Articles
droberts has written the following articles:
Pole - Pole
If you like your hip hop without the commercial trappings of bling-bling sensibilities then there seems to be little you can do apart from dig deep. You can retreat back into your record collection and revel in the raw early '90s beats of Gangstarr, Pete Rock et al. Or you can search for the rea»
International Pony - We Love Music
Take three Germans in ill-fitting shirts, let them loose with most musical genres of the late 20th century and you would have some idea of what International Pony is like. The fact that they would then continue to surprise you is why their debut album is a joy to behold. DJ Koze, Cosmic DJ and Erobi»
Northern State - At The Party
Whiny-voiced rapping from the suburbs of New York - sound familiar? Northern State's attempt at gaining old-skool respectability will obviously be compared to the Beastie Boys – and this seems to be their entire (formulaic) gameplan. If anything, they sound like the Beasties when they first came out a»
French Kicks - Close to Modern
I shuddered when I read the press release describing French Kicks as “savvy NYC types”. 'Surely not another identikit Manhattan band dressing up in suit jackets and jeans and wishing that they could be hanging out at CBGBs with Blondie?', I thought. No need to worry though, manufactured disco-punk is not »
Four Tet - She Moves She
How to ruin a perfectly good tune. First of all start off with a nice big rolling beat and a pinch of bass. Let this simmer for about half a minute until juices are flowing. The people will really be loving this. Then add simple plucking of string instrument. This gives the piece a real far-eastern flavour an»
Royksopp - Eple
I’m starting to think that the Norwegian word ’Eple’ translates as re-released. I don’t know how many times we’ve seen this track with various remixes attached, but as Röyksopp released the album, 'Melody AM', in 2001, and have been touring just about ever since, it’s hardly surprising t»
Alabama 3 - Reachin'
Welcome back to the electronic deep south. Alabama 3 – the boys who were definitely born in the wrong part of the world - are back and the message is a familiar one. Redemption, salvation, and hoping for a better day are all themes that have been visited before by the band, but that hasn’t»
Donderevo - Digital Bird God EP
This ep is one for those who like a little more than the standard indie fare. Donderevo have attempted, with some success, to include an electronic edge to their music and although at times you wish they would chance a bit more, the finished product inspires you to follow them closely. The four-track ep st»
Pablo - Y Byron
A fellow scribe has described Pablo as the loudest band they have ever seen after only Motorhead and AC/DC. And if that is the way to go then all power to them. But from the evidence of this single there could be an argument for turning down (only slightly) the noise and concentrating on what else »
The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (pt.1)
I don't know whether Wayne Coyne and his merry band of cohorts are referring to some very deep and complex issue through the use of metaphorical language or whether they are actually just praising the work of super agents defending the population (in Flaming Lips Land) of giant robotic killers. But wha»
Stylophonic - If Everybody In The World Loved Everybody In The World
The commendable ideal of the title is somewhat lost immediately as an amazingly annoyingly vocal sample kicks in at the start. This is then joined by a satisfactory jaunty bouncy beat which then meanders it way through the rest of the track without ever really deciding to do anything to make you sit up and take noti»
(Review of nothing)
The whole idea of a sampler album is to open you up to bands that you may not have had a chance to listen to before, and more importantly, inspire you to then go out and buy their albums. The downside is that you are also quite likely to hear a lot of rubbish that you would not have had the misfortune to experience.
Aim - Hinterland
Tricky second album? Not likely. Whereas labelmates Rae and Christian struggled to improve on the pure brilliance that was Northern Sulphuric Soul, the most important musician to ever come out of Barrow-in-Furness has returned with an impossibly good sophomore effort to somehow improve on 199?’s Cold Water Music.»
David Holmes - Presents The Free Association
David Holmes is cool. The music he makes is cool. The press shots for his albums are always cool. He probably even has George Clooney in his mobile as ‘George’. The man is just cool. It is partly because of this that there is always a degree of anticipation when a new piece of music is to be released by the man.»