by Matthew Langham and Ed Biggs Following on from the word-of-mouth success of her 2013 double EP A Sea Of Split Peas, it’s quite hard to believe that Sometimes… is Courtney Barnett’s debut album. Already, she has gained a significant following on the back of her EP which included tracks, ‘Avante Gardener’ and ‘History Eraser’. The former track documenting an unfortunate day in which she had an allergic reaction whilst
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by Matthew Langham Manchester-based Lonelady, real name Julie Campbell, returns after five years with the follow-up to her debut record Nerve Up. Her new album Hinterland is a clever throwback to ‘80s Manchester, with a solid core of electronic beats and catchy basslines reminiscent of classic New Order hits. The mechanical elements of tracks including ‘Bunkerpop’ and ‘Groove It Out’ give her perhaps an unfair comparison to La Roux, but
by Ed Biggs Following her resplendent fourth album Once I Was An Eagle, which was our second highest-ranked album of 2013 and had critics drawing breathless (and justified) comparisons with the great Joni Mitchell, British alt-folk heroine Laura Marling was suffering from exhaustion. Dissatisfied with the initial batch of songs she wrote in the aftermath, she recharged her batteries in Los Angeles by travelling, meeting people and accumulating experiences and
by Ed Biggs What is it about The Cribs that inspires such devotion? Every true-spirited indie fan knows the answer. The Wakefield trio’s wholehearted devotion to the independent music cause has always been genuine and diligent. Their emergence in 2004, alongside a whole host of lesser grotty British “indie” groups now consigned to the landfill of history, has always seen them unfairly labelled as ‘cocky’, ‘swaggering’ or ‘brash’. The truth
by Ed Biggs Arguably the most anticipated, talked-about and hyped-up album of 2015, To Pimp A Butterfly has an awful lot to live up to. Following a well-received debut, 2012’s good kid, m.A.A.d city sold nearly 1.5 million copies in the US and set up Kendrick Lamar in a great lineage of rappers, the heir to Dr. Dre, 2Pac. As such, he’s now got the same weight of expectations on
by Matthew Langham A 22 year career has seen Modest Mouse go from fuzzy indie rock in the early ‘00, through to a sea shanty influenced rock and now, yet again, a new blend of deranged pop. Johnny Marr’s contribution to the 2007 record We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank was firmly underestimated and it helped pull in a US number one record as well as over half
by Matthew Langham Singer, songwriter and producer Matthew E White is back with his second record following on from his successful and critically acclaimed debut Big Inner. His big beard and long hair, as well as his distinctive soulful psychedelic melodies, have developed in Fresh Blood with a more playful style, unlike his debut which was heavier and less sensitive. ‘Rock and Roll Is Cold’ is a simplistic kick-back song,
by Ed Biggs Twin Shadow is the recording name of Dominican-born American vocalist George Lewis Jr. For those unfamiliar with his music, Lewis’ voice is that of the DJ for the Grand Theft Auto V radio station ‘Radio Mirror Park’. His previous two albums Forget (2010) and Confess (2012) have steadily gained him plaudits and warm critical notices, landing him a support slot on Florence + The Machine’s U.S. tour
by Matthew Langham Formerly of English experimental group Tuung, Sam Genders’ latest release Chromatics is his second under the name of Diagrams. Having received a considerable amount of decent write-ups for his 2012 effort Black Light, his new record couples a similar synth-pop sound with a folkier tendency closer to his work with Tuung. The instrumental underpinnings are perfectly accompanied by Genders’ throughout the record, providing an experimental journey through
by Ed Biggs Shedding Skin is the third full-length album from former Mercury Music Prize nominee Ghostpoet, the recording name of Londoner Obaro Ejimiwe. His 2011 debut Peanut Butter Blues And Melancholy Jam was considered a dark horse at the awards ceremony, and though it was eventually beaten by PJ Harvey’s Let England Shake, it set him up as one of the most promising artists of the new decade. A
