Demob Happy

Beak>- Beak>
6.5/10
FIRST PUBLISHED AT THE LINE OF BEST FIT
Subterranean bass throbs, some cod-ghostly wailing and vaguely arabesque improvisations on a rusty sounding organ … ’Backwell’ is the opener of the self-titled debut album by Beak>, a new band including Portishead’s Geoff Barrow. With its slighty nauseating retro synths fanning out mechanically over chugging motorik, ‘Blackwell’ signposts [...]

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Album Review: Crystal Antlers - Tentacles
7/10
FIRST PUBLISHED AT THE LINE OF BEST FIT
Among the many acts hyped in 2008 there was a proliferation of new bands called Crystal something. Crystal Castles, Crystal Stilts and Cystal Antlers all came out of the leftfield to get blog love last year. Having been totally confused by the similarity [...]

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“What will it take to make you listen?”
8.5/10
Some of my favourite albums of the last couple of years have come from a strand of impressionistic folk that roughly began with the release of Grizzly Bear’s ghostly ‘Yellow House‘ in 2006 and Iron & Wine’s kaleidoscopic ‘Shepherd’s Dog‘ a year later, gathering pace in 2008 with [...]

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FIRST PUBLISHED AT THE LINE OF BEST FIT
Back to the future
6/10
‘Your Ear Knows Future’ is the sophomore effort from Baikonour - aka Brighton’s French-born Jean-Emmanuel Kreiger - a veritable one-man band whose debut ‘For the Lonely Hearts of the Cosmos‘ was a heady blend of space rock and electronica. Where that first record was indebted [...]

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FIRST PUBLISHED AT THE LINE OF BEST FIT
Voice of The Hive
7/10
A sombre flute, the clunking toll of a bell, a solemnly plucked acoustic guitar … cue medieval clichés: misty moats, drawbridges, hooded monks, damsels in distress. But hold on, it’s not Led Zeppelin IV … a shimmering drone, Mellotron, and suddenly all manner of spiralling [...]

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Stereolab - a novice’s view
8/10
Stereolab are a long-time leftfield favourite that seem to have drifted in and out of critical favour during their prolific recording life. Somewhat derisively referred to as an “art-school” band at stages in their career, they mine a similar, but less abrasive, territory to Broadcast: psychedelic retro pop flavoured with [...]

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10 year milesone for classic psych rock album
9/10
Mercury Rev’s 1998 album was undoubtably a turning point, a massively influencial re-envisioning of the pop-rock form that inspired countless imitators. Marginally pre-dating The Flaming Lips’ equally stunning The Soft Bulletin by about one year, in my view Deserter’s Songs began a protracted period of American dominance [...]

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Radiohead and the art of modern marketing

10/10
How much is music worth? Not the CD it’s printed on or the cover art, and certainly not the plastic jewel case - but the music itself? Or more precisely, how much is Radiohead’s music worth? This is the question the band have asked fans to contemplate [...]

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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 Bonnie Prince [...]

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War of the worlds
7/10
At War with the Mystics - The Lips’ 12th - is not the concept album the title might have you beleive. While it sees them continue to try and push the boundaries of their sound with varying degrees of success, it remains to be seen if it has the longevity of [...]

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