Fuzz You!
Ekstasis is by far the most fascinating album I’ve heard in recent months. It’s the second album by L.A. artist Julia Holter. Ekstasis has been labeled as anything from freak folk to ambient, minimal music, psych, drone, experimental, avant garde and so on. The sheer number of different labels rightly suggests that not one of… [Continue Reading]
Finally, after five long years of waiting a new album by the Shins hits the (web)stores. Frontman James Mercer has been especially busy with other projects (including his successful collaboration with Brian Burton a.k.a. Danger Mouse as Broken Bells) but also found it necessary to suspend the rest of the band indefinitely after Wincing The… [Continue Reading]
Two years ago, Perfume Genius (real name Mike Hadreas) debuted with a woeful album full of fragile pop songs. Despite some very positive reviews and the flattering comparison with the music of the highly praised Antony Hegarty, Learning received little attention. Those who heard the album were deeply impressed, but seemingly unable to spread the… [Continue Reading]
Jonathan Meiburg and Will Sheff formed the basis of both Okkervil River and Shearwater and used to reserve the livelier material for the first band and the more quiet work for the second. Nowadays Will Sheff focuses entirely on Okkervil River, while Jonathan Meiburg is pulling all the strings at Shearwater. Last year Okkervil River… [Continue Reading]
The American singer-songwriter Sharon Van Etten debuted nearly three years ago with the subdued folk album Because I Was In Love. The austere folk songs on the album had a lot of growth potential, but only a few fans gave this much somewhat spartan style album enough time. Van Etten hit back in 2010 with… [Continue Reading]
According to the British music press, London based Tribes could grow out to be of one of the great sensations of 2012. The band is being compared to many great sensations from the past, both British (The Libertines, Blur, Oasis, Suede) and American (Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana, The Lemonheads, The Pixies). Even though those very same… [Continue Reading]
Last year I was a little early with my review of Lisa Hannigans’ new album. It had been released in England but we had to wait for it in the Netherlands…and now it has arrived! Lisa Hannigan initially attracted attention a few years ago as a background vocalist for Damien Rice on his legendary debut album ‘O’. Shortly thereafter she… [Continue Reading]
In 2009 it took me several months to value the Maccabees’ second album. Ultemately, I found Wall of Arms’ catchy mix of Talking Heads, Gang Of Four, The Futureheads, Arcade Fire and The Fall quite irresistible. Sadly, I have to start over all over again, because the band’s third album, Given To The Wild, sounds… [Continue Reading]
2012 is only a few days old, but yesterday saw the first major Dutch release of the year. The artist responsible is John Sigmond, better known as Blaudzun. After debuting in 2008 with a fine album full of moody folk songs, Blaudzun exceeded this achievement two years later with a beautiful album called Seadrift Sound… [Continue Reading]
December is a slow month for interesting releases, but with El Camino by The Black Keys, we still have one in hand. The American duo debuted in 2002 with the impressive The Big Come Up and have six great albums to their name. El Camino is the successor to last year’s highly successful Brothers, an… [Continue Reading]