Recommended Playlist- 23/06/2011

The Field Mice- Your Kidding Aren’t You (Snowball, 1989) "Classic Sarah Records Act" 

Red Fang-Wires (Murder The Mountains, 2011) "Wigout Guitar anthem" 

Sons & Daughters- Breaking Fun (Mirror Mirror 2011) "Mighty New Decadent Sinister Pop from Scotland's Premier Band" 

Duane Eddy- Road Trip (Road Trip 2011) "The King of The Road Returns" 

Blanck Mass-Sifted Gold (Blanck Mass 2011) "Ambient Downbeat from one-half of Fuck Buttons" 

Cashier No.9-Lost At Sea (To The Death of Fun 2011) "Sky High Indie Pop From Belfast"

Jehst- Zombies (The Dragon of An Ordinary Family 2011) "All Hail The Return of The Mighty Jehst" 

Patrick Wolf- The City (Lupercalia, 2011)  "Suprisingly Very Happy Return from South London's King of Camp Grandeur Chamber Pop" 

Diskjokke- Mandena (Sagara, 2011) "Dark and Inspiring electronic anbience from the depths of the world" 

John Maus- Street Light (We Must Become The Pitiless Censors of Ourselves, 2011) "Get on the floor with the album that finally captures the frenzy of Maus' live performance attack"

Destroyer- Chinatown (Kaputt, 2011) "Cannot get enough of Destroyer's finest record ever, guaranteed to cross over to the broadsheet coffee table crowd with the most pop hooks this side of the 21st century" 

Hoodlums- Landmarks (Landmarks/The Great Outsiders 7", 2011) "Atmospheric and potentially chart bothering indie pop"

Dum Dum Girls-Stiff Little Fingers (Stiff Little Fingers Ltd 7", 2010) "Further Proof That There is Real Substance behind Dee Dee and Co's homage to Shangraigaze if any was needed." 

Pontiak- Comecrudos Part 1 (Comecrudos, 2011) "Limited 12 Vinyl Release intended as a soundtrack on a drive between Phoenix and Texas... Having done that journey I can confirm This is a perfect soundtrack to the empty roads and sandy paths of the USA" 

LaVern Baker- Voodoo Voodoo (Voodoo Voodoo/Hey Memphis 7" 2011) "Re-Released Rocker from a pre-fame Phil Spector, bound to get everyone shaking when it gets played on the ole' 45 jukebox, classic vocals from a forgotten Voice."

Fink- Yesterday Was Hard on All of Us (Perfect Darkness, 2011) "Fink returns with his most commercial record to date, an obvious choice for fans of acoustica, heart draining lyricism and thoughtful production."

Arctic Monkeys- Suck It & See

Arctic Monkeys return after the excellent Humbug with "Suck It and See" Turner's typical wordplay is the strongest factor in what is unfortantely a by the numbers effort which seeks to satisfy the fan definition of the band. Expect more engimatic women existing in Turner's northern stories to familiar effects. By all means not a weak effort as the Monkeys hit some above-average indie pop but follow the expected route rather than venturing in any new direction.  A Long suck leaves a familiar if not pleasant taste (too easy) 6/10

Cold Showers- I Don't Mind/Near Burn 7"

 COLD SHOWERS- I DON'T MIND/NEAR BURN (MEXICAN SUMMER)

Debut 7" from LA four piece Cold Showers. No Words. Just An Awesome Song you should be playing all summer. Insane Video Too!


Cold Showers - "I Don't Mind" from Mexican Summer on Vimeo.

Julianna Barwick- The Magic Place

This album has been doing the rounds for a while so If you have not yet been privileged to soar along with Barwick's 3rd album The Magic Place where have you been... (Unless like me you've been travelling and then you can be forgiven) A Record that is almost a transcending, eye opening solitary experience, heavenly but also based inside the very torture of solitude and loneliness. Hauntingly melancholy but also joyful hymnal childhood innocence...

Fucked Up- David Comes To Life

Fucked Up- David Comes To Life

Fucked Up come back from the great unknown for what is a wonderful step back, whilst soaring forward from the Canadian giants; sounding sonically more like Hidden World than their previous polaris prize winning Chemistry of Common Life... David Comes To Life is like no other album you will ever hear... lyrically explosive, engaging and deserving of all the hyperbole anyone can throw at it. There are few records which will really hit you from all angles like this one, but I will leave you to experience it for yourselves and read elsewhere about the story behind one of the most pecuilar "rock operas" of our generation. I predict this will be in my top 5 if not higher when it comes time to compare this year's great releases...
Matador you sleigh me once again... 10/10

Thao & Mirah- S/T

Thao & Mirah- S/T

Put Together Thao, who is known to most as the leader of the get down stay down, electrically charged and punked up serrated rockers and Mirah, who can be simply defined as creating some lovely twee and simple songs in various guises and various artists over the last decade. It's not necessarily the most suitable combination, you get the impression it could be a clash of the indie darling champions eclipsing each other with style over substance. But Instead their debut is a astounding success, flipping in style from track to track, blissful summer pop which often settles to showcase the talents of just one of the duo but where their voices combine true magic is made...

May 2011- EMA- Past Life Martyred Saints

So I've been going around the USA so this blog has been obviously abused and left on the wayside during this time, but gradually getting back to the good news:

EMA- Past Life Martyred Saints is where I'll choose to begin and it's a stunning and brutal album, unsuited to reviews and genre tags because it is quite simply astounding... I guess it can be filed with Liz Phair, PJ Harvey and other 90s grunge inspired girls for simple lazy comparisons but Erika M. Anderson (formally of Amps For Christ and of Gown) effortlessly jumps all over the place from heavy beats to 4 track punked up rock. This album cannot be sampled as it should be engulfed by every listener, grab your headphones and take a step inside one of the best records this year has to offer. Mindblowing 9/10
Experience this sample of "California"