Reviews
Album, EP and single reviews from The Skinny. Find reviews of the biggest new releases, as well as new records from up-and-coming new artists from across Scotland, the UK and beyond.
-
Albums...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead – Tao of the Dead
It's to their credit that, some seventeen years into their career, Trail of Dead still court the image of a relatively cutting-edge act. These days the produ... Read more »| 28 Jan 2011 -
AlbumsBear Claw – Refuse This Gift
Two bass guitars, one drum kit and an abundance of bloody good ideas: that about sums up the ingredients behind this Steve Albini-recorded Chicago trio. Grit... Read more »| 28 Jan 2011 -
Albums
Jad Fair – His Name Itself is Music
Jad Fair’s latest is a rambling collection of bewilderingly odd performance poetry, accompanied by intermittent samples and percussion. One set of Dada... Read more »| 27 Jan 2011 -
Albums
Holton’s Opulent Oog – Love in the Mist
The bafflingly-monikered Holton’s Opulent Oog’s penchant for folky psychedelia is allowed loose on record once again, and a thoroughly enjoyable ... Read more »| 27 Jan 2011 -
AlbumsEarth – Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light I
Whilst Earth’s latest may sound like no great departure for those casually familiar with their sound, particularly in the last five years, those who ha... Read more »| 27 Jan 2011 -
AlbumsLa Sera – La Sera
Some bands instigate scenes by inspiring others to emulate them; others simply go forth and multiply. The Vivian Girls seem to be inadvertently following the... Read more »| 27 Jan 2011
-
Singles
Toddska – Cowboy/Gal From England
The fourth release on Toddla T's Girls Music imprint sees him teaming up with DJ Mag's newly crowned Best of British winner for Best Producer, Roska. Straigh... Read more »| 27 Jan 2011 -
Albums
PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
2007’s White Chalk saw PJ Harvey reimagining the Dorset of her childhood against a backdrop of stark, spectral folk. That foundation remains on Let Eng... Read more »| 26 Jan 2011 -
EpIll Blu – Meltdown EP
Ill Blu have come a long way since their take on Shystie’s Pull Up became a UK funky anthem back in 2009. The real talent however was to be found on th... Read more »| 26 Jan 2011 -
Albums
Beans – End It All
Anti-Pop Consortium’s Beans, now happily ensconced on the Anticon roster, bring us his fifth album proper. A departure from the largely self-produced T... Read more »| 25 Jan 2011 -
Albums
Gruff Rhys – Hotel Shampoo
A career of over fifteen years recording music has provided irrefutable evidence of one thing – Gruff Rhys knows his way around a tune, and Hotel Shamp... Read more »| 25 Jan 2011 -
Albums
The Streets – Computers and Blues
The Streets’ Mike Skinner has been on a downer ever since releasing Original Pirate Material in 2002, but then no-one bothered. His melancholic parable... Read more »| 25 Jan 2011 -
Albums
Zoey Van Goey – Propeller Versus Wings
Expanded to a four-piece since debut The Cage Was Unlocked All Along, Zoey Van Goey’s launch Propeller Versus Wings with the atypically serious Mountai... Read more »| 25 Jan 2011 -
Albums
Conquering Animal Sound – Kammerspiel
The sight of woodland shards in the artwork, and the sound of Maschine trickling into life via stuttering bells, syncopated handclaps and double-tracked voca... Read more »| 25 Jan 2011 -
Albums
Tom Tom Club – Genius Of Live
Any discussion of Tom Tom Club is inevitably presaged by acknowledging that the band were essentially a side-project of Talking Heads, having been formed dur... Read more »| 25 Jan 2011