The summer of 2003 was a hot one in eastern Washington, and my concrete bunker of an apartment contained the heat like no other. Granted, the above image wasn't shot by yours truly until 2004, but it sure seemed hot enough to ignite even the least combustible of items. I wrapped up my undergraduate that December, which was cold as Antarctica, and upon that milestone I moved to Seattle. It was a good year for the Northwest; many of my favorite albums came from Seattle labels like Sub Pop and Barsuk. As for the list, I've [...]
Next years will see the rather wonderful Chemikal Underground record label hitting the ripe old age of 15, and to celebrate they will be hosting their own night as part of Celtic Connections. Taking place on Sunday the 31st of January, the line up boasts an array of talent from their roster, including the debut live performance of The Unwinding Hours, the band formed by ex-members of Aerogramme . The line up in full looks like something like this The Unwinding Hours Lord [...]
Lazy posting today. Here's a straight lift from wikipedia :- Originally formed in 1998 while on a break from The Wedding Present, Cinerama started as a duo of Gedge and his then-girlfriend Sally Murrell . The initial releases were a break from previous Gedge records as they featured soundtrack-like arrangements and string and woodwind accompaniment. Live performances included a lot of musicians to play these orchestral/pop songs. Over the years though the sound changed back to more of a rock sound, especially [...]
Jay Reatard tiene las cosas claras. Adolescentemente claras. Algunas semanas atrás, en su cuenta de Twitter, proclamaba lo siguiente: "Brooklyn, ¡quédate en silencio! La mayoría de tus bandas apestan y todos ustedes son unos wannabe" . Y tenga razón o no, lo cierto es que ese alegato teenager se traduce por completo en su nuevo disco, Watch Me Fall . Reatard condensa acá rabia juvenil, urgencia púber y canciones de tres acordes rodeadas de un aura power-pop, con riffs contagiosos y estribillos alegres. Dejando a un lado el punk más ruidoso de su disco anterior [...]
As you know, you can depend on Altrok every day for a great mix of new music and classic alternative - dipping into today's selection, I can see we've got tracks queued up from The Temper Trap, Echo & The Bunnymen, The Wombats, Thomas Dolby, King Crimson (the later, funkier version) , The National, Emma Pollock, Peter Doherty, Kid British, The Bouncing Souls, The Sea And Cake, La Roux, Ex-Lion Tamer, The Thompson Twins (the earlier, more anarchic version) , Good Shoes, The Shout Out Louds and 110 other bands... ...and that's [...]
It's been almost a decade since Andrew Bird has come to Edinburgh, previous trips to Scotland taking him west to Glasgow where a better choice of venues are available. But while Glasgow has musical variety and a great and bustling music scene to offer, Edinburgh has space and landscapes, places to easily escape, even when the streets are hectic with Festival-goers. And to me, this works in favour of Bird's music. Though the material on Armchair Apocrypha seemed to at times go against the a world full of aeroplanes and technological (and scientific) advances in life, Noble [...]
Bugger me, not since the days of following Symposium around the country, (yes Symposium, got a problem with that?!) have I felt any sort of urge to go to Aberdeen, until now that is. As part of this years Sound, the North Easts new-ish Festival, Chemikal Underground are having a bit of a shin-dig up at the Lemon Tree in Aberdeen. This very special show will feature The Phantom Band Emma Pollock Aidan Moffat Martin John Henry (ex-De Rosa) [...]
The Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival, which includes the rather brilliant 'Music Like a Vitamin' concerts, returns this year running from 1 – 22 October 2009. Details of the programme will be announced officially on Tuesday the 1st of September, however details of some of the shows have already started to filter out. Karine Polwart and Emma Pollock are the first acts to be 'announced' for the opening show at the Glasgow Fruitmarket on the 1st of October. Then on the 21st of October, Edinburgh is treated to the delights of the Attic [...]
Vor vier Jahren hat sich die schottische Indiepop-Insitution The Delgados aufgelöst. Nach Emma Pollock hat nun auch Sänger Alun Woodward ein Solo-Album veröffentlicht. Lord Cut-Glass nennt sich das neue Projekt des Ex-Delgados Frontmann und Chef von Chemikal Underground , eines der coolsten Labels des Planeten (Arab Stap, Mogwai, The Phantom Band). Das neue Werk unterscheidet sich nicht grundlegend von "Universal Audio", der letzten Platte der Delgados, ist aber vielseitiger, verschrobener und zum Teil noch orchestraler als seine alte Band. Diese Vielseitigkeit ist zwar interessant, gleichzeitig aber auch die [...]
It's funny, you really can hear so much of the Delgados in this. Given that, after Emma Pollock's solo album last year, this is the product of the other half of that split, that's no surprise of course, but as a fan of the Delgados it is quite strange to hear so much of their sound in something that is in many ways rather different. Looking at the respective solo work and then back at the Delgados themselves it seems mean to say, but the removal of Pollock's earnest piano balladry has done this music no harm at [...]
