Like every other self-respecting journal of popular music criticism, The Line of Best Fit was planning on writing glowing reviews of Summer Camp’s outstanding debut album as well as Icona Pop’s fantastic Nights Like This EP. In the course of research, however, we discovered the following manuscript at the bottom of a trunk in an attic sale.
Author Joseph Knowles
Hefner – Dead Media
Dead Media, newly reissued in a two-disc set with a generous helping of b-sides, outtakes and remixes, is now getting a well-deserved second look. Joseph Knowles takes reappraises the sound of a band flaming out in the best way.
Shine 2009 – Realism
This is 90s dance indie, boiled down, edited and updated to chilled perfection. “I wouldn’t change a thing about my world” deadpans Suova on ‘One’. Over the course of this cool, very listenable 38-minute LP, you know that he means it.
Äänen Lumo Festival – Helsinki, Finland 8-14 November 2010
Every now and then we are told, by whom I’m not sure– Buddhist monks? Old people? Folk musicians?–that quiet is the new loud. I always want to believe that. But all too often, loud goes back to being the new loud. From the din of the pub to the bustle of the street to super-saturated “hot production” on the radio, it’s just a loud world we live in.
Kemialliset Ystävät – Ullakkopalo / Islaja – Keraaminen Pää
Joseph Knowles steps back into short story mode whilst critiquing two of the most exciting experimental releases of the year, both from the Fonal Records stable.
El Guincho – Pop Negro
Pop Negro is a deeper, more varied, and perhaps even weirder album than its relatively low-fi predecessor according to Joseph Knowles.
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Before Today
If you think you’ve read as many Ariel Pink reviews as you can handle this month, think again. Here, Joseph Knowles tells the *real* story of how “Before Today” came to be.
Sambassadeur – European
Joseph Knowles reviews European, the breezy, mature third album by Gothenburg’s civilised indie pop quartet Sambassadeur.
The Knife with Mt. Sims & Planningtorock – Tomorrow, In A Year
The Knife, bringing their own dancefloor vernacular to a classical setting, have done something pretty exciting.
Warpaint – Exquisite Corpse
Warpaint show an appreciation for atmospheric detail, a delight in lingering on bent chords or turns of harmonically strange phrasing. A promising band.
High Above The Storm – S/T
The debut album from London’s High Above The Storm is made with undeniable musicianship and sparkling production values, but, unfortunately, there’s not much else…
Black To Comm – Alphabet 1968
Has civilization seduced Black To Comm? Is the freedom of the freaky forest subtly succumbing to the agreeable, if regimented, pleasures of the pop city? Joseph Knowles wonders…
Radian – Chimeric
Dark, raw, broken and unpolished… the latest album from the Radian trio has a bit of an identity crisis, but is worthy of repeated listens.
