Another act that takes me back to the late 90s is the Swedish electro-pop duo Air France. Not that they were blessing the airwaves back then - simply that they capture a lot of what was good about those days. Their second EP, No Way Down , was released last year and it's a promising sign of things to come. Their music is mostly-wordless, sample-based ambient house music, perfect for lazy summer days and beach parties. A heaps of turn-of-the-century artists come to mind. "No Excuses", my favourite song on the EP, sounds like Daft Punk's "Digital [...]
Remember the late 90s when electronic music was at its popular peak and the "chill out" craze that killed downbeat music was just around the corner? I LOVED those days. This was before a million "Cafe Del Mar" and "Best Chillout Album EVER" compilations sucked the life and soul out of dubby, liquid trip-hop and replaced it with Zero 7 remixes of Coldplay songs. Good times, good times. Among the best of them was the UK's Red Snapper - a trio that played smooth drum 'n' bass with all the musicianship of a "proper" jazz outfit. Their landmark [...]
I'm going to play catch up this month, covering off some of the songs and albums that I didn't find time to cover in 2008 - or I discovered too late. First cab off the rank is Los Angeles noisepunk group The Mae Shi. I only came across their 2008 release HLLLYH a few days prior to Christmas, but it's an album that grabs you immediately. "Grab" being the operative word, because The Mae Shi's modus operandi is to bash down your door, drag you out of bed kicking and screaming down to your living [...]
It might be too early to call this the "Best Gig of 20093 when the only competition from my end was Mystery Jets last Sunday and my performance of "Even Flow" on Guitar Hero the other night, but it's tempting. I'd heard good reports of Jamie Lidell's live shows and the promise of a "5-piece band" got me all excited. There was a good feeling the moment I entered the venue. It turns out that Jamie Lidell has quite a following here in Sydney - much more so that I had realised. In fact, the [...]
It's a new year and the possibilities are pretty much endless. 2008 saw the unthinkable happen with the release of a new album from Portishead and, even more unexpectedly, Chinese Democracy . What forthcoming albums are getting you all excited? Here's the Goodnight Believer guide to artists that will (hopefully) be gracing these pages in coming months: Dates confirmed Thursday - Common Existence (February 17) Asobi Seksu - Hush (February 17) Bishop Allen - Grrr... (mid-February) Decemberists - [...]
#10 Throw Me The Statue – Moonbeam s Seattle's Throw Me The Statue are an unassuming band. They're not prone to grandiose statements or big sweeping arrangements. No, they're the latest in a long line of North American DIY diehards. Moonbeams is a delightful smashing-together of indie rock past and present, from spiky pop songs ("This Is How We Kiss", "Groundswell") to ambling tweecore ("Young Sensualists", "Your Best Friends Car") to woozy late night torch songs ("Moonbeams"). For such a low key album, it's pleasingly overloaded with joys for the listener. [...]
#20 British Sea Power – Do You Like Rock Music? Even with unappealling cover art and a clumsy album title, British Sea Power have won over more than a few critics with this effort. Coming on like the ultimate fusion of stadium rock and indie jangle, they effortlessly move between grandiose statements and intimate moments. The production is shiny but never distracting and the songs have a way of slipping past you the first time but winning you over on repeat listens with that special slow-release formulation. If you can answer yes to their question, you [...]
While the pop charts continued to lap up the likes of back-from-the-brink Britney and the usual retreads, a couple of left-of-centre artists have won the hearts of hipsters everywhere. These are new classics, songs that take the elements of great tunes past and reconfigure them into something original and special. I hope you enjoy them. #10 Guillemots – Falling Out Of Reach Guillemots may have pissed off a heap of their fans this year with a glitzy, studio-driven album in place of their previous orchestral [...]
Jason Martin's Starflyer 59 project has been the little band that could for 15 years now. From early days as "the American My Bloody Valentine" through to recent low-key pop albums, they've attracted a pretty solid fan base and can generally be assured of positive write-ups with each new album. For me, they peaked with 2003's Old - which is unfortunate because their subsequent albums have been a little bit paint-by-numbers. In particular, 2006's My Island was lacklustre, if lifted by a couple of brilliant tunes. Their latest, Dial M , has the [...]
It's that time of year apparently, and I'm caught completely off balance. Yes, it's LIST-MAKING TIME. Oh, indie rocks nerds - you do this earlier each year, it seems. Popmatters are calling for top 10s and top 5s. I did this last year and I only got asked to write up one album - Iron & Wine's The Shepherd's Dog , which came in at #57 . Who knows what will happen this year. I've got a feeling that my picks won't be anyone else's favourites. A lot of the big [...]
