by Ed Biggs From the quirkiest corners of the blogosphere to the listening habits of teens and clubbers throughout the nation, it quickly became a cast-iron given that Settle, Guy and Howard Lawrence’s 2013 debut album as Disclosure, was a modern classic. Channelling their wide range of influences, ranging from house and techno to dubstep and garage, through a kaleidoscopic template and offering an alternative for electronic music (crucially free of
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by Ed Biggs Scottish trio Chvrches deservedly spent most of last year on a triumphant tour soaking up the adulation directed at their scintillating 2013 debut album The Bones Of What You Believe. Highly melodic and sharply produced, it was poised perfectly between genres – too pop to be indie, too indie to be pop – but that didn’t stop the band from reaching a wide audience ranging from the blogosphere to
by Ed Biggs Okay, cards on the table time – I absolutely adore New Order. Having been introduced to their legendary former incarnation Joy Division as a moody, sniffy teenager, I discovered the music they made during their second life at around the same time as under-age drinking and clubbing. Suffice to say, with the help of their seminal compilation Substance, New Order changed my life and broadened my horizons. But
by Ed Biggs Having unexpectedly mis-stepped with 2013’s major label debut Dirty Gold, Angel Haze has decided to go back to the format of the mixtape for their next statement. Real name Raee’n Roes Wilson, Haze came out as agender earlier this year and prefers to be referred to by the singular, gender-neutral pronouns ‘they’ and ‘them’, which this review will respect.
by Ed Biggs Faded Hollywood glamour, tales of doomed runaways, naivety and shattered dreams… pretty much everything you need to know about Lana Del Rey’s third album Honeymoon is communicated to you by its bleached-out, garish cover art. It comes barely a year after her quite wonderful second effort Ultraviolence, which smoothed over the shortcomings of her 2012 debut Born To Die. Where her first made her seem like a dilettante,
by Matthew Langham Long gone are the days of indie rock hits from Toronto’s Metric. With old tracks including ‘Monster Hospital’ and ‘Gold Gun Girls’ they became a recognised name nearly ten years ago, if only as minor hangers-on to the indie scene throughout the mid-noughties, and were a reasonably consistent indie rock band capable of an enjoyably throwaway sets for early afternoon slots at festivals. Now onto their sixth record
by Ed Biggs Four years ago, New York’s Battles dealt with the departure of their former lead singer Tyondai Braxton by hiring a number of guest vocalists for their thrilling second album Gloss Drop, giving it the feeling of a compilation or mixtape rather than a studio album. It soft, pliable sound, missing the sharp, angular edges of the group’s 2007 debut Mirrored, but was terrific, bizarre fun nonetheless. For their
by Ed Biggs Empress Of is the recording nom de plume of New York-based songwriter Lorely Rodriguez. She began her career in intriguing fashion, anonymously uploading a series of one-minute demos in 2012 which also had no titles, only distinguishable by solid blocks of colour. A handful of single and a debut EP, Systems, followed over the next couple of years, and after months of waiting it’s time for Rodriguez to
by Matthew Langham As a 14 year old in 2004 I was hooked on The Libertines, so I must declare a certain bias, but also sense of dread at the prospect of Anthems For Doomed Youth. Fans knew that a third album looked like not only the most unlikely thing in the world, but also possibly one of the least desirable. However, 11 years long years after their flawed masterpiece
by Ed Biggs Minnesotan three-piece Low are the archetypal practitioners of the sub-genre sometimes known as ‘slowcore’. As practising Mormons, the band’s husband-and-wife core Mimi Parker and Alan Sparhawk have created their own niche in the indie world with their slow tempos, minimalist arrangements and haunting vocal harmonies, becoming an institution of sorts after 22 years and, now their 11th studio album. Ones And Sixes finds them needing to prove themselves
