With a promising lineup and strikingly unusual location, Berlin Festival seems like a stuffily organised and controlled experiment in fun, writes John Rogers.
Author John Brainlove
The Books – The Way Out
More electronic and less melody based than their past work, every new Books release feels like an important addition to a body of work best considered as a whole. John Brainlove reviews.
Grum – Heartbeats
Heartbeats is an intoxicating sugar-rush of dance-pop mini-anthems according to John Brainlove.
Grizzly Bear w/ Efterklang – The Serpentine Sessions @ Hyde Park, London 28/06/10
The Serpentine Sessions is, it turns out, a kind of mini-event stapled onto the side of Hard Rock Calling. Can Grizzly Bear and co. save this underwhelming event from being a sunny summer washout? John Brainlove finds out.
Daniel Bjarnason – Processions
Feeling both entranced and endlessly disturbed, John Brainlove reviews the latest from Iceland’s Daniel Bjarnason.
Your introduction to the French New Wave with Oui Love
A motley bunch of ace emerging French acts hit the road in England next week
Future Islands – In Evening Air
John Brainlove reviews the latest for Future Islands, a particularly odd pop proposition.
So Hot Right Now!
John Brainlove picks apart the BBC Sound Of 2010 shortlist. Who comes up trumps, and who ends up looking like a special needs jogger..? Find out inside.
BRNLV does Leeds :: Idioteque & Tiger Trap
Brainlove travels up the M1 for a bit of aural enlightenment…
Efterklang & The Britten Sinfonia – Barbican Hall, London 28/10/09
John Brainlove witnesses a band dispel any coffee-table-electronica stigma that may have come from their earlier recordings as they embrace an epic, utterly absorbing sound that’s nothing short of magical.
TLOBF Interview :: Hafdis Huld
John Brainlove curls up on the chaise lounge with Icelandic chanteuse Hafdis Huld to catch up on some small talk before a recent show at London’s Slaughtered Lamb.
Stórsveit Nix Noltes – Royal Family / Divorce
Made up of between 9 and 12 Icelandic musicians, Stórsveit Nix Noltes are an Eastern European folk music arkestra with a punk-rock aesthetic. John Brainlove reviews the latest from the FatCat stable.
ATP vs The Fans Strike Back. The Brainlove Chronicles.
Before we run our extensive review of last weekends ATP shenanigans, we asked John Brainlove’s to jot down some thoughts about the weekends happenings. Look out for a full review, plus a bumper photo feature coming very soon!!
[Video] Tiga – Shoes
Saucy Californian electrohunk TIGA is back with a great video for lead single ‘Shoes’, featuring a talk show host with a glove made out of static and a creepy, frigid model lady guest.
Micachu – Jewellery
Micachu: part East London DIY street kid, part Waitsian musical innovator, part preternaturally wise ingenue; she’s an endearing and intriguing presence, and all of her character seeps and shines out through the songs on this amazing debut album.
Crystal Stilts – Alight Of Night
The latest act to emerge out of the latest Shoegaze craze, but do Crystal Stilts have the musical chops to compete with the genres big hitters Deerhunter, M83 and Maps? John Brainlove decides.
