adam has written the following articles:
Sebastien Tellier, a.k.a. France’s supposed crown prince of electro-pop songwriting, fills Sexuality with mother-tongue seductions, but language is no barrier. What is: a strange lack of sexiness. And that cover»
If US crack-rap brothers Clipse had crammed on indie hip-hop ethics and chomped through a collection of European techno instead of pushing contraband, they may have arrived somewhere close to precocious Canadian emcee Cadence Weapon»
Preconceptions are a curious thing, especially when it comes to fêted electronica twosome Autechre. Thankfully they are refreshingly down-to-earth and regular gentlemen, in the truest sense of the word, as they wind up for latest (ninth) album, Quaristice»
Sightings don’t do songs as such. They do brooding menace. For about two seconds. And then they do attacks. Disorientating, out-of-tune-yet-somehow-clinging-together barrages, circling, locust fashion, around your head»
For a man who claims to have lost his virginity aged 14, Clockcleaner’s front bastard John A Sharkey III should probably have overcome his obsession with ejaculating inside ladies»
It’s not the words that matter exactly. It’s the manner in which they’re dispatched. This dirt doesn’t wash out...»
“Dude! That was sweeeeeet,” the huddled members of Oneida are overheard to burble post-encore. And, and on the whole, they’re not far wrong...»
It’s the quiet ones you have to watch, although the creator of such cliché possibly wasn’t dreaming of barely-classifiable records by semi-obscure Minneapolis-based soloists-turned-bands...»
Having switched coasts for the first time in his life, None Shall Pass envelops the sounds of hip-hop’s spiritual home, New York City, more than any album in Aesop Rock's career...»
If anybody in the history of hearing has mentioned themselves more over the course of a career than London grime-turned-all-over-the-place emcee Lethal Bizzle, they’re obviously too busy repeating their own name to release any records...»
Much like television viewers and moviegoers have become desensitized to violence, rap fans will soon no longer register tough guy posturing or any sort of seriousness at all. And Kid Acne will clean up...»
Bloc Party continue their reign as the most sonically remarkable band in British popular music...»
Fairly without exception, everything about Mice Parade is understated, from the attention-deflecting eponymous title right through to its ever-present plaintive tone. Yet Mice Parade have never before been quite this accessible.»
Timing, ironically for a band so disregarding of traditional song structures, hasn’t served Fridge well.»
It would seem accidental counterculture figures that came to characterise American lo-fi in the 1990s are getting misty eyed...»
Who gives a fuck if moronic intelligentsia and sell-out shouters will condemn RJD2 to a life of Moby-level antichrist status? Because the bottom line is, for all its comparative brave departures and originality, The Third Hand isn’t particularly engaging...»
Maybe Mogwai started it, but while Canada’s taken the instrumental template into territories so experimental that repeated listens become chore-worthy, Blair and Bush lands respectively have set to work on a fresh sub-genre: post-rock-lite.»
Cat Power's new LP ‘The Greatest’ can’t, and doesn’t, live up to preceding gem-slash-masterpiece ‘You Are Free’. Not that you’d guess by this 45...»
Too many non-thinking musical halfwits will try and convince you that bigger is better. Basic is bad. Right?»
With hip-swinging fun sufficient to sway even the nastiest chauvinist into reconsidering their take on equality, The Gossip are feminism-inclined rock with a crucial difference.»
Anybody who thought UK hip-hop was the preserve of colourlessly earnest backpack-wearers patently hasn't met Sway.»
Following innovators can be a tough task. Trick number one: Get absolutely sh*t-wasted...»
At first the vibrations feel as if an errant mobile phone is going off, only all over your body. Eventually, it’s akin to being buried in a pile of spinning washing machines full of weapons-grade concrete.»
Kano’s production associate Paul Epworth might’ve somewhat botched the point when he called grime, “The most punk thing that has happened in ages”, but he’s painfully close.»
SuperSonic 2005 might’ve ended in unsettling evacuation, controlled explosions reverberating the tarmac outside, but as Birmingham’s city centre was cleared amid security alerts, shockwaves from two perception-altering acts remained most lasting. Lucky that dropping sonic bombs is the only terrorism we’re interested in round these parts, then.»
As well as appearing at the Supersonic Festival, DiS-approved New Jersey hip-hop heavyweights Dälek hit the UK for a series of dates this month, starting tonight.»
One of the UK’s best loved small venues, and hub of the Aberdeen music scene, Dr Drakes, has been forced to close.»
Eclecticism. It doesn’t have to be a dirty word, y’know.»
All too often, singer-songwriter types at an age where most people should be making children instead of records are over-earnest, tedium-exuding bores.»
Balls to all the pretentious messageboard heads who’ll doubtless argue until they’re blue in their bedrooms – Roots Manuva is the finest emcee in Britain. Period.»
