I had to physically restrain myself a couple of weeks back, and by that I’m not talking about all those leather items your Uncle keeps in his closet. I’d had the album on pre-release and while this usually isn’t a problem, this time around the band involved had the sheer insensitivity to give a free stream away over a week before the release. Shocking! Every day my fingers were itching to type in the web address to hear the fresh tunes but managed to hold off, as that would dilute one of my favourite things about new music. There is …
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So I’ve just got back from a trip to Canada, in which I experienced a world similar to the UK, but bigger in many ways. Many of them food related. I’m talking about gigantic waffles covered in maple syrup and a “small” burger that was about the size of my wall clock. I helped a drowning raccoon out of a bin full of water only to be reprimanded for interfering with a pest and so then had to hear it’s plaintive cries as it sat on the step outside waiting for the “vet” to arrive. I’m fairly certain the “vet” …
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I’m going to start this review with a disclaimer: Results May Vary. This album will not be for everybody, a fact probably made obvious when you take into account the fact the band used balloons, dripping water, foil and small metal figures as instruments. This isn’t as pretentious as it sounds, or as encapsulating a set of restrictions as Hecate and Venetian Snare’s Nymphomatriarch – an album created solely from sounds generated by the two of them bumping uglies and as the booklet charmingly puts “inserting microphones.” Heading backwards through the news on their website (www.liarsliarsliars.com) to March and earlier …
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How do you market an album of slow, atmospheric tracks to a world hopped up on the internet with an ADD infected finger-trigger? You produce a video with Shia LeBeouf’s wang. This might be an illustrious introduction to Sigur Rós for some people, but chances are you’ve already heard them without knowing it. Vanilla Sky utilised Svefn-g-englar  to help wring emotion from a rock Tom Cruise. Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic somehow managed to add more whimsy by getting underwater puppets to dance to Staralfur. The BBC (and presumably every other channel offering nature documentaries) used Hoppipolla whenever they could, pairing it …
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