Demob Happy

Enter planet dust 8.5/10 ‘Carried to Dust‘ is Calexico’s most mature work to date, arguably the best synthesis of their frontier atmospherics and Latin-inflected country songwriting. The follow-up to 2005′s much-dismissed ‘Garden Ruin’, ‘Carried to Dust’ makes the ‘South-Western noir’ tag stick better than any other Calexico album. It’s a record of great dusky beauty, [...]

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The Empire strikes black 8.5/10 Micah P Hinson’s fourth album – the first I’ve heard since his powerful debut ‘Micah P Hinson and the Gospel of Progress‘ – is an accomplished work and the sound of a prolific artist heading for an artistic peak. Produced by alt-rock mixing guru John Congleton, renowned for the dark [...]

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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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Excellent mini-album 7/10 Iron & Wine and Calexico have collaborated well on this fine EP, which pits Samuel Beam’s alt-country credentials against the latter band’s widescreen musicianship. It is an easy match, since Beam’s soft, sometimes melancholic vocals are not dissimilar to that of Calexico’s Joey Burns. Whereas Iron & Wine is a solitary lo-fi [...]

Iron & Wine / Calexico - He Lays in the Reins [ 3:44 ] 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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