Recommended Records
School Of Seven Bells - Ghostory
Sean Adams writes... I love this record because it’s the exact album I was hoping M83 was going to make (just for me) last year. I love it because it’s everything School of Seven Bells' soaring debut promised, and all the things the follow-up wasn’t to be. I love it because it’s shoegaze gone a bit headlight-staring, drums-as-guns, guitars-a’blaring then guitars-gone-misty, all the while I’m a reviewer-gone-gushing-puddle-of... »
Burial - Kindred
Will Bevan’s done the unthinkable in managing to both appease and pull the rug out from under his fans.»
Tindersticks - The Something Rain
For the first time in nearly a decade, Tindersticks sound urgent again.»
Earth - Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light II
Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light II represents not only the most overt and successful attempt to capture the patience, subtlety and fluidity of Earth’s talented cast, but also the most accurate document of their patient, stoical and determinedly psychedelic ethos. »
Blondes - Blondes
Call it sigh-fi, slow-wave, disso-dance, tranbian, trance-andental, throbtronica, shoeadelia, gaaasssp, bass-gaze, cat-gaze, lazer-haze or whatever silly genre your care to name..»
Sharon van Etten - Tramp
If Epic was a hidden treasure, Tramp feels like Sharon Van Etten’s career-defining album.»
The Twilight Sad - No One Can Ever Know
Purer than innocence and richer than gold, No One Can Ever Know confirms that The Twilight Sad are simply too good to remain a-little-less-than-well-known outside the restrictive realms of slightly-less-than-world-conqering ’zines.»
Errors - Have Some Faith In Magic
Unashamedly, undeniably, unequivocally brilliant: with Have Some Faith in Magic, Errors have out-Mogwaied Mogwai, out-Sadded The Twilight Sad.»
Leonard Cohen - Old Ideas
At once sad and wise, inquisitive, eloquent, repentant – and 77 years on this earth, no closer to unravelling the mysteries of the opposite sex – that Leonard Cohen’s creative spark remains so undimmed as he reaches his twilight years is something worth celebrating.»
Halls - Fragile
Fragile is an EP that’ll see Halls escape the bedroom and find himself outside in daylight’s blinking glare; how he’ll cope with that next is almost as exciting as the disarming charm and beauty of what he’s concocted here.»
FOE - Bad Dream Hotline
A remarkably strong and luminous statement of intent in the dark dawning of the year.»
Smashing Pumpkins - Gish (Deluxe Edition)
It’s comforting to know that whatever The Smashing Pumpkins look and sound like in the present day, Gish will still exist as a time capsule remaining in pristine condition.»
Can - Tago Mago 40th Anniversary Edition
Can, and Tago Mago’s groundbreaking work has never been so wonderfully presented, and this reissue is a neatly packaged reminder of its stunning timelessness.»
Kate Bush - 50 Words for Snow
Kate Bush is more than fallible; but at peak she is incomparable. »
Atlas Sound - Parallax
Like stepping into someone else’s delirious, sweat-soaked dream.»
Walls - Coracle
There is scope, ambition and depth to this album. Fresh, measured and unhurried, yet not in a lazy or turgid manner. It is arresting, but not desperate for your attention like an invalid. Coming down or getting up, Coracle will do the trick. »
Active Child - You Are All I See
Consult any accredited dictionary for the definition of 'sumptuous' and there sits Pat 'Active Child Grossi's pouting mug, the youngster looking all mopey and intense, or maybe a bit otherworldly, or maybe a little smug for having produced one of the most enveloping, most downright gorgeous records of the year.»
Kuedo - Severant
Teasdale’s recipes seem so effective you want to fly him over to America and let him revamp the school dinner system. »
Tom Waits - Bad As Me
Bad As Me sees Tom Waits reaching back into his bag of tricks to pull out a few favourites in a characteristically exhilarating, terrifying, heartbreaking, tear jerking, bone-rattling style. »
Rustie - Glass Swords
This is a dense, rewarding – and yes, fun – record. It is the realisation of possibilities, an example of the unique thrill electronic music can offer. Not bad for a debut.»
Wild Flag - Wild Flag
Whether you come to this album fresh, or as a former fan of some other bands the members used to be in, Wild Flag offers a lot to the listener.»
Bjork - Biophilia
Biophiliacarves out brave new territory for an artist who’s been colonising the fringes of music all her career, fragile and demanding, at times uncomfortable but always fascinating.»
The Field - Looping State of Mind
For simple aural pleasure, there has not been much to match this in 2011.»
Nils Frahm - Felt
A cryptic weave of indelible sounds and silences; an emotional juggernaut.»
New Look - New Look
The slightly more upbeat moments like ‘So Real’ could easily be filed on mixes alongside some of 2011’s truly exceptional new acts Austra and When Saints Go Machine which define the technology (“tech-noh-h-ol-gee-eee_”) embracing times we’re living in. Fascinatingly and thankfully, they’ve grasped that the sound we all need to hear right now, is one that gives us space to punctuate our thoughts and the result is bliss. Easily one of 2011’s finest releases. »
Mastodon - The Hunter
The Hunter is a pitch for the mainstream - but it doesn’t compromise on Mastodon’s core ambition.»
Patten - GLAQJO XAACSSO
A debut as riveting and obvious as it is shrouded in unanswerable questions.»
Weekend - Red
For a band with barely a handful of releases to their name, Red is another impressive tick in the box.»
A Winged Victory For The Sullen - A Winged Victory for the Sullen
This emotive disc balances a hushed intimacy and vast expanse that places it in a unique sonic terrain. »
St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
These amps distort 'til they sound like a fairground ride loop-de-looping through Tom Waits’ cochlea...nerdy intricacies and flowery flourishes...this is the sound of utter-utter-utter mastery. »
Drowned in Bristol #12
DiS Does Singles 13.05.13: Swim Deep, These New Puritans, The National
Darkstar, Ed Harcourt, Halls, Wall +more for 3 DiS-curated nights at Great Escape 2013
Interview: Frank Turner on The Olympics, The Backlash, Thatcher and Black Flag
Drowned in Nottingham #14
DiS Does Singles 6.05.13: Vampire Weekend - Ya Hey (XL)
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