1 2 3 4 5 reviewed for FasterLouder Mr Tom Waits is a curious and pretty unique character. Over the years he has had many accusations leveled at him with regard to his appropriation of the blues and his hobo/gin joint piano man image. Some see it as a completely constructed act that attempts to convince the listener of an authenticity that isn’t genuine. Others … Continue reading REVIEW: TOM WAITS – Glitter And Doom Live
1 2 3 4 5 Reviewed for The Dwarf Want a history lesson of British music of the last forty years? Well take a journey with Anton Newcombe and his band of merry men on their new album Who Killed Sgt. Pepper? It could just be their most realised album to date and also one of their most adventurous. There are clues to the bigger … Continue reading REVIEW: THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE – Who Killed Sgt. Pepper
1 2 3 4 5 Reviewed for FasterLouder Its been a great year for krautrock with the release of the Kraftwerk remastered albums, the amazing explorations of the new Flaming Lips record and now, late in the year, the release of the debut album by Bristol’s Beak>. The main attention is obviously focused on the involvement of Geoff Barrow, he of Portishead fame, who predominately plays drums on … Continue reading REVIEW: BEAK>
1 2 3 4 5 Reviewed for FasterLouder One could almost take the title of Devendra Banhart’s latest album as a defeatist statement; the acknowledgment that he is still searching with his music and is himself unsure of where he is heading. Some parts of What Will We Be back that statement up, especially 4 of the last 5 songs which are Banhart on autopilot, … Continue reading REVIEW: DEVENDRA BANHART – What Will We Be
1 2 3 4 5 Reviewed for The Dwarf Metal is one of the few genres that should always be taken with a grain of salt. From the poodle rockers to the thrash metallers and the po-faced post-metal moodists there is the overwhelming impression of people taking themselves too seriously. Fans of metal either fall into the category of obsessive listeners who are dazzled by … Continue reading REVIEW: SLAYER – World Painted Blood
1 2 3 4 5 Reviewed for FasterLouder Here we are entering the 2nd decade of the 21st century and surveying the musical landscape there is a noticeable absence of what we used to call ‘rock stars’ leading the way forward. The big names like U2 and Coldplay are stuck in a rut, Kings Of Leon have veered a little too close to becoming a … Continue reading REVIEW: Them Crooked Vultures
1 2 3 4 5 Odawas have reduced to a duo on The Blue Depths, their third album, and in doing so they have also stripped back their sound to reveal a lush and austere collection of songs. On first listen it is hard to penetrate the shiny surface of the music as it drifts by, but on further listening a depth and beauty emerges … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: ODAWAS | The Blue Depths
1 2 3 4 5 Russian Circles are proponents of the metallic side of post-rock where the peaks and roughs are the largest in the genre. They take up some of the same spaces as Mogwai, Tool, Isis and Najda but they never tend to ape or drift too close to any one of those progenitors. Geneva is 7 tracks of instrumental mood and impending … Continue reading album review: russian circles – geneva
1 2 3 4 5 Sydney’s Richard In Your Mind have just dropped the first release for their new label Rice Is Nice. Summertime EP is a gumbo stew of styles and instruments that feels frenetic, schizophrenic, fun and fearless. For now at least it is a fresh blast of cut and paste indie hip hop and funk that dually serves the feet and the … Continue reading REVIEW: RICHARD IN YOUR MIND – Summertime EP
Diary 1 2 3 4 5 LP2 1 2 3 4 5 reviewed for FasterLouder Sunny Day Real Estate were a ‘best kept secret’ for many years, especially in these parts of the world, so it is interesting to see the attention they are now getting and the level of cult fandom they have achieved. I first came into contact with them in the mid … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: SUNNY DAY REAL ESTATE – Diary & LP2
1 2 3 4 5 Reviewed for The Dwarf Shoegaze is genre that has been going through somewhat of a renaissance in the last few years. On the local scene you have the likes of The Laurels admirably resurrecting a sound that was at its peak when the band were probably still in nappies. Internationally there has been a revival led by acts like A … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS – Exploding Head
1 2 3 4 5 Richard Youngs is an experimental, avantgarde English musician based in Glasgow who has been releasing both his own music and the recordings of others (via his No Fans Records label) since the 80s. His latest release on Jagjaguwar is a hypnotic collection of songs that hang in the air and focus primarily on the voice. Youngs’ voice has a haunting, … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: RICHARD YOUNGS – Under Stellar Stream
Doubtful Sounds 