Green Man 2009 - The DiS Review
Green Man 2009 finally saw the sun shine gloriously upon its little corner of the Brecon Beacons, heralding an extraordinary assemblage of talent and perhaps its finest year yet. DiS had a ball...»
Articles
JSkins has written the following articles:
Fruit Bats - The Ruminant Band
Set against a backdrop of Michigan skylines, woozy piano and twinkling slide guitar, Fruit Bats' latest is utterly gorgeous. »
Wye Oak - The Knot
Although it falls a few steps shy of wowing unreservedly, Wye Oak's second LP remains a poised and compelling listen. Most encouragingly, it points towards a promising and sure-to-be-interesting future from its makers; one where light and darkness grapple over a sonically engaging, muscular backdrop.»
Mew - No More Stories...
Where to begin with Mew? For over a decade they’ve turned out a heady concoction of rock music, flirting with shoegaze and progressive tendencies while maintaining an ethereal charm increasingly their own. Though their feet dangle in waters grandiloquent, they’re far from being swept away - their fourth seeing them take aim at something warmer and less elemental.»
"If this is the world we helped create, then I apologise." The Get Up Kids, Get Back
"All good things have endings," sang The Get Up Kids, many moons ago. And so it came to pass: in 2004 the band made the decision to call it a day. Their story isn't quite finished yet, however. We caught up with founding 'Kid Jim Suptic for the lowdown.»
Regina Spektor - Far
Far is a bright and gratifying listen; one that doesn’t aim at ideas above its station or flounder in search of unity. It’s simply the sound of Regina Spektor crafting the kind of impeccably sweet, sometimes dramatic and perpetually detailed songs she’s always sung best.»
Wilco - Wilco (the album)
Wilco love you, baby. Right now, that’ll do just fine.»
Bob Dylan - Together Through Life
Short of a few thousand words, there’s really no way to sum up the impact Bob Dylan has had on popular culture, so let’s just go with ´seismic´. On Together Through Life he sounds energised anew, the result constituting a focused, absorbing and on occasion, utterly lovely LP.»
The Felice Brothers - Yonder Is The Clock
It’s easy to see why Conor Oberst fell for The Felice Brothers. Steeped in classic songwriting traditions, bar-room blues and tried-and-tested chord progressions, gracing Yonder Is The Clock with more than a cursory listen reveals a work of significant heft.»
The Bluetones - Expecting To Fly (Box Set)
Even given the current penchant for reissuing artefacts of this era, giving Expecting To Fly the box-set treatment does seem a little superfluous. But listening to it all some thirteen years down the line, any contempt aimed their way seems sorely misguided.»
Tallinn Music Week - The DiS Review
DiS ventures to Estonia to check out the inaugural Tallinn Music Week, where a host of fine bands and ornate venues await.»
One of his kind? Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band to release free documentary
Upfront of Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band's forthcoming new album Outer South, the band have teamed up with the Causecast coalition to bring you a documentary entitled One Of My Kind. And it's free! From the horse's mouth, then: Made by t»
Mirah - (a)spera
Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn's fourth is as striking as anything she’s ever released – a seamless integration of emotional peaks and troughs the likes of which she’s spent a career exploring. It's ambitious, poignant, and yet another terrific album from a female singer-songwriter in 2009.»
Charles Spearin - The Happiness Project
Fascinating social study, riveting musical experiment or exercise in philosophical anthropology – Broken Social Scene member Charles Spearin’s The Happiness Project is at once all these things. More importantly though, it’s a brilliant, unique idea executed with real affection, and a genuinely heartwarming experience.»
Elvis Perkins In Dearland - Elvis Perkins In Dearland
A debut of sorts from its eponymous creators (responsible for bringing Perkins' previous LP Ash Wednesday to life on the road), Elvis Perkins In Dearland finds them in boisterous fettle, bristling with elegance, invigorating melancholy and opulent arrangements.»
Starsailor - All the Plans
Starsailor's fourth album arrives. Yay? Nay.»
