The masters of minimal post-punk and street poetry return with their first album for Rough Trade, In the last four years the duo have gone from something of a curiosity to an established act with a cutting line in socio-political commentary and stark, primitive music. English Tapas continues the sound and content of its predecessors. On Divide & Exit (2014), Andrew Fearn concocted a sound … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Sleaford Mods – English Tapas
Thurston Moore has been teasing his new album in interviews over the last few months and today we get the official announcement of Rock n Roll Conciousness, due for release on April 28th via Caroline Australia. It’s a five track album (track listing below) which features Deb Googe (My Bloody Valentine, Snowpony) bass, James Sedwards (Nøught, Chrome Hoof) guitar and Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth, Crucifucks) drums and was produced by Paul Epworth (Adele, Paul McCartney, Glass Animals) … Continue reading NEWS: Thurston Moore announces ‘Rock n Roll Consciousness’ LP
Moon Duo return with the first of two albums they plan to release in 2017, with both volumes rooted in balanced and oppositional ideas and textures. The conceptual approach of the double album is, in their words “an intricately woven hymn to the invisible structures found in the cycle of seasons and the journey of day into night, dark into light.” That Yin Yang format … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Moon Duo – Occult Architecture Vol. 1
Hot on the heels of her collaborative album with Iron & Wine’s Sam Beam, Jesca Hoop backs it up with a new solo album that dives deeper into her experimental songwriting, drawing on folk, indie and art pop. The songs here are minimal, skeletal even. Simple percussive elements, at one point just the keys of a typewriter, form the basis for hypnotic melodies and lyrical … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Jesca Hoop – Memories Are Now
Bad//Dreems have released the second single from their forthcoming new LP Gutful (out April 21st). Feeling Remains is reliably and solidly straight from the BD songbook. It has those tension-filled verses they do so well, full of tumbling toms and rolling bass, with Alex Cameron’s guitar clipped and urgent downstrokes carving out a stacatto rhythm that contrasts with a Saints/Sex Pistols descending chord progression. It defines their … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Bad//Dreems – Feeling Remains
Mac DeMarco recently upped and relocated to LA from Queens, NY and the transition to a new city had a slowing effect on his writing and recording process this time around. He sat with the songs a while and then stripped them back to acoustic guitar, drum machine and synth, giving the new album much more of a laidback (is that possible) and skeletal sound. … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Mac DeMarco Announces New LP ‘This Old Dog’
Father John Misty (Josh Tillman) is back with the follow-up to his acclaimed album I Love You, Honeybear. Titled Pure Comedy, the album is due out on April 7th via Sub Pop and Inertia Music and features co-production with Jonathan Wilson, string arrangements by Gavin Bryars and other contributions from Nico Muhly and Thomas Bartlett. The mastering was done by the legendary Bob Ludwig. Tracklisting: … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Father John Misty Announces New LP ‘Pure Comedy’.
LONG HAUL FLIGHT Still with their original lineup, The Bats are the longest running band in New Zealand and after more than three decades they’re still finding fascinating new variations on their iconic sound. Frontman and songwriter Robert Scott talks to Chris Familton about how their new record came together and how they’ve maintained their longevity. Down the line from his home on the coast … Continue reading INTERVIEW: The Bats
This is Bic Runga’s fifth album in two decades and comes as she is inducted into the NZ Music Hall of Fame. A collection of covers and two originals, it finds her tipping her hat to some of her influences, from the obvious to the obscure. Both originals (the title track and Dream A Dream) are lush rhythmic pop songs with tropical noir textures while … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Bic Runga – Close Your Eyes
When people drop the needle on the record, insert the CD or click play on their phone and hear the distinctive roar of dense and distorted guitar on the new Dinosaur Jr album a great number of them will think “this sounds like just another Dinosaur Jr album”. That was my gut reaction on first listen. All the components are there. The symbiotic fusion of … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Dinosaur Jr – Give A Glimpse Of What Yer Not
Scotsman Kenny Anderson has long dwelled on the fringes of indie and experimental pop music, releasing over forty albums that traverse a large expanse of creative terrain. His latest finds him exploring graceful and emotive music, drawing on electronic and organic instrumentation and positioned between the terrestrial and ethereal. The results are often moving and transportive, the unifying element being Anderson’s rich Scottish burr of … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: King Creosote – Astronaut Meets Appleman
Witch Hats have a few very good albums under the collective belt but their latest, Deliverance, is hands down the best thing they’ve done. It’s a blistering set of lurching rock ‘n’ roll and in our review we said “They’re firmly in the realm of The Clash, The Drones and The Gun Club yet they’ve dug their own hook-laden hole and decorated it with all … Continue reading SONIC KICKS: Witch Hats
Doubtful Sounds 