Sign In:

Articles

since-last-summer has written the following articles:

Please enter...

Gentle Friendly - Ride Slow

Review by Sam Lewis

Ride Slow is a furious blend of sounds and influences, which apes the grand styles of their forbearers whilst staying true to an admirably lo-fi aesthetic. »

From http://version2.andrewkendall.com/images/misc/greenmanfestival2007.jpg

Green Man 2009 - A Preview & Spotify Playlist

In Depth by Sam Lewis

This weekend sees DiS hotfoot it to Wales for 2009's Green Man Festival and boy, we can't wait. Here's a Spotify Playlist celebrating some of the festival's finest, as well as a few words on some acts you might do well to take a punt upon and the festival itself...»

Sleeping States

Sleeping States - In The Gardens Of The North

Review by Sam Lewis

In Duncan Jones’s recent film Moon, Sam Rockwell’s protagonist deals with the anxiety of replication, waking up from a crash o»

Loren Connors & Jim O'Rourke

Loren Connors & Jim O'Rourke - Two Nice Catholic Boys

Review by Sam Lewis

It seems only natural that Loren Connors and Jim O’Rourke should collaborate together: both have had a large influence on the Am»

CFTPA - Advance Battery Life

Casiotone For The Painfully Alone - Advance Base Battery Life

Review by Sam Lewis

Owen Ashworth has achieved that most difficult of things – in an impossibly crowed field, he’s carved out a unique and recogni»

Jeffrey Lewis - MRI

Jeffrey Lewis - 'Em Are I

Review by Sam Lewis

Lewis’s attempts to excavate and explore his neuroses are so startlingly lucid and hyperactive that it’s easy to caricature him as a kind of blend of Woody Guthrie and Woody Allen, a travelling poet dedicating paeans to pattern baldness rather than dust bowls.»

to willie

Phosphorescent - To Willie

Review by Sam Lewis

Not many singers have mastered the folky frail, warm warble like Matthew Houck. Under the moniker of Phosphorescent, Houck has released three notable LPs full of delicate yearning and humble heartwarmers. It’s stirring, tragic fare that demonstrates why To Willie is a good introduction for those new to Nelson and Houck alike.»

sometimes i wish...

Bill Callahan - Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle

Review by Sam Lewis

There is an odd aura to this record. In parts it feels like a Smog album, even sounds like one at times.»

Sleeping States

Sleeping States - Old Vs. New

Review by Sam Lewis

In a time when many bands revel in complicating matters, Markland 'Sleeping States' Starkie seems to understand that real profundity can be found in the everyday, in admitting that you’re a part of the world, not beyond it.»

wave pictures

Lost 8 of '08 - #6: The Wave Pictures

In Depth by Sam Lewis

Some records slip below nearly every radar. DiS even missed some of our writers' favourites from our end of year list (either because they hadn't been reviewed or mentioned by their peers). So, these were the eight that you and we should have been celebrating, had they not been lost...»

grouper dragging

Lost 8 of '08 - #7: Grouper

In Depth by Sam Lewis

Some records slip beneath nearly every radar. DiS even missed some of our writers' favourites from our end of year list (either because they hadn't been reviewed or mentioned by their peers). So, these were the eight that you and we should have been celebrating...»

cat power

Cat Power - Dark End Of The Street

Review by Sam Lewis

On the surface Dark End Of The Street is nicely put together but almost all these covers lack the passion of 2000’s Covers Album.»

hawnay troof

Lucky Dragons, Hawnay Troof, BARR at London The Luminaire, Sat 18 Oct

Review by Sam Lewis

Hope in modern music isn’t a particularly easy thing to come by. Yet, there’s a select band of American musicians who specialise in it, and tonight three of them gather in Kilburn’s Luminaire.»

grouper dragging

Grouper - Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill

Review by Sam Lewis

Go into the final echelons of the free National Gallery’s free exhibits and you notice a startling transformation. After rooms »

