In Depth by Sam Lewis
Mirrorring is Liz Harris and Jesy Fortino, better known as Grouper and Tiny Vipers respectively. That there might be an overlapping space between their projects is unsurprising to anyone familiar with their work, each creating solo music imbued with an ambient, meditative quality, both beautiful fragile and darkly unsettling.»
Review
by Sam Lewis
The fuzz has been wiped away, leaving a shiny surface that, whilst impressively gleaming, suffers from a lack of texture.»
Review
by Sam Lewis
Electrelane point the way for all British guitar bands – be smart, not dumb. Be honest. Be real.»
Review
by Sam Lewis
If At Echo Lake hit the jackpot, Sun & Shade is more hit and miss.»
In Depth by Sam Lewis
Let's not beat around the bush here - this is preeeeeety late. Er, yes, sorry about that, but hey ho - remember when there used to be ATPs in May? If not, here's a reminder!»
Review
by Sam Lewis
Feels more like a logical evolution than a shocking change.»
Review
by Sam Lewis
Common Era is an undoubtedly beautiful record, one that delves unflinchingly into the sense of alienation in Eighties new wave, blending it with an ambient sensibility that makes for compelling listening, driving closer to the spirit of the era than faceless pretenders like Editors could ever get. »
Review
by Sam Lewis
When ‘folk’ in the singer-songwriter sense is reduced to phone advert platitudes, looking further back, or sideways, into the folk canon makes sense.»
Review
by Sam Lewis
Chasney’s vision is as precise and piercing as ever.»
In Depth by Sam Lewis
LAKE have supported Bonnie Prince Billy and Laura Veirs, played as Adrian Orange’s backing group, and sometimes include legend of the North West, Karl Blau, among their number. DiS met singer Elijah Moore to talk Washington, K Recs, and his favourite bands.»
In Depth by Sam Lewis
Avey Tare’s first solo project away from Animal Collective always looked a difficult prospect. Written just after the death of his grandmother, his sister’s hospitalisation with cancer, and the breakup of his marriage, it was always going to be a particularly introspective record.»
Review
by Sam Lewis
Still, it’s hard to begrudge a band their niche when they do it so well. »
Review
by Sam Lewis
The sound of someone confronting their demons and coming away stronger.»
Review
by Sam Lewis
Some of the music here is slightly too po-faced to bear repeated listening. Nevertheless, you have the real sense of Blackshaw as a musician and composer in a process of constant evolution, and it’s a fascinating and melancholy pleasure to hear his journey.»
Review
by Sam Lewis
To paraphrase the title of one of Bethany Cosentino's tracks she’s more “brat” than lovable mope.»
Review
by Sam Lewis
My hope is that Love King, for all its failings, proves a success, and that more people explore The-Dream's back catalogue as a result. »
In Depth by Sam Lewis
For anyone interested in pop songs, or the general craft of songwriting, the release of a new The-Dream album is big news.»
News
by Sam Lewis
To a hushed audience in a studio room in Covent Garden Lauren Laverne announced this years's Mercury Music Prize nominees. The expected names - The XX, Dizzee Rascal, Corinne Bailey Rae - were all there, as well as a few mild surprises - Villagers anyone?»
Review
by Sam Lewis
Even without it being Jack Rose’s last musical statement, Luck In The Valley is a brilliantly strong record that reminds you both of Jack Rose’s own majestic ability, and the playful power of these seemingly ancient and ‘primitive’ musical forms, something Rose understood as well as anyone.»
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. »
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...»
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»
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»
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»
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.»
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.»
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.»
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.»
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...»
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...»