How happy am I? We just go the new Beck album! Well… we got the new Beck album if you’re a European user. And I am a European user, so I’m happy - although it’s a selfish kind of happy.
I’d sort of let Beck fall by the wayside a little. Odelay was the sound of [...]

Twice over the course of the last week I had the opportunity to witness one of my favorite bands, the National, as they transitioned from small clubs to big stages. The group had the unenviable show-opening, 7pm “crack-of-dawn” slot on the REM tour (Modest Mouse was sandwiched in between). Watching the band handily upscale and [...]

The speed at which The Hold Steady can turn around an album is certainly impressive - ‘Stay Positive’ is their third release since 2005 and covers familiar Hold Steady territory - from raucous party chants to introspective meaning-of-it-all cuts. And the really good news? If you’re in the UK you can pick it up at [...]

Earlier this week the musical talents of Agyness Deyn were unleashed upon the world and, outside of the fashion press, no one batted an eyelid. That’s what someone should have told Agyness collaborators the Five O’Clock Heroes: you can bring a model to the recording studio, but you can’t make them listen to her sing.

A few notables today, some of ‘em from old favorites…

As of today, I Was A Cub Scout are no more. The band, consisting of William Bowerman and Todd Marriott, announced the split via their MySpace saying: “We have had countless problems over the past year or so and with yet more occuring, we feel it best to end on what would seem like a [...]

Hang around in the more underground sections of London’s music/art/ whatever scene for long enough and two things are almost guaranteed. Firstly, you’ll know at least one person who played a zombie in ‘Shaun Of The Dead.’ Secondly you’ll know at least one person who is in/ was in/ slept with/ fell out with They [...]

There are a terrifying number of new releases over the last 48 hours. So without further ado:

“I don’t give a damn ’bout my bad reputation!”

We’ve had some really great albums land on the UK side of things over the last few days. Here’s my mix of the good and the ‘interesting’ (yes, I’m looking at you, so-called Russian Madonna.)

A few fantastic titles turned up on the site over the weekend, so I wanted to take a few minutes to point ‘em out. Before I do, though: your day will not be complete until you download tracks 17 & 18 from Life Goes in Circles. I re-discovered these two over the weekend. [...]

The Long Blondes, Couples: Not sure where to begin with this one. I loved the last LB record (as my glowing eMu review attests), but Couples is a pretty radical departure. A collaboration with dance producer Erol Alkan, Couples is a lot more dependent on synthetic rhythms, neon-like synths and twitchy guitars. It’s really not [...]

Everything from gurgling electronic music to buoyant kiddie pop hits the racks at eMusic today — here’s a spin through some of the notable titles!

With this much hitting the site at once, it’s impossible that I won’t miss something. So here we go, deep breath — let’s dive on in.

Ladyhawke is my most recent musical crush – I’ve known and loved her for about a week. After Friday’s disappointing through-a-window-darkly Ladyhawke experience, I was determined to see her properly, even though that meant squishing into the painfully overcrowded Cubana - crutches, gammy ankle and all. Ladyhawke, aka New Zealander Pip Brown, sounds like a [...]

You asked, he answered! This week we’ll be running Dan Bejar’s answers to your questions as our homepage “Ask the Artist” feature. Find out which Dylan records are Bejar’s favorites, learn the true identity of the “wealthy American underground,” and find out which question prompted the response: “Your question makes me think that you’ve [...]

Porkpie hats; eighties cocktail frocks; Winehouse-eyeliner; pastel tights; skinny jeans, obviously; checked shirts, granddad cardigans and Converse, Converse, Converse. Camden’s always been London’s Indie Central, but during the two days of the Camden Crawl the area becomes slightly monocultural – anything goes so long as it’s indie.
In fairness, the modern indie fan prays in a [...]

Time to share my Muxtape. Thursday last week I was DJ-ing at Lovelife, a night put on in Camden’s Lock Tavern by my friend Anna-Marie. I was part of a four-woman DJ team, consisting of Anna-Marie, myself, Marianna and Annabel. Given the similarity of our names we called oursleves Les Annaquites. We were briefed to [...]

The only bad thing about Let’s Wrestle is that they make it impossible to listen to anything else. There’s catchy and then there’s catchy, and somehow these three London boys have invented a whole new CATCHY that scientists worldwide are currently devoting resources to cure. If you think I’m joking you obviously haven’t listened. Yet.
Let’s [...]

Sad songs don’t need to be about romantic love. Glasvegas’ ‘Daddy’s Gone’ squeezes the throat, pricks your eyes and gives a small downwards tug to your heart, but it hymns an absent father rather than a lost girlfriend. This single from the Scottish four-piece arrived on eMusic yesterday and, if you can, you should really [...]