What You Need
Tags: Jagjaguwar
Sharon Van Etten: Tramp
Posted on 31 January 2012 by Bowlegs
Sharon Van Etten has risen to the challenge on her new record, Tramp. Produced by The National’s Aaron Dessner and featuring an array of indie royalty (The Walkman’s Matt Berrick, Beirut’s Zach Condon and Julianna Barwick for instance), this is...Read More »
Tags: Arbutus Records
Paula: Relaxed Fit
Posted on 23 January 2012 by Bowlegs
It’s as if Paula stepped into the most attractive car ever put into production and drove it inch perfectly right up my street. As it did, on its car stereo Relaxed Fit played.
Waverly got me immediately interested but I was...Read More »
Tags: Shape
Islet: Illuminated People
Posted on 09 January 2012 by Bowlegs
We know only one value, and that is more. Further, faster, heavier than last time. More value, more profit, inexorably gunning the engine to the limit. And so the engine burns out, and we are thrown into the rough. From...Read More »
Tags: Bella Union
Laura Veirs – Tumble Bee
Posted on 29 November 2011 by Bowlegs
Is there a formula for making great children’s songs? It’s got to be catchy for starters, right? Perhaps throw in some repetitive lyrics – maybe some nonsensical ones too. Whatever the right ingredients may be, Laura Viers seems to have...Read More »
Tags: Noble & Brite Ltd
Kate Bush – 50 Words for Snow
Posted on 24 November 2011 by Bowlegs
Often imitated, but never equalled, the inimitable Ms Bush – once voted one of the country’s greatest ever Britons – has recently been decrying the demise of the album as an art form, believing it to be on the endangered...Read More »
Tags: Stones Throw
Jonti – Twirligig
Posted on 23 November 2011 by Bowlegs
This partly ridiculous and greatly pleasing release from Jonti has us perplexed. How is it that Twirligig sounds refreshingly simple, lush, serene, yet simultaneously as mad as a box of frogs?
Something between the arrangement of these tracks and the choice...Read More »
Tags: Downtown
White Denim – Last Days of Summer
Posted on 22 November 2011 by Bowlegs
You may have read White Denim’s frontman, James Petralli, refer to their latest record, D, as their fourth album. That’s because he considers Last Days of Summer, a freely downloadable set released last year, as album number three – and...Read More »
Tags: Drag City
200 Years – 200 Years
Posted on 18 November 2011 by Bowlegs
So, Ben Chasny, of Comets on Fire and Six Organs of Admittance, has teamed up with Magik Markers’ Elisa Ambrogio. Given the corrosive tendencies of their other bands (this is strictly not a side-project from anything else), you might be...Read More »
Tags: Chapter Music, Underwater Peoples
Twerps – Twerps
Posted on 07 November 2011 by Bowlegs
Melbourne band Twerps did release an EP back in 2009, but it’s nothing compared to this, their debut album. Jumping past the band’s clear love for Flying Nun records (check The Clean for instance), the group have a knack for...Read More »
Tags: Moshi Moshi
Summer Camp – Welcome to Condale
Posted on 04 November 2011 by Bowlegs
There’s a scene from the mid 90s TV show My So-Called Life (which followed the emotional turbulence of teenagers at Liberty High School) where two of the main characters share a moment in the school corridor in front of their...Read More »
Tags: 4ad
Atlas Sound – Parallax
Posted on 03 November 2011 by Bowlegs
Bradford Cox is back in Atlas Sound mode – his intimate vocal, the whispered dreams and the effortless stream of hazy pop. And once again it doesn’t disappoint, in fact it’s got some of his finest Atlas material to date.
