Noise, violence, ecstasy and…fellatio? Alex Wisgard deafens himself sifting through the long-awaited My Bloody Valentine remasters.
ReviewsAuthor Alex Wisgard
Richard Hawley – Standing at the Sky’s Edge
On his last album, Richard Hawley was in the gutter. Now he’s gone to the heavens. With one hell of a bang.
Rufus Wainwright – Out of the Game
So the no-whistles-and-bells approach suits Rufus Wainwright pretty well after all, on this album – a record of the type many people have been wanting him to make of the last decade. For an artist so unpredictable and restless, such normalcy may just be one of the biggest surprises that he could have delivered.
Spiritualized – Sweet Heart Sweet Light
Sweet Heart Sweet Light may be an attempt to return to the Spiritualized of yore, but is it the band you remember them being?
“I’m just a simple man cursed with an honest heart”: The Line of Best Fit meets The Shins’ James Mercer
With their most accessible album to date, it’s a struggle to think of The Shins as operating outside of what James Mercer calls “the fabric of popular culture.”
The Magnetic Fields – Love at the Bottom of the Sea
The synths are back (though the acoustic instruments haven’t exactly been shoved back into storage) on Stephin Merrit’s first release since his non-electronic trilogy, with mixed results.
“Exhausting and terrifying, psychotic and beautiful” : The Line of Best Fit speaks to of Montreal’s Kevin Barnes
Alex Wisgard speaks to of Montreal’s Kevin Barnes about their forthcoming album Paralytic Stalks, getting to grips with his past, and just how the band will manage to bring its “raw, exhausting, terrifying, psychotic and beautiful” sounds to life onstage.
Charlotte Gainsbourg – Stage Whisper
A rarities and live double album may not be the wisest career move for Madame Charlotte Gainsbourg, but Stage Whispers turns out to be a surprisingly effective stopgap.
Talking Heads – Chronology [DVD]
Chronology, the band’s first “career-spanning” live DVD, attempts to mix up TV performances, live footage and the different formations of the band, but can’t help but falling way, way short of any of its predecessors.
Jeffrey Lewis – A Turn in the Dream-Songs
Having put out at least an album every year in the last half-decade, not to mention touring relentlessly and writing and illustrating countless issues of his own comic book, A Turn in the Dream-Songs might mark the moment where Jeffrey Lewis’s prolificness has finally caught up with him.
Tom Waits – Bad as Me
Given that it’s the first album of his fifth decade, Bad as Me stands proudly as one of Tom Waits’s most concise, effective statements. Old friendships get rekindled, new collaborators are introduced and Tom Waits’s unique universe is once again open for business. All aboard!
Butcher Boy – Helping Hands
There’s no doubting that Butcher Boy’s third is a record of quiet majesty and, in setting their sights high, the band has proudly staked a claim at grander things. Alex Wisgard reviews.
