Album Reviews
EP Review: Kitten Heel – I Love You Too, Man
‘I Love You Too, Man’, the new EP from Wollongong band Kitten Heel is sublime. Sweeping waves of synth and driving rhythms underpin cool and studied vocals resulting in a celestial pop release with an edge. I can detect a number of mostly eighties influences ranging from Cabaret Voltaire and Kraftwerk to more commercial tracks …
Album Review: The Finalists release their warm and enveloping debut album First
Sydney supergroup The Finalists have just released their debut album ‘First’ and it is a delight. Nine tracks that feature the most jangling and sparkling of guitars – six strings, twelve strings, acoustic and electric – that form a superb bedrock for a collection of deeply personal songs that are heartfelt and passionate, raw and …
Album Review: The Cribs – ‘Night Network’: their best yet?
Replete with unparalleled displays of riff-age. Riddled with lyrical honesty. An uncompromising garage-punk production. Each of The Cribs’ releases has honed these and other facets with increasing skill and, as preceding albums have progressively done, Night Network embellishes The Cribs’ sound with the brothers’ continuously developing songwriting and influences, while still retaining that indelible and …
Album Review: Young Jesus – ‘Welcome to Conceptual Beach’
Saddle Creek ‘s emo-jazz-rock band presents its most accomplished album, a spiritual journey driven by a swirl of enthralling riffs
CASSETTE REVIEWS: A trio of leftfield beauties from Fritz Pape, Stephen Molyneux, and Laura Luna Castillo
WHITED SEPULCHRE is one of those brilliant little labels nibbling away at, and fascinated by, what’s happening out on the margins. The artists driven less by adoring teens and the bucks, and much, much more by exploring what’s possible, following their muse ever deeper into a particular aesthetic. As la mode, many of Whited Sepulchre’s …
Album Review: Emily Kuhn – Sky Stories
New jazz… Chicago… must be another International Anthem release right? Well no, this is something from outside that powerhouse, the debut by Emily Kuhn, trumpet player out now on the BACE records. As a label BACE has been steadily releasing music from the jazz-tinged, electronic, experimental, post-rock whirlpool for a couple of years now and …
Say Psych: Album Review: The Spyrals – Same Old Line
Los Angeles based The Spyrals have this week released their fourth LP Same Old Line via Fuzz Club Records. Taking cues from The Velvet Underground, 13th Floor Elevators and The Stooges by way of Neil Young, Bob Dylan and Muddy Waters, the record sees the band carve out eight songs of raw, back-to-basics rock’n’roll that …
EP: Oscar Jerome- Breathe Deep Remixes
Although it’s been robbed of its live connection this year, the UK Nu- jazz train has kept up the momentum with a roll of dynamic and defining releases. Oscar Jerome’s ‘Breathe Deep’ album was one of those touchstones. It saw the KOKOROKO guitarist and super collaborator (with buddies like Shabaka Hutchings, Moses Boyd and Yussef …
Say Psych: Album Review: Mugstar – Graft
Centripetal Force (North America) and Cardinal Fuzz (UK/Europe) last week released the latest LP from Mugstar, Graft, the follow up album to their much-lauded live collaboration with Can’s Damo Suzuki released earlier this year. Mugstar have been hurtling through the sonic multiverse since 2003 and have left an extensive discography in their wake. Early on, …
EP: Tomberlin – Projections
Saddle Creek presents an intermediate release from the emerging songwriter, showcasing a broader expressive palette and more colorful arrangements After her lo-fi debut, At Weddings, Sara Beth Tomberlin takes a more polished path in her new EP, Projections, a collection of 4 new tracks and one cover from Casiotone for the Painfully Alone. Surely, Sara …