indie
Sbtrkt, KokoFriday, 02 March 2012
A mea culpa from me: I never gave Sbtrkt's records the attention they deserved. I always thought they were a capitulation, a softening of the radical developments of the post grime and dubstep generation with more traditional musicality and indie... Read more... |
Black Cab Sessions: music TV catches up with the net?Wednesday, 29 February 2012
Tonight on Channel 4, a new music series begins with a fantastic premise. A group of music obsessives drive around the USA in a London black cab, finding interesting musicians and recording them performing and talking in the back of the cab. Sounds... Read more... |
St Vincent, Shepherds Bush EmpireTuesday, 28 February 2012
It ended with Annie Clark on her back, being passed around the audience like a volleyball. Scrubbing at her guitar, the squall didn’t stop. As encores go it was pretty memorable, the confirmation that Clark – as St Vincent – has arrived. Earlier in... Read more... |
theartsdesk Q&A: Musician Stephin MerrittSaturday, 25 February 2012
For those unfamiliar with his work, Stephin Merritt is like a modern-day Cole Porter: prolific, highly camp, and with a genius for beautifully crafted witty three-minute songs. He performs with the 6ths, The Gothic Archies, Future Bible Heroes as... Read more... |
CD: Porcelain Raft – Strange WeekendMonday, 13 February 2012
Remember Primal Scream’s woozy “Higher Than the Sun”? It’s a fair bet Mauro Remiddi does. His debut album as Porcelain Raft drifts through 10 foggy songs as disconnected, yet warmly melodic, as that era-defining excursion through the ether.Italian... Read more... |
CD: Field Music – PlumbMonday, 06 February 2012
With 15 songs in just 35 minutes, Field Music’s fourth album doesn’t neatly conform to the prog rock brush they’re usually stroked with. Releasing Plumb exactly two years after its double-album predecessor (Measure) illustrates how methodically... Read more... |
Laura Veirs, Queen Elizabeth HallTuesday, 31 January 2012
Laura Veirs may be increasingly seen by some as an “undiscovered gem”, but to others she still comes over a bit too corn-fed to warm to. Of course, the much applauded Year of Meteors and July Flame contain some mighty pretty moments, but there’s... Read more... |
CD: Milagres – Glowing MouthMonday, 16 January 2012
Their name is Portuguese for miracles. Aiming high with their handle hasn’t prevented the Brooklyn-based Milagres from being criticised for their supposed Coldplay leanings. Sure, singer and main man Kyle Wilson has a tendency to stretch the middle... Read more... |
CD: Emmy the Great & Tim Wheeler - This is ChristmasSaturday, 17 December 2011
This is an unexpectedly wonderful album. A five-star rating might seem a bit much but then judging music in the same way as sport or exams is a bit crap anyway. So let’s say 5/5 compared to other Christmas albums and, yes, this is at the very summit... Read more... |
theartsdesk in Rennes: 33rd Trans Musicales FestivalThursday, 08 December 2011
Glass crunches underfoot. It’s been raining constantly, but the odour reveals that a fair amount of what's in the cobbled street's central gutter is urine. Everyone appears to be drunk. The French equivalent of crusties aren’t content with one dog-... Read more... |
Friendly Fires, Brixton AcademyFriday, 25 November 2011
The Hertfordshire market town of St Albans has not hitherto been renowned for its buzzing music scene: its hall of fame contains but a handful of names from the pop pantheon, most notably Enter Shikari and Lowgold (unless you count the fact that... Read more... |
Yuck, Electric BallroomFriday, 25 November 2011
On 9 September, 1985 The Jesus and Mary Chain played Camden's Electric Ballroom to a ceaseless hail of plastic pint pots. After 20 minutes, the songs gave way to formless feedback and they sloped off the stage. Although Yuck weren’t born then, the... Read more... |
