Despite my indie/ goth pretensions, I’ve got such a soft spot for the kind of cartoon bubblegum pop of the mid- eighties. Destroy All Monsters were one such band. This was an earworm when I woke up today. Not to be confused with the legendary Detroit punk band fronted by statuesque beauty and visual artistContinue reading “Should’ve Been A Hit: Destroy All Monsters- Stranger Than Fiction”
Tag Archives: Indie
Five Of The Best: Tirzah
There aren’t many artists around right now like the mighty Essex -born artist Tirzah. Her music is beautiful, with her soulful vocals wrapped around murky bedroom pop. She’s engaged yet laconic, accessible but enigmatic, hot and also chilled. These paradoxes are what make her so fascinating. Her collaborators speak to her exquisite taste too. She’sContinue reading “Five Of The Best: Tirzah”
Film Review : Pavements
When is a biopic about Pavement not a biopic about Pavement? When it’s Pavements. This film, written and directed by Alex Ross Perry eschews a linear rock doc narrative, exactly as you’d expect for an American indie band who are a mass of contradictions: with a sound forever torn between sleepy and frenetic; loose andContinue reading “Film Review : Pavements”
Overlooked Classics: Cocteau Twins -Lullabies
2 Alas Dies Laughing 3. It’s All But An Ark Lark Cocteau Twins’ first EP, released after the debut studio album Garlands,still has some of the early spikiness, but fuses it with the ethereal sonics that became the band’s trademark. On production duty was 4AD label founder Ivo Watts-Rizsell. Elizabeth Fraser’s swooning, impenetrable voice andContinue reading “Overlooked Classics: Cocteau Twins -Lullabies”
Overlooked Classic: My Bloody Valentine -You Made Me Realise EP
The swooning gods and goddesses of noise, My Bloody Valentine created this EP in 1987, when bands like Sonic Youth has already laid down the blueprint. Melody and harmony was given a kicking in an alleyway. You Made Me Realise EP is a masterpiece, from artwork to tracks. It’s everything I love about art: melancholic,Continue reading “Overlooked Classic: My Bloody Valentine -You Made Me Realise EP”
Book Review : Twee by Marc Spitz
Marc Spitz was a fine writer, and it’s clear he had an eye for the vagaries of pop culture, but Twee didn’t always convince me. What he described wasn’t a tribe, but an aesthetic. This would have been okay, were it a style guide (he was no stranger to a cute bow tie and fiftiesContinue reading “Book Review : Twee by Marc Spitz”
Album Review: Tenderness- True
Tenderness’ new album True is her debut as a solo singer. Katy Beth Young was previously in the trio Peggy Sue and a part of the collective Deep Throat Choir. There’s a lot of loss and grief baked into the songs, as Young recently lost her father, but also a tentative sense of resilience andContinue reading “Album Review: Tenderness- True”
Archive Review : From The Deep
Arts:Blog Music Review: From The Deep–From The Deep **** Posted by Across the Arts on October 16, 2015, at 10.20am Lorna Irvine reviews an ‘excellent collaboration’ between Katharine Blake and Nick Marsh. Old Goth that I am, I have long had a girl-crush on Katharine Blake, the angel-voiced singer who made dark, impish music in the 90sContinue reading “Archive Review : From The Deep”
Overlooked Classic: Broadcast- The Noise Made By People
Label: Warp Records 1 Long Was The Year2 Unchanging Window3 Minus One4 Come On Let’s Go5 Echo’s Answer6 Tower Of Our Tuning7 Papercuts8 You Can Fall9 Look Outside10 Until Then11 City In Progress12 Dead The Long Year http://warp.net/ Broadcast were formed in Birmingham in 1995 by singer Trish Keenan and James Cargill. Both shared a similar aesthetic and love of the esoteric. They quickly developed a huge following,Continue reading “Overlooked Classic: Broadcast- The Noise Made By People”
Overlooked Classics: Drugstore Cowboy (1989)
Years before ‘Trainspotting’ cemented its place in literature and film history, auteur Gus Van Sant, along with screenwriter Daniel Yost, created a brilliant film about a bunch of junkies and the rigmarole of fixing. Here, the setting is Portland and the decade, the early seventies. Matt Dillon is the lead character, Bob, putting his broodingContinue reading “Overlooked Classics: Drugstore Cowboy (1989)”
Hit The North 