All Entries in the "Reviews: Albums" Category
REVIEW: DRIVE BY TRUCKERS – GO-GO BOOTS
Drive-By Truckers Go-Go Boots **** Album number eleven finds the Truckers in a climate of high creativity, with material that sounds as fresh as the product of any young whippersnapper starting out, on the road to alt-country and Americana. That ol’ country & soul never sounded more beautiful than it does on the luscious Dancin’ [...]
REVIEW: WIVES OF FARMERS
Unfortunately Wives of Farmers are not ruby cheeked lasses that have decided to fuck-off the farm duties to make an album – they’re not even women. Songs about breaking into houses to replace the freezer food with Roskilly’s ice cream and calling Uri Gellar a ‘spoon bender’, more than makes up for the initial disappointment. [...]
REVIEW: MIRRORS – LIGHTS AND OFFERINGS
Mirrors Lights and Offerings (Skint) *** Powered by analogue synths and a good DIY ethic, Mirrors deliver an album packed with melody, deep lyrics, washes of sound and bubbling electro basslines. Reproducing the sounds of thirty years ago seems to be the golden rule these days, and the skeleton of Mirrors’ sound shows more than [...]
COMEBACK EP FROM THE LEGENDARY DISTRACTIONS
The Distractions were the great lost band of the new wave era. Factory single legends, one rated and feted album, a batch of classic songs and an awful lot of “Whatever happened to?” And now they’re back with a 3-track 12” vinyl EP on Exeter label, Occultation Records. It’s been a while and there have [...]
REVIEW: SEDGE WARBLER
Exclusive, we just got hold of this new track from Sedge Warbler – Paranormal Ox Man Check out the video below, gonna be big. Born out of a shared love for heavy choppy beats, tearing bass and futuristic sounds, this track is all about Glitch Hop – yet another new sound that is emerging. Combining [...]
REVIEW: NATIONAL PASTIME – BOOKMARKS
National Pastime Bookmarks (Pastime Records) Exeter’s lo-fi indie-pop regulars drop their second album proper, featuring twelve brand new songs recorded at Off the Rail Studio, Tipton St John, with producer Andy Fonda. As before, National Pastime’s sound is generally reminiscent of the first wave of British indie-pop (think Sarah Records or early Creation Records). This [...]
REVIEW: LES SAVY FAV – ROOT FOR RUIN
Les Savy Fav Root For Ruin (Wichita) They may have enjoyed a brief love affair with the mainstream indie press a few years back (around the release of ‘Let’s Stay Friends’) but these Brooklyn art-punks were never ones to let it go to their heads. Album number five finds them in splendid fettle, opting for [...]
SCHNAUSER TO PLAY INSTORE GIG AT RISE IN BRISTOL
Schnauser are playing at Rise on Queens Street in Bristol on Saturday. It comes just weeks after they did an album launch gig there. The Rise late night opening is part of a Queen Street wise event, in which all the shops on that stretch are opening late for one day to help promote independent [...]
REVIEW: PRINCE FATTY – SUPER SIZE
Prince Fatty Super Size (Mr Bongo) **** Producer, Mike “Prince Fatty” Pelanconi has been big in the British reggae game since the ‘90s, having previously worked with Lily Allen and Blur’s Graham Coxon. This album finds him on good form, with eleven strong tracks capturing a traditional sound: reggae & soul favourites are recreated via [...]
REVIEW: SIMON BISH – YOU GET TO LIVE A FEW GOOD DAYS
Simon Bish You Get To Live A Few Good Days (Pop Noise Records) Fine gentle indie-pop from Simon Bish, who previously sang in Thrilled Skinny, the John Peel-favoured indie-punk-poppers from the early ‘90s. More recently, Mr Bish has been fronting the Exeter-based four-piece, Noise Annoys Simon, as well as running his own label, Pop Noise [...]
REVIEW: COUNT TO FIRE – IN ANOTHER LIFE
Count to Fire In Another Life (Count to Fire) Second album from Exeter’s Americana-influenced band, who formed over a mutual love for Wilco and My Morning Jacket. The album was recorded in Canada at Catherine North Studios (Josh Ritter, Feist) and produced by Colin Cripps (Kathleen Edwards, Oh Susanna) The band has a talent for [...]
REVIEW: VINNIE PAZZ
A new name to me but obviously not to the game, Vinnie comes with a healthy back up of Roc A Fella artists Freeway and Beanie Sigel and the Clipse, as well as underground cats like R.A. The Rugged Man. No production credits available but most beats have the feel of Just Blaze and 9th [...]
REVIEW: FUTURE BALEARICA ALBUM
This collection takes you on a journey through up to date, laid back Balearic sounds giving you that slice of summer on a disc that you are looking for. It is advisable to have this at the ready on your ipod or on CD for any long summer drives. Artists include ‘The XX’, ‘Animal Collective’, [...]
REVIEW: A FINE DAY FOR SAILING – SAND BOX
Exeter band’s third album released on a German label, possibly due to the lack of a local audience that appreciates top-notch guitar pop. This is the album the Beach Boys would have made, if they had listened to British underground bands such as Television Personalities or Razorcuts. The set opens with Summer Blonde, which is [...]
REVIEW: BIFF BANG POW! – LOVE IS FOREVER
Criminally underrated British psychedelic pop classic gets a limited edition re-issue, in a plush gatefold sleeve with bonus tracks, on Berlin’s independent label, Vollwert. Originally released on Creation Records more than two decades ago, Love is Forever still has the ability to send shivers down spines. There is generally very little known about Biff Bang [...]
REVIEW: NATIONAL PASTIME – MY STAR HAS FALLEN
National Pastime My Star Has Fallen (Pastime Records) Exeter’s kings of lo-fi indie-pop drop ‘the unofficial album’ with some new material plus a few reworked live favourites from their debut, Short Stories. Recorded by the band themselves, My Star Has Fallen has a rough, DIY feel, reminiscent of the first wave of British indie sound [...]
REVIEW: SUB FOCUS – SUB FOCUS
SUB FOCUS Sub Focus (Ram Records) 4/5 Following on nicely from the massive Chase & Status album released earlier this year, Ram Records bring you the long anticipated debut album from Sub Focus. Without a doubt this man is one of the biggest names in the Drum & Bass scene & having had some huge [...]
REVIEW: MADNESS – ONE STEP BEYOND
Madness ‘One Step Beyond’ (Salvo) 4.5/5 30th anniversary reissued classic debut album, digitally remastered with a bonus disc of related tracks, booklet and a forward by Irvin Welsh. Try if you can to not get sidetracked by the success of Madness, their endless influence on bands that continues to present day and their revolutionising of [...]
REVIEW: MEW – NO MORE STORIES
Mew No More Stories (Sony) 4/5 Scandinavian arty trio return for a third album, produced by Rich Costey (Muse/Glasvegas). The singer’s voice is similar to Green Gartside’s (Scritti Politti), and the opening song, New Terrain has a ghostlike reverse vocal effect, which appears more subtly on other tracks. This is a complex record and a [...]
REVIEW: ATHLETE – BLACK SWAN
GIG REVIEW ATHLETE 8 July The Fleece, Bristol ATHLETE have been out of the limelight since the release, and pretty downbeat reception, of their third studio album Beyond the Neighbourhood. But they’re back with a new album called Black Swan under a new label, Fiction Records, after parting ways with Parlophone Records. This separation has [...]
