Therapy?: a band permanently on the scenic route. Starting out as a Northern Irish punksome three-piece in thrall of US indie stalwarts such as Big Black and Husker Du, their leftfield everything-but-the-kitchen-sink major label debut also owed a lot to white-label techno and other assorted esoterica. more… “Therapy?”
Having honed a pleasingly fuzzed-up brand of melancholic beauty on his 2004 debut album, it’s all on the up and up as Loner more… “Loner”
A shameless 8-bit disco tart that exists solely to prance around and get you off, all trussed up in a sultry wee vocal from Late Of the Pier’s Samuel Dust, what could be better? How about a sprinkling of remix magic from dancefloor wizard Fred Falke and a zeitgeist-rogering reworking from Toddla T that bangs like a shithouse door? Sweeet.
Throw in a fistful of other exclusive remixes plus the inclusion of the extended album version of the track and you’ve got yourself a fine cluster of the Dukes’ brilliant brand of electro-indie-kraut-rock. It won’t solve any of your problems of course, but then again, what will?
Now, recent social research has shown that over two-thirds of the country is now employed as a soulful singer-songwriter and there are currently several hundred million such sensitive singer-songsmiths earnestly ploughing this particular furrow, but luckily the bedroom-brewed soul of ‘Let Me Be’ proves to be a cut above with its ample lashings of cock-eyed loveliness.
Lush, symphonic layers tussle with a lilting vocal line that leaves lesser acts sobbing on the sidelines as our man Dan crafts a quietly assured backing of equal parts soul and sorrow. And sure, it might sound like a thousand things that have been done a millions times before, but it’s a competent collage of acoustic influences and just cos you robbed the grave doesn’t mean you killed the guy.
Magpie Wedding hail from Bologna, plying their peculiar strain of sparse, contaminated folk from the walled city with rare skill and always compelling results, even if it isn’t always that successful.
Opener ‘Time Yet’ is a distorted bass slide as baroque piano and clumsy guitar emote wildly underneath to wonderous effect. After that, ‘Train Song’ and ‘Daughter Of The Plains’ might feel like slightly inconsequential make-weights, but ‘September Song’ and ‘Bright Autumn’ are awesome little acoustic gems that end proceedings on a high.
All in all, it’s charming in an unsettling way, and most of ‘The Torches EP’ is like being hit on by your local vicar or stumbling across a heartfelt love letter that grandpa has stuffed into your girlfriend’s handbag whilst you weren’t looking. Still, it’s a fuzzily unabashed delight that charms you with its nonchalance and shows that these folksome poppets have plenty more left to offer.
Those dreamy indie-folkers The High Wire trip back into our hearts once more with a double A-side antidote to those seasonal blues more… “The High Wire”
Just when you thought that your credit couldn’t get any more crunched, up pop those loveable scamps at Fortuna Pop with another tempting chance for you to spent yourself further into the poorhouse more… “The Loves”
Misty-eyed bigbigBIG ballad that sets its sights for the top of the charts. more… “A Camp”
Elias Hulk certainly aren’t backward in coming forward, their funky strut sounding like they pack some serious heat between the sheets, coming on as lustily priapic as Ron Jeremy lurching around a Topshop changing rooms after two fistfuls of Viagra. more… “Elias Hulk”
There is a Scandinavian word ‘Vermod’ that means to be simultaneously happy and sad, a word that perfectly fits as the description of Agents Of Jane, who follow in the noble acoustic stride of Belle and Sebastian, Beth Orton and that cheeky little scamp Bobby Dylan. more… “Agents Of Jane”