YACHT by CLaire L Evans

YACHT at London ICA, Thu 28 Aug

Review by Sam Lewis

YACHT, a.k.a. Jona Bechtolt, is a one man ball of creative energy. Hailing from the apparent modern mecca of alternative music - »

Peter and the Wolf

Peter and the Wolf return to the UK

News by Sam Lewis

Texas’s resident proprietor of general folk wonderment Redding Hunter, a.k.a. Peter and the Wolf (not to be confused with the Liverpudlians of the same name), returns to these shores for the second time this year. Hunter will play a series of dates thi»

gramercy arms

Gramercy Arms - Gramercy Arms

Review by Sam Lewis

There are good moments here – notably the confident swagger of opener ‘Automatic’ – yet listening to Gramercy Arms is a strangely unsettling experience»

garland of song owl service

The Owl Service - A Garland Of Song

Review by Sam Lewis

As impressive a debut record as this is, one suspects that the best way The Owl Service could pay homage to their heroes would be to better marry the present with the past»

joanna newsom square

Joanna Newsom at London Somerset House, Sun 20 Jul

Review by Sam Lewis

For all the grandeur and eloquence of Joanna Newsom’s songs, it’s striking how often they return to personal themes – family and friends, homesteads, individual interaction with nature»

noah and the whale

DiScover: Noah And The Whale

In Depth by Sam Lewis

In a revealing interview, Noah And The Whale's Charlie Fink says how the band's sound was shaped, and the confusion commercial success brings»

soulfood vol 3

Trim - Soulfood vol.3

Review by Sam Lewis

A strange self-awareness makes Soulfood vol.3 fascinating – it is so tragically frank about the life of an MC who might never truly ‘make it’»

hove sunset

Hove Festival 2008: DiS diary, day four

In Depth by Sam Lewis

Day four of Hove Festival in Norway sees DiS munching pizza ahead of sets from St Vincent (excellent), Duffy (less so) and Neon Neon, among others»

jay-z

Hove Festival 2008: DiS diary, day one

In Depth by Sam Lewis

DiS is in Norway for the second Hove Festival - on day one we catch Les Savy Fav at their breathless best, and headliner Jay-Z»

thee oh sees

Thee Oh Sees - The Master's Bedroom Is Worth Spending A Night In

Review by Sam Lewis

At times, Thee oh Sees sound like Ariel Pink’s radio tuned back another thirty years to an age of protogen pop - shame they can't keep it up»

fidelity wars hefner

Hefner - The Fidelity Wars - special edition

Review by Sam Lewis

Hefner's Darren Hayman’s memory of his muse is less a personal portrait and more a diagram, the female body a sort of unknowable map»

adam green by Ilaria Magliocchetti Lombi

Adam Green, Noah & The Whale at Manchester Club Academy (Cellar), Fri 11 Apr

Review by Sam Lewis

It’s a strange crowd in Club Academy tonight: a mixture of Moldy Peaches fans from way back when, and lads; one that reflects Adam Green’s own transition from lovable, lo-fi Peach to apparent boozy Bavarian lothario»

wave pictures

The Wave Pictures - Instant Coffee Baby

Review by Sam Lewis

The Wave Pictures are a deeply personal band – their lyrics full of intimate detail. You feel like they are singing with you, rather than at you, the songs full of secrets and stories they're bursting to tell»

Bleeding heart narrative

Bleeding Heart Narrative - All That Was Missing We Never Had In The World

Review by Sam Lewis

The album is far, far too long, the songs often drawn out to a length that confound your interest, or the track's own capacity to engage. Simplicity is always the key to successful atmospheric music»

science for girls

Science For Girls - Science For Girls

Review by Sam Lewis

This album is like a coma, except without all the exciting fantasy world dreams. Just the complete, brain-dead inertia»

akira the don thieving

Akira The Don - Thieving

Review by Sam Lewis

As charming as some of Thieving's early tracks are, Akira the Don's rhymes just aren't inventive enough to carry an album that drags on, and problems arise when the move is made into genuine hip-hop territory»