Review: Sky Larkin – Kaleide (2010)
In the age of brazen and brash in the land of bangers and mash, Sky Larkin took the sneaky route in this listener’s ears. The rambunctiousness of Los Campesinos! was absent, as was the pure folksy beauty behind Noah & The Whale. The video for “Fossil, I” saw its fi
REVIEW: GAYNGS – RELAYTED (2010)
Alors the City of Love is world renown for pure, unbridled ecstasy and creativity oft of the sexual variety. The streets are full entranced lovers along the river, and les bacs (record stores) are full of the likes of Charlotte Gainsbourgs and Sebastien Telliers. T
REVIEW: CLARA PLUME – MES FILS D’ENCRE (2010)
Concurrent with Dessa Darling up in the Land of 10,000 Lakes mixing poetry with rhymes, across the ocean you have Clara Plume illuminating the City of Light. The two are quite similar in blending styles around verses, often in a rapid-fire delivery, but while one can get quite vi
REVIEW: DEFTONES – DIAMOND EYES (2010)
Trauma has a peculiar way of turning up at the worst moments. Scotland Yard Gospel Choir underwent a horrific traffic accident that led Elia Einhorn into a neck brace to heal an injured spine…not mentioning the rest of the band that folioed Elia and rolled over five times. Or in the Deftone‘
REVIEW: SOPHIE HUNGER – 1983 (2010)
Monday’s Ghost carved out a deep precedent for the Zurich-born singer/songwriter who intricately and expertly borrows facets of jazz and folk to chip and shape her unique sound. First discovered at the Montreaux Jazz Festival, I had the chance to attend one of five consecutive performanc
REVIEW: NUMÉRO# – SPORT DE COMBAT (2009)
In the tradition of French electro-pop comes yet another duo making sure those symbols get the spotlight, Numéro#. However they ain’t from Paris, but across our border in Montreal. Sport de Combat skews towards dance in taking queues from Simian Mobile Disco more than fel
REVIEW: SIRIUSMO – THE UNINVITED GUEST (2009)
Setting this straight, American’s viewpoint of German music is woefully limited to Rammstein and commercials of college kids stuck with the Germans’ techno industrial dance music. Outside of that I can’t really say much more about it all, at least until Berlin’s Siriusmo
REVIEW: WE WERE PROMISED JETPACKS – THE LAST PLACE YOU’LL LOOK (2010)
I’ll admit I’m late to We Were Promised Jetpacks. Been slow at keeping up with Huw Stevens‘ stellar recommendations, of which I’m sure the Edinburgh outfit was one such. Yet thanks to a recent brilliant bill at Lincoln Hall, they eluded my ears no longer. Just before and
Review: Cœur de Pirate – Coeur de Pirate (2008)
Remember the 80s? That decade dominated by bubbly pop or often synthesized keys? Or how about the highlighter colored clothing that threatened to temporarily blind you depending on how many clouds were in the sky? Well…it was also the time of tattoos decked out over hair metal artists. We’ve com