Victoria & Jacob are messing with you. They almost had me fooled. Take a look at the picture and remember their name. You’re thinking whimsical acoustic-folky stuff aren’t you? No? What’s that - electro pop? Surely not? Well, not quite, that’s a bit misleading. Don’t expect to throw any dance moves, but do expect to [...]
When it’s time for the lo-fi indie pop Olympics this year, it looks like the Americans are the early favourites. They’re already got the established big litters like Pains of Being Pure at Heart and the Vivian Girls strutting around like the medals are theirs already. The new blood is on the way too as [...]
There are loads of ways to reinvent a band, but surely the easiest is to just change the name. It worked for the Kaiser Chiefs. It may well work for Ex Lion Tamers who obviously thought a new name would suit them better, so called themselves Wild Palms. Good move. Thankfully they’ve opted to leave [...]
Drivetime. The time to leave work, get into the car and turn on the radio. There a DJ will keep you lightly entertained with smooth MOR tunes and some inane chat all the way home. I like to think there’s another reality where people will slide in a Mat Riviere CD and as their car [...]
Not Squares seem like regular kinda guys. The sort of guys you might expect to find in a regular Belfast pub. They don’t look like posers. They’re the sort of guys who’ll just pop their hoods up and get on with business. Which is just fine, because then you can - like the people in [...]
It seems like another age now, but back in early January I spent a very pleasant half hour one lunchtime at Pure Groove watching Tristram play a sparkling lunchtime set. My memory is a little clouded, but through the sleepless haze I can remember the place being unusually full for an artist that wasn’t very [...]
Hello. I’m back from my self-imposed exile from blogging. My paternity leave ended this week, so now my life has become a whole lot easier, hence my return to here. It’s been a funny old three weeks, but I’ll not bore you with all the baby stuff. Suffice to say that I’ve been spending a [...]
Throughout 2009, Meursault have gradually crept up on me, slowly overwhelming me to the point that I’m now happy to suggest that they’re one of the best British bands around. I’ve listened to their 2008 debut album more now than any of my top 20 albums of last year. A few months ago they put [...]
It’s quite funny that Australians send each other Christmas cards with pictures of snow, while having parties on the beach under the blazing summer sun. Over here, despite the usual grey drizzle, we still have that romantic fixation with snow at Christmas. Which means that Laura Marling’s new song Goodbye England can be a Christmas [...]
Ah, Christmas time. Time to max out on musical cheese, from these knackered tunes wafting out along your local high street to the guady singalongs at office Christmas parties. Want an antidote to all this? Try Mat Riviere. His new single FYH has wonky electronics, deadpan vocals, insistent thrum, sort of like a lo-fi Interpol [...]
