by John Tindale In case you weren’t already aware, Animal Collective are a bit of an odd case. Featuring an ever-changing line-up and an alternative approach to electronics, their only consistent characteristic is their ability to command the listener’s attention, it is no wonder that tenth studio album Painting With was so highly anticipated by the masses, after the slight disappointment that was Centipede Hz in 2012.
by John Tindale When the most divisive man on the planet announced he was going to be releasing a seventh studio album in 2013, a mere five months after the release of the almost-experimental Yeezus, many heads were turned. Now two and a half years and no fewer than three title changes later, The Life Of Pablo has finally arrived and the media storm with it. Part of Kanye West’s brilliance is
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by John Tindale Adele, Beyonce, Shakira and Rihanna: what do they all have in common? They all rejected tracks from Austalian writer-for-hire Sia that eventually made it on her sixth album This Is Acting. Sia Furler has long prided herself on being able to adopt the persona of any given pop-star and write a hit in an instant; Rihanna’s ‘Diamonds’ was written in 15 minutes, while Sia’s David Guetta collaboration ‘Titanium’
by John Tindale After fading into obscurity, Chairlift are back, following up from hit-and-miss 2012 album Something, they took their time about releasing follow-up record Moth. One can’t help but feel sorry for the Brooklyn duo, with incredible songs like ‘Bruises’ being drowned out by the Mumford-induced folk epidemic and then mistiming their wonderful blend of ‘80s revivalism long before it began to gain success on both sides of the Atlantic,
by John Tindale Upon the release of Emotional Mugger, Ty Segall described the album as: “the over-communication relayed in cell based technology and content driven media further detaches passengers of our modern society from deep emotional understanding”, thus Emotional Mugger is debatably a concept album discussing the perils of the modern age and its relationship with the internet and it comes at a crossroads in the career of Segall.
by John Tindale Not To Disappear, the sophomore release by London indie-folk band Daughter, comes two and a half years after the commercially successful If You Leave, an album which saw no less than six songs used for advertisements. In Not to Disappear, the three-piece now have the problem of having to address the successes of their past while also striving to create something which shows progression – unfortunately Not To
by John Tindale Tell Me I’m Pretty, the fourth album release by Kentucky alt-rockers Cage The Elephant sees the band at a lull in their career. After their initial success with hits ‘Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked’ and ‘Shake Me Down’, the band now face the task of living up to the hype they had four years ago. Unfortunately, what they’ve come up with only serves as a reminder as
2015 has been our first year of operation under our new name The Student Playlist, and it’s been a year of steady expansion. There are now five of us, with a view to adding yet more talented, passionate writers in the new year as we continue in our quest to point out the best new music, rediscover old albums, both stone-cold classics and hidden treasures, and cause lively debate with
by John Tindale Claire Boucher, aka Grimes, has been going through a period of reflection over the three years since the release of last album Visions, a low-budget bedroom record of spectral synths that has had a seismic impact upon the sound of mainstream pop ever since. During this time, Boucher scrapped an album for being too “depressing”, but more importantly she wrote a song for Rihanna (‘Go’) that was subsequently
by John Tindale Ryan Adams has gained himself a cult-like following by releasing alt-country albums at an alarming rate; 1989 is his 15th album in album in 16 years, and is possibly his most interesting release. The news of an entire Taylor Swift covers album went viral but critics were split on the validity of the artistic endeavour.
