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benmarwood has written the following articles:

Ten Kens - Ten Kens

Ten Kens - Ten Kens

Review by ben marwood

Toronto’s Ten Kens have much in common with psychedelic rockers Black Mountain - not completely conventional but accessible enough to not alienate»

The Tupolev Ghost - The Alpha EP

The Tupolev Ghost - The Alpha EP

Review by ben marwood

The first in a planned series of three EPs from noisy Cambridge quartet The Tupolev Ghost rattles around these speakers with ease»

Sennen Where The Light...

Sennen - Where The Light Gets In

Review by ben marwood

Where The Light Gets In smells like Explosions In The Sky and Mogwai, taking in their expansive, multi-instrumental nature and filtering in tunefully tender vocal melodies»

My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges

My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges

Review by ben marwood

‘Ambitious’ so often equals something different, but when My Morning Jacket's Jim James is involved, it could quite literally mean anything»

Duels - The Barbarians Move In

Duels - The Barbarians Move In

Review by ben marwood

Duels’ sinister LP manages to impress without resorting to grabbing a cloak, pointing to thundering skies and hamming it up like the end is nigh»

They Came From The Stars I Saw Them - We Are All In The Gutter But Some Of Us Are Looking At..

They Came From The Stars I Saw Them - We Are All In The Gutter But Some Of Us Are Looking At They Came From The Stars I Saw Them

Review by ben marwood

The musical equivalent of a stream-of-consciousness amateur dramatics play where the emphasis is on twists and turns without being trapped by the confines of having to make sense - in short, it's a mess»

O Fracas - Fits & Starts

O Fracas - Fits & Starts

Review by ben marwood

Punchy, brief, technically proficient and suitably varied, O Fracas' Fits & Starts debut dares you to make it through its duration without moving your feet, whether it’s a toe-tap or a stomp»

Canadians - A Sky With No Stars

The Canadians - A Sky With No Stars

Review by ben marwood

Canadians should on paper present some kind of hidden treasure, a combination of the goodtime feel of the Beach Boys, or maybe Fountains of Wayne without the odd bouts of nausea»

Chris T-T - Capital

Chris T-T - Capital

Review by ben marwood

Once acclaimed for a string of cheery tongue-in-cheek pop songs, Chris T-T’s career trajectory somehow found him hailed as political folk songwriter. This is the third album of his London 'in demise' trilogy»

Jukes - We Might Disappear

Jukes - We Might Disappear

Review by ben marwood

Jukes' We Might Disappear doesn’t put on airs, not making a break for anything particularly original and instead content to settle for comfortable familiarity»

Vincent Vincent and the Villains - Gospel Bombs

Vincent Vincent & The Villains - Gospel Bombs

Review by ben marwood

Gospel Bombs, the debut album from Vincent Vincent and the Villains, isn’t stuffed to the brim with anything complex, but pay it enough attention and you’ll find an album infused with, or enthused by, rock ‘n’ roll spirit»

The Maple State - Say, Scientist

The Maple State - Say, Scientist

Review by ben marwood

Sounding American when you’re actually from Manchester: I'm set up to unleash a barrage of the most spiteful music hack bile over The Maple State. But what's that? Oh, it's the sound of me eating my hat»

Fighting With Wire - Man Vs Monster

Fighting With Wire - Man Vs Monster

Review by ben marwood

Fighting With Wire's first LP is a surprisingly accomplished debut, aesthetically pleasing and never troubled in the confidence stakes, even if it does sometimes try and make you its MOR-rock bitch»

pete and the pirates steve gullick

Reading's riot act: Pete and the Pirates speak to DiS

In Depth by ben marwood

Reading's Pete and the Pirates have made a spectacular start to 2008, with their new Little Death album earning the quintet some booty-ful acclaim. Booty, 'cause they're pirates, see? Oh, just read about their Brixton Academy conquering already»

