indie albums
EP: Opus Kink – ‘Til The Stream Runs Dry
Brighton’s Opus Kink have released their frantic and jaunty EP ‘Til The Stream Runs dry via Nice Swan records. The EP kicks into life after the blaring of horns of Into The Stream straight into ‘I Love You, Baby’. A ferocious lively track with urgent guitar stabs rousing horns and vocals that are spat go …
Album Review: Placebo – Never Let Me Go
Many of us have learned over the past two years (whether by choice or not) that hitting the pause button can be a good thing. Placebo’s Brian Molko and Stefan Olsdal were pretty drained from a 5-year touring schedule, which spanned from shows supporting 2013’s Loud Like Love to a retrospective 20-year anniversary tour. Those …
Album Review: Big Thief – ‘Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You’
Crikey, but Big Thief have had a busy COVID. 4AD’s Brooklynite indie darlings issued their fourth album, ‘Two Hands’ (billed as the “earth twin” to their hugely successful ‘U.F.O.F.’) in October 2019, and they’re already back with a twenty-track, 84-minute, monster of an album, ‘Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You’. When you add …
Album Review: Silverbacks – Archive Material
Every so often a country, city or a scene throws up a couple of acts, that has the A&R men scrambling for their company credit cards, an A-Z (usually a motoring atlas that features places outside of London) and a glint in their eye. In the past it’s been Wales, Seattle, New York, Glasgow, Bristol, …
Album Review: Ceramic Animal – Sweet Unknown
New signings to Black Keys’ frontman Dan Auerbach’s fledgeling Easy Eye Sound label Ceramic Animal release their new album, ‘Sweet Unknown’, on March 4th. Hailing from Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Ceramic Animal’s previous three albums have all been ruggedly self-released DIY efforts, with this, their fourth, being their first foray into outside label-dom. Also produced by Auerbach, …
Album review: The Jazz Butcher – ‘The Highest In The Land’: one final pop postcard from Northampton’s foremost gent
THE JAZZ BUTCHER is one of those artists who make indiepop kids of a certain generation go misty eyed, and with good reason; Pat Fish, the man behind the jazz curtain as it were, was an all-round gentleman of the whimsical song, someone you’d definitely find in the kitchen at parties; a sometime indie television …
Album review: Beirut – ‘Artifacts’: a masterful and beautiful voyage through Zach Condon’s early years in EPs, Bs and offcuts
MISSION CREEP. One of those pseudo-economic terms that make the decent among us go “eeep”, defined in dictionary terms as “a gradual shift in objectives, often resulting in an unplanned long-term commitment.” We’ve all seen it happen: something which starts to sprawl out of control in a Mandelbrot set of projects within projects within projects …
Album review: Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy & Bill Callahan – ‘Blind Date Party’: a rolling thunder lockdown revue of the Drag City stable, cast in cover versions
NOTHING at all, really. That, for a lifer musician with new songs in the back pocket, older ones to take out and share with fans on the road across the country and the world, no chance to get into a proper studio even, if it is only to kinda dick around and have a laugh …
Album review: Mumble Tide – ‘Everything Ugly’: a short, sweet-as mini-album burst from the insouciant Bristolians on their way to massive things
MUMBLE TIDE have a sweet and unusual back story: the Bristol bedroom pop duo of Gina Leonard and Ryan Rogers first met through a Gumtree ad which singer Gina had placed, looking for a bassist. But there was a proper meeting of minds, they saw that the musical thing they had going on was more …
Album review: David Christian & The Pinecone Orchestra – ‘For Those We Met On The Way’: Comet Gain man sends a folk-rock postcard, looking back with sadness but without anger
THIS record begins not in the virus, lockdown, careers suddenly and virally iced, like the back story of so many records of recent times. Which in itself, may be a relief of sorts. No: this record begins with that other cultural tragedy of our isles and times. B. B. Can I even say it? Brexit. …