Category: Reviews

Album: Kings of Convenience — Declaration of Dependence

If, like me, you’re a massive fan of anything folky and Norwegian then you too will be pleased to hear that indie faves Kings of Convenience are back with a new album. Declaration of Dependence is the duos third album and there’s been a five year gap since their last material, ‘Riot on an Empty Street’. So was it worth the wait?

Album: Ruby Throat – The Ventriloquist

Ruby Throat is a collaboration between KatieJane Garside (of QueenAdreena) and Chris Whittingham (whom KatieJane spotted busking on the underground, apparently). Over the course of a year and a half they recorded this album which was released in 2007. Why review it now? Because they only released 400 copies in 2007 and now you can get your grubby paws on it, after a general online release.

Single Review – Tigers that Talked – Artificial clouds

Tigers that Talked are brilliant. Their sound has been compared to the likes of Arcade Fire and Ryan Adams but their sound is much more progressive and sincere. They are based in Leeds consisting of singer/guitarist Jamie Williams, violinist Glenna Larsen, bassist Owain Kelly and drummer Chris Verney. The new single Artificial Clouds is the best so far from their debut album The Merchant. That says a lot as 23 Fears and Black Heart, Blue Eyes are both mesmerising slices of music.

Album: Cymbals Eat Guitars — Why There Are Mountains

Cymbals Eat Guitars. Now, this Brooklyn quartet may have a bizarre name, but on much of their LP, the cymbals (and percussion) do eat the guitars! At the very least they match up to them, filling their songs with incredible energy, integral to the many tempo changes which jaggedly divide the tracks. Speaking of energy, Joseph D’Agostino’s vocals burst onto Why There Are Mountains with raw fieriness, but later on in the album we are witness to a more relaxed and honest twang, on ‘Cold Spring’, ‘Share’ and ‘What Dogs See’.

Live: The Young Republic @ Cargo, 2nd November

On the last night of their tour The Young Republic came to London with Coventry-based support band Don’t Move! The two bands hit Cargo on a Monday night, but the atmosphere positively reeked of Friday and the audience was treated to an energetic extravaganza of an evening.

Festival Review: Swn Festival, Cardiff

Every October Huw Stephens puts on a wondrous, glorious, often slightly damp and cold festival in the bars, music halls and converted churches of Cardiff town, and this year FFS’s own Helen True spent three music-rich days in the Welsh capital. Read about her experiences here.

EP: Alela Diane and Alina Hardin — Alela & Alina

When this collaboration between Alela Diane and her touring companion Alina Hardin opens with ‘Amidst the Movement’, one of Diane’s trademark gutsy folk songs that defies you not to join in with its sing-along chorus, it’s easy to think this EP is merely a supplement to her well-received album To Be Still. It soon becomes clear, however, that this offering is much more than that – it is a master-class in the sublimely simple beauty of classic folk music, delivered by two equally impressive songbirds.

Album: The Mountain Goats – The Life of the World to Come

There will be some who will balk at an album where each and every song is named after a different bible verse. Then there will be others who will fervently use this to find some higher meaning in John Darnielle’s customarily intriguing lyrics, listening with a bible in their hand to reveal religious insights that frankly may or may not be there.

Single: Wild Beasts – All the Kings Men

What can I say about Wild Beasts that have not been said already? This is a band that has taken us all by surprise. They are teasers and challengers to and of the senses and the preconceptual ideas of the laws of anticipation and music formulas of best practice. ‘All the Kings Men’ is a supreme delight – it is like the cherry on the cake, like the feeling you get when getting a shy kiss on the cheek from that beautiful girl at high school or like the giggles of a baby when it’s being tickled.

Album: The Young Republic – Balletesque

End Of The Road Records’ flagship band, The Young Republic, have returned with their second album. Stuffed full with virtuoso performances and the kind of epic orchestral arrangements not seen since The Arcade Fire’s debut. Balletesque has all of the hard-hitting edge of their debut 12 Tales From Winter City but is even more glorious for its complexity and softness.