Demob Happy

Ghost in the machine 8/10 All the acrimony surrounding the release of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, in which Wilco left Warner/Reprise to resist attempts to make the record more commericially viable, seems bizarre now. For despite its moments of sonic chaos, YHF is a great, Beatles-esque, countryfied pop masterpiece with great hooks and immediately indentifiable melodies. [...]

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MP3s that have caught my attention this month include Beach House’s ‘Gila’, taken from their new album ‘Devotion‘. Slowcore dream pop informed by The Velvet Underground and Nico, Gila is the highlight of an album of similarly melancholy and somnabulant tunes. Meanwhile, I am enjoying the obliquely titled ‘Recent Bedroom’ by Atlas Sound, from their [...]

Beach House - Gila [ 4:46 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Atlas Sound - Recent Bedroom [ 3:47 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Frequently enjoyed album 8/10 The term ‘slowcore’ doesn’t really do justice to this album, conjuring as it does images of painfully protracted, po-faced minimalist post-rock. ‘Frequently Asked Questions‘ is nothing of the sort. I bought this album on a whim on its release in 2001 and still find myself playing it periodically six years later. [...]

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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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