield's Seize The Chair have the air of a band who clearly and delightfully just don't give a fuck. In fact they probably just want to make music and have a laugh. Which, if you've seen that record sleeve, you'll be laughing too.
Dinosaur Jr. – Farm
No jokes about rock dinosaurs please, Mascis, Barlow and Murph defy expectation with their ninth disc.
Camper Van Beethoven – Popular Songs of Great Enduring Strength and Beauty
Cooking Vinyl, 2008 [7/10] Listening to a Camper Van Beethoven CD is like opening a time capsule to an era where the alternative music scene was more of a nascent beast than what it is
Glasvegas – Glasvegas
Columbia, 2008 [9/10] From the Jesus and Mary Chain through to Franz Ferdinand, every once in a while the sound of Scotland will seemingly unleash an act that will take the music world by storm.
The Dodos – Time to Die
There's a time to be born and, as The Dodos, given their extinct namesake should know, a Time to Die. But man, what a way to go.
Hoodoo Gurus – Interview with Dave Faulkner (2008)
Living proof that great bands and great songs endure all, Sydney's Hoodoo Gurus are the epitome of the walking jukebox, with a back catalogue of classic singles and albums that have become as much part