February 2011
12 posts
1 tag
February Playlist
Some fantastic new albums in February, not least James Blake’s eponymous and long-awaited debut. A welcome return for Conor Oberst in his Bright Eyes format too alongside a great debut from former Cajun Dance Party members in Yuck. A strong month for the Welsh too with a poppy return from SFA’s Gruff Rhys and Euros Childs side project, Jonny, with Norman Blake from Teenage...
4 tags
Yuck - Yuck →
Sometimes I make the decision to blog a new album based on just one song. Get Away, the lead track from this album, made me do just that. Yuck are a 5-piece from London that have managed to exactly replicate the sound of early-90s US indie-rock. Elements of Sonic Youth, Pavement and Dinosaur Jr shine brightly on this fuzzy and guitar-laden debut record from former members of the lighter and...
5 tags
Gruff Rhys - Hotel Shampoo →
When you first check-in to Hotel Shampoo it sounds like you’ve been washed up on the shores of the Gruff Rhys’s subconscious dreamworld. The prolific SFA frontman delves deeper into his own indulgences here, inspired by everything from tropicalia to psychedelia and jazz to straight up pop tunes. And, unsurprisingly, the result is warm, melodic and whimsical collection of tunes that...
4 tags
The Cave Singers - No Witch →
Rustic, wine and adventure indie, I’d call it. It has a peculiarly ‘now’ feel, but carries bits and pieces of Led Zeppelin and channels the 60s at times. A layer of Devendra Banhart warbles and the occasional gospel flavor keep you guessing. Good for driving in your VW bus, good for getting ready for the night where things are sure to turn philosophical.
4 tags
Bright Eyes - The People's Key →
By combining the lyrical honesty of I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning (their best album in this writer’s opinion) and a poppier approach to songs, The People’s Key takes Bright Eyes to a whole new level. The synth-driven epicness on display, particularly on lead single Shell Games, interspersed by ominous sections of spoken word make this a thoroughly enjoyable and engaging...
6 tags
James Blake - James Blake →
Coming to James Blake late after all the hype might in this case have been a good thing. No preconceptions. The fact is that this is a stunning album of spacious and potent music. Notionally a dubstep record and sparsely decorated with booming bass and an echo that could fill a stadium the tracks on James Blake’s eponymous album are really held together by his voice; haunting, beautiful and...
5 tags
Pete Yorn - Pete Yorn →
Despite relative prolificacy since his 2001 breakthrough, musicforthemorningafter, Pete Yorn is yet to release another album that’s quite as memorable. Unfortunately this album is no different with a distinct lack of interesting tracks amid the earnest singer-songwriter-Springsteen-wannabee-rockin’ that’s going on. Having said that, with the exception of the quite painful...
4 tags
Tapes 'n Tapes - Outside →
Tapes ‘n Tapes are very reminiscent of The Walkmen for me. Not necessarily in sound, although there are some parallels in the solid indie rock territory they co-occupy, but in the way they’ve consistently put out well produced and catchy albums just under the radar of the mainstream. Perhaps that’s why Pitchfork doesn’t really like them - not new enough to be exciting but...
5 tags
Real Estate - Real Estate →
OK, so here’s another one out of the archives that just seemingly made it onto Spotify. Real Estate are a three-piece from New Jersey whose self-titled debut album is full of uplifting jangly pop with a slight lo-fi aesthetic that pre-empted much of 2010’s hipster buzz theme. It is somewhat reminiscent of Surfer Blood with a sharper sense of pop, being both trendy and nostalgic at the...
5 tags
Jonny - Jonny →
Jonny is the bastard child of Euros Childs (formerly lead singer of Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci) and Norman Blake (from Teenage Fanclub). And boy does it sound like it. A record of sweet and simple pleasures, this is unadulterated indie pop with more than a whiff of each’s signature sounds through their shared vocal duties. Not likely to encourage a quitting of day jobs but enough to...
4 tags
Princeton - Cocoon Of Love →
With it’s deeply melodic chamber pop, Princeton’s Cocoon Of Love is a simple but wonderful record. The most obvious references are Jens Lekman, due to the swooning orchestration and baritone vocals, and The Essex Green, a psychadelic indie-pop Elephant6 band from the early 2000s whose interlaced boy-girl vocals are replicated almost tone for tone here. Put simply, it’s just a...
5 tags
White Fence - Is Growing Faith →
White Fence is the nom de plume adopted by Tim Presley of The Strange Boys for his solo work. Unlike the brash nature of his main band, Is Growing faith is an understated and endearing record, reminiscent of some of Graham Coxon’s folkier moments with a healthy sprinkling of 60s-era Britpop - some tracks could easily have been lifted from a Kinks B-side collection. Ultimately, his garage...
January 2011
14 posts
1 tag
January 2011 Playlist
With Team HotSpotMusic on holiday for most of the month, updates came thin and slowly.
However, in the six albums that did get posted there’s a couple of crackers: the new Decemberists album is staying on repeat, whilst LCD sessions are always in demand. Not to mention a dazzling debut by Montreal band: Braids.
February’s looking pretty hot too so stay tuned…
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