Showstar

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Belgium is obviously one of the coolest countries in the land, giving inspiration to most Scottish citizen’s everyday life (they’re responsible for French fries and beer, go figure) but probably not so in the musical stakes. more… “Showstar”

Electric Soft Parade

No Need To Be Downhearted

Much has been said in recent times about the death of the album, killed by our ever decreasing attention span and modern methods of acquiring and listening to music (downloading, ripping to mp3 player, re-programming the running order on a CD player et al). more… “Electric Soft Parade”

Meg Baird

Dear Companion

I have to confess that I was really excited to receive this album. Espers second album II is one of my favourite releases of the last few years. In contrast to the heavily textured psychedelic folk of Baird’s main band though, Dear Companion is an incredibly sparse, stripped down affair more… “Meg Baird”

Seefeel

Quique

Quique is one of those albums that I find entirely impossible to categorise or even to sum up in words. Fourteen years on from its initial release it still sounds both out of time and timeless. more… “Seefeel”

Thomas Truax

Why Dogs Howl At The Moon

The pop world loves novelty and madness but it can be a fine line between being perceived as innovative quirky and as just plain annoying. Thankfully Thomas Truax largely avoids the latter although on initial plays I had my doubts. True, his rich voice and inflections may not be to everyone’s liking. Combined with the, at times, surreal lyrics and the information that he builds and utilises his own curious instruments you may be excused the need to run a mile to avoid this album but, hang in with me here… more… “Thomas Truax”

The Icicles

Arrivals & Departures

What in god’s name gives The Icicles the right to be so feckin’ content?! An album in major chords without even a hint of sarcasm, misery or introspection? What do these airy fairy, hippy Americans think they’ll achieve in our rain drenched beauty of a country? more… “The Icicles”

Passenger

Wicked Man’s Rest

Driving through a Passenger review without mentioning Nizlopi or James Blunt would be an achievement of juggernaut proportions. Their jingle-pop keyboards meshed with melancholic acoustics wouldn’t feel out of place in the Christmas charts. more… “Passenger”

Editors

An End Has A Start

There`s no disputing that The Back Room was one of the most outstanding debuts of recent years, weaving Joy Division`s grandiose melancholy with a Britpop sensibility that put Editors in the same league as Razorlight or those cheeky Kaisers. With An End Has A Start, however, Tom Smith and the rest of his editorial band have raised the bar more… “Editors”

Editors

An End Has A Start

There’s no disputing that The Back Room was one of the most outstanding debuts of recent years, weaving Joy Division’s grandiose melancholy with a Britpop sensibility that put Editors in the same league as Razorlight or those cheeky Kaisers. more… “Editors”