Our latest reviews
Hand Built By Robots: Newton Faulkner
Well, it had to happen. Each year we have a hot new talent with a sound that appeals to the masses, millions of records are sold and then The Next Big Thing comes along. Headlines in the music press –…
Hey Trouble: The Concretes
Hey Trouble is the third studio album by Swedish indie-popsters The Concretes, and their first after the departure of lead vocalist Victoria Bergsman. With vocal duties switching to drummer Lisa Milberg, the band has refused to dwell on the troubled…
A head full of rain and a heart full of puddles: Clinkerfield
Heroes of the Melbourne live music scene Clinkerfield have finally put together their first full-length studio album, and it’s been worth the wait. The album captures the rawness of the live shows, but also shows the more seldom-seen sensitivity of…
R.E.M: Accelerate
Think along the lines of the guitar hooks of Out Of Time, Adventures In Hifi and Green with the songwriting qualities of Automatic For The People and Murmur. It’s R.E.M at their best and it’s brilliant. Highly recommended. Enough said.
Attack and Release: The Black Keys
Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney continue along the blues-rock soaked path to follow up their 2006 effort Magic Potion, but this time with some help from their friends. From the slow country blues opener (All You Ever Wanted) to the…
Even: Even
Like a the view from the espy’s bay window with a cold beer or the vibrancy of Brunswick Street with a coffee from Mario’s, Even are a bloody great Melbourne institution we should all enjoy more often. The follow up…
For Emma Forever Long Ago: Bon Iver
Bon Iver (aka Justin Vernon) has released a fairly startling and a little spooky debut album. He comes across as a kind of alt-country Antony Hegerty (Antony & the Johnsons), with his high falsetto vocals. Or possibly even Prince meets…
Alas I Cannot Swim: Laura Marling
A friend who lives in London started telling me about Laura Marling a couple of months ago. I didn’t seek her out, until speaking to this friend recently, when she insisted I track it down. Knowing my tastes in FSS…
Nyuntu Ninti: Bob Randall & Melanie Hogan
Based on the award-winning documentary Kanyini, this quite stunning book is a sort of photographic prose poem about ‘the ancient and spiritual culture that is the very heart and soul of Australia’ (to quote the blurb). Although very simply told…
Nothing To Be Frightened Of: Julian Barnes
This is the year for books about death – how we approach it, worry about it and prepare for it. And while Julian Barnes’s new book is not only about death, the grim reaper is certainly causing Barnes some consternation…
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