Review
by Billy Hamilton
Each cut is unashamedly pop, filled with chasms of reverb and joyous reels of melody.»
Review
by Billy Hamilton
In truth, The Ascent doesn’t actually feel like a Wiley record.»
Review
by Billy Hamilton
For a band like Hurts ambition isn’t ugly - it’s profitable.»
Review
by Billy Hamilton
An album as beautifully conceived as If You Leave is one you follow from start to finish, riveted by the story it weaves and the emotion it bleeds.»
Review
by Billy Hamilton
Essentially, what we’re dealing with is a shameless indie pop record created by a shameless indie pop band.»
In Depth by Billy Hamilton
On the release of the fourth L. Pierre outing, The Island Come True, we opened our 8/10 review with a question: “Who exactly is Aidan John Moffat?”. In our heart of hearts, we knew there was no answer. Remember, we’re talking about someone with the ability to swing effortlessly between verb-spouting poet, boorish musician, Twitter-glued deviant and, Christ, even relationship-fixing agony uncle.
But here at Drowned in Sound we’re a persistent bunch. And some of us also grew up in awe of the probing – if slightly irreverent- interview style of 80s pop rag Smash Hits. So, in a attempt to finally nail an answer to our unrequited question, we tracked down Aidan and put a few personal posers his way, Smash Hits style...»
Review
by Billy Hamilton
II is a propulsive, unrelenting composite that doesn’t know what it is, nor does it care.»
Review
by Billy Hamilton
There’s always been a touch of the Yeasayers about The Ruby Suns. Not just in the shared pursuit of tribal splurges with a melodic twist, but in the feeling that this is as good as it gets»
Review
by Billy Hamilton
Somehow, amidst this jumble of hissing, spitting, creaking arrangements, Aidan Moffat has composed one of his finest and most abstract records to date.»
Review
by Billy Hamilton
As ways to close the year go, there’re probably better ways to see out 2012. But in this season of goodwill and retrospect, Andrew Bird has acquired enough credit over the last 12 months to deserve the benefit of the doubt. »
Review
by Billy Hamilton
It’s hard to get excited about a record that rarely moves from its musical comfort blanket.»
Review
by Billy Hamilton
Chilly Gonzales proves once again that makeshift beats and bleeps are little match for his extraordinary craft.»
Review
by Billy Hamilton
Where should you place Light of the North in your record collection? Even Miaoux Miaoux can’t answer that. But, succumb to the contents of his fine yet indefinable debut, and you’ll soon realise that’s exactly how he planned it.»
Review
by Billy Hamilton
A return to some semblance of form for a band that was coasting to oblivion after 2009’s Quicken the Heart.»
Review
by Billy Hamilton
After twenty-one years, it’s hard to believe Tjinder Singh and Ben Ayres are still capable of producing moments as vivid and relevant as they do on Urban Turban. »
Review
by Billy Hamilton
When it's on-point, this is an album of undiluted bliss that fingers its way inside your conscience through deftly crafted soundscapes.»
Review
by Billy Hamilton
Despite the quality of the execution, it’s difficult to shake the sense that A+E has been done before.»
Review
by Billy Hamilton
Somewhere along the line, Andrew Bird took the easy option. He’s never sounded better.»
Review
by Billy Hamilton
You can blame Trent Reznor for a lot of things, but as Johannes Gammelby is likely to find out, you can’t blame him for everything.»
In Depth by Billy Hamilton
Following the release of their third album, No One Can Ever Know, DiS talked to The Twilight Sad frontman James Graham to find out what spurred the new direction, how working with Andy Weatherall is a breeze and what it takes to be the next Craig David…»
Review
by Billy Hamilton
Unashamedly, undeniably, unequivocally brilliant: with Have Some Faith in Magic, Errors have out-Mogwaied Mogwai, out-Sadded The Twilight Sad.»
In Depth by Billy Hamilton
Each and every year, there are records which slip through the cracks, that individuals who write for the site absolutely adore, yet few others seem to even be aware of. To help highlight a few lost records, a few years ago we invented the Lost List, and ask individuals to write some words explaining why they love the album in question. Next up, our former Drowned in Sound columnist, Billy Hamilton, shares a personal tale of a record he wishes to upgrade the 7/10 score he awarded it earlier this year... »
Review
by Billy Hamilton
Wise Blood's These Wings EP is a dark, clever off-piste pop collection fused with bleeps, beats and despair»
Review
by Billy Hamilton
Weald proves a consistently strong and challenging record, blending emotional girth with an exquisite musical craft»
In Depth by Billy Hamilton
In 2011, Primal Scream's XTRMNTR is still still fascinating and futuristic; a dense, impermeable concoction of ear-shaking, amphetamine-shifting, thrill-seeking disco punk that shits all over the overrated wash out of Screamadelica»
Review
by Billy Hamilton
With Hall Music, Svanängen completes his journey from fragility to resilience with the same sense of contemplation and complexity he set out on.»
Review
by Billy Hamilton
Instead of propelling Real Estate beyond the traditional indie shagpile, Days merely sheds doubt on the band’s capacity, or will, to push beyond their prism of easy-riding familiarity.»
Review
by Billy Hamilton
Forget the name; forget the celebrity girlfriend - S.C.U.M are a band blessed with an overarching sense of the indie mainland.»
In Depth by Billy Hamilton
In this month's Drowned in Scotland column, we get a rundown of the bands, labels, media and promoters currently propping up the grass roots of the Scottish music scene.»
Review
by Billy Hamilton
He may well have ‘the voice’, but Fionn Regan needs to come up with something much more impressive to convince the nation's record buying judges he’s worth their vote. »
