When it comes to about everything January is just a very yawnful month. The weather is grey, people’s gazes are tiresome and, most importantly of course, the number of new album releases is at an all time low. For God’s sake, the sooner January is behind us the better. In the past few weeks I feared nothing relevant would be brought out. Luckily I was wrong. The Canadian post-punkers Viet Cong decided the beginning of the year was an excellent time to release their first studio album and since I was trapped in the wrong venue during last years Le Guess Who festival a review of this album seems a good idea to start our year with.
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Author Archives: Wander Meulemans
Album Year List (2014)
Although it’s always difficult to pin down a musical year in a few words a lot of critics do it anyway. Thus, we can’t stay behind on that, can we? However, before we end 2014 in style, let us loosely say we enjoyed working in the dark to serve you the reviews of the music we like and that nothing is true and yes, … everything is permitted.
C.W. Stoneking – Gon’ Boogaloo
He looks kind of scary, just sitting there in a white suit with a skull painted face holding a guitar, smoking a pipe. C.W. Stoneking, is the self proclaimed ‘King of Hokum’ and with that title comes a bit of myth making. There no harm in that of course, however, what if lines between fake and real fade? For in Stoneking’s music this was always the case and it gets a new chapter with the recently released Gon’ Boogaloo. Continue reading
[Live Review] Le Guess Who? 2014, Various Locations Utrecht
If you leave out the May Day editions, tonight its the eighth time Le Guess Who? will kick off in Utrecht (NL) again. The festival always offers a mixture of unknown and renowned indie acts during the last weeks of November and this year there is no exception on that. Personally, I’m always looking forward to Le Guess Who? because it brings a bunch of interesting artists to my doorstep. Luckily the festival organizers can’t complain about the attention from the Dutch media they’re getting these days and Sounds from the Darkside can’t be left behind on that, so during the coming days we will keep you posted about the festival’s proceedings.
Iceage – Plowing Into the Field of Love
The future belongs to the young. Especially if you’re able to keep together a bunch of friends who happen to have the same hobby of making music. Many great and famous bands we know to today saw the day of light in the early formative years of its members. Though they’re not famous in the way Pink Floyd is, Iceage is a band who are deemed by some to reach great heights. A month ago, ‘the saviors of punk music’ released their third full album on the prestigious Matador label. And just for a tease: the boys have been growing up very fast. Continue reading
Amen Dunes – Love
What would you do if you were a singer-songwriter and your first album under your own name was marked by the media as one of the worst album’s of the year? Well, I know what I would do: I would flee my home town and get a job as a carpenter somewhere far away and maybe, just maybe I’d go back after while, hoping everyone forgot about my failure. I sure as hell wouldn’t dare the pick up my guitar in the years following. But hey, that’s me and my story is fictional. Continue reading
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard – Oddments
Yikes! Here in the Northern Hemisphere the golden days of this years summer are long gone and are slowly replaced by harsh and cold weather conditions. Sudden outbreaks of heavy showers, strong winds and dying trees await us. Therefore, autumn isn’t exactly the best time for most people to be happy about. However, maybe some music from the now warming South could distract our minds from the darkening skies. Hmm, Australia’s ‘60s psych pop rock outfit King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard might just be your imaginative way out of the dull autumn days to come.
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[Live Review] Angel Olsen, EKKO Utrecht
What do Stockholm, Paris, Los Angeles, Glasgow and Utrecht have in common? Well, all cities were recently visited by the graceful singer-songwriter Angel Olsen. Olsen released her sophomore LP, Burn Your Fire For No Witness, this February and has been on tour ever since, playing night, after night, after night. The EKKO stage in Utrecht (The Netherlands) was the next in line for Olsen. And since the album made it to our ‘not to be missed in 2014’ section, a visit to this gig just couldn’t be resisted.
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Avey Tare’s Slasher Flicks – Enter the Slasher House
If you’re into close encounters of the blurred kind musically you’ll find a safe haven within genre of experimental psychedelics. In the past twenty years or so this scene is mostly dominated by bands such as The Flaming Lips, Of Montreal, Dirty Projectors, Animal Collective and their innumerable side projects. Indeed, being a busy bee is pretty much the standard in this scene. Same goes for Animal Collective frontman David Portner (also known as Avey Tare) who announced a new outfit last year surrounding his own persona called Avey Tare’s Slasher Flicks. This year the band debuted with Enter the Slasher House. Continue reading
Peter Matthew Bauer – Liberation!
Maybe it would be best to call it quits. However, why should we? Especially after being together for such a long time. Indie rock band The Walkmen experienced a conflict like this first hand a year ago and decided a split would cause a lot of unnecessary hubbub, so an ‘extreme hiatus’ seemed a better plan. A creative gap seemed unavoidable, leaving fans empty handed. Continue reading
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