There’s...Read More »
Tags: 4ad
Joker – The Vision
Posted on 01 November 2011 by Bowlegs
After riding the wave of deserved hysteria created by single and EP releases on his own label, Bristolian dubstep prince Joker has finally dropped his full-length debut, The Vision, on 4AD – and it thankfully lives up to the considerable...Read More »
Tags: naive
M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
Posted on 18 October 2011 by Bowlegs
M83’s Anthony Gonzalez sees everything in widescreen – life is a cinematic experience, and love and melancholy are just part of the script. Thankfully the French musician also has a knack for transferring his unique vision in an audio format....Read More »
Tags: Domino
Real Estate – Days
Posted on 17 October 2011 by Bowlegs
Like the weekend of unseasonable heat during which Real Estate’s sophomore effort landed on Bowlegs’ desk, Days prolongs summer’s imprint on the consciousness for longer than it should – and it does so with some style.
The New Jerseyans’ sound ensures...Read More »
Tags: Asthmatic Kitty
My Brightest Diamond – All Things Will Unwind
Posted on 14 October 2011 by Bowlegs
This is Shara Worden’s third LP as My Brightest Diamond. It’s a presentation of high camp, and a restrained boldness of vision that is far removed from the mainstream. There are a couple of areas that might turn people off....Read More »
Tags: Nonesuch, One Little Indian
Björk – Biophilia
Posted on 10 October 2011 by Bowlegs
It’s all very well getting iPhone apps, specially created instruments (the Gameleste – a Gamelan and Celeste together as one) and impressive videos in line for your new record, but there is the small matter of the music.
With the elongated,...Read More »
Tags: Trouble in Mind Records
Mikal Cronin – Mikal Cronin
Posted on 05 October 2011 by Bowlegs
Cronin’s only come in and challenged Ty Segall to the garage, pop/rock crown – and right now Bowlegs is backing him all the way. Oh wait a minute – Ty is producing this, and they’re good friends – scrub that...Read More »
Tags: Warp Records
Plaid – Scintilli
Posted on 28 September 2011 by Bowlegs
‘Scintilli’ is Plaid’s first standalone album since 2003’s ’Spokes’, and it follows on so neatly that one could overlook just how busy Ed Handley and Andy Turner have been in the intervening years. The duo’s diverse soundtrack, audio-visual and musical...Read More »
Tags: Sub Pop
Dum Dum Girls – Only in Dreams
Posted on 26 September 2011 by Bowlegs
Dee Dee Dum Dum (AKA Kirsten Gundred) and her band-mates were already firm favourites of ours when this, their second long-player, landed on the reviews desk at Bowlegs’ headquarters – so the Californian quartet were going to have to work...Read More »
Tags: Fat Possum, Lefse
Youth Lagoon – The Year of Hibernation
Posted on 21 September 2011 by Bowlegs
Youth Lagoon’s Trevor Powers has crafted one hell of a debut in ‘The Year of Hibernation’. He finds new depths within the saturated genre of hazy pop by way of looping melodies, swirling synths, drum machines, glistening guitar riffs and...Read More »
Tags: Merge
Wild Flag – Wild Flag
Posted on 15 September 2011 by Bowlegs
Wild Flag pulls in members of The Minders, Sleater-Kinney and Quasi, Autoclave and Helium, and with pedigree like that you can guess what you’re going to be in for. Press play on their eponymous debut and you’re thrown straight into...Read More »
Tags: MOM & POP MUSIC, Transgressive
Neon Indian – Era Extraña
Posted on 14 September 2011 by Bowlegs
Neon Indian’s debut, ‘Physic Chasms’, seemed to be the definite Chillwave record, consistently name-checked when discussing the hazy genre. But where Memory Tapes and Washed Out (fellow contemporary chillwavers) attempted to clean up their sound on release number two (and...Read More »
St Vincent – Strange Mercy
Posted on 09 September 2011 by Bowlegs
Album three for Annie Clark, ‘Strange Mercy’, isn’t a step back from the highly acclaimed ‘Actor’, but neither is it really a step forwards. While touched with more than a few moments of her particular brand of genius – Clark’s...Read More »
Tags: True Panther
Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost
Posted on 08 September 2011 by Bowlegs
Girls sophomore effort is a band finding new spaces within their existing sound. So while the guitars still run between some retro-styled bubblegum pop and 60s balladry, they also lounge, layabout and find new ground.
