Tyler, The Creator, 'Goblin'
The last time I can remember some kids generating this much anticipation it was 2001 and the Strokes were about to release Is This It. Then, as with Odd... read more...
Crystal Stilts, 'In Love With Oblivion'
Head over heels with oblivion – pretty stark idea for a record. True, but taking a departure from their previous release, Crystal Stilts’ dark... read more...
Boomgates / Super Wild Horses self-released split 7"
Since the Soviet Union went mental, shat its pants and staggered off into the forest the world has been sadly bereft of another Superpower. Not to diss... read more...
UV Race, 'HOMO'
Following up the drug-addled Acid Trip / Speed Freak 7″, UV Race’s HOMO (their second LP and sixth studio release) is for the most part a surprisingly... read more...
A mixtape by BIG A little a
Thurston Moore said Aa’s first album was the ‘kindsa sounds that young people should be making and enjoying in bistros from here to Kalamazoo.’... read more...
An interview with The Drums
So I totally chickened out on asking The Drums if any of them are in serious relationships (#fangirl), nor did I ask them if they’d like to become... read more...
Snowman, 'Absence'
Before you cry your eyes out over the fact that Perth-born, London-dead Snowman are no more, take solace in Absence. Absence ends a trilogy of albums that... read more...
Lakes, 'Winters Blade'
The name of Lakes’ new longplayer, Winters Blade, probably doesn’t come from the game Dragon Age, but it definitely bears a medieval influence,... read more...
Sonny and The Sunsets, 'Tomorrow is Alright'
Take it slow. In fact, take it real slow with San Francisco-based Sonny and the Sunsets. Offering laid back, stoned West Coast ballads this band has the... read more...
Secret Birds, 'Peace Forest'
The newest cassette tape (you heard me) from Secret Birds is a full-on boiling hot, subtly flavoured musical soup. Opening track ‘Pink Nites’... read more...
Slug Guts, 'Howlin' Gang'
Slug Guts hate Brisbane so much so that they thought recording this in a railway carriage in Ipswich would be better than staying in their home town. They... read more...
Circle Pit, 'Slave / Honey'
Circle Pit are the best rock ‘n’ roll band in Australia don’t you know? I can’t remember the first time I heard them, but I know... read more...
Eat Skull mixtape
Eat Skull are the kind of band you could almost mistake for a future pop band – the kind you’d find in a dystopian wonderland post San Andreas... read more...
Sleepwalks, 'The Milk Has Gone Sour'
There’s something good in music that just grabs. It’s the negative space. It’s the chords that they aren’t playing. And, it’s... read more...
The Weeknd, 'House of Balloons'
Good swearing should be emphatic, not just a tool to fill airy gaps between syllables. When I heard The Weeknd come out with “And that’s my... read more...
Kurt Vile, 'Smoke Ring For My Halo'
You could almost mistake Kurt Vile’s music for being the aural incarnation of Stephen Shores American Surfaces – its Americana at it’s... read more...
J Mascis, 'Several Shades Of Why'
J Mascis’ newest solo album feels like a rock record. Before you go chucking it on at a mad/totally ragin’ party though, know that it’s far... read more...
Yeo, 'Bag-O-Items'
The words ‘funky’ and ‘bass’ should never be muttered together. But in the instance of Yeo’s Bag-O-Items I feel it’s okay,... read more...
Seekae, '+Dome'
According to official word nerds who get paid a lot more than I do, hyperbole is “exaggeration used for effect”. So it’s NOT hyperbole... read more...
Alps, 'Alps of New South Wails'
My only criticism of the new Alps, aka Newcastle’s Chris Hearn, album is that I didn’t get it sooner. Had I heard it when it was released,... read more...
Bitch Prefect, Marilyn Monroe / Holiday In America 7"
Amid all the shrill sanctimony over hardcore vs metal, stoner vs psych, DIY vs everyone, it’s a relief to know that there exist three guys who know... read more...
Frank Ocean, 'Nostalgia, Ultra'
In the last fortnight, Tyler the Creator chucked a huge bomb into a shallow pool. Just blew the mess up. As a result, Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All... read more...
PJ Harvey, 'Let England Shake'
When PJ Harvey played to UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown on the Andrew Marr Show I thought she’d finally gone mad. Feather headpiece, autoharp and... read more...
Lykke Li interview
On the surface it would appear that Lykke Li leads a blessed pop life. Her first album Youth Novels was a record that slowly crept up on music fans with... read more...