Lackthereof is the solo side project of Menomena’s Danny Seim, although it seems that the day job doesn’t give him much time off as this is only his second album under this appellative since it’s conception in 1997 and the first in four years. While Se …

Another day and yet another Arcade Fire aping, instrument shop plundering, baroque pop album. However, Fleet Foxes have kind of ruined it for everyone by setting the bar so high. So, for the likes of Sea Wolf, Bodies Of Water and a whole plethora of bl …

I want to love this album, I really do. It’s absolutely bursting with ideas, humour and fun, but therein lies its downfall. ‘Life In The Bus Lane’ reminds me of one of those ‘Tigger’ people, brimming with energy but never seeing things through to the e …

Broadcast 2000 is essentially the vehicle for multi-instrumentalist and all round talented fellow Joe Steer. With a little help from a few friends, Joe makes perfect, quirky little summer’s day tunes. The music is essentially just acoustic guitar, a fe …

Japanese band, Nisennenmondai, make a kind of rhythmic industrial noise. They produce strange sounds by hitting various parts of guitars, or playing said instruments with a heightened amount of tone. There are stabbing, percussive guitar sounds and som …

Ever wondered what it sounds like in a serial killers head…? Well wonder no more, just whack ‘Acid Or Blood’ into your HiFi (that’s the name of the album not some sonic experiment), sit back and discover a world of schizophrenic, visceral, abrasive, …

Can Warp do no wrong at the moment? There was a time when you knew exactly what lay between the grooves on the labels’ release without needing to read a review or undo the cellophane wrapping. Gone are those days and replaced by a label that has a trul …

Iconic band of yesteryear releasing first album in x years (five in this case)? Dan’ll cover that. I don’t know whether it’s because I’m the oldest guy In the E&D office, but these records keep landing on my desk. However, unlike the recent comeback at …

It’s a critical moment for The Hold Steady. In the wake of their breakthrough 3rd album ‘Boys And Girls In America’ the pressure’s on to deliver a convincing follow up. From the moment the first bars of ‘Constructive Summer’ belt out of the speakers, w …

It seems a strange thing to say about a band that has been making records for well over 20 years now, but The Melvins’ time may have finally come. Historically best known for their association with the nascent Nirvana, perhaps the time is now right for …

Endless Boogie – Never will a bands name describe them so well, unless The Feeling changed their name to Insipid Gash. The main problem with the ‘Boogie’ is that they’re more endless than they are boogie. What starts of as a promising sound with the op …

Another day another facsimile of Arcade Fire. Booooooooooooooooring!!! But wait, don’t run so swiftly. Give said water features a chance. Despite the obvious comparison with Montreal’s favourite, the opening of ‘A Certain Feeling’ is a thrilling ride. …

Post Rock, where’s it going? I ask the question after listening to this album by The Ascent Of Everest because it’s a rerelease and remaster of a recording from 2006 and I can’t quite work out why they’ve bothered. Whilst it is an enormously accomplish …

Once upon a time, there was a band called My Bloody Valentine. They made very pretty music, performed it very loudly for their fans and then disappeared for sixteen years. Now they’re back to delight us all again. But the world has moved on; young pret …

‘With Our Arms Wide Open We March Towards The Burning Sea’… To be honest, with a title like that I don’t even need to listen to this album to know that it’s going to be my cup of tea. Portentous, melodramatic, gothic, all of the necessary ingredients …

Something has stirred in the northern wastelands. A thawing, a warming perhaps? Green shoots have poked their tender heads from beneath the snow. Whatever it is that has happened this, the sixth album from Sigur Ros, is different. Whilst still being ob …

This, Wolf Parade’s second album, inhabits the same realm as fellow Canadians Islands, but makes more of the sound, with more experimental keyboards and a few killer hooks. It could be argued that it is derivative of Arcade Fire but Wolf Parade were to …

It’s 4 am, it’s dark. I’m alone with the remnants of another embittered argument, and the taste of a turgid affair in my mouth. The air is littered with half truths and broken promises, and the come down is hitting me hard – ‘What’s the point? What’s h …

This morning I awoke with a heavy heart and a frown steadfastly refusing to turn itself upside down. My mind drifted back to what my mother told me about my birth – it was a slow, arduous affair, which lasted hours. When I finally popped out I kicked, …

Mark Kozelek is a stickler for time and place. Rarely do his songs not reference a particular month, a time of year, a house, a street, a town, a city. The very first line sung on his latest offering under the Sun Kil Moon moniker is no exception: “I c …

A challenge: listen to Errors’ debut album on your headphones, walking down the street without nodding your head. It’s impossible. I made my own music video in my head for God’s sake, as I walked – or more accurately, ‘strut-minced’ – my way along the …