Of course the songs themselves create...Read More »
Tags: Underwater Peoples
Speculator – Nice
Posted on 29 August 2011 by Bowlegs
Speculator is not “some dick in a basement”, according to record label Underwater Peoples, who release his second album ‘Nice’. We’ll give him the benefit of the doubt, but only because he’s released an intriguing album of cut and paste...Read More »
Tags: Domino, Matador
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks – Mirror Traffic
Posted on 22 August 2011 by Bowlegs
Two of the 90s alt giants have come together for ‘Mirror Traffic’. Out front is Malkmus, continuing his bent-out-of-shape compositions with The Jicks; and out back is Beck, in the control room contributing his soft-focus styled production. Between them they...Read More »
Tags: Vagrant
Active Child – You Are All I See
Posted on 19 August 2011 by Bowlegs
A glacial form of electronic R&B was the initial response from Bowlegs on hearing moments from Active Child’s spiritually cleansing debut. Sharing the mic with How To Dress Well’s Tom Krull on the excellent ‘Playing House’ probably assisted on the...Read More »
Tags: Secretly Canadian
The War on Drugs – Slave Ambient
Posted on 15 August 2011 by Bowlegs
The War on Drugs songwriter and front-man Adam Granduciel has some talented friends in his address book – not least former band member Kurt Vile. But it’s a testament to Granduciel’s own formidable ability he can call-up some of Philadelphia’s...Read More »
Tags: Hardly Art
Gold Leaves – The Ornament
Posted on 15 August 2011 by Bowlegs
Grant Olsen, who you may know as one half of Arthur & Yu, has branched out on his own to craft a collection of songs that will touch hearts with its tenderness and warmth – ‘The Ornament’.
However, it was no...Read More »
Tags: Pompeii
Beirut – The Rip Tide
Posted on 11 August 2011 by Bowlegs
Beirut’s third full album finds Zach Condon and company pulling back from the globe-trotting dalliances of their earlier efforts, in favour of a lush summation of their musical expeditions to date. From its simple titles to its clear melodies, ‘The...Read More »
Tags: Domino
Blood Orange – Coastal Grooves
Posted on 08 August 2011 by Bowlegs
Devonte Hynes is nothing if not prolific. Having caused a right old racket with indie-rockers Test Icicles, the American-born, British-raised, artist morphed into the alt-folky Lightspeed Champion. Not content with the cult appeal of both acts, the 25-year-old ditched the...Read More »
Tags: Hometapes
Collections of Colonies of Bees – Giving
Posted on 25 July 2011 by Bowlegs
Post rock is almost more of a kitemark than a genre; if a band is described as post rock you can always bet they’re doing something interesting. Collections of Colonies of Bees are definitely post rock and have earned the sort...Read More »
Tags: Merge
Eleanor Friedberger – Last Summer
Posted on 12 July 2011 by Bowlegs
Eleanor Friedberger goes it alone, leaving the Fiery Furnaces – just for a moment – letting her voice kick it with tracks that stay on a singular course. It’s an album of pop-warming, acoustic and synth-fuelled sunshine, yet opts for...Read More »
Tags: 4ad
Zomby – Dedication
Posted on 11 July 2011 by Bowlegs
Word is that much of Zomby’s ‘Dedication’ was made after his father had died, which certainly explains the title, and probably parts of the record’s inward looking stance. These tracks are sparse, their insides are there for all to see...Read More »
Tags: LYF Recordings
WU LYF – Go Tell Fire To The Mountain
Posted on 01 July 2011 by Bowlegs
We might expect a certain amount of mystery from a dubstep posse, or a dance collective – but we don’t get many guitar bands turning from the limelight. WU LYF are not just another guitar band however – and their...Read More »
Tags: Sub Pop
Shabazz Palaces – Black Up
Posted on 29 June 2011 by Bowlegs
Sub Pop have signed their first hip hop act in Shabazz Palaces. And we have to ask: is this what they call beginner’s luck?
