The Kaisers’ sophomore album has us questioning our sanity somewhat, which is a reaction, but surely way down the list of preferable impressions. This is undeniably the Kaiser Chiefs, doing what the Kaiser Chiefs undeniably do. It “na na na”s and it “la la la”s and it almost inevitably “ooo-eee-ooo-oo”s. It has beats that could spur the most statuesque to pogo with unconscious glee. There are fun-size guitar riffs jostling playfully with one another. There are lyrics that require little Continue Reading

Crud got married last year. No, not to another website, they’re all sworn enemies of ours of course – though we have been making eyes at The Hype Machine quite a lot of late. This writer, specifically, got wed (gifts still gratefully received by the way – safe passage through the Glasto application process on April 1st, anyone?). And knocking together the ents for our evening bash we came to discover that while you might not always get what you Continue Reading

Hip-hop to me – real hip-hop that is – has always been about building something that has definite walls and sides, something that has surfaces, storage cupboards, multi-dimensions and heights – everything but a roof. Listening itself should be a building experience. With a roof, it’s like saying it’s finished, and hip-hop is too transient for that, too fleeting. The closest thing to hip-hop as loose and as free as this is dreaming. The place you inhabit in dreams seems Continue Reading

First up you had Domino’s timely reissue of ‘Born Sandy Devotional’, now you have two former glories released together on the same day: ‘In The Pines’ and ‘’Calenture’. More than this though, you have the opportunity to pour over the release’s expansive 42 page booklet and extra tracks, conceived in the same manner as the label’s recent ‘perfect bound’ Pavement release and similarly detailing the ideas and inspirations behind the creation and recording of this classic 80s indie album including Continue Reading

Back when your humble reviewer was taking his first muddy steps into the grubby world of boisterous indie music at Reading Festival ’94, as some sort of self-prescribed induction into its sordid workings, there seemed much to learn, there were new experiences and there were many questions. But the one thing, above all other things that I took away that day (apart from perhaps wondering how I could get hold of one of those massive light bulbs the Chilli Peppers Continue Reading

Too Rye Aye! Oh bollocks. That was someone else. But that’s the whole damn point, I suppose. The average Joe in the street usually arrives at Mr Morrison via everything but his actual records. Dexy’s Midnight Runners or gut-wrenchingly awful Julia Robert flick, the port may be different but the destination remains the same, Van Morrison surely remains the most ubiquitous cameo and namechecked figure in popular culture since Alfred Hitchcock tried to get in on the guestlist at Gatecrasher. Continue Reading

It might not sound like much of a achievement, but primarily thinking of Charlotte Hatherley as Charlotte Hatherley is just that. The point is, we barely ever think of her as Her From Out Of Ash these days, and that is testament indeed to an excellent debut album, 2005’s snappy ‘Grey Will Fade’. And while the Irish boys flounder under the pressure of losing the best thing ever to happen to them, the best thing that ever happened to them Continue Reading

It doesn’t take much to bring me round in the morning. Some chunky parping horns, the uplifting harmonies of a gospel choir, some loose, baggy beats and some scratchy stop-start stuff. That’s my morning glory. And that’s what kicks off this little DJ mix from Harmless Records – one of the first UK connoisseur collector’s labels to showcase the most crazy and influential artists from around the world and truss them up in a nice little mix series that features Continue Reading

When you have bands – nay, phenomena – like Mogwai and Sigur Ros laying claim to an entire genre with such notable and expansive swathes of sonic majesty, it’s all too tempting to think that as far as the ear can see, right up to the figurative horizon, there’s not a single acre up for rent. If one group has begged to differ since the turn of the century, causing ripples in the volcanic crust such as to create new Continue Reading

There’s probably going to be a few folks disappointed with this album. Why? Well probably a combination of things really. It’s hardly a challenging follow up to 2005’s platinum selling, United State of Atlanta (U.S.A) if you assess it on production values alone, and the soft-core nature of it’s lyrical bent and rap content is hardly going to rip holes in the fabric of either body politic or realpolitik. It’s about girls. It’s about booty. Nothing wrong with that, I Continue Reading