Boggs - Forts

The Boggs - Forts

Review by ben marwood

Forts is doubtless The Boggs’ most accessible long-player yet, presenting a sound which doesn’t stay still long enough to get tired, and with one foot these days pointing towards the bright lights of the mainstream»

johnny flynn

Johnny Flynn at London Kilburn The Luminaire, Thu 07 Feb

Review by ben marwood

The man on the microphone sounds both wary and wise beyond his twenty-something years, his music a mixture of thigh-slapping, hand-clapping country and lonely folk for the quieter moments, almost everything sorrow-dusted»

Jettie - Kites For Charity

Jettie - Kites For Charity

Review by ben marwood

Swedish duo Jettie's Kites For Charity is an album of calm emotion rather than flashy star jumps, captivating in its execution of both the quiet and the intensely epic as well as being accessible to most. Not the next Feeder, then»

Marco Mahler - Design In Quick Rotation

Marco Mahler - Design In Quick Rotation

Review by ben marwood

Music to watch rain roll down the window to, captivating in its complete peace and almost as lazy in its construction as the end result is to consume»

4 Bonjour's Parties - Pigments Drift Down To The Brook

4 Bonjour's Parties - Pigments Drift Down To The Brook

Review by ben marwood

It turns out that none of Mr Bonjour’s four parties were the kind where the police were called to after some stuff got set on fire»

Jaymay - Autumn Fallin'

Jaymay - Autumn Fallin'

Review by ben marwood

If familiarity really does breed contempt, then New York-based singer Jaymay's debut album Autumn Fallin' is just begging for someone to use it as a doormat»

The Octopus Project - Hello, Avalanche

The Octopus Project - Hello, Avalanche

Review by ben marwood

Standing knee-deep in loops and programmed patterns, the instrumental electronica housed within Hello, Avalanche is some of the finest you’ll hear this year»

fryars

DiScover: frYars

In Depth by ben marwood

Ben Garrett is slurping granny's special soup and noodles out of a bowl and the phone is going off every ten seconds and tonight is his first frYars gig AND he's ill. It's tough being this awesome.»

The Ladybug Transistor - Can't Wait Another Day

The Ladybug Transistor - Can't Wait Another Day

Review by ben marwood

With no highlight tracks and no heart-stopping moments, yet at the same time nothing insulting to the ears and a pleasant enough listen, Can’t Wait Another Day is just nice»

Idlewild - A Distant History

Idlewild - A Distant History: Rarities 1997-2007

Review by ben marwood

Say it quietly, but Idlewild's rarities compilation A Distant History might even do a better retrospective job than its recent (bigger and 'best-of') sibling»

Stephen Duffy & the Lilac Time - Runout Groove

Stephen Duffy & the Lilac Time - Runout Groove

Review by ben marwood

An example of happy go lucky contented country-pop, Runout Groove ticks most of the necessary boxes, even if not with any particular flair»

Eliza Wren Payne - Utah

Eliza Wren Payne - Utah

Review by ben marwood

Apparently not just the occupation of bearded or suspiciously skinny men in hats, girls can be buskers too»

E of Eels (2007)

EELS: officially around for ages

News by ben marwood

Slightly wonky, totally upper-case LA outfit EELS will celebrate officially being around for ages by releasing a couple of CDs in the new year.»

The Winston Giles Orchestra - Soundtracks For Sunrise

The Winston Giles Orchestra - Soundtracks For Sunrise

Review by ben marwood

Jazzy instrumentals, relaxing arrangements, some gently molested samples and soothing beep ‘n’ squeakery fit for either the laziest of Sunday lay-ins or the most reclined of BBC travel programme montages – the Winston Giles Orchestra don't seem in a hurry to break into the 1812 Overture»

They Came From The Stars I Saw Them - (It's Always) Boomtime, pt one / The Unstoppable Kite (edit)

They Came From The Stars I Saw Them - (It's Always) Boomtime, pt one / The Unstoppable Kite (edit)

Review by ben marwood

The kind of glo-stick encouraging, art school dance-electropunkery that the kids are currently going mad for»

amycanbe cover

Amycanbe - Being A Grown-Up Sure Is Complicated

Review by ben marwood

You can have all the prettiest musical touches, the lushest of melodies sung by the cutest of voices, but without a certain level of impact, this kind of thing will always be in danger of being left behind»