Tagged: review

It's hard to consider Radar Eyes' self-titled debut anything other than a pop record. While Radar Eyes is an amalgamation of garage, psychedelic and punk rock, the band manages to tightly piece those distinct sounds together. The album maybe rough around the edges tonally, but it's crystal clear in delivering a melodic palette, which provides just the right amount of catchiness and accessibility without losing that rock and roll edge. While Radar Eyes touch on the acidic nature of Spacemen 3 or [...]

Planet High School , the whimsically-titled new album from Brooklyn-based producer and DJ Mux Mool (real name: Brian Lindgren), explores wonkiness in all its woozy glory. Filtered synths, lazily stretched drum loops, and clattering percussion rule the album, which might be better characterized as a sort of abstract beat tape: it's entirely instrumental and rhythmic almost to a fault, something you can consistently nod your head to. On first blush, the influence of hip-hop beatsmiths such as J Dilla and Madlib spring to mind, but on further listening, the headphone-funk of the Neptunes and Timbaland seems to be closer to [...]

Tom Honey didn't do himself any favours by naming his ambient project after the translated title of a Sigur Rós song - to compare his music to the work to that Icelandic band is such an obvious get-out-of-jail-free card when discussing his music. Good Weather For An Airstrike is only ever really influenced by Sigur Rós, though; let me make that clear. While they both make music that is by turns introspective and euphoric, Honey's creations are far more grounded in ambience. I know what some of you will be thinking at this point: "Ambient music is inconsequential! [...]

Photos by G. Cate Le Bon On February 9, 2012, Welsh singer Cate Le Bon performed at New York's Mercury Lounge. Telling the audience how much fun she was having seeing us "hot pieces of asses," Cate Le Bon played an hour long set that featured songs from her records "Me Oh My" and 20122s "Cyrk." If you are unfamiliar with Cate Le Bon's music, here's a brief primer. First off, she's not related to Duran Duran lead singer Simon Le Bon (ha!) Musically, she is a [...]

The music label of psychedelic breakbeat and technological funksters, Broken Robot Records like up and coming talent, and next week we see a debut double AA single EP from their new signing Bad Tango who seems to be able to deliver exactly the kind of psybreaks head-honcho Neurodriver appreciates. This is part of his Frontier Science series. Kicking off this musical influx of frenetic, synthetic tweaks and bleeps 'Arecibo Spank' begins with solid [...]

On her latest album, Brooklyn singer-songwriter Sharon Van Etten brings her fantastic voice to a higher level of production. WATCH THE REVIEW

Symbol Six, RF7, White Flag Down, The Gypz, The Perverts The Redwood, Los Angeles, CA Friday, January 27, 2012 Admission $5.00 Time: 9:00 PM This place is pretty cool to hang out, lots of seating, but if you want to see the stage get in close. There are only a couple of booths to sit at, otherwise, you're chancing the pit.. As a, somewhat, regular to this club I swoop into the parking lot, pay my $5.00, walk around the corner, and I'm in like Flynn. By [...]

Sugar's Campaign is a collaborative effort between two electronic producers from Osaka: Avec Avec (aka Takuma Hosokawa) who just reached American audiences with the genre-hopping samples of his Plastic Soul Redux 7" released through LA's Mush Records ; and Seiho , an enthusiast of dark atmospheric hip-hop production and jazz samples, who gave us his debut album Mercury last year on his recently founded label Day Tripper Records . Despite both producers' leaning towards more forward-thinking electronic sounds in their individual efforts, Sugar's Campaign's newest track is a surprising [...]

You wouldn't have thought it but Lostprophets have been together since 1997: that's a whole 15 years! What's even more remarkable is that they're still loitering around the edges of mainstream success. Yes they've had big hits with 'Last Train Home' and 'Rooftops', but they're still not headlining the O2. That said, 2012 could be the the year for the Pontypridd boyos. With their fifth studio album 'Weapons' hitting the shelves in April, Lostprophets have released the first single to tease us with. Entitled 'Bring 'Em Down', it's (as the name suggests) [...]

