Thursday 23 April 2009

Observer Music Monthly Pop Reviews


Conor Oberst - Outer South (Merge)
The days when musicians would release several albums a year are mostly over – just not as far as Conor Oberst, aka Bright Eyes, is concerned. Only months after his solo album, he returns with the Mystic Valley Band for more sacrilegious alt-country and the odd acoustic ballad. The band's contributions are low points on this 16-track epic, but Oberst proves as iconoclastic as ever.

The Maccabees - Wall Of Arms (Fiction)
Enjoying the widescreen production that Markus Drav once brought to Arcade Fire and Coldplay, this time round the vocal quiver and inimitable art-pop hooks that distinguished the Maccabees' 2007 debut are offset by darker undercurrents. Wall of Arms is the meticulously evolved sound of a band aiming to bid to breathe life into British indie.

2 comments:

MFM said...

!
I was skimming through the reviews section and saw some spot-on ratings with your name under them!
Shame they didn't let you write more on The Maccabees, it's a pretty big release.

Iman Lababedi said...

The Conor was a real mistake -reminds me of mccartney and "Speed of Sound" where the collective ideal lea to a pretty lousy album. Conor is playing a free concert at Battery Park way downtown july 4th - i might just take my binocoulars out for a walk... good blog, by the way, you're a great writer