Andrew Bird - Noble Beast
Andrew Bird's latest finds him fervently ambitious and erudite as ever, drenched in pastoral tones and of a rich, fulfilling humanity.»
Laura Gibson - Beasts Of Seasons
Through profound contemplation of mortality and all that comes with it, Beasts Of Seasons proffers us an arrestingly understated and accomplished whole, which should see Laura Gibson emerge from the shadows of her contemporaries (Colin Meloy and The Dodos included) with no little grace.»
Cursive - Mama, I'm Swollen
Through his musings on relationships, creativity, politics and religion (mostly relationships), Tim Kasher has gifted us a brace of astonishing work over the years – as literate as it is visceral, deeply affecting as it is relayed with a commendable ear for a hook. That Cursive's sixth album is suddenly upon us, then, is cause for merriment indeed.»
Green Man Festival confirms Wilco, Bon Iver and more
The emphatically DiS-approved Green Man Festival has today announced its first raft of acts, and mighty fine they look too. We spoke to Managing Director of the festival Fiona Stewart, who has also kindly offered us two pairs of tickets which could be yours...»
Thursday - Common Existence
The fifth album from New Jersey post-hardcore/emo champions Thursday sees them once more pair up with producer Dave Fridmann, offering a bruising, nuanced set where Geoff Rickly’s poetic leanings are offset by humongous riffs and occasional exercises in brooding ambience. If 2003’s War All The Time was a call, suggests Geoff Rickly, this is its all-encompassing response.»
DiS meets Emmy The Great - Part Two
In the second part of our interview with Emmy The Great we discuss Leonard Cohen, how to write successful music videos, world-beating gigs, bleakness/optimism, fears regarding mediocrity and one Samuel Beckett.»
DiS meets Emmy The Great - Part One
DiS loves Emmy The Great. We really do. Last week we even celebrated wondrous debut album First Love's arrival by letting her take over the site. Turning the tables, then, here's the first of a two-part interview from earlier this month...»
Various - Dark Was the Night
"Hey Aaron, you know that charity compilation we're putting together?" "I sure do, Bryce." "Well, I had a few ideas." "Yeah?" "Yeah - how about exclusives from Dirty Projectors & David Byrne, The Books featuring José González, Feist and Ben Gibbard, Bon Iver, Grizzly Bear, Yeasayer, My Brightest Diamond, Kronos Quartet, Antony, The Decemberists, Iron & Wine, Grizzly Bear + Feist, Sufjan Stevens, Spoon, Arcade Fire, Beirut, My Morning Jacket, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Dave Sitek, Buck 65, The New Pornographers, Yo La Tengo, Cat Power, Riceboy Sleeps, Stuart Murdoch, Andrew Bird, Conor Oberst with Gillian Welch, Blonde Redhead & Devastations, Kevin Drew, oh - and us, The National, of course?" "Sound, bro!"»
Cursive - Six Recorded Highlights
Upfront of Cursive's forthcoming new album Mama, I'm Swollen, we thought we'd suggest six recorded highlights - to the second - from the band's discography thus far.»
Cherbourg - Last Chapter Of Dreaming
On Cherbourg's engaging debut release, the London quartet exude a potential that, fingers crossed, they have the imagination and capacity to build on come debut album time.»
The Phantom Band - Checkmate Savage
Perverse, ever-playful and sporadically thrilling, what one listener might immediately dismiss as overblown and indulgent is also likely to engross others. It’s a direct result of the frightening array of genres encroached, and one that renders The Phantom Band's Checkmate Savage a journey emphatically worth taking. »
Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You
When Lily Allen is at the top of her game she is the (im)perfect pop star for our times. Following a relatively turbulent three years, that this defiant second album is as patchy as it is assured only serves to underline that notion.»
M. Ward - Hold Time
M. Ward's sixth solo album is an assimilation and appropriation of American blues, gospel, country and folk as lovingly and as winningly relayed as we’ve come to expect from the Portland-based troubadour.»
DiS meets M. Ward - Part Three
In the concluding part of our serialized M. Ward interview we discuss President Obama, guitar-playing habits, and whether we're likely to see him hit the festival circuit this summer...»