There are moments when you have to question your validity as a music journalist. Reviewing Radiohead is one of them. Radiohead isn’t a band; it’s an institution, and one with a fanatical membership at that. Those who care most about this release will (as they should) make their own minds up about it. So the [...]
Speaking to NME earlier this February, there was an air of apology about Freddy-and-Justin-from-the-Vaccines. As they stared hazily into space, the pair struggled over how to best describe their debut album: “I think the sound is quite immediate…” “…Yeah… yeah I don’t think it’s very… err… testing… I think you’ll know straight away whether you [...]
Nick Biggs examines Atlas Sound’s latest offering, available free @ deerhuntertheband.blogspot.com Prolificacy is not an issue for Bradford Cox. A quick scan over the recording dates for this four volume demo set is an intimidating exposition of an unusually active mind – 49 songs recorded in just a few afternoons at his home this Autumn. [...]
Girl Talk – All day (Illegal Art, 15/11/10) Of all the reasons to recommend you getting hold of this album, one stands out above the rest: it’s free. Happily, its price tag is not a reflection on its quality. Its complimentary nature is simply a means of avoiding the mess of copyright infringement that Greg [...]
Hype Williams – Find Out What Happens when People Stop Being Polite and Start Getting Reel (De Stijl, 06/12/10) Some people would say that the likes of Jack White or Thom Yorke are mysterious. I can see what they’re getting at: what could Jack be thinking of when he gets that far-off glint in his [...]
Is prison really so bad for a musician’s career? Sure, losing their human rights is bound to be a bit of a downer, but in return they get plenty of time to write new material and some colourful experiences to liven their next work. Heck, they might even sell a few sympathy records. On the [...]
Avey Tare – Down There (Paw Tracks) Down There is weird. There’s no other way of putting it. An assortment of voices take it in turns to hum and murmur, drifting in and out from behind dampened drum beats and an unlikely assortment of electronic rumbles and gurgles. But then again, would you expect anything [...]
Kanye West is never far from controversy. If he isn’t speculating that “George Bush doesn’t care about black people”, it’s probably because he’s busy accusing MTV of institutional racism. It’s flavoured opinions such as these that have cast him as a divisive figure in the world of pop music, and there’s no shortage of evidence [...]
Deerhunter Halcyon Digest 4AD 28/9/10 Halcyon Digest will be the album to propel Deerhunter from their position as interesting indie outsiders into the front line of progressive, experimental pop music. Possibly. Halcyon Digest is a good album, very good in fact. But if making good music alone were enough to win popular acclaim, Bradford Cox, [...]
Nick Biggs gets to grips with Brooklynite rockers Vivian Girl Getting to the heart of a band, finding out what makes them tick, can be no easy feat. The challenge is made doubly hard when the artists in question appear to hold apparently paradoxical sides to themselves. Vivian Girls’ music is simple and yet complicated, [...]
