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 [...]
The last time I came across Zombie Zombie, they were soundtracking my late-night drive to dystopia. I’m pleased to bump into them again, this time bringing their excellent Krauty electronics to bear down upon a song by their fellow-countrymen Yeti Lane, and inject their space pop with the heebie jeebies.
mp3: Yeti Lane - One One [...]
Everything’s been running late this season. Right up to yesterday. I was all set to do my usual Christmas Eve post, and the pre-Christmas preparations were going well. Until the knife slipped. And Growl Junior got a fever. Things have strugged to keep up since, and only now the house is quiet, I’m here with [...]
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 [...]
Forgive the multiple Shearwater post mentalism lately, but I’m excited about the new album The Golden Archipelago. I’m not even fazed by the prospect of a concept album about “man’s impact on the natural world”, because the past two records have been along these themes and they’ve been excellent. The first proper taster is the [...]
eagleowl’s website proclaims that they “believe in doing things right, rather than doing things fast”. That suits me just fine - I’m happy to wait, especially if their output continues to be as brilliant as this. Their 5-track EP For the Thoughts You Never Had was one of my favourite records of 2008. Now, about [...]
So Marina Diamandis is the next Kate Bush? My fear is that she’s the next Florence and the Machine. Name similarities aside, I suspect that now Marina and the Diamonds are signed to a major label, there will be a similar process of musical dulling-down, at the same time as marketing the artist as a [...]