Während Emma Pollock ihr erstes Soloalbum knapp zwei Jahre nach dem Ende der Delgados rausbrachte, war es um Alun Woodward, den anderen Sänger und Songschreiber der schottischen Überband, lange Zeit still. Irgendwann tauchten mal vereinzelt Stücke unter dem Pseudonym Lord Cut-Glass auf, doch erst letzte Woche erschien sein eben so betiteltes Soloalbum. Und es ist verständlich dass das Zeit brauchte, stellenweise orchestraler als es die Delgados je waren geht Woodward hier zu Werke, vorab anhören kann man sich das Ganze nun auch bei 3voor12. [Stream] Lord Cut-Glass - Lord Cut-Glass
The Pop Cop recently had a candid conversation with Peter Kelly, aka BEERJACKET , in which we discussed the possibility of him leaking his then soon-to-be-released new album, Animosity, onto the internet. Surely a man in his position, with a loyal but local fanbase, would have more to gain by allowing his songs to reach the widest possible audience. After all, how many folk actually pay for music these days? And if record labels no longer know how to make money from records, what chance has he got? [...]
You may have guessed by now that we're rather partial to this band from the North of England. Have really enjoyed watching them grow and with the arrival of their newest EP 'Misfortunes & Minor Victories' it seems they are ready to take on the world. In Hazel Wilde and Adam Sykes Lanterns on the Lake may have just become the first pairing to capture the magic that so often spun from the Delgados' Emma Pollock and Alun Woodward. 'Giants' is big and bold yet still retains the sense of beauty that gives much of LOTL's its heart-warming quality. The [...]
The Line Up for this years West End Festival has just been announced, with loads of great gigs in store for Glasgow gig-goers. Here are some of the gigs that I reckon might be worth checking out 16th - Kid Canaveral at Oran 16th - Nacional at the Captains Rest 17th - Beerjacket at Oran Mor 18th - French Wives at the Captains Rest 23rd - De Rosa at Oran Mor 24th - Emma Pollock at the Captains Rest 24th - Ross Clark at Oran Mor 25th - Wavves/Mitchell Museum/Cassidy at the Captains Rest [...]
I love Homegame. Have I mentioned that before? For the uninitiated, the Fence Collective 's Homegame Festival is held once a year in the small fishing village of Anstruther in Fife (well, it used to be a fishing village but it seems to be largely touristy now - neighbour Pittenweem seems to be more of a working harbour). A huge pile of Fence Records acts, bolstered by friends and neighbours, get together and play lots of gigs in the town halls, school halls and beer halls of the town, and about six hundred or so lucky punters [...]
If you are fan of one or maybe more of these bands (as I guess), have a stop at the daytrotter and get the 4 song sessions of them! Incredible concept, incredible acceptance, incredible songs... Congretulations! ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead (Mar 3, 2008) The 1900s (Feb 11, 2008) 31 Knots (May 9, 2007) A Faulty Chromosome (Apr 12, 2009) A Place to Bury Strangers (Mar 25, 2008) The A-Sides (Jan 9, 2008) A.A. Bondy (May 21, 2008) About (Mar 5, 2007) The Acorn (Feb 22, 2009) Adam Green [...]
Image: Your personal moon River's Edge - Great Lake Swimmers Put There by the Land (live) - Great Lake Swimmers Great Lake Swimmers is a maddening band to invest anything-- time, money, energy-- in. For the several here-and-there brilliant, breathtaking songs ("Moving Pictures, Silent Films," "Where In the World Are You," "Your Rocky Spine") there are many times that number in [...]
I was talking to a friend about great movie looks -- as in expressions, like the one on Jeff Daniels's face in Speed as he discovered the bomb that was about to introduce him to his Maker -- and we digressed into the even richer conversational terrain of awesome movie reactions, which led to an evaluation of Oscar clips (some of the most effective ones feature incredibly moving reactions as opposed to actions). I was sorely disappointed this year that the Academy dumped the Oscar clips in favor of having previous winners in each category [...]
![Owls: Daughters And Suns [Album Review]](http://cache.elbo.ws/posts/1654672_lg.jpg)
Despite being released in 2004, "Air" off Our Hopes And Dreams by The Owls was one of the frequented songs in my playlist last summer. The song maintains its pedestal spot as "Best Song By The Owls," despite the recent release of Daughters And Suns . But where Our Hopes And Dreams as a whole maintained brevity in terms of my attention, Daughters And Suns finds the Minneapolis band with many more repeat plays. The biggest difference between Our Hopes [...]
new music from vampire weekend – cousins + music video
WKND PLYLST!! This has nothing to do with NEW MOON!
Friday Five: Surf Songs
HOT CHIP TAKE another crack at IT and I’m IN
The Beach House Theory of 2k10.
