spawk has written the following articles:
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...»
Brighten the Corners is a personal favourite by Pavement, and pretty much the reason we can't all agree this is a landmark in US alt. rock is the strength of Pavement's whole career. With all the bonus tracks here, it’s like getting yourself a free Wowee Zowee.»
A folk covers record put together by the A&R behind Mark Ronson’s Versions, Headless Heroes is an intriguing prospect. Half the tracklisting leaps out like a compilation you might make for your new paramour, provided they’re slightly morose, and drawn to the darker end of indie and/or folk... »
Avant-metal outfit Nadja typical track length is 19 minutes. Surprisingly, though, this was quite the nicest, fluffiest, loveliest evening I’ve spent at a gig in a long time.»
Having nabbed the Arcade Fire support slot when they went stellar, scored a Pitchfork Top 10 album with their own debut, blown that away with the new one, and (tonight) changed venue due to demand, Wolf Parade are entering new territory.»
DiS talks to guitar goddess Marnie Stern about poetry, paganism and Einstein...»
A lady with antlers on the cover; what do we make of that? Well, the theriocephalic figure is traditionally a symbol of Man’s interdependence with Nature, and post-Darwin, connotations include our suppressed bestiality, our mortality, the Death of God. All that, or it could just be the guy really likes Palace Brothers, and Songs: Ohia.»
To launch DiS ♥ Rough Trade Week Mr. Tudor reviews Arthur Russell, the man who made tremendously unlikely music. A quarter-century ago he was making cello-led disco(?!) and earned himself a reputation as a great unknown in his lifetime, and now we have a handful of fully realized albums that don’t need any elegies to justify discovering them. Plus, we have this compilation of Alt. Country songs and other experiments recorded on the side that’s pretty darn fun.»
A self-titled solo album by the frontman from Radar Brothers. It’s not a huge surprise to find that with less emphasis on song-writing, and more on synths, Jim Putnam’s record arrives somewhere south of Eno's Another Green World (1975).»
It’s a special time of year, when Alan Sparhawk doesn’t tell the people to Shut Up who are yelling four-letter words (okay, so those are the titles of songs they want), and instead invites requests.»
It used to feel like Damien Jurado didn’t quite know which way to jump: he lacked the high drama and occasional histrionics of Ryan Adams; at the same time, his arrangements were too conventional to give him the lo-fi cachet of an Elliott Smith. Finally, though, everything locks into place on Caught in the Trees.»
For those of you disappointed by the autobiography, but who rushed to get it, this collection of John Peel’s writings on music, popular culture, and home-life is going to be instantly appealing, and DiS is happy to tell you it may be the best commemoration of his life, in printed form.»
Hey! The new record from 60% of Blood Brothers! It’s as if they barely split up at all…! Shuffle this together with the Jaguar Love debut and you could make yourself a follow-up to Young Machetes, couldn’t you? »
Jherek Bischoff AKA Ribbons easily matches The Knife for his mix of sinister pop songs and fragmented evocations of the cold lands to the north, where you can still believe the folktales...»
In the run-up to the second series of Orange UnsignedAct, DiS spoke to new judge, Lauren Laverne, and found her delightful as ever. We talked Kenickie, being Punka, the greatness of Mogwai, and what a "baby Aidan Moffat" might be doing on the "X Factor for songwriters"...»
Rounding off our politically-charged Oh Obama week... we thought it'd make sense to look at a seminal political record. Here Alexander Tudor looks at This Heat's album Deceit from 1981... »
Super XX Man works in a psychiatric institution, and this happens to be very important to what he writes. It may not be as “edgy” or “adventurous” as it thinks it is, but I can see this meaning a lot to a lot of people, and whether you have right now, or have had someone with mental illness in your life, we all need those insights into what you’ve got left when you’ve got nothing. »
Unexpectedly tying in with our Election-themed articles, DiS reports on Antony's phenomenal performance with the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) at the Barbican, debuting material from the follow-up to his Mercury Prize-winning album, but also giving us an impromptu speech demanding much more from the world than mere "Hope for Change".»
The reissue of three Swervedriver LPs earlier this month caused Mister Tudor to reassess the whole Shoegaze phenomenon...»
Eight years on from P.O.D.’s last Grammy Award, and with ever lower chart-placings for the singles – even in America – I’ve finally cleared my backlog of genuinely interesting cultural developments, and happen to have a spare minute to contemplate what Christian Metal actually means. »
The other night I had the MOST UN-ROCK'N'ROLL EXPERIENCE EVER, getting my camera wiped for taking pictures of a DIY-proselytizing band that shall go unnamed...»
Mogwai are still Mogwai - a hyperbole unto themselves. Tonight they have scripted the show brilliantly, taking you as far as you can in one direction at a time before showering you in gut-shuddering bass that makes it seem as if the world is collapsing...»
When you’re dealing with a band like New York's creators-of-1000-foot-waterfalls-of-colour Gang Gang Dance, who intuitively blend genres with no regard for boundaries, it almost makes sense to dissolve the interview/gig review/album review format...»
Rather perplexingly Marnie Stern makes shred-guitar time-travel anthems for fans of Van Halen, Television, Sleater-Kinney, AC/DC and Joanna Newsom... »
The effort put into this tribute is stunning, the RFH looks splendid, but the best tribute it pays is in showing how reluctant most people are to touch what’s at the core of Nico.»
This is the first in a series of This Band Could Be Your Life-inspired features. We begin telling you everything you need to know before diving into the records of Wolf Parade and Sunset Rubdown...»
Like many a great lyricist (Will Oldham, Stephin Merritt, Morrissey) Hutchison knows that emotive lyrics tend to sound cliché unless the silliness is built in: anger doesn’t really resonate unless it’s inventively homicidal, lust needs to be incestuous, despair needs to be suicidal.»
Independent culture stretches far beyond boys in garage bands. There are always a few things worth us tip-toeing out of our normal music coverage to bring you. We went to see a movie by the guy who directed REM's 'Losing My Relgion' and it turned out to be 'this year's Donnie Darko'...»
Mercury winning Antony & the Johnsons follows his guest appearances with Bjork and Hercules and Love Affair with a stunning new EP Another World which is a quiet revelation»
