Music Reviews

I Feel Apocalyptic Today

Jody White — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 18:07:39 +0000

Joan Malé has been making sumptuously pristine electronica under the Monoceros name for a number of years now, initially hitting my radar by way of 2006's Imaginary EP (which incidentally still sounds as warm and comforting as the day I heard it). In a scene that isn't particularly renowned for its brash self-promotion, the Spanish native has made scant few waves over here, save for a rare live appearance in Brixton three years ago.

Berlin: Live at St. Ann's Warehouse

Alan Shulman — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 16:18:26 +0000

The legend of how 1973’s Berlin derailed Lou Reed’s solo career is a familiar one. Following up the success of Transformer with an album whose mood and tone were only a notch more optimistic than Nico’s The Marble Index, was either a deliberate FU to his burgeoning audience or just colossally bad timing. It’s worth considering the former, especially in the light of Metal Machine Music, the double album of pure feedback released two years later, but I think this new live album proves it was the latter.&

Parallax Error Beheads You

Simon Briercliffe — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 13:20:45 +0000

Max Tundra is not the kind of chap I readily associate with the rest of the UK electronic music scene. A likeable, amiable-sounding chap, with wit and humour, who releases critically acclaimed albums (Mastered By Guy At The Exchange was 12th on Pitchfork's top 50 for 2002), DJs on respected radio stations (his residency at Resonance FM), and is generally well-liked and well-respected. Not that the UK electronica scene is like LA in the 80s or something, but you know what I mean.

Dodovoodoo

Miguel Morelli — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 18:30:49 +0000

Elephant9, the newest Norwegian revelation and an amazing power trio, has come into the spotlight with their debut album Dodovoodoo, released in June 2008. With Ståle Storløkken on keyboards, bassist Nikolai Hængsle Eilertsen and Torstein Lofthus on drums, the group is tight, allowing the listener to bathe in their unity while taking progressive jazz to modern neighborhoods.

Trying Hartz

Angela Power — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 17:15:09 +0000

You know that bit in music class when the teacher told you all just to get up and choose an instrument and for the next 5 minutes ensues the most liberating moment of your school week, where the panicking, red-faced - probably trainee - teacher sweats and spittles to regain her totally lost control of the classroom, while you all gleefully smash and bang your instruments in cacophonic mayhem to drown out her voice and, at that moment, whilst you're giggling so much, the music almost begins to sound harmonious to you? Well that's what Danielson sound like to me.

Chinese Democracy

No Ripcord Staff — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 10:54:59 +0000

Whether you give a shit or not, Axl is back. Chinese Democracy is no longer a broken promise; it's finally a physical G N' R release that you can buy at your local record store. But is it any good? Because No Ripcord is a democracy too, we've decided to allow our writers to voice their own opinions on this long-awaited release. More reviews will be added as and when they arrive (which means the average score above may change).

Enjoy, and please add your own views in the comments section below.

. . .

SEAN CALDWELL'S REVIEW (5/10)

The Week That Was

Iain Moffat — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 12:00:38 +0000

Don't be misled, readers; the name may hint at satire, but the charms this album boasts are anything but comic. Field Music may have been a critical fixture in the middle part of the decade, but what's proven particularly interesting about them above and beyond their consistency of endearment has been what they've got up to on sabbatical.

Rock Bottom

Sean Caldwell — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 04:43:20 +0000

The songs that make up the nucleus of Rock Bottom had already been written before Robert Wyatt hit a rock bottom of his own, falling out of a fourth floor window on an early summer evening in 1973. The fall broke his spine, leaving him paralyzed and subjected to eight months of hospitalization. During this period, the songs he’d written became something new, a response to his newfound circumstances and the realization, in Wyatt’s words, “The loss of my legs might give me a new kind of freedom.” Rock Bottom was produced by

Circus Animals Desertion

David Coleman — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 19:48:16 +0000

From the minimalistic cover art to the stunning, atmospheric dream-pop compositions that make up this eponymous début album, it's immediately clear that Irlam, Greater Manchester's Circus Animals' Desertion is not just another UK guitar band.

Caught In The Trees

Angela Power — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 21:47:04 +0000

Whenever I make an important compilation CD for a friend, or someone I'm trying to impress and show that I'm deep and sensitive and have a depressive nature, I always put on Damien Jurado's Ohio, from 1999's Rehearsals for Departure. Damien Jurado is one of those singer songwriters who make it all look and sound very easy, acoustically plucking nostalgic tales of desolate, abandoned cities, inciting feelings of desperation and angst. Lyrically beautiful, I'd defy anyone not to cry when hearing it. The harmonica alone makes my chin wobble.