Did you know that speakers can be sick? I didn’t either, but thirty seconds into Rebirth every tweeter and woofer was vomiting in disgust and all the while my stereo edged closer to the window in the hope it could plummet ten stories down and take this truly awful album with it. Read More
I say French, you say electro. These days you could be forgiven for thinking the entire population of France was born with trendy angular haircuts, dressed in ironic day-glo T-shirts and was breastfed milky MDMA from the word dot. Read More
Released online and available for free, this all-Asian mixtape that sounds disappointingly all-American. Featuring US rappers Jimmy Boi, 450 Gang, Gookstaz and Gumby aka Pryce, for better or worse this is a decidedly ‘gangster’ affair; all money, drugs, guns and motherfuckers. Read More
Special delivery from Japan is this collection of post rock without the baggage, or My Bloody Valentine without the headache. In Light is a shimmering collection of mostly instrumental tracks, occasionally accompanied by an ethereal female voice floating through their aural sphere, culminating in the sonic equivalent of a brain massage.
– Fixing the Charts Vol. 1
“When the Nazis marched on Paris, the French were quite embarrassed…” sings Art Brut front man Eddie Argos, kicking off his side project’s album. The opener, ‘Creeque Allies’, is a jaunty retelling of the WWII French Resistance that sounds like the indie approximation of a Terry Deary ‘Horrible Histories’ book and is the cheeriest song about Nazi occupation you’ll ever hear.
They say in Tokyo you can find a bar or a band to cater for any music taste. Fancy garage rock that sounds like Jon Spencer soundtracking a 60s Godzilla movie? No problem, The Cro-Magnons are your men.
The retelling of savagery seems to be the source of energy for Taiwanese death metal band Chthonic. Their raucous international debut Seediq Bale depicted the violent Japanese colonisation of Taiwan and landed them an appearance at Ozzfest. Nearly half a decade later and we have their follow-up Mirror of Retribution, a somewhat disappointing affair and not for lack of political punch. Read More
For eight years Har Mar Superstar has wanted to have sex with you. Dark Touches is the fourth of his advances. The follow up to 2005’s excellent The Handler, this is similarly sex drenched sleaze record. While Har Mar’s style may be too tongue in cheek for some, as ever beneath the OTT lyrics lie some seriously fun and funky tunes.
