Articles
asmith has written the following articles:
The Alps - The Alps
A glance at the sleeve's soft-focus portrait generates some concern. Enshrined in brilliant light, clean-cut Greenwich quartet The Alps are lounging around, kitted out in regulation single-breasted jackets, stonewash jeans and proper shoes. (It's the kind of footwear your mum used to wedge on your feet when all you wanted was the pair of Nikes the Asian lad had on in 'The Goonies'.) Still, I suppose any attempt a band makes to distance itself from the gangs of Morlocks that trawl through our indie caverns should be applauded.»
Brian Eno - Another Green World
Together with Joe Meek and George Martin, Brian Eno completes the holy trinity of British studio auteurism; a revolutionary vanguard without which the grand history of sonic-pioneering would be severely hobbled.»
The Magnetic Fields - i
As Morrissey finds his spirited return feted in every media outlet imaginable, another true wit of our age has slipped in under the radar.»
Loretta Lynn - Van Lear Rose
'This is my boss: Jack White, a self-made millionaire. He's quite a guy. This is Mrs L; she's gorgeous. She's one lady who knows how to take care of herself. By the way, my name is Max, I take care of them both. Which ain't easy 'cause when they met ... it was murder!'»
Franz Ferdinand - Matinée
Witnessing their astonishing ascent into mainstream adulation, there's an unmistakable feeling that Franz Ferdinand - with their David Byrne posturing and a handful of Blondie riffs - got lucky; that they were the art-school chancers in the right place at the right time.»
The Zutons - You Will, You Won't
It may be a crass regional stereotype to assume that Liverpudlian songsmiths are the undisputed kings of catchy, but it's certainly not anything that the current clutch of Scouse outfits are going out of their way to disprove. And it's The Zutons that appear the most contagious of the lot.»
Pet Shop Boys - Flamboyant
At their zenith, Pet Shop Boys took a penchant for silly hat-wearing to Jupiter and beyond. Pastel bowlers, candy-striped cones, cycling helmets struck by lightning bolts: these guys redefined headgear in pop.»
Snow Patrol - Chocolate
Coldplay may or may not be the worst thing to happen to popular music in the last five years - that's a debate for another time and place - but one thing's for sure, the success of their benign stadium rock has let loose on the charts an abhorrent assortment of the blandest of bands.»
The Cribs at Leeds Joseph's Well, Fri 12 Mar
Not only are The Cribs Wakefield's finest export since rhubarb, they're also purveyors of a fine brand of sixties' garage pop that, quite frankly, mops the floor with most other leading products. Any minute now, in fact, I'm expecting a jet-load of Detroit scenesters to relocate themselves and their hipster lifestyles to West Yorkshire. It's a genuine concern.»
The Killers - Somebody Told Me
Hailing from a city of sky-scraping facade, Las Vegas' The Killers are a mighty fine example of style over substance. Theirs is a game of bluff - charging at you with a zealot's confidence in the hope you won't notice that beyond the bluster they're all hype and no trousers.»
Gomez - Catch Me Up
After the commercial flop that was their last LP, the new single by Gomez arrives with a truly cunning conceit: it doesn't sound like Gomez.»
Britney Spears - Toxic
In an era when The White Stripes can conquer the world with a record that cost 50p to cobble together, Britney Spears storms across the Atlantic with a sonic typhoon that sounds like it might have made substantial use of a James Cameron sized budget.»
Elbow - Not a Job
To say that Elbow are not a singles band is some understatement. When it comes to crafting pop gems set for soaring through the FM universe these guys have even less of an idea than Radiohead.»