indie
CD: The Fall – Ersatz GBMonday, 07 November 2011
“My friends don't add up to one hand,” intoned Mark E Smith on his 1988 album Frenz Experiment. Maybe not, given his legendary propensity for dramatically falling out with band members, but his albums now add up to considerably more than a single... Read more... |
WHY?, Duke of York's Picture House, BrightonWednesday, 26 October 2011
Ah, the Duke of York’s Picture House, the oldest consistently operating purpose-built cinema in the country. It’s a beautiful venue, just over a century old, and almost too comfortable. It’s been jazzed up a few times over the decades and, tonight,... Read more... |
CD: Coldplay - Mylo XylotoSunday, 23 October 2011
Is there any point criticising Coldplay? You might as well take issue with your own digestive system, or the word “the”, or the colour brown. They're there, they're part of the fabric of things, they're not going away. Indeed, so etched are they... Read more... |
Feist, London PalladiumTuesday, 18 October 2011
A good measure of the passion felt for an act is how much of their crowd dresses like them. And though Leslie Feist is hardly Lady Gaga in the image stakes, it's gratifying that even in a rush to get to our seats I'm able to count at least five “... Read more... |
CD: Jane's Addiction - The Great Escape ArtistWednesday, 12 October 2011
When a band of a certain vintage comes in from the cold suddenly to record a new album you can reasonably expect one of three things: total nonsense, a half-decent throwback or, if you’re very lucky, a proper comeback. Eighties art-metallers Jane’s... Read more... |
CD: M83 - Hurry Up, We're DreamingSunday, 09 October 2011
Remember the big music? Eighties big. Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” big. Simple Minds’ “Waterfront” big. Anthony Gonzalez does. He might say his fifth album as M83 is inspired by The Smashing Pumpkins’ 1995 double set Melon... Read more... |
Nerina Pallot, Shepherds Bush EmpireFriday, 07 October 2011
It’s been a long-standing source of surprise to me how Nerina Pallot continues to operate a whisker under the radar. From the get-go, 10 years back, she’s had the voice, songs and looks to be a star. Maybe a decade ago was the wrong time for her.... Read more... |
CD: Brett Anderson - Black RainbowsSunday, 25 September 2011
I never really dug Suede. I could hear great pop songwriting in some of their work, but their rampant adoption of Bowie-as-Ziggy-Stardust sonics and vocal tics seemed to be just as representative of Britpop's necrophiliac tendencies as did Oasis's... Read more... |
CD: The Drums – PortamentoThursday, 01 September 2011
Brooklyn’s The Drums aren’t wasting time, but they’ve found it hard to keep up. The release of their second album, Portamento, comes just 15 months after their debut. In between the two, they toured relentlessly and lost guitarist Adam Kessler.... Read more... |
CD: Razika – Program 91Sunday, 28 August 2011
Although sadness currently cloaks Norway, the release of Razika’s joyful debut album might raise a few spirits. From Bergen, this all-female four-piece are school friends jointly born in 1991, hence part of the album title. Program 91 is a ska-... Read more... |
CD: Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - Mirror TrafficSunday, 21 August 2011
If Pavement fans have recovered from the excitement of last year’s reunion then they may find their pulses racing once more when they hear Stephen Malkmus and the Jick’s new album which is produced by Beck (no less).Mirror Traffic is a pleasant,... Read more... |
Interview: Bombay Bicycle ClubSaturday, 06 August 2011
If Bombay Bicycle Club had been born on America’s West Coast, their music would no doubt soon be all over the soundtrack of the next big teen drama. All the ingredients are there: the artiness, the phlegmatic cool, and the tunes that form a natural... Read more... |