Portico Quartet 's self-titled third album has finally landed via Real World Records , the label originally started by Peter Gabriel back in 1989. The UK-based Portico Quartet , so named after inclement weather at an early gig called for a performance under a portico, return at the beginning of 2012 with a slight alteration in personnel. Nick Mulvey, who previously played Hang, the angelic Swiss instrument that gave distinction to Portico Quartet's early material, has left to pursue solo projects, and is replaced by ... [read more]

Witnessing Paul Rose's perpetual aesthetic evolution has been a thrilling and often confounding experience. While the UK producer best known as Scuba came into prominence making darker dubstep between 2007-8, that sound didn't define him for long. Invariably brave enough to try new styles even as the spotlight grew brighter around him, Rose has moved ever further from his starting and fully integrated his house and techno influences. Now, as his third album Personality looms on the horizon, it's somewhat difficult to believe it's made by the same guy introduced by A Mutual Antipathy . This week's [...]

• Scuba - Flash Addict

The last time The Shins put out an album the following was still true: Heath Ledger was alive, the Emergency Stabilization Act was an absurdity resting in the comfortably distant future, and Aaron Rodgers had not played a single game as the Packer's starting QB. The year was 2007, the album was the successful but underrated Wincing the Night Away . We haven't heard much from the band in the five years since (with the exception of Broken Bells - James Mercer's collaboration with Danger Mouse) so the upcoming Port of Morrow is something of an occasion for us [...]

Technically impressive, the French house duo puts together another well-crafted album that errs on the side of obtuse. Music Player (reviews): 05 [...]

Just one glimpse of the artwork adorning Paralytic Stalks, the umpteenth (read eleventh) LP from Athens, Georgia (read Kevin Barnes)'s of Montreal suggests that it's not to be the record that sanitises his, nor indeed our sanity. That's not to say that there aren't moments of the subdued or unostentatious as Barnes hops across a spectrum of stylistic categorisation like a mildly maniacal nymph even within relatively concise pieces but we wouldn't want him any other way, right? Barnes 'doing' Piaf, or Garland, or swinging while he's winning would be categorically vulgar, no? [...]

It's that time again, friends, time to gather around the table and share our thoughts on certain special albums. The subject this time is Sharon Van Etten -the woman, the myth, the legend. Alright, there's nothing really mythical about her but she is a legendary woman, and her newest album, Tramp , is released and ready for listening and debate. We have all eight of our writers contributing their thoughts here. Dig in, explore our opinions, and share your own in the comments! Sharon Van Etten / Serpents [...]

Jack White Now Playing - twice every week, a roundtable of our writers will give their views on some of the recently-released new tracks. It's a simple as that! If you want to tell us what you think of the song, feel free to leave a comment below. Track: 'Love Interruption' by Jack White Average Grade: 6.2 [...]

The Electric Soft Parade live at The Haunt, Brighton (4 Feb '12) // Words: Simon Opie There's something in the now customary live event of playing a classic album in its entirety. I've seen a few such gigs and they've always been good. But I can honestly say that this was a gig I'll never forget. It was essentially to celebrate [...]

It starts well, this experience of thickly fluctuating textures, with the excellent single Sparkly , with its shackles rattling like a tribal march into obscured horizons. The vocals are audible and offer the direction, while the blanket of sound insulates and throws up slow-mo imagery. But Young Magic (a New York based trio) don't have enough such moments on their debut. In fact, there are B-sides included on this track-list – was new material hard to come by? The group lose sight of solid ground far too often, meaning tracks like Sanctuary are [...]

Reveries may be an attempt at gazing with ethereal glasses, but the inclusion of what sounds like Chris Isaac taking on the Twin Peaks soundtrack leaves the Norwegian four-piece looking from the outside in. The Oslo group have had a rather severe line-up change since their debut Aesthetics , most notably the arrival of vocalist Rebekka Markstein. Her voice is a serene presence throughout – which is more than can be said for the sultry guitars and percussive rhythms. On tracks like Devil's Sigh it becomes clear that the band just don't have [...]

The Menzingers - On The Impossible Past By Steve McGillivray Hailing from Scranton, Pennsylvania, The Menzingers are set to release their third album and first with Epitaph Records, On The Impossible Past . The PR describes them as having a sound that fans of Frank Turner, The Hold Steady and The Gaslight Anthem would find favourable. After listening to the album it's difficult to disagree with that. I'd even thrown in a little slice of Springsteen and a sprinkling of Green Day. [...]