Reviews: indie x

indie (indie / (post)rock / pop / lofi / shoegaze)

Landing – Gravitational IV

I hadn’t listened to Landing for a while, a group based in Connecticut. Meanwhile they have released six albums on cd, as well as various EP’s, singles, tapes and compilation tracks. Their vinyl only album “Gravitational IV” was recorded in 2004, around the same time as their cd “Sphere”. The music of Landing is a […]

FatCat Records label special

Short reviews of 8 recent Fat Cat releases by múm, Songs of Green Pheasant, Amandine, Welcome, David Karsten Daniels, Ensemble, Nina Nastasia and Giddy Motors.

Comsat Angels – My Minds Eye / The Glamour

The career of the Sheffield-based band The Comsat Angels can be roughly divied in a few periods. In the late 70’s / early 80’s they started with an edgy post-punk style on three acclaimed albums: Waiting for a Miracle, Sleep No More and Fiction. These have been reissued by Renascent earlier this year. Then a more poppy period followed, […]

Laurence Wasser – Der Lift

Again I am surprised with the originality, creativity and unique sound of this band. Laurence Wasser has a sound of its own. The music is hectic and at times unstructured noisy post-punk.

Punk Soul Loving Bill – Industrie

Like Sonnenbrandt, this German band with the weird name Punk Soul Loving Bill, plays ‘Neo Deutsche Welle music’. Their sound is less elektro pop orientated and slightly more rock influenced.

Jessie Evans & Bettina Koster – Autonervous

During the last Vanishing tour Bettina Koster from the legendary band Malaria! joined the band on stage. Therefore it was no surprise that when Vanishing stopped, Jessie Evans and Bettina continued as a duo.

Garbo and The Adjectives – S/T

The band themselves claim to play a mixture of ’77 punk, cold wave, 60’s pop and garage dancefloor music. If they mean that this mixture sounds like Franz Ferdinand with early Suede influences then it is quite true.

Neither Neither World – Invisible Angel

Invisible Angels is the successor of 2004’s Rewound, also released by Shayo. Their new short album, which comes in a nice digipack, is characterized by a soft accessible sound, somewhere between acoustic folk, ethereal pop and indie rock.

Larsen – SeieS

SeieS is Larsen’s second release for Important Records, and their fifth full-length overall. This album features additions from Brian Williams (Lustmord), Julia Kent (Antony & the Johnsons) and Jarboe (Swans, etc).

Subaudition – The Scope

The Scope is the debut album by Subaudition. Their music is tranquil and atmospheric. At times it may call to mind Sigur Ros and Tenhi, but Subaudition sounds more like traditional pop/rock.

Kania Tieffer – Tracks against pornography

Kania Tieffer from Belgium produces music on this cd-r that is not easy to categorize. She has a true style of her own with her pleasantly disturbed lo-fi electronic pop music.

Jasmin – 02

The second EP of Jasmin has many similarities with the first one. It has the same minimal cover, only in another colour, and has just a number as title, simply ’02’. Again a videoclip has been included. And again the sound can be described as instrumental post-rock.

Daniel Patrick Quinn – Ridin’ the stang

Never heard of mr. Quinn before and his self-released cd did not raise my expectations too high. But in fact ‘Ridin’ the Stang’ is a very enjoyable short album. It contains 8 tracks which you can describe as a bit peculiar indie folk.

Mecano – Snake tales for dragon

Great was my surprise when I heard of this new album by Mecano. This avantgarde wave act from Amsterdam was active between 1978 and 1983, after which it became silent.

The Hat Party – Agents and Thieves

The Hat Party is an indie rock group from the USA. They play an energetic type of rock with elements from punk and wave.

The Lucy Show – Mania

Words On Music is proud to reissue The Lucy Show’s long out-of-print second album from 1986.

Hair Police – Constantly Terrified

The Hair Police have been linked with comparable act Wolf Eyes, and share a mutual influence from the likes of pioneering noise rockers Sonic Youth.

Charlie Beresford – The room is empty

‘The room is empty’ by Charlie Beresford is an unique album. Beresford blends elements of folk and haunting, contemplating pop into a brooding sonic mixture.

Animal Collective – Feels

‘Feels’ is the seventh album by the Animal collective, but I’ve never heard from them before. What’s presented by this band can be described as pop, for there is a band, a quite conventional instrument line-up (meaning almost no electronics) and a singer with a good voice and a very broad vocal range. But then again: is it played as pop? The songs are all dense, energetic and up tempo…

Mono / Pelican – Split

An interesting collaboration by two post rock acts: Mono from Japan and the lesser known Pelican from the USA.