Category: Reviews

Album | Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros – PersonA

If Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros were to be described in a single word, that word would be communal. Whether considering singalong, clap-along anthems ranging from the seminal “Home” to lesser-known burners like “They Were Wrong”, Alex Ebert’s brainchild…

Album | The Lumineers – Cleopatra

The Lumineers 2nd album arrives four years after the band’s debut. It’s an ample period of time between debut and sophomore releases. The band hasn’t reinvented the wheel and has indeed returned with an eleven song collection of wonderfully lively…

Album | Bellowhead – The Farewell Tour

After 10 years, 5 albums, countless gigs and a split-year farewell tour, the good ship Bellowhead, captained by John Speirs and Jon Boden, sails off into the sunset. This live set- 2 CD’s of tracks recorded in Autumn 2015 across…

Live | John Joseph Brill @ St. Pancras Old Church, London

“The next song is a sad one… as is the rest of the set”. Drinking, drinking with people you hate, relationship breakups and mental illness.  It’s fair to say the subject matter of John Joseph Brill is not the cheeriest.…

Album | Parquet Courts – Human Performance

Parquet Courts are a band you need in your life. The band signing to Rough Trade last year was both obvious and intriguing. The mostly bizarre, almost completely instrumental EP/album ‘Mona stic Living’ from late last year was anything if a…

Album | Laura Gibson- Empire Builder

Finally, this writer’s thirst for a new Laura Gibson record has been quenched. The wait at times since January 2012’s La Grande did feel at times interminable. Empire Builder comes with a story of its own, as the result of…

Live | Andrew Bird @ The Electric Factory, Philadelphia

The Electric Factory is a far cry from the clean and cool converted train station venue, Union Transfer, where Andrew Bird last played in Philadelphia supporting 2012’s Break It Yourself. The Electric Factory is quintessential Philadelphia, from the Ben Franklin logo to…

Album | Mogwai – Atomic

Mogwai never seem to stop working. If it isn’t releasing something fascinating from its ever expanding indie rock catalogue, then it’s doing a soundtrack, moulding its sound around a film or such. Do you remember how this band made the…