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.
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Albums
Austra – Feel It Break
With a tense phantom-like clasp, Katie Stelmanis’ icy vocals disarm the listener, seeping under one’s skin like anaesthetic. Her operatic procliv... Read more »| 02 May 2011 -
Albums
James Pants - James Pants
James Pants' latest album was recorded in his parents' basement— his parents being two Presbyterian ministers— a fact which is both at home and a... Read more »| 02 May 2011 -
Albums
Cymbals – Unlearn
Cymbals are a strange proposition; their debut is at first listen a disjointed, punk-funk jamming session; sprawling, incoherent and angular. To be crude &nd... Read more »| 02 May 2011 -
Albums
Miles Kane – Colour of the Trap
Liverpool lad Miles Kane doesn’t just know how to make friends and influence people –he knows how to get them to appear on his record and all. Th... Read more »| 02 May 2011 -
Singles
Various Artists – OIB Split Series Volume 4
Calories open this split with its most immediately accessible offering, three minutes of rousing rock with hooks-aplenty, an aesthetic continued by Tubelord&... Read more »| 02 May 2011 -
Albums
This Will Destroy You – Tunnel Blanket
Technological innovation continues, inexorably, to undermine the magic of musical discovery. Since we learned that time-stretching can render even Justin Bie... Read more »| 29 Apr 2011
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Ep
Steve Adey – These Resurrections EP
With only the scarcest of offerings since his 2006 debut album All Things Real, 2011 looks to be a positively prolific year for Edinburgh-based Steve Adey, a... Read more »| 29 Apr 2011 -
Albums
Across Tundras – Sage
It's no secret that Neurot is a label that loves to reward hard work and Across Tundras definitely meet the specs, now releasing their fifth studio album (no... Read more »| 28 Apr 2011 -
Albums
Matana Roberts – Coin Coin Chapter One: Gens de Couleur Libres
An avant-jazz concept album performed live, Coin Coin is an uncompromising listen. The intense noodling of opener Rise immediately intimidates, while the sub... Read more »| 28 Apr 2011 -
Albums
Twin Atlantic – Free
Without a doubt, Twin Atlantic’s impact on your life is going to be decided largely on what you think of Sam McTrusty’s occasionally (or often, a... Read more »| 28 Apr 2011 -
Singles
Matt Sweeney and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy – Must Be Blind/Life In Muscle
Picking up where 2005’s Superwolf album and I Gave You EP left off, Must Be Blind sees laconic folk champion Will Oldham reunited with erstwhile bandma... Read more »| 28 Apr 2011 -
Albums
The Dodos – No Color
Now that the sun’s out, a quick blast of psychedelic pop all the way from San Francisco is just what the doctor ordered. And lo and behold, here come t... Read more »| 27 Apr 2011 -
Albums
Gang Gang Dance – Eye Contact
The fifth LP from New York electro/worldbeat outfit Gang Gang Dance sees their sound straying ever-closer into all-out prog excess – no bad thing, in c... Read more »| 27 Apr 2011 -
Albums
Viva Stereo – Endure the Dark to See the Stars
Over ten years, three albums and numerous EPs, Viva Stereo have stacked hard electronics on a foundation of indie-rock, with previous releases kindred with C... Read more »| 27 Apr 2011 -
Albums
Ulver – Wars of the Roses
When February MMX begins to pick up speed, you’re left wondering: have Norway’s former Black Metal exponents Ulver gone pop? It wouldn’t be... Read more »| 27 Apr 2011