Remember February? There's plenty to look back on, for sure - not least the absolutely splendid selection of albums and singles we were presented with.
HELLO MARCH! Where on earth did you Spring from? It appears the sun has donned his hat and, snow aside, the good times are beginning to roll once more.
As the birds beat their mating chests and DiS smiles at everyone who passes, we invite you to peruse our recommended releases from February. How about the 10/10 journey of volcano!'s Beautiful Seizure? Or the incomprehensibly extroverted electro/IDM/noise of the new ADAADAT compilation?
Don't forget that rather sexy new 65daysofstatic 7", alongside great tracks from Regina Spektor, Blood Red Shoes and our live band of the month, Howling Bells.
See you down the beach!
Albums
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The Broken Family Band -
Balls
Finally getting the attention they deserve, The Broken Family Band have produced an album that feels like both a series of punkist vignettes and a narrative of a skewed, rusty forthrightness, all the time married to a rare sense of how to construct a series of tracks that are, essentially, pop at heart.
Read Joe Shooman's full article |
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3hostwomexicansandatinofspanners - Pegasus Bridge
These are but four men but their might rivals ancient continent-conquering armies; their way with the riff is basic to the ear but bloody effective on the body. Shake a leg, y'all, come firewalk this way.
Read Michael Diver's full article |
 | volcano! - Beautiful Seizure
The formula for this album is pretty simple, really. Take the sum of all of your favourite records since you started listening to music seriously, rip out the filler and make an LP containing only the heart-wrenching, ear-pounding, mind-bending and all-too-beautiful epochs, condense it to 55 minutes and unleash it on an unsuspecting journalist who, intrigued, plays the album once and listens to nothing else for months.
Read Colin Roberts' full article |
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Various, DJ Scotch Egg, Germlin, Doddodo - Trade And Distribution Almanac Volume 3
If you tried dancing to anything on Trade And Distribution Almanac Volume 3, Adaadat's latest in a row of indispensable roster round-ups, then you’d probably look like an upside-down pneumatic drill and feel run over once the whole thing shudders to a halt. But by lordy, this is so brilliant it'd be worth it.
Read Thomas Blatchford's full article |
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Devics - Push the Heart
Yes, I know I’ve not been wholly faithful, but you must understand: neither were you. “Don’t think of what we can’t be,” you told me so soon, going back to him, your Dustin; to his piano so in mourning whenever you stepped from its side to seduce me with a voice so divine...
Read Michael Diver's full article |
Singles
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65daysofstatic - Radio Protector
When a band like 65daysofstatic release singles, it must take an age to decide exactly what to use. The band produce albums that beg to be listened to as an album, the songs hold their context in an album's scope and to remove them from their surroundings can easily prove disastrous. Not so here.
Read Colin Roberts' full article |  |
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Regina Spektor - Us
With a voice to die for and a lyric sheet from somewhere only she knows, artists like Regina Spektor don't come along too often.
Read Jordan Dowling's full article |  |
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Howling Bells - Wishing Stone
Eventually the chorus will reel you in as Joel Stein's lead guitar mimics his sister's voice to produce an apocalyptic cocktail of aural delight...
Read Rob Webb's full article |  |
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Attack + Defend - Owl EP
Every once in a while something special emerges from out of the blue and hits you straight between the eyes like a tornado tearing through a skyscraper. Step forward Cardiff based four piece Attack + Defend then, the demolition man's wet dream it seems...
Read Dom Gourlay's full article |  |
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Blood Red Shoes - Stitch Me Back/Meet Me At Eight
They'll never 'do' a White Stripes and hit the charts with dullardry and rehashed blues choruses; rather, the Shoes will be entertaining us all with a swell line in ballsy punk-tinged heavy pop songs for a good few years yet.
Read Colin Roberts' full article |  |
Live Artist of the month
Howling Bells' live show is too flawless for stages like this. It feels distractingly confined in the space, ready to erupt and burn itself onto much, much bigger and more grandiose stages. There's a real sense in the room tonight that this band, these songs, really aren't meant to stay down here for the likes of us.
Read Sean Adams' full article
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