One of my favourite bands of jerky indie popsters are Auckland's Cut Off Your Hands. To my ears, they've got more memorable songs and more charisma than a lot of similar bands. I read a review of their debut album You and I that asked "Do we really need another Kaiser Chiefs?" Probably not, but Cut Off Your Hands are a lot more than a rip-off of better-known artists. Oddly, the album doesn't include the track of the same name, the energetic little number that won over quite a few listeners back in 2006. That disappointment [...]
Montreal's The Stills were in the right place at the right time. When they dropped Logic Will Break Your Heart in 2003, they sat on top of a wave of anthemic 80s influenced moody rock. One year after Interpol's Turn On The Bright Lights and one year before The Killers' Hot Fuzz , they were pretty much the mid point between the darker tendencies of the former and the populism of the latter. That's mostly faded and fashions have moved on. So have The Stills, more or less. They're still in love with [...]
When I first saw a live show by Lambchop, self-described as "Nashville's most fucked-up country band", they won me over in an instant. Kurt Wagner's testicular growl filled the room and his band's slow-burn take on country pop was nothing less than incandescent. After watching them hypnotise a room, Lambchop's recorded output sounded a little bit flat. They haven't been helped by a couple of albums that were a bit same-ish, especially 2006's Damaged . They're pretty songs, but they didn't reach out of the stereo and force you to pay attention. The best thing [...]
There have always been two Damien Jurados. One is the freewheeling troubador, with raucous country pop songs like "Honey Baby" or "Letters and Drawings" off Rehearsals For Departure . The other is the poet of cheated husbands with short-fuse tempers - or just about anyone whose life is plumbing the depths. His last album, And Now That I'm In Your Shadow , was all the second and his darkest work in years. It was beautiful and wise and pristine, but it had the potential to send you into a major depression for months. Fortunately for my [...]
It's absurd to think that I only discovered Josh Rouse in June, considering how much I've become obsessed with him. Maybe it's the easy familiarity of his music. It's not Japanese noisenik tech-house or anything - it's intelligent, laidback pop music of the kind that you and your dad can agree on. This is a serious compliment, as far as I'm concerned. He hit the ground running with a stellar run of albums and EPs in the early century - now anthologised in The Rykodisc Years , a pretty impressive double-CD compilation of his work to 2005. [...]
I don't know about you, but sometimes I go through phases of indifference to music. While I still listen to it, it doesn't move me and I'm really only pressing play out of habit. And then a band comes along and shakes you out of your ennui. Like the first time I heard Silent Alarm . New Jersey's Titus Andronicus have done something like that for me this weekend. My ipod was skipping through some new music on random and out of my speakers blasted an epic of distorted fury - with a real tune half-hidden within [...]
While he's nowhere near as famous as fellow Gothenburg resident Jens Lekman (a Goodnight Believer favourite), Kristoffer Ragnstam is a pop songwriter to watch. He's got a knack for writing songs that bypass melody and obvious hooks - but still manage to worm their way into your ear. Case in point was last year's "Breakfast By The Mattress". It starts off with Ragnstam's curious falsetto and some noodly drum work. Then the pieces start to come together and it somehow becomes a delicious bit of retro-pop confectionary. This year, he's doing it all again, particularly with [...]
Somehow in all their years of existence, I'd never heard a Mendoza Line song - and I'd laboured under the impression that they were emo. I wonder why? They're kind of country rock, if anything. Now they've broken up, mainly due to the marital split of frontpeople Tim Bracy and Shannon McArdle. From what I've read, Tim was the one who walked out - so Shannon recorded an album all about what a shitty year she's had. It's a harrowing listen, as break-up albums that aren't Fleetwood Mac generally are, but it's intriguing and gritty and [...]
A 2008 re-issue that has surprised me in a number of ways is the new double-disc version of Jimmy Eat World's Bleed American . I didn't pay a lot of attention to Jimmy Eat World at the time. They seemed too popular, too catchy, too...something. "The Middle" was something of a guilty pleasure, but it never occurred to me to listen to the rest of the album, still less to track down the b-sides. Maybe I'm more open-minded nowadays - I'm certainly aware that catchiness and accessibility aren't downsides. So here we are, 7 years after the [...]
At first glance, Motor City popsters PAS/CAL are impossibly precious. The cover art for their long-awaited debut I Was Raised On Matthew, Mark, Luke and Laura has a guy who looks a bit like Jarvis Cocker. Their song titles are long and MFAish. They really could be your typical twee pop band, so much so that you might wonder why you'd bother with them when you already own every Belle and Sebastian record. You'd be missing out if you made that call, though. They're very clever and endearing, it's true, and you'll get a serious sugar [...]
Goodnight Believer
James Blake – Live Album
Childish Gambino - "Heartbeat" (Official Music Video)
Gang Colours – Fancy Restaurant
Circo Voador anuncia shows de The Kooks, Foster The People, Friendly Fires, Gogol Bordello e mais
