art-rock
Album Review: Sparks – Hippopotamus
When Sparks roared back to relevance with 2002‘s Lil’ Beethoven, it was treated as a glorious return to form. How long that form would last was another matter. Was it a one off, or the start of a more sustained period of creative success? 2006’s Hello Young Lovers very much confirmed that the previous album’s …
Meet: TULIPOMANIA
We recently discovered a band from Philadelphia, called Tulipomania. They already have quite a lot of music out there and plenty of award-winning videos to go with that, but the progressive art rock outfit will soon be releasing a new maxi-single. Following up their fourth album ‘This Gilded Age’, released last year, they are offering three …
Album review: Xiu Xiu – Forget
From the howled opening lyrics to ‘The Call’ it’s very clear that Xiu Xiu’s latest project is a giant step away from last year’s Plays The Music Of Twin Peaks. Forget takes the project back into original songwriting, yet keeps the haunting atmosphere that they created on their last record. From the leads singles ‘Wondering’, …
Album Review: Dutch Uncles – Big Balloon
Dutch Uncles return with a triumphant fifth album, their fourth on the Memphis Industries label and first since 2015’s “O Shudder”. It’s remarkable that the Marple band (Duncan, Pete, Robin and Andy, formerly also Daniel) are still making their delightfully catchy and quirky brand of indie pop which has been labelled as “math pop”, “art …
Track: Vyk Non – Distant Stars
Seems that London quartet Vyk Non are on a mission to confuse us. Starting with their name that, in the spirit of Aphex Twin, consists of basically meaningless words that mean nothing, they follow it up by making jerky, noisey art pop/punk, with shades of The Pixies and Fugazi that’s just as difficult to describe/pigeonhole. …
See: Jumpin’ Quails release new video for Rainbow Flesh
There’s a cauldron of things going on with Jumpin’ Quails. The Torino (Italy) based band write songs in a variety of languages – usually English, French or German, and throw in a mix of genres including grate rock, including urban funk and acid dub that makes their music unique and intoxicating. Rainbow Flesh is the …
Track: Batteries – The Fall-In-Love Club
If you remember the day-glow dork punk (I just thought of that, and I quite likes it) of Bis, Steven Clark will be a vaguely familiar figure in his guise as Sci-Fi Steven. Fast forward to the now, and he’s back in his Batteries guise with a new single, The Fall-in-love club, a warning sign …
Album Review: Everything Everything – Get To Heaven
Everything Everything’s third album Get to Heaven thankfully does not veer far from their first two witty, dark records. This time around they feel very confident about their work and rightly so. In fact, it contains probably their hookiest pop song yet, the first single “Distant Past” and other flashes of danceable despair. Bass player Jeremy …
Live Review: Django Django at Plug, Sheffield, 14th May 2015
Django Django are the kind of band who have been vaguely just outside my radar for the last few years but seem to be compared to every band I really enjoy at the moment. I always assumed they were newcomers to the scene but was surprised to find they’d formed back in 2009 at Edinburgh …
See: ¡Forward, Russia! release Live at the Brudenell Film
What do you get when you cross a (increasingly) legendary venue in Leeds with a band (also from Leeds) that have been much loved and much missed. Well, step forward one of the genuine ‘alternative’ bands from the last few years, four piece ¡Forward Russia! and celebrations for the centenary of the Brudenell Social Club. …