Fronted, backed and delivered by Palaceer Lazaro, also known as Ishmael ‘Butterfly’ Butler (from the lovable Digable...Read More »
Tags: Fat Possum, True Panther
Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Unknown Mortal Orchestra
Posted on 28 June 2011 by Bowlegs
Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s debut album is gorgeous mid summer surprise. So expressive, so articulate in its joyful explosion of energy, it confirms to us that how it’s made doesn’t matter at all when tunes are this good. Technique is the...Read More »
Tags: Warp Records
Brian Eno – Drums Between the Bells
Posted on 24 June 2011 by Bowlegs
During the 1980s there was a space where contemporary art and music could overlap: where the borders sometimes hardly existed. Wim Wenders, Derek Jarman, Peter Greenaway, Throbbing Gristle, Arthur Russell, Laurie Anderson proudly displayed their critical and art-house credentials. The...Read More »
Tags: Weird Records
Kindest Lines – Covered in Dust
Posted on 22 June 2011 by Bowlegs
Listening to Kindest Lines’ ‘Covered in Dust’ is listening to mysterious indie pop in its prime. The moody hazy 80s vibe never fades, with upfront synths and melodic guitar riffs from the start.
All the tracks are cohesive in their obscure,...Read More »
Tags: 4ad, Jagjaguwar
Bon Iver – Bon Iver
Posted on 20 June 2011 by Bowlegs
Justin Vernon – the man behind Bon Iver – has the incredible knack of extracting mothering instincts from music journalists. When the release of his new album, ‘Bon Iver’, was announced, there was much hand-wringing and concerned sideways head tilts...Read More »
Tags: Sub Pop
Chad Vangaalen – Diaper Island
Posted on 14 June 2011 by Bowlegs
For someone with such an impressive back-catalogue, as musician and producer (Chad produced both the Women records), Chad Vangaalen remains relatively low-key. He also happens to be an impressive illustrator and animator, designing, animating and creating his own artwork and...Read More »
Tags: Western Vinyl
Secret Cities – Strange Hearts
Posted on 09 June 2011 by Bowlegs
Strange Hearts is possibly Secret Cities’ ‘Pet Sounds’. It somehow evokes what has passed, like a realisation that you can never return, and it will leave you overwhelmed by peacefulness. Gather in your mind some nostalgic pre-teen TV themes. How...Read More »
Tags: Woodsist
Woods – Sun & Shade
Posted on 07 June 2011 by Bowlegs
Woods appreciate a good melody, and luckily they also know how to write one – or twelve in the case of ‘Sun and Shade’. This is probably the band’s best yet, and probably their most consistent (which after their last...Read More »
Tags: Republic of Music
Bachelorette – Bachelorette
Posted on 01 June 2011 by Bowlegs
Imagine a love-letter from an android to a human, drawing as much on glam and folk as it does on retro-futurism, and where vaulting self-harmonised vocals carry implicit and explicit threats. This is ‘Bachelorette’, and although it’s ridiculously high-concept it’s...Read More »
Tags: Team Love Records
The Berg Sans Nipple – Build With Erosion
Posted on 30 May 2011 by Bowlegs
What, or who is this? Bowlegs questioned as we skidded off the road, fumbling with our iPod, hands frozen from the morning bike ride. Nipple who? What kind of name is that for a band? Who is this guy, Berg,...Read More »
Tags: Columbia, In the Name of
Cults – Cults
Posted on 26 May 2011 by Bowlegs
Having been showered unanimously with love and praise by every music blog/site/magazine on the web – all of whom based their affections on the basis of the band’s one and only single (until the recent run of new tracks) –...Read More »
Tags: Downtown, V2
White Denim – D
Posted on 20 May 2011 by Bowlegs
Sometimes Bowlegs just has to cut to the chase and begin with the important stuff. In this case, it’s simple. You need White Denim’s latest long player, the laconically titled ‘D’. It rocks. Just buy it. It’s as simple as...Read More »
Tags: FrenchKiss, Transgressive
The Antlers – Burst Apart
Posted on 19 May 2011 by Bowlegs
The Antlers have built this record from raw emotion, solemn thoughts and seamless melody – working with rhythms, guitars and electronics – levitated with the faultless vocal from Pete Silberman. Their previous record, ‘Hospice’, hinted at the pain, and now...Read More »
