written by Chris Familton J Mascis solo versus J Mascis guitarist/singer of Dinosaur Jr isn’t the massive shift in rock that you would expect from someone who trades in extremes of texture, noise, sonics and melody with that band. He has dropped the drums, dialed back the bite and growl of his distortion pedals (for the most part) and brought his plaintive, aching voice to … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: J Mascis | Several Shades Of Why
written by Chris Familton Recent visitors to these shores, Those Darlins impressed with their loose and rollicking live shows and they’ve followed it up with a great sophomore album in Screws Get Loose. This time round they’ve found a better balance between tongue in cheek lyrics, rocking guitars and their blend of garage rock and country music – barn rock? The album opens with two … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Those Darlins | Screws Get Loose
written by Chris Familton Through consistency and a single-minded vision for his music Jamie Hutchings has slowly built an impressive body of solo work post Bluebottle Kiss. Avalon Cassettes is another stellar collection of pure and poetic Australiana songs that confirms Hutchings’ stature as a songwriter of the same quality and ilk as the likes of Dirty Three, Gareth Liddiard and Nick Cave. Over the … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Jamie Hutchings | Avalon Cassettes
written by Chris Familton British Sea Power have always been a curious band with their inventive stage costumes, gig locations and a seemingly grab-bag approach to the form their music takes at any given time. Their early anthems like Remember Me led many to paint them as rousing post punk Brits in the vein of Franz Ferdinand but they would then take a left turn … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: British Sea Power | Valhalla Dancehall
written by Chris Familton It is rare these days that a debut album comes along that pricks up the ears and makes you stop what you are doing and take a closer listen. Sure there are heaps of great first time releases coming out all the time but they usually fit into ‘flavour of the month’ boxes or have been hyped so we already know … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Anna Calvi | Anna Calvi
written by Chris Familton Oh the pressure of being touted as the next best thing and one of the great hopes of 2011. Time will tell if Cloud Nothings (Dylan Baldi) will become as popular as many say he should be but in terms of the ‘is he any good?’ question the answer is yeah, the 19 year old kid from Cleveland who draws from … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Cloud Nothings | Cloud Nothings
written by Chrs Familton In recent years there has been a plethora of new female singer songwriters like Joanna Newsom and Feist emerging to much acclaim. You can add the curious name Lia Ices to that list as she has created a magical, meandering and hypnotic 2nd album in Grown Unknown. Brooklyn-based Ices trades in pop-folk where subtle strains of soul, blues and jazz are … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Lia Ices | Grown Unknown
written by Chris Familton In early 1970 Syd Barrett entered Abbey Road studios and with fellow Pink Floyd David Gilmour in the production seat began the apparently laborious task of recording the tracks that would make up his second solo record Barrett. What we get here is a different kettle of fish to his first solo album The Madcap Laughs. There he continued a similar … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Syd Barrett | Barrett (reissue)
written by Chris Familton In the wake of solo outings by fellow Radioheads Thom and Jonny we are now graced with the intimate musings of drummer Philip Selway. His minimal compositions impress in that they don’t sound like a drummer trying to be a guitarist or an attention seeking singer. Instead he chooses to create moods in stark settings with affairs of the heart and … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Philip Selway | Familial
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
Doubtful Sounds 