The Straylings’s debut effort comes in the form of the compelling Entertainment on Foreign Grounds and it certainly leaves a lasting impression on the listener. Gaining praise from such people as Steve Lamacq, the band are definitely under a lot…
Category: Records
Album | Bowerbirds – The Clearing
On their charming new album The Clearing, the Bowerbirds stick to the formula that gained them acclaim on their previous records, Upper Air and Hymns for a Dark Horse. On first listen it appears to be a tribute to their…
Album | Andrew Bird – Break It Yourself
Andrew Bird has always flirted with the idea of making pop music. His often sprawling, always impressively constructed compositions have toyed with the boundaries between experimentation and melodic straightforwardness for years now, but his strength has always lain in being…
Album | Farrar, Johnson, Parker & Yames – New Multitudes
Jay Farrar, Will Johnson, Anders Parker, and Yim Yames have produced a fitting album to include in this year’s centennial celebration of Woody Guthrie’s birth with their interpretation of unpublished Guthrie lyrics on New Multitudes . This volume focuses on…
Album | Sophia Knapp – Into The Waves
Into The Waves is Sophia Knapp’s first solo record away from her ‘day job’ in Brooklyn-based rockers Cliffie Swan/Lights. Describing music as ‘pleasant’ and ‘nice’ can often be a curse word and code for saying it’s extremely boring. Not in…
Album | Miles Nielsen – The Rusted Hearts
With The Rusted Hearts, Miles Nielsen has honed his sound to an ideal pop/rock state: a knack for catchy melodies, shimmering guitars and flawless production, as well as quite a few nods toward his musical forerunners. The album opens with…
Album | Memoryhouse – The Slideshow Effect
It must get boring being constantly compared to another, bigger, more successful band, so let’s get it over with quickly. Yes, Memoryhouse sound a bit like Beach House. They’re both ‘dream pop’, they both have female singers with defined, droney…
Album | Alex Highton – Woodditton Wives Club
Alex Highton’s debut album Woodditton Wives Club is a stark portrait of what modern day Britain is really like. Released at a time when spirits are low and community spirit is almost non-existent, Highton manages to create some light-hearted relief…
Album | Peter Broderick – It Starts Here
The style of Peter Broderick’s new album will be familiar to anyone who’s heard Efterklang, yet he has developed a compelling style of his own, particularly in the piano playing and overlaid instrumentation. Ticking percussion and quiet keyboards emerge softly…
EP | Lissie – Covered Up In Flowers
Lissie has always enjoyed a good cover version. Youtube features almost as many videos of her taking on other people’s songs as her own, with targets as varied as Bob Dylan’s ‘Ramona’ to Metallica’s ‘Nothing Else Matters’ to Hank Williams’…