Album Review: Efterklang – Magic Chairs
It’s a tricky thing coming at a band that you’re not entirely familiar with, that also ride on a wave of critical praise. It’s as if you have to like them, and if you don’t, your opinion is somehow defective. Nothing forces a person into their shell further than the feeling of being forced to do or think something against his or her will. When these factors are combined with the descriptive “slow burn” (as they were with previous Efterklang release Parades) it... Read More
Album Review: Arch Garrison – King Of The Down
Warm, evocative and quintessentially English, the press release’s claim that King Of The Down was recorded in pastoral Wiltshire before a crackling fire rings true here.Craig Fortnam (usually of North Sea Radio Orchestra semi-fame) weaves textured tapestries of dazzling intricacy from his guitar, fusing classical and folk stylings via nylon and steel strings, with a good helping of virtuosity. By contrast, Fortnam’s vocal melodies are simple and direct – like his folky... Read More
Album Review: Marina & The Diamonds – The Family Jewels
The beauty of the music industry is that, just when you feel that you’ve heard it all, and that you’re about to be buried under a welcome wave of apathy, some wide-eyed Turks slap your face, twist your nipples and wake you to its latent vibrancy. Marina and her spangly Diamonds are those Turks, and they’re here to remind you that there’s plenty of life in the old dog yet. Not that they’re original mind. Siouxsie Sioux, The Cocteau Twins and Kate Bush all play big parts... Read More
Album Review: The Tenebrous Liar – Jackknifed & Slaughtered
The first impression Jackknifed & Slaughtered gives you, as heralded by the macabre album title itself, is one of bristling threat. It’s as if The Tenebrous Liar don’t want you to listen to them because they fear you won’t be able to take it. You won’t be able to handle the truths enclosed, and you’ll end up as some quivering, emotionally scarred wreck in a hospital ward.Musically it’s fuzzy, messy and unenticing. They serve up their bleak message with feedback,... Read More
Album Review: You Me At Six – Hold Me Down
You’ve no doubt at some point caught yourself thinking, in-between episodes of Gilmore Girls, “What if Fall Out Boy came from Weymouth in Sussex?” Well what started out as a mere hiccup in your bored brain has convinced itself into reality, in the form of band You Me At Six. Hold Me Down is the band’s second studio album, and when Branson was flying past Weymouth in his hot air balloon and heard them recording he knew two things: 1. He should not fly so close to the... Read More
Album Review: Codeine Velvet Club – Codeine Velvet Club
Some albums take a bit of getting used to, some are an instant rush, and some get better with each play. This joy of 11 tracks manages all three. It’s difficult to pin down as it gyrates from the foot stomping indie pop of ‘Little Sister’, to waltz-like ‘Nevada’, to the eerie ‘Reste Avec Moi’, but it’s all the more enjoyable for it as the whole album hooks you with its jaunty rhythms and the bouncy vocals.From beginning to end you’re... Read More
Album Review: Tanja Maritsa – Fragile
If I was going to review an album by the physical quality of the promotional material, Fragile would be the finest album of all time. It arrived by special delivery. Inside the reinforced A4 cardboard envelope was a translucent plastic wallet. Inside that I discovered to my delight four different press releases printed on paper where light glistened off the front, and my hands glided across velvety backing. This was the caviar of the paper world fit for royalty and the gods.... Read More
Album Reviews: Metronomy – Pip Paine (Pay the £5000 You Owe)
Music that sounds like a computer going insane is a bit of a hard sell. When my computer goes potty and starts emitting unearthly forlorn bleeps it makes me want to kick the ridiculous contraption to pieces, whilst laughing maniacally.Kudos to Metronomy then for managing to change a very similar sound from an object of annoyance into a very cool object, an object that could turn up uninvited to an exclusive party in a city penthouse and be mysterious and make girls swoon. This... Read More
Album Review: Moby – Wait For Me (Deluxe Edition)
Maybe it’s unlikely that anything Moby releases can top the mega success of his Play LP, but Wait For Me’s charms lie in the fact that it doesn’t really try. Moby’s chilled-out tunes still sound as if they were concocted in the late 1990s where genres mixed and matched in the holy cause of the greatest come down ever. It’s been almost two decades since Richard Melville Hall adopted the Moby persona.Since then he’s had elements of a celebrity lifestyle including famous... Read More
Album Review: The Gilded Palace of Sin – Your Break Our Hearts, We’ll Tear Yours Out
Cinematic in scope and Gothic in mood, The Gilded Palace Of Sin forge modern day blues from sparse arrangements and a willingness to approach ambitious metaphysical themes beyond standard relationship squabbles.Singer Pete Phythian has a characterful, lived-in voice, though sometimes his vocal melodies are a little too rudimentary and syllabically out of step. The band’s alchemic flair for atmospherics helps compensate for this, though there is the feeling that some of these... Read More
