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 […]
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 […]

Album Review: Marina & The Diamonds – The Family Jewels

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 […]
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 […]

Album Review: You Me At Six – Hold Me Down

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’, […]
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 […]

Album Review: Tanja Maritsa – Fragile

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 […]
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 […]

Album Review: Moby – Wait For Me (Deluxe Edition)

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 […]
This début album could easily be from a slightly off kilter parallel universe. All fourteen sumptuous offerings served up here,are your ticket to this wonderful constellation that has been lovingly created from scratch by Holly Ross and David Blackwell. The opening track ‘Sexual Cowboy’ kicks off with a thrashing guitar which is reminiscent of the great bands […]

Album Review: The Lovely Eggs – If You Were Fruit