The Japanese House / Clean

I’m probably in the minority of people who’d categorize Amber Bain’s work as The Japanese House as dream-pop. She’s more commonly lumped in with electronica and/or indie-pop and reasonably so, but to my ears the way she uses electronic textures and processing to accent and enhance her songwriting along with her somnambulant vocals perfectly create […]

The Fall – “Hit The North”

As a novice to The Fall, I’m not one to suggest entry points into their massive discography but as someone who enjoys pop as much as any or all of the (relatively) weird stuff covered hereabouts, you could do much worse than the 1987 single “Hit The North”. The closing track to their 1988 record […]

Mogwai – “Boltfor”

Mogwai wrapped their Spring North American tour in support of As The Love Continues this past weekend, and as a parting gift, they’ve released a new, non-album track along with video. Recording of it began alongside the rest of the Continues material at VADA Studios near Birmingham, England, but wasn’t completed until last month at […]

Spiritualized – “I’m Coming Home Again” (live)

Spiritualized released their new album Everything Was Beautiful last Friday (though I’ve yet to see the regular edition vinyl in stock anywhere), and whereas the previously-released official videos kind of came across like extended commercials with the album art superimposed over random video imagery – I guess the days of dropping Jason Pierce into a […]

The Making of Roxy Music’s Avalon

Roxy Music – the eponymous debut from Roxy Music turns 50 years old this year, and the occasion is being most correctly honoured with an unexpected reunion tour – see you in the cheap seats at the opening show in September – but today I’m more interested in talking about their last album, Avalon, which […]