"Are we depressing?" Asobi Seksu dispel the myths
Managing quite happily to record one of the year’s best LPs in the wonderful Citrus, and to be an extremely fine live act, New York pop group Asobi Seksu are making people remember something»
Articles
Daniel_Indeed has written the following articles:
Japancakes - Loveless
Though Japancakes' Loveless is not without its charm and brilliant moments, it is stunted by the charm and brilliant moments of My Bloody Valentine»
Husky Rescue - Other World (Remixes & Rarities)
Chin-stroking intellectualism is thankfully cast aside in lieu of dirt, bass, thuds and repetitive joy on Husky Rescue's collection of rare tracks and remixes. Not that DiS has much of a frame of reference to start with»
Blow Up at London Metro, Thu 11 Oct
What was it your mum said? Never outstay your welcome and always say "thank you" when you leave? While many of us are pretty reasonably well mannered in these two social norms, the entertainment business has been ascribed very different rules»
Tunng, Fanfarlo at London 229, Wed 17 Oct
229 on Great Portland Street? Sounds rubbish. It's not though, it's nice! Maybe see you there later? OK? OK. (Sorry, I've just never been there before and I thought it was lovely)»
Catoan - And Will I
If you listen closely, you'll hear the words straining like tea leaves through a strainer from behind Paddy McKeown's teeth. It’s exciting...»
The Good Life - Help Wanted Nights
The Good Life possess the craft and intelligence to last in the vein they're coursing through but, should they branch out, they could become fantastic...»
Josh T Pearson, DiS DJs, Devastations, Joe Gideon & The Shark, Jack Savoretti at Monto Water Rats, Camden Town, Tue 18 Sep
Immediately upon entering the Water Rats Theatre (I wandered in all cool 'til a security fellow told me I couldn't do that for all the tea in China, consequently making me look a little bit of a dick while my name was ticked off the guestlist) you can see Josh T. Pearson...»
Beat Radio - The Great Big Sea
New Yorker Brian Sendrowitz, known along with some hired hands as Beat Radio, made and released an album last year for free download. The Great Big Sea was correctly lauded by several smaller figures in the blogosphere and a few other places too, but it never received the kind of exposure that it truly deserved. Now, nearly a year on, the record has been given a full physical release, along with a lovely little bonus EP as well. Lawks...»
Miaoux Miaoux - Rainbow Bubbles
A slim-line version of weightier, more brutal electronic beasts of his homeland (Errors, Arab Strap), Julian Corrie's Miaoux Miaoux project is perfectly balanced by his attention to melody and its development...»
Arthur & Yu - In Camera
It would be wrong to say that Arthur & Yu's debut release is uninspired, but there would be grounds to suggest that it is somewhat uninspiring...»
The Go! Team at London Camden Electric Ballroom, Wed 12 Sep
If we can get the obvious thing out of the way first…»
Yo La Tengo at London Royal Festival Hall, Sun 09 Sep
Tonight's performance sees that unlikeliest of pairings - wildlife documentaries and the music of Yo La Tengo - blossom under the auspices of London's Royal Festival Hall.»
Little Name - How To Swim And Live
"How hard is it to sound like Belle & Sebastian? How hard is it to sound like Tallulah Gosh? Do girls really like twee? How hard is it to play a xylophone?" These are surely some of the question that a young Lee Barker, aka Little Name, must have asked himself as he grew up in Liverpool...»
Don't Look Back 2007 at London Koko, Wed 22 Aug
Rather cheeringly, the folk at ATP are on a quest to rid Camden's potentially fantastic Koko venue of its many shortcomings...»
The Howling Hex - XI
In startling fashion, The Howling Hex come over like the Teenage Fanclub of hard American indie. Like their poppier Scotch counterparts, this ensemble is a very self-supportive and like-minded one...»
I Was A Cub Scout - Our Smallest Adventures
Let's get this clear from the start: a lot has been made of I Was A Cub Scout. I have never seen them live, and I've only heard the odd song somewhere or other. I was not bowled over. 'Our Smallest Adventures', coming after some apparently rather successful festival appearances of late for this rather lauded electro-indie duo, does not bowl me over either.»
Steveless - Mistakes In All The Right Places
Comfortingly horrific, Steveless have created an opus that defies logic and fashion, ably straddling the divide between terror and hilarity quite perfectly. At only nineteen minutes long, one might accuse Mistakes In All The Right Places of being lightweight, but a quick listen will sort that out (listening ROCKS!)...»
Dananananaykroyd at London Brixton The Windmill, Fri 03 Aug
Tonight's show was supposed to be cancelled because one of Dananananaykroyd's drummers had to go home. For most bands, being a drummer down would mean a cancellation or, at worst, a fucking rubbish acoustic set. Tonight's show is not cancelled, though. It happens very, very nicely indeed thank-you very much...»
Naked Lunch - Military Of The Heart
For a band with such a messy past as Naked Lunch (alcohol-related death, poverty, industrial frictions, a night in the cells…) to return with a single so focused and delicately interesting is a marvel...»
DiScover: Sleeping States
Sleeping States is one man, Markland Starkie. He likes noisy music and used to be in Norwich skronk heroes KaitO. Now he makes pretty music that's also quite brainy. DiScover rushes in like a fool to greet him…»
The Answering Machine - Silent Hotels/It's Over! It's Over! It's Over
With a crackling opening that nods simultaneously at Pavement and Bloc Party or something similarly wazz-worthy, it immediately becomes tricky to place The Answering Machine's 'Silent Hotels'.»
Ballboy, Bearsuit, Shrag, Horowitz at London Kilburn The Luminaire, Sat 23 Jun
Today at Kilburn's beloved Luminaire, we see the most concentrated twee presence since Sarah Records lured a load of gingerbread men into their candy-walled office within the sweet, sweet sickly city of Tweeville and managed to coax Teenage Fanclub into being a lounge band for their reception.»
Paul Marshall - Vultures
Vultures are birds that feed on carcasses. Rather than working to feed themselves, they wait for larger animals to die and then feast on the unchallenging remains...»
Hand on String
Michael Andrews is that bloke who arranged that Tears For Fears song for that film Donnie Darko. Should this make us excited? Probably not. The expanded discipline of full composition is a world apart from mere arranging of existing material, no matter how flat your cap is...»
Stephanie Dosen - A Lily For The Spectre
Another day, another Bella Union release that whispers considerable beauty and intriguing countrified narratives for those who are willing to listen. And because it's a Bella Union release, that’s quite a few people. Stephanie Dosen is the latest to fall into this bracket and, also, one of the loveliest...»
DiScover: Dark Captain Light Captain
Dark Captain Light Captain are fresh, young, hip, bangin', phat… hang on… no. They're not...»
My Sad Captains - Bad Decisions
'Bad Decisions', then. Like when that guy had the opportunity to sign The Beatles and didn't because he thought they were crap. That was a bad decision...»
James Yorkston - Roaring The Gospel
James Yorkston has, for some years, been a truly boggling songwriter. His many talents have variously displayed themselves across his last three records, but Roaring The Gospel is probably the most consummate and representational thus far...»
Ben & Vesper - All This Could Kill You
It's only after repeated listens that the magic of All This Could Kill You begins to make itself known...»