Album Reviews

There’s no-one quite like Porter Robinson in the world of dance music at the moment.  Rather than appeal to what is essentially the lowest common denominator, generic house that’s as soulless as it is appealing to the masses, Porter’s unique brand of electronic music tries to blend the atmospheric with the lively.  And, unsurprisingly given his track record, even at such a young age, he manages to pull it off flawlessly. This is perhaps the most cohesive album I’ve ever listened to from a dance — Read more →

In the wake of Disclosure’s success in bringing house music to the top of the charts, as well as to the dancefloors and iPods across the country, their particular brand of music has been almost inescapable.  Countless copycat acts have emerged from the underground woodwork, showing off the same type of funky dance music that London’s top duo have helped popularise. Clean Bandit fall into this category, but provide their own unique twist on the genre.  The quartet, who met each other at university in — Read more →

The Hoosiers are one of my favourite bands, with their first album being perhaps one of my favourite of all time and their second producing some of my favourite songs.  It’s always worrying when you don’t hear much of a band for a while, and it had been three years-plus before The Hoosiers’ announced that they would be releasing a new album: The News from Nowhere.  After splitting with their label Sony, rightfully because of the way they promoted, or rather didn’t, their last album — Read more →

CHVRCHES is a name that I’d heard many times, even passing up the fleeting opportunity to see them earlier this year, before I’d actually heard any of their music.  They are a Glaswegian synthpop band, so naturally something I’d quite like.  The trigger for looking them up, and then subsequently downloading their whole debut album The Bones of What You Believe, was a few favourable mentions in Pitchfork’s Top 100 songs of 2013, an annual guide which I always pay close attention to. The fact — Read more →

I think The Killers need little introduction as a band.  Around for almost a decade, the band is one of the most consistent producers of modern rock songs you will find, and have become wildly popular.  They haven’t been afraid to change their sound slightly though, with the more electronic Day & Age and the more traditional rock sound of Battle Born being different to the more “alternative” tone of their first two albums.  I love The Killers, and their new compilation album is a fantastic — Read more →