Tags: 4ad
Gang Gang Dance – Eye Contact
Posted on 10 May 2011 by Bowlegs
The slow, uncurling body of opening track ‘Glass Jar’ sets out the parameters for the New York band’s fifth record. It lasts over eleven minutes – becoming a fusion of dance and improv jazz aesthetics – where the percussion and...Read More »
Tags: City Slang
Love Inks – E.S.P
Posted on 09 May 2011 by Bowlegs
There are some debut albums that you’ll either love or hate based just on the press release. Love Inks are a minimalist three-piece from Austin, Texas. The vocals lie over a guitar, a bass, beats from an old drum machine and the...Read More »
Tags: Full Time Hobby
The Leisure Society – Into the Murky Water
Posted on 02 May 2011 by Bowlegs
Sometimes, as even Bowlegs knows, getting let go can be the best thing, really. For your bosses, for you, for everyone. The Leisure Society’s Nick Hemming might have feared the worst, though, recently. As provider of the scores to Shane...Read More »
Tags: We Are Paper Tiger
Rubik – Solar
Posted on 29 April 2011 by Bowlegs
It’s getting a bit wearisome now; band after band releasing a collision of indie pop and synth fuelled electro records. But that only makes Rubik’s new album, ‘Solar’, all the more miraculous for achieving such an innovative sound from a...Read More »
Tags: Warp
Prefuse 73 – The Only She Chapters
Posted on 27 April 2011 by Bowlegs
This record is a departure for Prefuse 73, aka Guillermo Scott Herren. The overtly feminine theme, from the voices to the artwork, creates a more poetic, or even spiritual feel to the 18 track set. Herren concurs: “This record is...Read More »
Tags: Merge, Polydor
Times New Viking – Dancer Equired
Posted on 26 April 2011 by Bowlegs
Sometimes you just know you’re going to be spending a fair amount of time with an album. One listen and a relationship forms: you, me, the summer and more. Such is the case with Times New Viking’s latest effort, ‘Dancer...Read More »
Tags: Kill Rock Stars
Thao & Mirah – Thao & Mirah
Posted on 25 April 2011 by Bowlegs
This release is a merging of two unique song-writers, Thao of Thao with the Get Down Stay Dow’ joins forces with solo artist Mirah. This alone would be enough to grab our attention, but when we heard that Merill Garbus...Read More »
Tags: 4ad
tUnE-yArDs – Whokill
Posted on 18 April 2011 by Bowlegs
Merill Garbus has only gone and taken all the originality, invention and energy from ‘BiRd BrAInS’, her 2009 debut, cleaned it up, multiplied it by several hundred and released it as one of the albums of 2011. What can Bowlegs...Read More »
Tags: Fat Cat
Mazes – A Thousand Heys
Posted on 15 April 2011 by Bowlegs
Everywhere Bowlegs looks, it seems to be 1992. And a very American 1992 at that. J Mascis is back, on Sub Pop records, and even REM seem to be trying to return to their earlier sound. British bands have not...Read More »
Tags: Paw Tracks
Panda Bear – Tomboy
Posted on 08 April 2011 by Bowlegs
Having heard the run of 7” singles from Panda Bear’s ‘Tomboy’, Bowlegs was quietly confident that Noah Lennox was not going to disappoint us on his fourth solo effort. And true enough he hasn’t. In fact he has taken our...Read More »
Tags: Matador
Cold Cave – Cherish the Light Years
Posted on 03 April 2011 by Bowlegs
Strictly speaking Cold Cave is the solo project of singer/songwriter Wesley Eisold. But the New York electro popper has never been one to shy away from collaboration. Among the cast pitching in on ‘Cherish The Light Years’ are Yeah Yeah...Read More »
Tags: Phantasy Sound
Connan Mockasin – Forever Dolphin Love
Posted on 28 March 2011 by Bowlegs
Forgive us: we’re trying to hold this together. When we were given ‘Forever Dolphin Love’, the third collection (or re-titled debut?) of songs from New Zealand’s Connan Mockasin, we we’re expecting something a little more conventional. But as we played...Read More »
Tags: Empty Cellar
The Sandwitches – Mrs. Jones’ Cookies
Posted on 25 March 2011 by Bowlegs
It is more than worth your while tracking down The Sandwitches’ debut ‘How to Make Ambient Sadcake’ – but before you do you might want to dig in to album number two and all its dreamy garage-infused beauty.
