August 2011
15 posts
4 tags
Blood Orange - Coastal Grooves →
Blood Orange is the latest incarnation of Dev Hynes, the man formerly behind Test Icicles and Lightspeed Champion. With each shedding of his musical skin, Hynes’s act is part snake and part chameleon, changing his act to blend in with the prevailing trends - not to get lost in the background but to be heard and to be current. On Coastal Grooves he keeps the whimsy of Lightspeed Champion...
4 tags
The Ladybug Transistor - Clutching Stems →
The ever-consistent The Ladybug Transistor add another feather to their bow and fire in a pretty straight trajectory, without quite hitting bullseye. Clutching Stems, the seventh studio album from the rotating cast of members that makes up TLT, is a fine set of indie pop songs but is light on the grander, psych-tinged elements that graced their finest work (see 1999’s The Albemarle Sound)...
5 tags
Other Lives - Tamer Animals →
Tamer Animals has a grand, storytelling feel to it. As if creating another life right in front of you as you listen throughout the album. Much like Pepper Rabbit yesterday, Other Lives do this with a lush soundscape, moving, shifting, evolving with every beat. It’s not clear exactly what this is a soundtrack to, what Jesse Tabish is trying to tell you but you’re hooked anyway....
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Pepper Rabbit - Red Velvet Snow Ball →
Let this be stated up front: Red Velvet Snow Ball has very swiftly become one of my favourite albums of the year so far. It’s full of gorgeously orchestrated songs rich with layer upon layer of not-so-hidden depth and tapping a bounty of genres from the psychdelic pop of The Flaming Lips and Grandaddy to the cosmic folk of Sufjan Stevens via the New Orleans-ian use of the brass section...
5 tags
Sebadoh - The Sebadoh →
Even though it’s probably not their best album I have something of a soft spot for The Sebadoh. Back when Britpop had run out of steam and I’d got past a brief grunge phase, Sebadoh appeared on Top of the Pops (in an episode that, looking back, seems to perfectly capture the musical zeitgeist of the pre-millenium ages) and performed Flame. A dirty, driving song built around a...
5 tags
Various Artists - Tape Fear →
@Spotinews posted this one a long time ago but I just got round to checking it out. Put out by Fierce Panda to celebrate 17 years of supporting great independent music, Tape Fear (which is also available as a tape) is a collection of 17 of their favourite C86 inspired, fuzzy rock artists currently operating below the scenes. All of these bands would’ve been at home on the cassette (or...
4 tags
Bodies of Water - Twist Again →
Though many of their songs take on different styles, the whole body of water if you will is consistently well made. Sometimes songs highlight Meredith Metalf’s sweet and strong out-of-the 1960s voice, sometimes David’s almost theater-esq style and other times joining together for another full, orchestral gospel-indie sound. What saves Bodies of Water from sounding like every other...
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Chad Valley - Equatorial Ultravox →
Doing what Hot Chip and Caribou could never do on their own for electronic-loving indie lovers, Hugo Manuel (actual name) brings a much needed bit of rhythm to the summer music circuit (and your speakers). Smooth, melodic, easy-to-follow for those of us who like our music to sound like it took some talent or math or both to create, Hugo/Chad is cool and hip like a dancing ice cube. Also,...
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About Group - Start and Complete →
About About Group: The brainchild of Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor and several of his contemporaries (including members of Spiritualized and This Heat), About Group is an intriguing side project. Recorded in one day to maximise the spontaneity (although unlike their first recording together Taylor sent out rough demos in advance), it’s a smooth, improvised journey through their wandering...
5 tags
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! - Clap Your Hands Say... →
Sunday Sermons
A relatively recent album to be indicted into the Sunday Sermons having been released in 2005, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! was not only a fantastic album but also something of a watershed moment. Back in the day when music blogs were still finding their feet in the mainstream music press, Brooklyn’s CYHSY! very quickly shot from nowhere to be one of the most talked about acts...
6 tags
The Bluegrass Tribute To The Shins →
I just hit the motherload. Whilst searching for news on the new Shins album (which according to reports looks like it’s due early next year) I stumbled upon The Bluegrass Tribute To The Shins. With a penchant for feudin’ banjos, my weakness had been exploited and I’ve found a treasure trove of not just takes on Shins songs, but a whole series dedicated to popular classics,...
5 tags
Vetiver - The Errant Charm →
Vetiver, led by Andy Cabic, have just realised their best album since 2008’s Thing of the Past. Sounding very much like the soft rock of the 70s but with an alt.country twang that keeps things interesting, The Errant Charm is perfect road trip music for a journey along the west coast of America. Provided its lazy summer haze doesn’t encourage you to drift off into a dream state...
2 tags
Indie Animals Collection: Ungulates
Time for the second installment in the Indie Animals series. Inspired by a certain equine band whose presence will be reignited tonight, this week we’re focusing on the fine-hoofed animal species of the Ungulate family. The melting pot of the animal kingdom, the ungulate takes in all manner of creatures from the humble pony to the mighty steed. And as such is fertile breeding ground for...
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Bon Iver - Bon Iver →
Bon Iver’s eponymous second album has obviously been out for a little while now but I hadn’t posted yet because I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. Now I am. And I think it’s simply this: Bon Iver is an okay record. A lot of hype has surrounded it but to my ears (and these are ears that we’re particularly taken with For Emma, Forever Ago) that is mostly...
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The Voluntary Butler Scheme - The Grandad Galaxy →
Rob Jones, the bedroom magician of sonic wonders otherwise known to the world as The Voluntary Butler Scheme has pulled another rabbit out of his hat, this time painted in a technicolour dream, with The Grandad Galaxy. Whilst At Breakfast, Dinner, Tea was all about the pop perfection, his follow-up (which unlike its predecessor does actually sound like it was recorded by himself on charity shop...