The Secret Sisters album is like a time capsule. Open it up and you’re taken back to the 1950s. The only thing missing is the crackle of the needle hitting the record, though I suspect my copy will acquire that…
Category: Reviews
Album: Malcolm Holcombe – To Drink The Rain
For those that don’t know Malcolm Holcombe, he’s an old-fashioned southern American troubadour – the way you’d draw one up in a film (actually, he’s probably not far off Bad Blake from Crazy Heart). His rugged, weathered face is complimented…
Album: Bright Eyes – The People’s Key
If you’re reading this, chances are you aren’t new to the whole Bright Eyes thing. You probably aren’t looking to discover your next musical man-crush. What you want to know is what you always want to know when Conor Oberst…
Album: Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo – Almanac
Almanac, Emily Barker’s third album, sees her once again working with her backing band The Red Clay Halo. Despite award wins in her native Australia and even a BAFTA and Royal Television Society award for composing the theme to critically…
Album: Left With Pictures – In Time
When Beyond Our Means, the debut album from Left With Pictures, was released in late 2009, the critical consensus seemed to be that the band did nothing extraordinary, but did it bloody well. Perhaps the London-based fivesome took that as…
Album: Pete Yorn – Pete Yorn
Radio-friendly college rock can be a tricky business. It is a broad church, and at its best, Weezer, R.E.M. and Guided by Voices show that an easy way with a chorus and universal lyrics can neatly tap into a range…
Album: Treefight for Sunlight – Treefight for Sunlight
Having been a keen follower of the Scandinavian music scene for a few years now, I sincerely hoped that Treefight For Sunlight’s self titled debut could hold it’s own against some of the recent output from the region. Thankfully this…
Album: Hannah Peel – The Broken Wave
Since making its first appearance on her Tra Mhor EP, The Almond Tree, which opens Hannah Peel’s excellent debut album The Broken Wave, has acquired some beefy percussion, a swaggering bass line and some Grandaddy-esque beepy synthesiser arpeggios. It’s quite…
Album: The Gentle Good – Tethered for the Storm
Cardiff’s Gareth Bonello draws on a variety of influences and two languages on this follow-up to his 2008 debut album While You Slept I Went Out Walking. An equally redolent title this time around points to tranquility, just what is…
Singles: Admiral Fallow, Toy Horses & Dry The River
Admiral Fallow – These Barren Years Somehow managing to please both nu-folkies and drive-time rock lovers, Admiral Fallow’s new single sings of life in Scottish schools with all the brashness, insecurities and melancholy that come with such a package. “Line…