The all girl...Read More »
Tags: Almost Gold, Cooking Vinyl
Peter Bjorn and John – Gimme Some
Posted on 23 March 2011 by Bowlegs
Whistle Peter Bjorn and John’s 2006 hit ‘Young Ones’ to someone and they will most likely want to buy a tin of emulsion. Despite that song (and subsequent album) bringing them wider attention they have a pair of albums either...Read More »
Tags: Asthmatic Kitty
Julianna Barwick – The Magic Place
Posted on 11 March 2011 by Bowlegs
The church hymns Julianna Barwick grew up singing have had a profound effect on the artist, and in turn they may well have a profound effect on you.
The Brooklyn based musician has built on the promising ‘Florine’ EP, and her...Read More »
Tags: Matador Records
Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring for my Halo
Posted on 06 March 2011 by Bowlegs
How is it that Kurt Vile can make it all look so simple? Coming across as some kind of slacker, grasping some beaten up old acoustic, slurring the words and making it up as he goes along. Truth is Vile...Read More »
Tags: Sub Pop
Papercuts – Fading Parade
Posted on 01 March 2011 by Bowlegs
Four albums in and Papercuts have found a new home in Sub Pop. And you can safely file this one under dream pop, as reverb-heavy guitars jangle alongside woozy tambourines. Spread smoothly over all of this is Jason Robert Quever’s...Read More »
Tags: Atlantic
Lykke Li – Wounded Rhymes
Posted on 25 February 2011 by Bowlegs
There are stripped emotions, tribal rhythms and mixed themes caged within Lykke Li’s second album. The Swedish singer has grown considerably – if her likeable debut alluded to love and other such things, then ‘Wounded Rhymes’ is told through experience,...Read More »
Tags: Dead Oceans
Akron/Family – Akron/Family II: the Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT
Posted on 23 February 2011 by Bowlegs
Akron/Family’s latest album also happens to be their finest yet. And while the title may not make much sense, certain words do. For one it’s cosmic and two it is a journey – of sorts. Such attributes are what divide...Read More »
Tags: Mercury Records
Yuck – Yuck
Posted on 22 February 2011 by Bowlegs
Five years ago a band called Cajun Dance Party appeared, made an interesting album between their GCSE’s and A Levels, then faded away. Now, guitarists and vocalists Max Bloom and Daniel Blumberg are back, in the guise of Yuck. And it...Read More »
Tags: Dead Oceans
The Luyas – Too Beautiful to Work
Posted on 21 February 2011 by Bowlegs
The Luyas, a Canadian four-piece (assisted by Owen Pallett and Arcade Fire’s Sarah Neufeld), have just about surpassed most of what we have heard this year. Bowlegs is not taking this lightly – we don’t just open the over-eight trophy...Read More »
PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
Posted on 10 February 2011 by Bowlegs
PJ Harvey’s words weigh heavily with England’s violent, war-torn past and present on ‘Let England Shake’ – like a vague history lesson with plenty of emotion and strummed guitars.
The Gallipoli campaign’s bloody climax becomes musical poetry within ‘All and Everyone’:...Read More »
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