ALBUM: Michael Fakesch – Exchange

German based Michael Fakesch is one half of the now defunct duo Funkstörung (translated to Radio Interference) with ex-partner, Chris De Luca. Back in 1992 the pair invested in a Roland TR808 & Roland TB303 and set out to make some noise. Eighteen years on they’ve had a fruitful career with numerous releases on a […]
The Chameleons have long been relegated to the position of footnote in the history of Manchester music, despite being the greatest band to ever emerge from Middleton.  They have become the Gaugin to the Stone Roses Van Gough, the Salieri to the Smiths Mozart.  With this reissue of the seminal 1985 album ‘What Does Anything […]

ALBUM: The Chameleons – What Does Anything Mean? Basically

ALBUM: We Have Band – WHB

I’m still not too sure whether I want to be friends with We Have Band. He (she, whatever) is a little bit pretentious. He sings like a version of Guy Garvey who hasn’t spent his life drinking beer and eating cigarettes in The Temple or Big Hands. There are chasms of hidden depth, but there’s […]
North Atlantic Oscillation, sounds like the technical name for a cyclonic Inuit dance doesn’t it, when in fact it’s a climactic phenomenon that controls the strength and direction of westerly winds and storm tracks across the North Atlantic. In this case it’s also the name of a fascinating, experimental rock band from Scotland – not known […]

ALBUM: North Atlantic Oscillation – Grappling Hooks

ALBUM: Goldfrapp – Head First

Where Goldfrapp’s fourth album, “Seventh Tree”, marked a refreshing departure into ambient, acoustic territory, their fifth, Head First, finds the band travelling back in time to the 1980’s. This is no better exemplified than by “I Wanna Life”, forgettable synth pop cheese whose influences one could attribute to any of a number of low-rent 80s […]
Butler Williams sound like a couple of nice guys.  Their voices are soothing and mellow and their parts merge so peacefully that it is often impossible to distinguish where one starts and the other one finishes. This is their second release to date and for two guys who are known for performances which give a bit […]

ALBUM: Butler Williams – Save it for Someone Else EP

ALBUM: Laura Marling: I Speak Because I Can

Laura Marling’s first album, “Alas I Cannot Swim” was an impossibly brilliant debut. Released just after she turned 18 her lyrics combined a delicate shyness with a world-weary maturity that spoke of things with a level of understanding that few people reach in their lifetime, let alone while they are still in their teens. The […]
Boe Weaver is the physical manifestation of one of Stuart Maconie’s wet dreams. It’s as if they make sounds specifically for the Freak Zone (and let me take this opportunity to say save BBC 6 Music). This stuff is so far left of leftfield; it’s off the field, outside the stadium, and taking tea in […]

ALBUM: Boe Weaver – Boe Weaver

ALBUM: Dag For Dag – Boo

Dag for Dag, who have just released their debut album ‘BOO’, are a Swedish-American brother and sister combination. Over the years, Swedish and American genes have combined to produce such visual delights as Kim Bassinger, Uma Thurman and Scarlet Johansson; such high-fliers as Charles Lindeburg and Buzz Aldrin; and every politician in Minnesota. In addition to […]
I’m going to stick my neck out here and say that opening track ‘Scissor’ from Liars latest release ‘Sisterworld’ is nothing short of genius. In fact I could probably write a review of this track alone but I’ll try to keep it as brief as possible, this is an album review after all. The track […]

ALBUM: Liars – Sisterworld