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 […]
Having followed DJ Shadow since the release of his seminal debut album ‘Endtroducing…’, I’ve yet to hear anything from the Californian producer that surpasses it. I still very much enjoy his work and follow his career, though nothing compares. ‘The Less You Know, The Better’ would appear to be an appropriate instruction, if I’m to […]

ALBUM: DJ SHADOW – THE LESS YOU KNOW, THE BETTER

EP Review: DJ Shadow – I Gotta Rokk

DJ Shadow is perhaps the ultimate postmodern expression of the potential within electronic dance music.  His 1996 debut album “Entroducing” was recognised by the Guinness Book of Records as the first to be composed purely of samples.  Forget the Halle orchestra – all Josh Davis needs to make music is an Akai sampler, a dark mood, and […]
There’s a festival feel here. I’m not sure which one either. Whether it’s the easy informality of Leicester’s Summer Sundae or something more profound like echoes of Woodstock. But I am sure that the songs are wonderful. They’re uplifting, skipping along with a deftness of touch which makes them comfortably familiar and yet still fresh […]

ALBUM: Mumford and Sons – Sign No More