November 2011
2 posts
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2011-11-13) →
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2011-11-6) →
October 2011
1 post
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2011-10-30) →
May 2010
9 posts
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Sleigh Bells - Run the Heart (Download via...
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Album Review: Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness...
Canadian collective Broken Social Scene return with their fourth studio album on the back of two outstanding releases in ‘You Forgot It in People’ (2002) and ‘Broken Social Scene’ (2005) so it was always going to be a difficult task to make another great record.
Five years in the making, ‘World Sick’ the opening track from the album begins and by the end of it those five years seems totally worth...
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Album Review: The National – High Violet
May 10th sees Brooklyn-based band The National release their fifth album ‘High Violet’ on the back of the critical and commercial success of two previous albums, ‘Alligator’ and ‘Boxer’. Considering the sheer quality of those two records it was always going to be a very difficult task to repeat or even beat those incredible records.
But if anyone band are capable of doing it, it is The National....
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Album Review: LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening
‘This Is Happening’ begins with somewhat of anti climax when it comes to LCD Soundsystem songs with ‘Dance Yrself Clean’ and after an incredible but at the same time slow build up it really kicks in at three minutes and for the next six glorious minutes you are in for a James Murphy sized treat.
‘Drunk Girls’ is very much the single that you expect from the album, it is catchy and at times pretty...
April 2010
22 posts
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10 for 2010: Part Five – Best Coast
Best Coast is made up of Bethany Cosentino (ex-Pocahaunted) and her friend Bobb Bruno. In her own words Bethany writes songs about, “summer and the sun and the ocean and being a lazy creep”. That we can expect, “drums, beach boys bass lines and other amazing things”.
‘Sun Was High (So Was I)’ is a delightful track that is fit for any summers day. ‘Over The Ocean’ is a simple but awesome lo-fi...
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Kevin Drew - Safety Bricks (Download via...
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MGMT - Brian Eno
MGMT - Brian Eno (Download via Mediafire)
MGMT announced their return this week with the release of new album ‘Congratulations’, the album has been released to some mixed reviews. Click here for the review by Pitchfork and here for the review by Drowned in Sound. The artwork looks like it has been done by a child and wouldn’t look out of place on the front cover on a Sonic the...
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Beach Fossils - Golden Age (Download via...
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“Wake me up when we get to heaven,
Let me sleep if we go to hell.”
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Les Savy Fav - The Sweat Descends (Download via Mediafire)
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Albums of 2009 Part Five
1. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion
Predictable some might say, but there is a reason why this appears at the top of so many albums of the year lists, because it is the album of the year. To think it was released over a year ago and listening to it today it still sounds as fresh to me as it did then. Having said they could not top ‘Strawberry Jam’ previously Animal Collective came...
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Albums of 2009 Part Four
2. The xx – The xx
On first look The xx are the sort of band that do not appeal to me at all, a stupid name, stupid artwork, stupid album name etc. For a good couple of months I refused to listen to them, when a band has as much hype as The xx had it usually is advisable to stay away, and I’ll be the first to admit how dubious I was about them.
How wrong could I be? This album is well and...
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Albums of 2009 Part Three
3. Wild Beasts – Two Dancers
The top three was so difficult to pick and really all three are interchangeable with each other, some weeks it changes for me. This week Wild Beasts sensational record ‘Two Dancers’ sits at number three. Following up from their debut ‘Limbo Panto’ Wild Beasts released one of the most intriguing albums of 2009. The second album is usually described as “the difficult...
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Albums of 2009 Part Two
4. Japandroids – Post-Nothing
This album took me completely by surprise in the sense that I wasn’t expecting it, I had not heard much about the band, if anything before listening to it. And wow, it truly blew me away. You’d be hard pressed to find it in many critics or bloggers top ten for the year but I simply cannot keep it out of mine.
I guess it is nothing original or innovative but it is...
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Albums of 2009 Part One
5. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Chosen as Drowned in Sound’s number one album of 2009, Phoenix provided some totally irresistible French pop for us all to revel in. ‘1901’ and ‘Lisztomania’ are absolute indie dance floor anthems and of course the two of them will be the most listened to when it comes to charts.
However ‘Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix’ is not a two song album, there are plenty...
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Album Review: Broken Bells - Broken Bells
Since the announcement of the Broken Bells project back in September of 2009 there has been an awful lot of hype surrounding the band. Broken Bells are a two piece super group including James Mercer (the front man indie heroes The Shins) and the other half is made up by Danger Mouse (of Gnarls Barkley fame) although Mr. Mouse is billed under his real name of Brian Burton.
This month sees the...
