Like most everybody else, I first discovered The Shins in that great scene in the coming of age movie Garden State (2004) where Zach Braff’s character tries on the headphones of Natalie Portman to hear a brief snippet of the song “New Slang,” from the band’s 2001 debut album, Oh, Inverted World. That exposure worked…
Hot Thoughts, the new album from Spoon, has just been released on the Matador/RemoteControl Records label. Produced by Spoon and Dave Fridmann, the band believe they have created the bravest, most musically inventive work of their illustrious career. In addition, Spoon have announced two intimate stripped down in-store appearances to precede their live shows in Sydney and Melbourne…
A decade into their relationship with Bloodshot Records, Ha Ha Tonka release their 5th album of rootsy Mid-American college rock and Ozark mountain music. Formed in West Plains, Missouri, way at the bottom of the state almost to Arkansas, named for a state park in the Ozarks, bar-tested in the college town of Springfield, Ha…
Melbourne noir-country duo Broads have announced plans to hit the road this April, May and June to celebrate their brand new album Vacancy. Broads are crooners Kelly Day and Jane Hendry. Their songs weave through a cast of characters riddled with self-delusion, longing, regret and paranoia. Vacancy, which was released at the end of February,…
Real Estate are currently one of the most consistent indie bands out there. They have always set the bar high for their style of artistic floating songs that are easy to get carried away in. The band’s fourth record, In Mind, is no different. The plodding guitar, the soft, slick and memorable vocals of Martin…
As an introduction to “Honest I Do,” on this second live album in just 3 years time, blues guitarist Gary Clark Jr. offers this shout out to his influences, “We wouldn’t be doing this thing if there weren’t great artists like Jimmy Reed, Albert King, Freddie King, B.B. King, Howlin’ Wolf, Buddy Guy, so we’re…
It’s been four years since the last Son Volt album, Honky Tonk (2013), and Jay Farrar describes his effort here as an attempt to climb inside the guitar tunings of two blues icons, Skip James and Mississippi Fred McDowell, and British folk artist Nick Drake. As such, we find Farrar approaching his songs intentionally with…
To call The Morrisons’ debut self titled album “long awaited” would be an understatement. For a band that’s been kicking around for well over five years (and longer if you count their previous incarnations) and has developed a loyal fanbase in the process, recorded music has been something of a rarity. But now with the…
Rarely anymore does a debut album get me revved up but that is exactly what happened the first time I heard the songs of Cameroon-born artist Laetitia Tamko, aka Vagabond. Infinite Worlds is an album of finding herself with no musical boundaries and that is the beauty of her record. At times, Infinite Worlds oozes…
Canadian band Heat, describes itself as “post-punk” on its Facebook page and lists Sonic Youth and Oasis as influences, while those writing about the band compare them generously to Echo & the Bunnymen, The Jesus & Mary Chain, and Psychedelic Furs. That places the Heat sound firmly in the 80’s, which fits well with the…
