Dutch Uncles – Lazer Guided Melody – Tangents From Listening To Too Many Records

December 19, 2015December 19, 2015

LGM’s Favourite Albums of 2015, #1 – ‘O Shudder’ by Dutch Uncles

I’ve read a great deal about this album. Reviews, opinion pieces, many lukewarm, others drifting away from the complementary altogether. Common inferences that as a proposition, the band have always been a little bit too clever for their own good. Too arthouse; too busy with unconventional time signatures and stalactite posturing to truly resonate with … Continue reading LGM’s Favourite Albums of 2015, #1 – ‘O Shudder’ by Dutch Uncles

December 13, 2015December 13, 2015

Twitter’s Favourite Albums of 2015, The Results

It’s album of the year time. HOORAY! Or BOO! (flavour to taste). Having canvassed your opinion on discs that you lot are rather partial to, well over a hundred were nominated; the point being (I think) that amongst some rather obvious titles, there’s a wash of fascinating LPs that are very much worth exploring. So: … Continue reading Twitter’s Favourite Albums of 2015, The Results

January 26, 2015January 26, 2015

Anatomy of a Track: ‘The Ink’ by Dutch Uncles

There’s something to be said for the quirky. Tracks constructed across odd angles, the counter-intuitive contours a puzzle to unpick. The joy behind a Dutch Uncles record lay in the unexpected. The key changes, the attacks on time signature, an alignment of intricate motif against routine indie-pop trope. Not so much subversion as … Continue reading Anatomy of a Track: ‘The Ink’ by Dutch Uncles

May 3, 2013May 3, 2013

Measuring The Passage Of Time In Fleetwood Mac Covers

Out of office. Off adventuring. Gonna rock down to Electric Avenue – and then I’ll take it higher. Probably not literally; Brixton is a heck of trek from here, but at least I remember the lyrics of the 1982 Eddy Grant hit (as opposed to the trivial stuff – such as my credit card’s pin … Continue reading Measuring The Passage Of Time In Fleetwood Mac Covers

December 17, 2011January 18, 2012

Lazer Guided Melody’s Best Albums Of 2011 (Part Two)

Part One: here. Part three – that’ll be a tomorrow kind of thing (when I’ll bang on at length about a certain record that – quite frankly – if you don’t own you’re not human). Then, after a quick cocktail, we can all go for a lie down (although not together – that would just … Continue reading Lazer Guided Melody’s Best Albums Of 2011 (Part Two)

September 12, 2011September 12, 2011

Songs About Heartbreak, Rejection, Pain, Misery and Loss

What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because … Continue reading Songs About Heartbreak, Rejection, Pain, Misery and Loss