Category: Indie
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Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Skeleton Tree
Cave has been getting progressively more ambient (or at least playing more atmospheric, dark piano ballads) for a couple of albums, possibly because of the time he devotes to soundtracks. This new album is no different, and there’s a companion film, One More Time With Feeling. Clearly this one is different: while the album was…
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Rob Richings: Parka and Boots
Sometimes you want to forget about seminal and influential albums and listen to nice music. The CDs that have the most legs with us are just good songs — Crash My Model Car and Martin John Henry might not have sold many albums but they get played a lot in the Review Corner. We were…
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Still Corners: Dead Blue
This synth pop album from songwriter Greg Hughes and vocalist Tessa Murray is a pleasant listen. It’s undemanding electronic pop with an eighties synth feel but mid-way through its fifth or sixth play we realised that its existence was making us feel happy, never a bad thing. This is possibly because it taps into old…
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Kate Jackson: British Road Movies
Jackson was in The Long Blondes, one of those bands we always thought we should listen to more but never did; slightly worthy indie. This solo effort, coming eight years after songwriter Dorian Cox’s ill health caused the Blondes to split, is much more appealing. A reasonable thumbnail of this would be a UK indie…
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Teenage Fanclub: Here
We suspect this review is aimed only at non-Fannies (as the band is known). The true fans will have bought this, probably after studying the band members’ DNA for flaws and cross-referencing with what singer Norman Blake had for tea on Wednesdays in 2003. Looking at reviews of this and their live gigs, we saw…
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Jeff Finlin Life: After Death
This is another album to beat anyone who says “there’s no good music any more” over the head with, before administering a blow to the temples. True, Finlin is a veteran performer who has a decent fan base but not his own Wikipedia page; he’s probably one of those people whose fans can’t believe he’s…
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Bat For Lashes: The Bride
This remarkable album follows the story of a woman whose fiancé is killed in a crash on the way to the church for their wedding (complete with Leader Of The Pack-style sound effects). The bride goes ahead with the honeymoon on her own and the album reflects on meditation on love, loss, grief, and…
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Evans The Death: Vanilla
Evans The Death should be what we like in an indie pop band — pleasing female vocals, slightly dark, fond of making a racket and a spirit of independence. But, we have to say, there’s just something about this that doesn’t quite float our boat. Evans The Death are a bit more Evans the Runny…
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On Dead Waves: Blackbird
On Dead Waves is a project between Maps and Polly Scattergood. Maps is the stage name used by Northampton musician James Chapman. Polly Scattergood is the stage name used by Polly Scattergood. They’re both on the cult side, by which we mean the critics rate them but record buyers have never really taken to them.…
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Weezer: White Album
This is Weezer’s fourth self-titled record, and seems to be a return to form, from the catchy opener California Kids onwards (“Just get going / ‘Til you hit the ocean / And you turn Californian”). The album apparently tells the tale of geek and girl: they meet, fall in love, split. The opener is said…
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