by John Tindale Throughout Rufus Wainwright’s career he has long been able to combine mesmerising piano performances and an emotive vocal that could match many. But for the past decade he has more or less completely immersed himself (barring the oddly out-of-place Out Of The Game in 2012) in the art of classical music – in Take All My Love: 9 Shakespeare Sonnets we see Wainwright take on another expansive step
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by Ed Biggs The story of London post-punk cult heroes Wire is one of those where the artist’s influence is way out of whack compared with their actual sales figures. Their 1977 debut Pink Flag was post-punk before punk was even finished with its three-note thrashings, and two feverishly creative albums in 1978’s incredible Chairs Missing and 1979’s almost impenetrable 154 followed before the group disintegrated through creative differences.
by Ed Biggs Coming just a couple of months after its lead singer’s last solo album, Please Be Honest is the 23rd by the indie institution / saga that is Guided By Voices. In their 30-year career that’s seen dozens of line-up changes, their Fading Captain Robert Pollard has been the only constant figure on the good ship GBV in a rotating cast of faithful musical fellow-travellers and occasional deckhands.
by Ed Biggs The astonishing and quite unexpected success of Let England Shake, arguably the finest album of the decade so far, not only brought PJ Harvey back to her core fanbase after a number of years but also allowed her to access a hitherto unheard-of level of international publicity for an indie star. Suddenly, the modest, thoughtful and resolutely un-rockstar-like Polly Jean, used to lapping up the critical praise but
by Matthew Langham Originally conceived during 2009, Josh Dibb a.k.a. Deakin has finally released his debut solo record Sleep Cycle to much acclaim and no small amount of relief. As a member of the experimental indie heroes Animal Collective, his band has lived up to their collective namesake. While Noah Lennox (Panda Bear) is the most prolific when it comes to solo albums, each member has branched out to create their
by John Tindale The latest offering from Cardiff’s post-hardcore heroes Future Of The Left has been a comparatively long time in the making, following the release of the excellent How To Stop Your Brain In An Accident in 2013 – a record which featured themes of aggression and absurdity in equal quantities and punched ideals so far down one’s throat that it was impossible not to abide to the law of
by John Tindale It has been three years since the last Frightened Rabbit record Pedestrian Verse, and during that time the Scottish five-piece have toured to the brink of exhaustion, almost broken-up and, most importantly, frontman Scott Hutchison moved to Los Angeles. Hutchinson’s turbulent time in L.A. is a clear commonality running through the music of this eventual fifth album Painting Of A Panic Attack, and it is the subsequent doom
by Ed Biggs Canadian experimental artist Tim Hecker has, by degrees over the course of 15 years, got to a point where his albums are being anticipated by a wider circle of listeners than simply ‘those who bought the last one’. After all, a man with a PhD in ‘urban noise’ (!) and who used to be a university lecturer in ‘sound culture’ is almost bound to be pigeonholed as an
by Ollie Rankine Many were slightly taken aback in November last year following exposure to Parquet Courts’ second studio EP Monastic Living. Although it was clearly audacious, the New York punk rockers’ attempt to fashion an idiosyncratic work of art was revealed to be nothing more than an experimental write-off and was consequently battered by critics across the board. With this information in mind, it’s easy to place Parquet Courts back
by Ed Biggs Having spent the entirety of the noughties dwelling in the musical hinterlands, sculpting critically acclaimed but modest-selling albums under the name of M83, Anthony Gonzalez unexpectedly found massive exposure with ‘Midnight City’ five years ago, a transcendent piece of retro/electro pop that got used as the soundtrack for the BBC’s Olympic Games coverage, ‘Made In Chelsea’, and countless adverts on top. Trust me, you know that song.
