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Suckers – Easy Chairs

A rousing burst of pop to get the week off to a good start. Pretty hard not to sing along with this one; even harder not to imagine 2010 being a good year for this band. The Brooklyn group recently recorded a full-length record for Gigantic, but in the meantime you can buy this limited edition 7″ (or this one) and check out the Daytrotter session. Continue Reading »

Popularity: 27% [?]

Nurses – Technicolor

The minute I heard the opening track of Apples Acres, I had a feeling it would become one of my favourite albums of the year.  The unpredictable melodies and the dynamic between their harmonies remind me of Yeasayer – but without the production trickery. Nurses is principally Aaron Chapman and John Bowers, best friends since their school days and roommates for five years, who recorded the album in the attic of a Victorian house in Portland, where they were living. Apples Acres is out now on Dead Oceans and you can download ‘Technicolor’ and ‘Caterpillar Playground’ for free here, but make you sure to check out the videos below… Continue Reading »

Popularity: 32% [?]

Chairlift – Evident Utensil (MGMT Remix)

Originally formed to make live music for haunted houses”, this Colorado trio moved to Brooklyn within six months, where they toured with Yeasayer and MGMT before having the faux-‘80s sounds of their debut Does You Inspire You singled-out as the best album of last year by M83.

They’re also playing a free in-store appearance at Pure Groove Records in London on Wednesday!

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Popularity: 3% [?]

Yeasayer – Tight Rope

My review of the new 4ad compilation Dark Was the Night features in the new issue of MOJO (as well as an interview I did with Ray LaMontaigne). There are plenty of magic moments but overall I found it disappointing, particularly with the amount of cover versions (nearly two-thirds of the 31 tracks) which 4ad have consciously chosen not to mention in all the hype-building publicity so far. Because it’s for a worthy cause I don’t really agree with the mass-posting of the album and its tracks to download for free online, so I’m going with this video of Yeasayer in session. “Tight Rope” is one of my favourites from the collection, a song I have a sentimental connection with after being privy to the now famous Take Away Show they first revealed it in.

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Popularity: 2% [?]

The second issue of State magazine has hit the shops and it also happens to feature my article on the making of Yeasayer’s recent Take Away Show. So for a bird’s eye view on what went on behind the scenes, along with interviews with Gnarls Barkley, MGMT, We Are Scientists, Portishead, Jape, Muse and much more, pick up the new copy or grab the digital edition over at State.ie

Popularity: 2% [?]