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Album Review: Liars - Sisterworld
Liars the three-piece from New York (via Australia and Germany) returned in 2010 with the release of ‘Sisterworld’ this month after a two and a half year absence.
‘Sisterworld’ begins with ‘Scissor’ as it opens pretty sombre and you find yourself waiting for it to become a Liars track after a very subdued start, which actually acts as quite a beautiful intro. With the lyrics “I’m supposed...
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Live: Grizzly Bear & Beach House (The Roundhouse,...
Grizzly Bear are one of the hottest touring bands right now so when they announced a tour with support from the much hyped Beach House it was always going to be a much talked about gig. The Roundhouse is a fitting venue for two incredible live acts, and the venue and sound did not let down the bands playing it.
Beach House as the support band (who could have easily headlined themselves)...
February 2010
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Liars - The Other Side of Mt. Heart Attack...
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Actor of the Decade: Leonardo DiCaprio
Three actors sum up the past decade for me and Leonardo DiCaprio is the best of them all. The other two close to getting this accolade were firstly Brad Pitt (Ocean’s Eleven, Babel, The Assassination of Jess James by the Coward Robert Ford, Burn After Reading, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Inglorious Basterds) and secondly George Clooney (O Brother, Where Art Thou? Oceans Eleven,...
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Director of the Decade: Clint Eastwood
I’ve spent so, so long deliberating over this decision but overall I think it is the right one. I have a lot of directors whose work I love including Spike Jonze, Wes Anderson, the Coen Brothers, Michel Gondry, Woody Allen, Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese and the list goes on.
However Clint Eastwood consistently comes up with sensational films, year after year. For someone who is going to...
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Film of the Decade: Donnie Darko
Richard Kelly who has since gone onto such failures like The Box (2009) and Southland Tales (2007) in 2001 released Donnie Darko. The said film stars Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal along with Drew Barrymore, Patrick Swayze and a very young Seth Rogen.
Film of the decade, it could be a controversial choice, films like American Psycho (2000), There Will Be Blood (2007) and No Country For Old Men...
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“I phone my friends and family to gather round the television, the talking heads...”
– Los Campesinos! - Straight In At 101 (Download via Mediafire)
Simply brilliant, my favourite song on the new record, and these are my favourite lyrics from the album, thus far.
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Band of the Decade: Radiohead
This was an easy choice as my two favourite albums of the past decade were Radiohead albums (‘In Rainbows’ and ‘Kid A’). They also happened to have put on one of the best live shows in my lifetime (at V Festival), and have also released two other pretty bloody good albums in ‘Amnesiac’ and ‘Hail to the Thief’.
‘In Rainbows’ was a fantastic record after a four absence from previous album ‘Hail...
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Album of the Decade: Radiohead – Kid A
This was always going to be a tough choice considering there has been some fantastic albums in the past 10 years (2000 – 2009) but ultimately it came down to two Radiohead albums, how to choose between ‘Kid A’ and ‘In Rainbows’ was always going to be difficult. Hence why this post has come in mid February, but ‘Kid A’ is the album of the decade.
Seeing Radiohead three or four years ago at V...
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Song of the Decade: LCD Soundsystem – All My...
Perhaps another predictable choice but this song is seven minutes and thirty-seven seconds of pure genius. Everything from the first minute or so build up to the wonderful vocals delivered by James Murphy is just music genius. It is hard to find a song that evokes as much pleasure that ‘All My Friends’ delivers in my ears.
Hearing the song live was absolutely incredible and a memory that will...
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10 for 2010: Part Four – Washed Out
Washed Out is the moniker for young musician Ernest Greene from Georgia, who makes fuzzy, dream pop – dare I say chillwave music. Having already released a couple of EP’s in 2009 (‘High Times’ and ‘Life of Leisure’) Washed Out are getting a lot of attention.
Pitchfork gave ‘Life of Leisure’ a score of 8 for that EP and 2010 is set to be a big year for Washed Out, and this new wave of chillwave...
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82nd Academy Awards Nominations
This time of year is the busiest time for films and every year actors, directors and fans wait to hear the nominations for the Academy Awards. The blockbuster was the thing for this year as James Cameron’s Avatar and Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker both received 9 nominations each, with Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds close behind with 8 nominations.
The spread of nominations for...
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Album Review: Vampire Weekend – Contra
Rewind back to Wednesday 24th of October 2007 standing inside a packed Social off Little Portland Street Vampire Weekend played only their second London show in their short history and the venue was packed full of music enthusiasts, bloggers, record label types and myself. Once they had finished their set that night everyone in that room knew this band would go onto bigger and better things.
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Yeasayer - O.N.E. (Download via Mediafire)
This...