In keeping with their sound, Asobi Seksu prefer to keep quiet between songs – which only accentuates the fierce volume of later climaxes. They seem louder than ever tonight, with animated guitars pinging off every available surface and their signature kick drum continually throbbing.
Album Reviews
You Give Me Fever
Fever Ray – Fever Ray (Co-Operative Records/Rabid Records) March 23rd, 2009 4.8/6.0 To date, Swedish electro-pop group The Knife are best known for their song Heartbeats, as covered by José González. It seems certain that their profile will be raised by the release of Fever Ray, a self-titled solo debut from one half of the [...]
Music: Reviews
DeVotchKa – How It Ends
DeVotchKa – How It Ends (Anti Records) January 19th, 2009 5.0/6.0 Denver’s gypsy-folk-punk-mariachi outfit DeVotchKa are probably best known for providing the soundtrack to indie flick Little Miss Sunshine. Now, with new single How It Ends currently gracing the advert for the new Gears Of War game, one could be forgiven for writing them off [...]
Features
Hole In The Neighbourhood: Part 1 – The Art of Tea
“It’s far enough away from the Pitchers and Lettuces of this world and counts estate agents and newsagents amongst its unlikely neighbours.”
Music: Features
Watch the video to “Cliffer” by The Answering Machine
Roll up, roll up for the speaker-rattling new single from The Answering Machine! And about time too! The first single to be taken from the band’s debut album, lovingly recorded in Yorkshire at the back end of 2008 and produced by Dave Eringa, the video features the rise (and fall) of a terrifying ventriloquist’s dummy. [...]
Album Reviews
Sotto Voce
Whether shuffling around in dance halls to Me and Mary, or imagining grandiose scenery to the chimes of lead single Familiar Light, there’s something here for every walk of life.
Live Reviews
Red Alert
La Roux The Roadhouse, Manchester Saturday, February 7th 2009 In the image obsessed pop music industry of the twenty first century, superstars are those who excel in music and image alike, who rise to fame and win acclaim as they rise up the charts and stride along the catwalks. La Roux’s recent debut single, Quicksand, [...]
Live Reviews
Major Threat
Threatmantics Cargo, London Tuesday January 27th, 2009 What Threatmantics lack in stand out melodies and rock posturing in comparison with their compatriots on this extensive three-way rotating headliner tour, which takes them from Cardiff to Hastings via a little known and probably much underused ‘short’ cut through Aberdeen, they certainly make up for in rule [...]
Music: Reviews
Asobi Seksu – Familiar Light
Asobi Seksu – Familiar Light (One Little Indian) February 9th, 2009 5.0/6.0 Anyone who is familiar with Asobi Seksu’s last album Citrus will instantly recognise new single Familiar Light as their latest offering. The opening is draped in the kind of summer-drenched guitar and high-pitched, soaring vocals from Yuki Chikudate that listeners would be accustomed [...]
Live Reviews
Reach For The Stars
Sky Larkin Institute of Contemporary Arts, London Thursday January 29th, 2009 The ICA is an interesting choice for tonight’s show. Nestled in a striking Regency era (most probably Grade I listed) building in Whitehall (a place more usually associated with the rumblings of central government), its cafe/bar/cinema/shop setup is somewhat reminiscent of Manchester’s very own [...]