Tagged: globalreach

1) Gotye - Making Mirrors Made the Cougar Microbes Top Albums of 2011 list here 2. Adele - 21 Made the Cougar Microbes Top Albums of 2011 list here 3. The Decemberists - The King is Dead Made the Cougar Microbes Top Albums of 2011 list here 4. Rufus Wainwright - House of Rufus A massive 19-disc box set of [...]

Tv On The Radio didn't take too long to follow up 20092s brilliant 'Dear Science,' and as usual didn't disappoint. This time the Brooklyn outfit set up camp on the West Coast and the sunnier climate appears to have seeped through to these tracks. With another mild change of direction the tracks on 'Nine Types Of Light' [...]

Last year I sat through a blogger and A&R roundtable organized by one of the majors in London. In between talk of "organic artist growth" and "breakout singles" The name of the Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, and more specifically Tyler, The Creator's 'Yonkers' video, came up several times as the label people seemed genuinely baffled by the success [...]

The musical superduo Ashtar Command, composed of Chris Holmes (Sir Paul McCartney's go to DJ) and Brian Liesegang (Founding member of Filter) first showed up on our radar with a track on the PS3 game 'Red Dead Redemption'. Their debut album 'American Sunshine' was an unexpected and delightful revelation. Chief Cougar Microbes collaborator Kyle hailed it [...]

It feels like it was only yesterday that we started hearing about The Decemberists. It amazes me to think that the band has released six official studio albums earning a spot amongst indie rocks biggest success stories. Cougar writer Emily added them to her list describing 'The King Is Dead' as "A folky album with [...]

A double album in this day and age is perhaps a tad over ambitious but if anyone could have pulled it off it had to be monsieur Anthony Gonzalez of M83 fame. For his sixth album outing Gonzalez succeeding in making an album that would satisfy his loyal internet following as well as imprinting itself [...]

With "Swag" seemingly chosen as the buzz word for 2011 it was appropriate that Jay-Z and Kanye West's long rumored collaboration had tons of it. . Having set the bar very high with last year's 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy' it seems anything Kanye touches turns to gold and Jay-Z also has the midas touch [...]

Bon Iver's much awaited sophomore album did not disappoint warranting a spot on numerous "Best of 20113 lists including a handful of Cougar Microbes types. Nicole justified its selection saying "Bon Iver continues to carve out his niche, and the deeper he goes the better. If the listener follows as he continues his subterranean exploration, [...]

Annie Clark's return marked the continued metamorphosis of her St. Vincent project. 'Strange Mercy' see's the Texan mix eerie instrumentation and crystal clear vocals into a delicious concoction. Cole included the album in his year end list adding "Annie Clark, performing as St. Vincent, has crafted a spellbinding third album. Perhaps it's her serene vocals [...]

It is somewhat poetic that 'We're New Here' would turn out to be Gil Scott-Heron's last release before he sadly passed away in 2011. In a career where he distinguished himself for confounding expectations it felt like the tracks from 'I'm New Here', his triumphant comeback album from 2010, where ripe to be quoted, sampled [...]

Cut Copy's latest album represents an intriguing pastiche of French house chic and indie rock adrenaline. It fuses a metronome precision traditionally associate with a "one-man-and-his-laptop" act with that warm feeling when band members feed off each other's energy. On 'Zonoscope' it is easy to lose yourself in a sea of loops and twists as Dan Whitford delivers [...]

Belgian-Australian Wally De Backer found the winning formula with his 3rd album under the Gotye moniker. 'Making Mirrors' saw the multi-instrumentalist bring his unique Sting-meets-Ceelo sampling appeal to a greater audience no doubt led by the success of lead single 'Somebody That I Used To Know. Cougar regular Emily, who also wrote this gushing review, [...]

Following the success of Fleet Foxes' debut self titled album interest in their follow up was understandably high. Cougar writer Jazmin added them to her year end list adding: "Fleet Foxes embody everything about why I love indie-folk- consistently brilliant albums, and consistently wonderful live shows, both of which combine simple musical elements to make [...]

Das Racist's free 2010 mixtapes had critics and fans scratching their heads over whether the trio were for real. The release of their official album 'Relax', while simultaneously resembling a series of elaborate in-jokes, suggests the trio are genuine enough. The Brooklyn band spit over a series of jagged beats produced by the likes of [...]

Cold War Kids' debut 'Robbers & Cowards' is an album I have given numerous plays over the years and never get tired of. It's follow up 'Loyalty To Loyalty' left me bitterly disappointed as the Californians ditched much of the angular attack that had drawn me to them in the first place. I worried Cold [...]

Apparat's, AKA Sasha Ring, latest album feels like the most natural progression for the German DJ/artist merging diverse elements from his past into an all together more ambitious vision. 'The Devil's Walk' sees a whole bunch of personalities share vocal duties but the real star is always it's creator. He builds his songs subtle string elements and [...]

The Black Keys didn't keep us waiting long for their new album reuniting with old co-conspirator Danger Mouse in the process. 'El Camino' is further proof that the duo's unlikely success is not a fluke. Cougar writer Cole added this to his top 10 explaining "'El Camino' is not The Black Keys' best album. Frankly [...]

Over 25 years have passed since the release of 'Licence To Ill' and the Beastie Boys still sound as exciting as ever. In today's musical landscape their shared delivery style is almost singular and on 'Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 2' the true New York kings are as good as they have ever been. Cougar regular Thom [...]

Deerhunter frontman Bradford Cox delivered his third official outing as Atlas Sound (if we exclude the 'Bedroom Databank' free downloads from 2010) and it does not disappoint. 'Parallax' shows similarities with Deerhunter's last opus 'Halycon Digest' while ditching some of the noisier elements for a decidedly more candid and melodic delivery. Cougar regular Olivia added [...]

Beirut's third full length album 'The Rip Tide' does not see Zach Condon divert wildly from the nostalgia tinged sounds he has offered on past efforts. Whilst introducing new ideas the bulk of this material builds on the Beirut strengths we knew and loved. Cougar scibe Jazmin added the album to her top 10 stating: [...]