Reviews for The 13th Floor 22/04/2012
     Reviews for The 13th Floor. Click on the link to read the full review. Willis Earl Beal Acoumastic Sorcery XL Though you may long to hear him let loose with some Gnarls Barkley or lend his smooth soul voice to some Otis Redding, that’s not what Willis Earl Beal is all about. He claims to return to the streets to perform when he fears he’s losing touch with his roots. And he’s still singing songs down the phone to people he doesn’t know. Audra Mae & The Almighty Sound Audra Mae & The Almighty Sound Shock She wrote the lyrics to Who I Was Born To Be on Susan Boyle’s I Dreamed A Dream, and now Audra Mae appears clad all in fur, holding a dog, and surrounded by the ragtag crew that is her band ‘the Almighty Sound’ on their debut album cover. Xiu Xiu Always Shock The jarring, self-hating Xiu Xiu are notorious for their polarizing shock tactics (music video of a girl making herself vomit, anyone?) and discordant sounds. This is intellectual emo for grown-up Goths. Caveman Coco Beware Fat Possum Caveman have been described as ‘dad rock’, and while it’s true that their on-trend brand of indie folk-rock would appeal to many dads, their debut album, Coco Beware, will delight a much broader demographic. Birdy Birdy Atlantic This record would be a great gift for cool mums, and could be turned into a ‘Face the Music’-esque game at coffee group, with a shot of espresso knocked back for each correct guess. Add Comment Reviews for the 13th Floor 20/02/2012
    Reviews for The 13th Floor. Click on the link to read the full review. Julien Dyne Glmpse Rythmethod If you enjoy vocals, lyrics, hooks, riffs and melodies, Julien Dyne’s Glimpse isn’t for you. But if you like being challenged by music, if you’re partial to a spot of abstract jazz, and if you want to give your ears a workout, these nineteen beat-driven tracks will be right up your alley. Grant P Chilcott Sings Mitchell Parish Ode Records Grant P Chilcott, also known as Wentworth Brewster, has been keeping the torch of crooner-style singing aflame in New Zealand for twenty five years. He’s recorded with The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra Strings, performed with the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra, and sung in exotic countries around the world. In this album he turns his talents to re-imagining the songs of Mitchell Parish (1900 – 1993), the Lithuania-born immigrant turned Tin Pan Alley lyricist. Vintage Trouble The Bomb Shelter Sessions Shock With their mid-century recording techniques and influences, Hollywood-based Vintage Trouble are certainly retro, but they’re not up to much mischief. Sounding like The Detroit Cobras without Rachel Nagy’s cut-loose vocals or The Black Keys without the devil-may-care attitude, Vintage Trouble have a hot look but their brand of rock n’ soul lacks heat. Ana Tijoux La Bala France received many political refugees during Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship of Chile during the 1970s and 80s. In 1977 Anamaria Merino was born in Paris to an exiled Chilean father and a French mother. In the 90s democracy was restored to Chile and the Merino family relocated there, where Anamaria changed her name to Ana Tijoux and immersed herself in the hip hop scene. Tijoux fronted rap group Makiza before striking it out on her own with impressive results (her second album, 1977, was nominated for a Grammy). Reviews for The 13th Floor 14/12/2011
     Reviews for The 13th Floor. Click on the link to read the full review. The Black Keys El Camino Nonesuch With sleek, sexy and surprising cover art of people-movers both retro and modern, a gleaming silver sticker on the front instructing you to ‘play loud’, and eleven smouldering tracks within, the latest album from Ohio duo The Black Keys is this summer’s biggest fire hazard. The boys are back with their trademark dirty blues rock sound, but this time they’ve arrived in a cloud of rocket smoke and a blaze of glitter in the middle of a dusty road... David Lynch Crazy Clown Time Sunday Best You may not realise how much of David Lynch’s music you’ve already heard. He shares writing credits for the song In Heaven (Eraserhead, 1977), wrote lyrics for Julee Cruise, created music for Wild at Heart, Twin Peaks, Mulholland Drive and more, and has worked on several musical collaborations... Fagan and the People Admiral of the Narrow Seas Big Ears Admiral Of The Narrow Seas has been a long time coming from 1985 RIANZ Top Male Vocalist of The Year winner Andrew Fagan. Spanning ten years, several recording studios and vast oceans, these twelve tracks are like the contestants at a Miss Kaitaia beauty pageant – some flawed, each different but all united by their homegrown beauty... Thrice Major/Minor Vagrant Though Thrice claim they’re not a Christian band, singer Dustin Kensrue’s lyrics are rife with Christian imagery, and the catchy Blinded could be read either as a curious kind of love song, or as the words of thanks from a sinner repenting before God... Bjork Biophilia Little Indian Despite the innovative platform used to share the album, the music itself feels much like the same old Bjork – still enchanting and original, but sparser and more abstract than before... Reviews for The 13th Floor 05/10/2011
