Album Review: Serge Gainsbourg – Histoire De Melody Nelson (2CD+DVD Deluxe Edition)

Antoine de Caunes, presenter of 90s comedy titillater Eurotrash, famously once said: “Only one French person per generation makes it in England”. Serge Gainsbourg was that Frenchman of his generation, and like Antoine de Caunes he is today most famous for his sexually-charged material – who could forget ‘Je T’aime’? Unlike the Eurotrash man, Serge […]
There are two records on offer in this special-edition double 7” vinyl set; one each from the sister labels Fruits de Mer and Regal Crabomophone. It’s nice to see young people producing real physical things; it’s how the government wants the population to dig them out of our current economic hole. It’s refreshing too, that […]

Fruits de Mer/Regal Crabomophone – Annual 2012 (free download)

ALBUM: ODONIS ODONIS – HOLLANDAZE

Hollandaze is the debut album from Canadian, Dean Tzenos.  It was recorded in Vancouver with Black Mountain’s Colin Stewart and sent over to Brighton label FatCat Records, who were immediately galvanised into releasing the 10 track selection compiled here from the prolific newcomer, recording under the moniker Odonis Odonis. Apparently there were over 60 different […]
To reform or not to reform? For many grey-haired rockers, post-punks and Manchester indie sorts (hello Stone Roses!) the answer has of late been in the affirmative. The results of these reformations have been mixed. The Go-Betweens and Gang Of Four both picked up like they never stopped, successfully pushing their original sounds to new […]

ALBUM REVIEW: Magazine – No Thyself

Album Review: Jeffrey Lewis – A Turn In The Dream Songs

The way Jeffrey Lewis churns out near identical album one after the other leaves little room for innovative description. Musically, A Turn In The Dream Songs is pretty much the same as ‘Ere Are I. But then, in a Dylan-esque way, the music is incidental to Lewis’ appeal. It is merely a vehicle for Lewis’ […]
With Male Bonding often being described as “noise pop”, their new release, Endless Now, seems to occupy the popular, if not the cooler, end of that sub-genre’s spectrum.  The slightly rougher edges of last year’s debut, Nothing Hurts, have been ground away and the London accents smoothed out and made a little more generic.  Could […]

Album Review: Male Bonding – Endless Now

Album Review: Rinse:016 – Ben UFO

What can you write when it comes to Rinse? Anyone who has ears and a half decent taste in music will have stumbled across these boys at some point. Starting out as an online radio station, Rinse FM has proved its worth dozens of times over the past couple of years, constantly evolving and keeping […]
Skyline is Yann Tiersen’s seventh album, so perhaps it’s uncharitable to kick off by saying he is still best remembered – especially on this side of La Manche – for his score of the movie Amelie. But Christ on a bike, what a soundtrack that was – one of the few soundtracks I have actually […]

Album Review: Yann Tiersen – Skyline

Album Review: The Drums – Portamento

The new Drums album is named after a 17th Century Italian word meaning a slide between two vocal pitches, an apt name for an album, which also slides from one mood to another. The first album, Summertime!, is a release the band describe as a concept album, that while visceral and fun, lacked depth. This […]
While primal guitar and catchy lyrics may be desired at a gig or during a night on the town, at home many people are more than partial to something delicate and enigmatic. Sometimes sad, sometimes uplifting, panoramic, but never anything less than beautiful, they will find A Winged Victory for the Sullen to be just […]

Album Review: A Winged Victory For The Sullen – A Winged Victory For The Sullen