Antiquarian book dealer, illustrator, singer, taxidermist.
READ MOREYour worst fears about ‘Nothing’ are probably right. The late-year, post-album extended-play sounds like the runoff of a few constructions that didn’t make the cut for ‘Dedication’.
It’s hard to fathom that British Sea Power now have five albums under their belts.
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Titus Andronicus
The Monitor
[Merok]8/10
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Just last year, Titus Andronicus released one of the most disappointing albums of the year, but with the hype turned down to simmer we can now see their true potential. A concept album inspired by the American Civil War without the historical context, ‘The Monitor’ conveys all the heavy sentiment, conflict and calamity with a wild eyed urgency. Triumphant without being compromised by misty reflection, it’s an album imbued with hopes and fears; of stories celebrated and taken to the grave; of the panorama and horror of a chapter consigned to history. Breathless and bloody, grandstand opener ‘A More Perfect Union’ bullocks along with a Flatley stamp, buoyed by boisterous Celtic spirit and the optimism of better days while ‘…And Ever’ slings and swings with the crackling energy of a smoking backroom bar. Evoking the soaring beat-street story telling of Springsteen and Gaslight Anthem, ‘The Monitor’’s everyman fortitude is immediately endearing. It’s like we were all in it together.
By Reef Younis
Your worst fears about ‘Nothing’ are probably right. The late-year, post-album extended-play sounds like the runoff of a few constructions that didn’t make the cut for ‘Dedication’.
Milagres are a Brooklyn-based quintet fronted by a certain Kyle Wilson, whose soaring vocal style sits somewhere between Thom Yorke and Chris Keating of Yeasayer.
On first encounter, ‘Bad Dream Hotline’ is your standard emo-goth release – black on black cover art, tracks called things like ‘A Handsome Stranger Called Death’ and ‘Dance & Weep’.
‘Out of Sight, Out of Town’ is an album that concerns itself, in the main, with casual sex.
When LA Vampires first released ‘So Unreal’ on a limited vinyl run in 2010 it sold out in a flash, perhaps because of its superbly kitsch artwork by Spencer Longo.
Dan Mangan is a husky-voiced, melancholic Canadian singer-songwriter who does all the things you expect husky-voiced, melancholic Canadian singer-songwriters to do.
Favourite Sons is the most recent project of Ken Griffin, formerly of nineties outfits Rollerskate Skinny and Kid Silver.
Synth enthusiasts must have been veritably jumping with joy of late (would a synth enthusiast do that sort of thing?).
A long lasting member of the American garage rock scene since the late Eighties, Mark Sultan has cooked up a hotpot of a new album.
Some very big noises are being made in the mainstream press over this Swedish duo, and their calculated pop sensibilities go a long way to explaining that.
This week we’ve been listening to new music from The Proper Ornaments, The Weeknd, Electricity In Our Homes, Sunless ’97 and Ceremony [pictured].
LISTEN HEREDropping his iPhone was the best thing that ever happened to Reef Younis.
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