Tales of Silversleeve is a disorientating listen. Not merely because of Cathy Davey’s surreal lyrics- although they are little more than collections of suggestive phrases- or the sudden shifts in mood and genre- Davey jumps from countrified pop to minimalist electro within seconds. It’s the subtext of strange passions and carnal desire, more familiar from [...]

Frantic drumming, a bass guitar wheezing as it chases a treble-heavy guitar, more ideas in a three minute song that most bands manage in a career and lyrics that weave between self-conscious obscurity and detail-obsessed poetry: it must be Tokyo Police Club.

“A thirteen-year-old boy … enjoys the liberties hard won by the alliance of philosophic genius and political heroism, consecrated by the blood of martyrs; he is provided with comfort and leisure by the most productive economy … science has penetrated the secrets of nature in order to provide him with the marvelous, lifelike electronic sound [...]

It isn’t just sentimentality that makes the old folk recordings the best ones. The crackle and hiss of ancient field-recordings often hides the awkward musicality of traditional songs, emphasising the peculiar features of the form and performer. Modern recordings- like this super-group of contemporary Gaelic singers often sacrifice the authenticity- which can be tuneless or [...]

Even if the Kunts were too tight to release the full album to the press- this review is based on a bundled CD featuring the greatest hits from the earlier albums in the ‘Wank and Cry’ Trilogy- ‘One Last Wank and One Last Cry’ is another future playground classic, destined to be furtively swapped round [...]