ALBUM: The National – High Violet

There is a weight of expectation surrounding High Violet, the fifth album from Brooklyn based band The National.  After a couple of false starts, Alligator (2005) jolted the band out of obscurity, gaining them a cult following and critical adulation. Boxer (2007) was a much grander and better produced effort, which, whilst not quite hitting the same euphoric highs as Alligator, allowed the […]
Manchester band Airship’s ‘Algebra EP’ sounds like it was made by taking the 90′s indie scene and putting it in a blender, but it’s clearly for the modern audience. It fits well alongside the new wave of Scottish bands like ‘Band of Horses’, ‘We Were Promised Jetpacks’ and ‘Twin Atlantic’ (whom Airship recently supported). ‘Algebra’ […]

ALBUM: Airship – Algebra EP

ALBUM: White Belt Yellow Tag – Methods

From one of the worst named bands in a long while comes one of the most boring album titles.  Perhaps this is a deliberate plan from the man who brought you one fifth of Yourcodenameis:milo.  Forget the flashy name and catchy titles let the music do the talking.  The early signs are good, the NME […]
If this is your first taste of Kitsuné, you’d be forgiven for being a tad confused. They currently boast a successful fashion company, Parisian clothes store and a record label. Amidst this indie frenzy  they supply the world with the quirkiest, most exciting new music on regular compilations. Now releasing compilation number nine, “petit bateau […]

ALBUM: Kitsuné Maison 9 – Various Artists

ALBUM: Frankie Goes To Hollywood – Welcome To The Pleasuredome (Deluxe Edition)

Although ‘Welcome to the Pleasuredome’ is commonly thought of as an album very much of the 1980s, in many ways it is not at all typical of other big hit pop albums of that decade. In fact it’s a strange mix that, in the end, cannot decide what it wants to be, either musically or […]
Comedian Dough Stanhope once said “Babies are like poems – they’re beautiful… to their creators.” I’m not sure whether the ‘Monkey Poet’ [Matt Panesh] would call what he does on stage ‘beautiful’ – after all, it’s noisy, angry, challenging and unconventional. In all fairness, I think he’d be the first to admit that it’s positively ugly […]

ALBUM: Monkey Poet – Welcome to the UK

ALBUM: Officer Kicks – Citywide Curfew

Several things annoy me deeply about this album. Firstly there’s the typeface ripped off the Libertines. It suggests, correctly, a complete lack of originality, and worse still that we’re faced with yet another imitation landfill indie band. It was a depressing prospect two years ago, and now it’s reached suicidal levels. And then there’s the […]
Starkey raises the bar to new heights with this release. His second studio album to date “Ear Drums & Black Holes” is nothing short of perfect and reinforces why Starkey, the pioneer of his self coined “Street Bass” sound, is at the top of his game right now. The album shines through the saturated world of […]

ALBUM: Starkey – Ear Drums & Black Holes

ALBUM: Mr Fogg – Moving Parts

In Jules Verne’s famed novel Phileas Fogg is an isolated character, a man obsessed by routine and order who breaks from a lifetime of conformity to win a twenty thousand pound wager.  He is a cold character who rarely displays any emotion but full belief in his cause.  It is therefore appropriate that a man […]
I’ll never forget the first time I heard a Noisia track. I literally stopped mid sentence. I was so gripped by what I was hearing. The track stood out like a sore thumb and everything else I heard that night paled in comparison. It was so crisp, so precise, structured so perfectly. How do you […]

ALBUM: Noisia – Split the Atom