written by Chris Familton Brian Eno surprised many when it was announced that this album would be coming out on the Warp label with its focus on forward thinking electronica. Hearing it makes the move the perfect fit as this is an album of stern electronica with flashes of dissonance and a certain sci-fi film quality to many of the tracks. Eno, with collaborators Jon … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Brian Eno | Small Craft On A Milk Sea
written by Chris Familton Straight Arrows have been fine tuning their ramshackle sound for a couple of years now and finally have an album to show for it. Their other releases have been 7 inches that have all been snapped up, something that has enhanced their reputation as the next great garage band to slouch forth from the Sydney suburbs. Owen Penglis and the rest … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Straight Arrows | It’s Happening
written by Chris Familton Berlin’s Morr Music label have put together this tribute to music released on the influential Flying Nun label and it is essentially a collection of indie-tronica that seems to pay cautious homage to a certain type of 80s/90s guitar music that was both primitive and creatively forward thinking. These bands certainly nail the melodies but generally fall short of invoking the … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Not Given Lightly: A Tribute to the Giant Golden Book of New Zealand’s Alternative Music Scene
Some bands take their unique recipe and keep on serving up the same music over and over again. For many this spells staleness but for others it can mean a progressive refinement of something special and the continuation of the search for the perfect song. 78 Saab are into their fifteenth year and with album number four they give us everything we have come to … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: 78 Saab – Good Fortune (2010)
written by Chris Familton Fat Freddy’s Drop are at their best when they are on-stage in front of a heaving, swaying audience. Their patient slow-build and dedication to the mood and groove of music is a sight and sound to behold so a new live album is a real bonus for those seeking to bottle some of the experience or hear what all the fuss … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Fat Freddy’s Drop | Live At Roundhouse London
written by Chris Familton Cast aside short-lived hype and blogosphere hyperbole and the wide world of music hasn’t thrown up many artists in the last decade that are quite as unique as Antony Hegarty. Round these parts I still bump into people who talk in awe of his Opera House appearance as part of the Leonard Cohen tribute and as a witness to said performance … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Antony & The Johnsons | Swanlights
written by Chris Familton On the opening track Caseman, Andrew Wilson sings “I’m not giving up on our love” and it sums up the approach Die! Die! Die! have taken on their third album Form. They still sound vibrant with that heady, controlled rush of chaos, tinged with desperation and angst. With the greatness of their second album Promises, Promises the band didn’t receive anywhere … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Die! Die! Die! | Form
written by Chris Familton The Walkmen have always fallen short of the crowning moment in their canon – 2004 single The Rat – and as such they are the type of band you keep coming back to, hoping they have pulled it together and scaled the same lofty heights as that surging, emotive calling card. Lisbon sees them settling somewhat further into their own skin … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: The Walkmen | Lisbon
written by Chris Familton Dark folk music has been receiving a lot of attention over the last decade, perhaps as a response to the rise of shiny indie music. Introspection never really goes out of fashion, even if it morphs into different forms over time and Matt Bailey’s solo debut takes the template and weaves its own style with consummate skill. A former member of … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Matt Bailey | The Three I’s
written by Chris Familton Subscribing to the punk aesthetic of anyone can create music, Coolies emerged from South Auckland, New Zealand in the mid to late nineties with a rough and ready sound that combined splatter punk, deconstructed art rock and no-fi hip hop. They played shows, released a 7” and became underground heroes. Master collects a bunch of songs the trio recorded over the … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Coolies | Master
Many treated the first Grinderman LP as a dalliance, a middle-aged testosterone-fuelled anomaly that Nick Cave and cohorts had to get out of their system between Bad Seeds albums. In the intervening years both Cave and Warren Ellis have continued to strenuously assert that it is an ongoing project that runs parallel to their day job rather than being treated as a lesser child. … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Grinderman – Grinderman 2
written by Chris Familton Peabody hit album number four in fine health with no sign of slowing down or easing off on their highly strung indie rock. Perpetually underrated they’ve never really attained ‘band of the moment’ status or taken that step up to national success. They definitely have the songs here to do that, now they just need the attention. Loose Manifesto kicks off … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Peabody | Loose Manifesto
Doubtful Sounds 