Hello Moon - Only Count the Sunny Hours review

 

Bouncing into our laps come Dublin’s own Hello Moon with their debut album of indie-pop bliss “Only Count the Sunny Hours”. Recorded in Dublin’s own AP Studios & K9 Studios this album is a short, no messing around pop gem - full of jaunty guitars & distant, echoey vocals.

There are plenty of influences heard throughout from The Shins, Morrissey, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah,  even The Cure. “New Day” sounds like a distant cousin of “Boys Don’t Cry”. Mostly though their 80’s sound is like a slightly more upbeat version of The Drums.

Lead single “Vanity” kicks things off with its lively guitar & cracking bass line. The bass lines get better, just try & stop yourself from bopping away to “He Was a Boy”.  Stand-out tracks on “ . . . . Sunny Hours” are the sublime “Sievehead” & the gorgeous, majestic closing track “Awkward Hugs” with the beautiful instrumental “The Calculus Affair” breaking things up nicely.

Sit back & let Hello Moon take you on their jangly jaunt through 80’s pop. You won’t be disappointed.

65/100

Length: 36.02 mins                                                                                                                                                             
Web: myspace.com/hellomoondublin, hellomoonband@gmail.com

Jack White new solo album "Blunderbuss"

Jack White announces brand new solo album "Blunderbuss". Hear new single "Love Interruption" here on Pretty Much Amazing:

http://tinyurl.com/6o4fgoj

Tieranniesaur!

Everyone should listen to this. Poptastic stuff from Dublin's Tieranniesaur!.

http://tinyurl.com/5tf694j

Crosses (or +++ for short) - new EP

Listen to Crosses (+++) - Deftones' Chino Moreno's new side-project. Check out "Prurient" at:

http://tinyurl.com/3frawux

Arctic Monkeys & Richard Hawley

Check out the video for new song "You & I" by Arctic Monkeys featuring Richard Hawley:

http://tinyurl.com/23mkop4

Ladyhawke - "Black, White & Blue"

Ladyhawke is back with her brand new album on 19th March. Listen to her new single "Black, White & Blue" over on pedestrian.tv.

http://tinyurl.com/766uaj6

The Cranberries return with brand new video

Check out the brand new video for The Cranberries new single "Tomorrow" on hotpress.com. This is taken from the fortcoming new album "Roses" which is due for release at the end of February.

http://tinyurl.com/75fty9z

PJ Harvey "Let England Shake" review of High Browse

http://tinyurl.com/7v5v68s

PJ Harvey "Let England Shake" album review

 

Having come a little late to PJ Harvey’s 10^th studio album “Let England Shake” I was quite surprised at how good it was. At first listen I was wondering what all the fuss was about. It certainly lives up to its reputation as being one of the top five albums in the 2011 end of year album polls.

I have to admit though that it took a few listens to really get my teeth into it & really appreciate this extraordinary set of songs all depicting conflict through worn torn experiences. Lead single “The Words that Maketh Murder” has some rather dark in-your-face lyrics “soldiers fell like lumps of meat, blown & shot beyond belief”.

Although the album is full with bleak lyrics of death the music itself is not all gloom & doom. Most of the songs are quite uplifting. “Bitter Branches” is full of bouncy, jangly The Jam like guitar. On “England” Polly Jean sounds like a bizarre concoction of Lykke Li & Bjork. “Written on the Forehead” contains possibly the best use of a sample using Jamaican reggae singer Niney the Observer’s “Blood & Fire” lyrics through the back ground of the song, repeating “let it burn, burn, burn, let it burn, burn burn”.

“Written on the Forehead” & “All or Everyone” are the best tracks here displaying excellent use of the auto harp. Similar to a guitar but sounds somehow old fashioned.

Hats off to PJ Harvey for releasing a rather bold album. A mighty brave effort & one we’re very much thankful for. Stunning stuff. Certainly deserving of one of the top releases in 2011.

8.5/10

Tracklisting:

1.       Let England Shake

2.       The Last Living Rose

3.       The Glorious Land

4.       The Words that Maketh Murder

5.       All & Everyone

6.       On Battleship Hill

7.       England

8.       In the Dark Places

9.       Bitter Branches

10.   Hanging in the Wire

11.   Written on the Forehead

12.   The Colour of the Earth

Smith & Burrows "Funny Looking Angels" album review on High Browse

http://tinyurl.com/7u3u594

Smith & Burrows "Funny Looking Angels" album review

So, finally some new original Christmas songs to warm the cockles of our hearts. These songs are showcased here (mixed with the occasional cover) by Smith & Burrows. They consist of Tom Smith, lead singer with gloom indie rockers Editors and Andy Burrows, ex-drummer with Razorlight and now helping out with We Are Scientists.

This album is a real grower with some really excellent Christmas songs. 'This Ain’t New Jersey' and 'When the Thames Froze' are the album’s best tracks. The latter is probably the best original Christmas song released in the last ten years, certainly better than any of The Killers or Coldplay’s recent attempts. It’s a slow burner, with the piano intro building to the emotional ending. Tom Smith’s vocals are similar to his bands own 'The Weight of the World' from their 2007 album An End Has a Start.

Andy Burrows takes the lead vocals on 'As the Snowflakes Fall' and 'Funny Looking Angels'. His lukewarm vocals sound exactly like Badly Drawn Boy but with added Christmas spirit.

The album is a good mix of old and new with some 1980s covers thrown in to keep you paying attention. Black’s 'Wonderful Life' gets a wind-down by Tom Smith while Yazoo’s 'Only You' sounds more lifted and upbeat with Andy at the helm. Danish singer/songwriter Agnes Obel shares vocals with Tom Smith on a short rendition of 'The Christmas Song'.

This is an album that you could listen to sitting beside a glowing fire, curled up with your blanket with the Christmas tree lights twinkling in the background. Let’s hope that they decide to release a follow-up next year.

80/100