Demob Happy

‘Central And Remote’ 8/10 I came across Grizzly Bear via Dan Rossen’s brilliant – but wholly different – earlier project Department of Eagles. I was initially underwhelmed and bemused, but I persevered and can back previous reviewers who have labelled this a grower. If like me you have come to Grizzly Bear via Department of [...]

Grizzly Bear - Easier [ 3:44 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Follow the herd 9/10 ‘Shepherd’s Dog‘ is a significant departure for Sam Beam and judging some fan reaction it is not going to be an easy transition for a large bulk of his followin. However, if like me you were not particularly enamoured to his old style – stripped down folk in the mold of [...]

Iron and Wine - Carousel [ 4:02 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Are you an excellent steel horse? 8/10 Despite the recurrance of robot horses as a thematic conceit running through ‘Are We Not Horses‘ it would be easy to overplay its significance. Putting aside some of the more obtuse lyrics, what we are left with is an album of extraordinary originality and atmosphere. There is a [...]

Rock Plaza Central - We've Got a Lot to Be Glad For [ 3:58 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Animal feelings 7/10 This should have been the Collective’s crowning moment. The return of the full ‘line-up’ so soon after last year’s Avey Tare and Panda Bear-orchestrated masterpiece ‘Sung Tongs’ heralded great things, and many early reviews agreed. I’m not so convinced. There are moments on this record where they genuinely seem to push the [...]

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Cook the books 6/10 One of the most strangely overrated albums of recent memory, the release of Food for Thought brought such gushing press reaction that it certainly seemed worth the gamble. A low-key blend of manipulated found sound (people laughing, gates squeaking shut, sampled voices), cut ‘n’ spliced acoustic guitar, banjo and violin, and [...]

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Mercury Rev by numbers 6/10 Although not a die-hard fan of ‘The Rev’ – I own nothing before Deserter’s Songs – this album has finished my interest in the band. As with Lambchop’s tedious ‘Aw Come On’ / No You Come On’, there comes a time in many band’s careers when the effect of their [...]

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What are your tongs like? 9/10 Wow! Not much music like this around. This is to folk what the Flaming Lips is to, err, Rock. Completely tripped-out but completely accessible, it is acoustic music pushed to its literal extreme, a modern day ‘Pipers at the Gates of Dawn’. Underscored by often tribal rhythms, the Collective [...]

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Exciting debut! 8/10 Micah P Hinson & The Gospel of Progress… is an assured debut from a young man the publicists would like you to believe has had a tough life. It certainly sounds like it. With a gravely, smoke-chiselled voice that recalls Nick Cave and early Leonard Cohen, Hinson sings largely of loss over [...]

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