indie albums
Album review: TEKE::TEKE – ‘Shirushi’: a deliciously wonky, delectably trippy psych debut
RULE one: Japanese bands do brilliant, brilliant things with guitars: this is just fact. From the mind-blowing chaos of Melt-Banana to the heavy psych stylings of Acid Mothers Temple and Bo Ningen, down through the garage-rawk of Guitar Wolf and the dreamy, trippy-hippy psych of Ghost, new and deeper appreciations of how to wield and …
Album review: Dragon Welding – ‘The Lights Behind The Eyes’: a new ambient folk for a beleaguered island from The Wolfhounds’ six-string sufi
IF YOU consider yourself a fan of great British guitar music and you haven’t investigated the canon of East London-Essex borderlands’ The Wolfhounds, then jeez, do you ever need to put that right – immediatement. Coming out of the C86 wave of bands and featuring on that legendary/infamous tape (please delete according to personal taste) …
Album review: Beach Youth – Postcard; a beautifully disengaged debut LP
It might not be the most sensational trend-setting music revolution, but Postcard does represent a welcome addition to the count of heart-warming, easy listening records in contemporary independent pop music. Beach Youth is a young French band, Norman to be specific, and this can be considered their debut LP, after two long EPs.The band has …
Album review: Alaskan Tapes – ‘For Us Alone’: 39 minutes of tranquil serenity
ALASKAN TAPES has created a short but blissful sequel to his previously album Views From 16 Stories. It’s Alaskan Tapes, also known as Brady Kendall, second album of 2021: For Us Alone. The nine tracks are a tranquil journey through an array of peaceful melodies that will leave you feeling enchanted by the beauty of …
Album Review: Electro Indie beauty from R Zak ‘s ‘Dialetcs’
Review : 9/ 10 There’s a certain folkloric quality that’s embedded in your mind, as the music shifts from the nuanced beauty to the darker , more solemn places in between. Portland based singer -songwriter R Zak ‘s album ‘Dialects’ is truly a kind of extended passage of discovery, gentle at times then suddenly haunting …
Album review: Parannoul – ‘To See The Next Part Of The Dream’: a window into catharsis
INSPIRING stories have been hard to find in recent times, so hopefully it will sound refreshing that a project from a South Korean bedroom artist has risen to global attention, on par with Lana Del Rey or Nick Cave’s latest releases. It’s probably better not to even think about what the pandemic has done to …
Album review: Spirit of the Beehive ‘ENTERTAINMENT, DEATH’
New album from Spirit of the Beehive on new label, Saddle Creek, out April 9th this is Entertainment, Death. The shape shifting Philadelphia trio return with a new work for a new label but remaining true to their spirit of noise rock immersion with their work being less music but pop music just not as …
Album Review: Xiu Xiu’s OH NO! is a return to form, and a celebration of everything that has made them great.
To me, Xiu Xiu has always been a project marked by its ambition; whether it’s finding new ways to express the spirit of musical heavyweights like Nina Simone or Angelo Badalamenti, or forging a new kind of visceral yet fragile sound on albums like A Promise or 2019’s Girl with Basket of Fruit. Jamie Stewart’s …
Album review: The Natvral – ‘Tethers’: The Pains of Being Pure At Heart frontman returns with a more Laurel Canyon thing
FOLLOWING the disbandment of The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart in 2017 after the release of The Echo of Pleasure, Kip Berman found himself at a creative crossroads, having written about young adult life in New York City with maturity and a fine ear for a tune. Tethers is the further maturation of Berman …
Album review: The Antlers – ‘Green To Gold’: a safe haven in a frugal year
A highly anticipated comeback for Peter Silberman’s band, with an album full of soothing melodies