Demob Happy

Better the devil you know 8/10 If ‘Neon Golden‘ was The Notwist in a state of evolution, leaving their hardcore punk roots behind in favour of post-rock flavoured indie-pop and electronica, ‘You, The Devil + Me‘ is the sound of a band who have found their, er, sound. ‘You, The Devil + Me‘ may lack [...]

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Smoke and mirrors 9/10 Todd Haynes’ 2002 film ‘Far From Heaven‘ was a masterpiece of subtle subversion that paid homage to the richly coloured 1950s film style (and specifically the ‘women’s pictures’ of Douglas Sirk and his contemporaries). What could have been hollow pastiche is in fact a thoughtful and moving examination of US social [...]

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Alive and kicking 7/10 The Dodos are an exciting new band that blend freak folk with latin influences and blues. Their debut ‘Visiter‘ sees the duo create often cacophanous and frenetic songs mostly from acoustic (sometimes slide) guitars, banjo, pounding percussion and occasional horns. It is a raw template that recalls, by turns, The White [...]

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Third time unlucky? 7/10 Almost every review of Portishead’s ‘Third‘ opens with a summary account of trip hop, with mentions of coffee tables and dinner parties. Musical snobbery conspires to dictate who listens to music and how it is listened to. The fact that ‘Dummy‘ became universally successful or featured in the soundtrack for This [...]

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Kentucky fried pysch-country 8.5/10 Over four albums My Morning Jacket have fashioned a sound that embraces widescreen emotionalism with rootsy Americana, pyschedelia and alt-country. ‘Z‘ sees My Morning Jacket broaden their influences while retaining the unifying use of reverb that makes all the songs sound unmistakably them now matter how far they stray from the [...]

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A good winter, forever after 8/10 It would be easy to dismiss the history behind the recording of For Emma, Forever Ago as mere press release hype. Yes, Justin Vernon (aka Bon Iver) recorded this album recovering from some deep personal disappointments in an isolated log cabin over one bitter Wisconsin winter – but what [...]

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