indie albums
Album Review: Buffalo Tom – Quiet and Peace
“For this record, I wanted to show Chris and Tom Dave’s Woolly Mammoth Studios in Waltham, MA,” says Janovitz. “Dave is a local legend – founding the beloved Neighborhoods when he was a teenager and going on to play in the Replacements and Paul Westerberg’s solo band – he is a tremendously kind and gifted …
Album Review: Isle of Dogs – Original Soundtrack
While Wes Anderson’s visual style have been the primary calling card of his impressive career, an important secondary element has been the utilisation of great soundtracks and scores on his films. The soundtrack to Anderson’s latest film, Isle of Dogs, once again sees Alexandre Desplat do the lions-share of soundtrack duty. Desplat has been contributing …
Album Review: The Hanging Stars – Songs for somewhere else
Since their first album London’s The Hanging Stars have changed band members and opened their eyes a little beyond the charming indie/americana of their first full length. For their second full length – Songs for Somewhere Else, Recorded in Bark Studios, Walthamstow – hardly Laurel Canyon I grant you, but it can get sunny there …
Album Review: Editors – Violence
‘Violence’, the newly released album from Editors, is both an incredible progression for the band while still maintaining the elements that caught everyone’s attention so many years ago when their epic debut album ‘The Back Room’ was released in 2005. Along with with bands like Interpol and White Lies, Editors have always been painted with …
Album Review: Guided by Voices – Space Gun
What the hell is that noise? Oh never mind, here’s a very Guided by Voices by riff… and here’s another one overlaying it, and then we’re in to Space Gun. After just the blink of an eye, Guided by Voices are once again back and sounding in fine fettle, and “Space Gun” as a song …
Album Review: Montero – Performer
A mainstay in the Australian underground/indie scene, having previously been part of, or at least worked with the likes of Early Woman, Treetops and Holiday Maker, Ben Montero is back under his Montero moniker with an album of attractive soft rock/psych. Called Performer, its the follow up to 2013’s The Loving Grace, and it’s been …
Album Review: Ought – Room Inside the World
On their third album, and first for Merge records, Ought augment their anxious, itchy alt-rock with a wider palette of instrumental colours, balancing the agitated highs of earlier records with moments of emotional numbness and tired acceptance. The woozy piano chords which introduce ‘Into the Sea’ establish the introspective mood from the outset. Singer Tim …
Album Review: Twin Peaks – Sweet ’17 Singles
I love Twin Peaks the TV show more than I love damn fine coffee or the best cherry pie in the Tri-Counties. But there is also Twin Peaks the band, who have been gigging since 2010. The Chicago based garage-band were struggling to balance their three year tour with recording. Rather than commit to a …
Album Review: The Wombats – Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life
It’s a matter of fact that every budding indie fanatic was raised on a saccharine diet of The Wombats; the angst-ridden exuberance that pulsated from their debut album A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation was like a spoonful of sugar that became our Dark Fruits-drunk pop inauguration – a rite of passage, you might …
Album Review: Field Music – Open Here
With the release of their sixth album proper, Open Here, Field Music have firmly established themselves as mainstays of the dermis of UK music, IE where all the interesting stuff happens! For those already familiar with their output, then you’ll know what to expect – For newcomers, then this, an album as strong and worthy …