   The Travelling Band Screaming is Something Shock On their second album Screaming Is Something the hirsute Adam Gorman and Jo Dudderidge share vocal duties. Rather unfortunately, they both have the kind of clear, pure voices that would have made them prime candidates for a boys’ Cathedral choir. Many of these darkly textured songs would instead have benefitted from a cool growl... Evaline Woven Material Shock The album features the cool urban desolation of Radiohead, the soaring highs and lows of Muse and the high drama of My Chemical Romance... Kasabian Velociraptor! Sony If Kasabian was an English schoolboy his blazer would be more highly-decorated than Hugh Grant’s bedpost... Reviews for The 13th Floor 24/09/2011
   Reviews for The 13th Floor. Click on the link to read the full review. Bonjah Go Go Chaos Shock Entertainment They may be New Zealand’s best kept secret, but rootsy rock band Bonjah are Rolling Stone’s 2011 ‘Artist to Watch’... Vetiver The Errant Charm Sup Pop Vetiver (named after a useful and non-psychoactive perennial grass) allude to the 70s from their softly-psychedelic cover through to their ten soft and sun-kissed tracks... Hellsongs Minor Misdemeanors Lovely Records Until young female singer Siri Bergnéhr had a stroke late last year, Hellsongs were a group of metal-loving Swedish musicians with a pop sensibility...  Reviews for The 13th Floor 11/09/2011
    Reviews for The 13th Floor. Click the link to read the full review. The Sami Sisters Happy Heartbreak! Like a time capsule with influences ranging from nana to Rihanna, this album is filled with exciting discoveries. In these three Onehunga-raised Irish/Indian sisters, we may just have found the real sound of New Zealand... Hollie Cook Hollie Cook Mr. Bongo London born singer Hollie Cook had her first taste of the limelight when family friend Ari Up encouraged her to sing backing vocals on the EP Revenge of the Killer Slits... Cairo Knife Fight II Liberation If you like your heavy rock served up with some sexy on the side, this is the band for you... The Howling Bells The Loudest Engine Shock Entertainment What’s really sexy about Stein is her intimate voice, which can glide from soft and husky to let-loose loud, all while retaining a quality makes her sound as though she’s whispering in your ear... Reviews for The 13th Floor 29/08/2011
   Reviews for The 13th Floor. Click the link to read the full review. WU LYF Go Tell Fire To The Mountain PIAS Roberts has a voice that could be described as a Homo Antecessor howling at the moon, a possum clinging to life after being run over by a car, or Tom Hanks in Castaway as Wilson bobs out of his grasp. These unintelligible, scratchy groans are apparently grunted along to at live shows. (A cheat’s guide to singing along: recurring words are ‘crown’, ‘baby’, ‘father’, ‘gold’, ‘money’, ‘blood’, ‘animals’ and ‘home’)... Beirut The Rip Tide Pompeii An intriguing blend of serious and sweet, this short album sounds like a dirge for the funeral of a smurf... The Nudge Big Nudge Pie Again the band mixes up the genres, beginning with a poppy sound that evolves into a Hendrix-style jam. Prebble is super snarly on It All Becomes Clear, where lines like “my fantasy is your catastrophe” sound as though they’re being spat and hissed by a pissed-off (but rather adorable) cat in a cage. Reviews for The 13th Floor 19/08/2011
   Reviews for The 13th Floor. Click the link to read the full review. Thievery Corporation Culture of Fear Border Music All this wrapped up in a digipak so sexy you might want to take it to bed... Hollie Smith and Mara TK Band of Brothers, Vol 1 EMI Tattooed style chameleon Hollie Smith is as well-known for sporting urban street-wear as she is for rocking high fashion looks that make her look as though she’s a sexy alien from Planet Sphinx. Whatever she’s wearing, one thing’s guaranteed – you know the girl who’s been to Blue Note and back is going to look cooler than anyone else in the room... The Subways Money and Celebrity Shock Records With liberal use of cowbell, harmonies, hand-claps, classic rock riffs and pop punk melodies, this band may not win any points for originality but there’s something very endearing about them.. Reviews for The 13th Floor 28/07/2011
   Incubus If Not Now, When? Sony The next songs traverse pop, punk and hardcore before the very odd In The Company of Wolves, which begins as a ballad, but halfway through turns into… an embarrassing cover of Porishead’s Sour Times? After this, the simple and up-tempo Switchblade is a welcome respite, before Tomorrow’s Food brings things down a notch with its ill-advised foray into philosophy (“we are all tomorrow’s food… today”)... Trembling Bells The Constant Pageant Border Music The cover art, which features a castle, a greyhound’s head, a bull-dragon and a rooster-swan does little to hint at the lunacy within. Sounding as though they’ve been influenced in equal parts by The Pogues, very early Marianne Faithful, The Last Night Of The Proms, Jefferson Airplane and Morris Dancing... Imaginary Cities Temporary Resident Shock Temporary Resident is an astounding and diverse debut of considerable depth. Keep your eyes and ears on Imaginary Cities... | AuthorMe & my cat. ArchivesFebruary 2012 CategoriesAll |
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