SINGLE: Paloma Faith – Upside Down

Paloma Faith has just released her forth single, entitled ‘Upside Down’ – and I like it! It’s jolly; it’s clever; it’s quirky – a lot like Ms Faith, one suspects. It’s also very catchy, but, then again, so too is syphilis. When it comes to Paloma Faith, the problem isn’t with her music – it’s with the musician […]
Some music defies description. Imagine listening to ‘Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ when it was released in June 1967! Imagine being in Vienna’s Kärntnertortheater on 7 May 1824 for the premiere of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, conducted by the Maestro himself! Imagine a 1943 night flight over a glowing Dresden in a fully laden Lancaster with […]

SINGLE: The Phenomenal Handclap Band – Baby

SINGLE: Kyle Hall – Kaychunk/You Know What I Feel

Detroit based Kyle Hall makes his debut appearance on the mighty Hyperdub. Signed up from a remix of Darkstar’s phenomenal Aidy’s Girl Is A Computer (the original is one of my all time favourites), his remix saw a track take on a House style approach, and most importantly bring him into the Hyperdub spotlight and […]
First Aid Kit state on their Myspace page, “We aim for the hearts, not the charts”. A hackneyed statement definitely, but judging by the strength of this single their aim is true. This is unlikely to trouble the charts – though folk does seem to be going through something of a renaissance. And I doubt […]

SINGLE: First Aid Kit – I Met Up With The King

SINGLE: Officer Kicks – Automatic

I’ve developed a knack for telling how good a release is by the style of the cover artwork. The most obvious thing about the Officer Kicks single, other than the band’s stupid name, is the Libertines typeface. My guess, therefore, is that this band is a rocky Libertines rip off, all effort put into the attitude […]
Sound of Guns have been touring with Adam Green prior to the release of their new single, Alcatraz.  Though they were talented musicians when they visited Club Academy in Manchester last month, they never got the crowd going in the way Green did. This was because, unlike Green, they couldn’t help but take themselves too seriously, and […]

SINGLE: Sound of Guns – Alcatraz

SINGLE: Goldfrapp – Rocket

After being widely maligned since its beheading, the 80s is now back. 2008 saw Neon Neon release their blinding album Stainless Style. It allowed us to revel in 80s power pop once again, with the added incentive that you could like it without shame because of its semi-ironic nature. If challenged you could shrug it […]
Upon hearing Machine Gun my initial reaction was one of mirth. I looked at my friend, he looked at me, and we both laughed. A few listens later and I’m less certain. Is this ridiculously good or just ridiculous? The dirty drum and bass intro I like, but the drop into a sort of electro-metal […]

SINGLE: Noisia – Machine Gun

SINGLE: Angus and Julia Stone – And The Boys

To begin I’d like to resort to basic national stereotypes. Australians are not renowned for their subtlety. They produce bands like AC/DC and Men at Work. Their national monument is a giant rock. Their drink of choice is the delicately brewed XXXX lager, and their film stars spend their time displaying their larger-than-yours knives. So […]
Every now and again I go through the releases I haven’t had a chance to listen to, just in case I’ve missed something. Undercover Martyn is just such a release. Now, I’m not a massive fan of indie. The vast majority of releases sent to me, especially in 2008, were by God-awful Libertines clones that […]

SINGLE: Two Door Cinema Club – Undercover Martyn