Reviews Category

Or we can fire up the program / let the drones do all the dirt It’s simply one of those undisputed truths: Kevin Devine was always at his best when he was angry. Angry at the government, at some ex-girlfriend, at himself or at the society as a whole. Bearing this in mind, it is pretty good news that one out of his two new albums, „Bubblegum“, totally lives up to KD’s anger standards.Read More

I’m sorry that I’m so scared Wonderful things can happen when you are young. You fall in love for the first time. You get drunk for the first time. You are able to spend all your free time not worrying about what will be. You are allowed to live in the here and now. Do you remember spending those summer nights out in the open with your friends, mulling about that girl you were into back then? Do you remember the plans you’ve made for your future? Do you rememberRead More

Dies ist kein Abschied, denn ich war nie willkommen This is not a goodbye, because I was never welcome It is quite amazing how a German rapper – once spitting rhymes against everyone and everything managed to transform into the smallest common dividend of teenage girls, hipster boys, indie lovers and rap enthusiasts. This guy is called Casper and released his second album „XOXO“ about two years ago. He showed his musical taste with sampling Explosions in the Sky and playing live with a real band – instead of theRead More

And I’ll never look up, just hold your head up And if it gets rough, it’s time to get rough It was never in question what this record would sound like. After you had heard the first two singles of the album, both released way in advance of the album, it was clear for everyone to see that it would sound like it had arrived 30 years too late. But fuck me, I did not expect the full out pastiche colored, Miami-Vice suits, Magnum moustache, fake zebra carpet styled audioRead More

Die Leute die hier wohnen sind wahrscheinlich nicht mehr wach. Oder bin ich alleine? Stören würde es mich nicht. The people who are living here are probably not awake anymore. Or am I alone? I wouldn’t mind. It’s funny, when all of a sudden you rediscover music that you’ve cherished a lot for a while. It is also strange when you realise that you don’t have a clue why you abandoned that music in the first place. I mean, we all go through phases. There’s the time when you getRead More

Don’t slow down Who has it all? Act happy It’s monday morning, there’s a long weekend behind you with too many cigarettes, too much to drink and the fast food to cure the hangover that you immediately regret, once you’ve finished it up. Mondays are usually grey. They call for a lie in. They cry out holiday more than any other day of the week (except for friday). So if we say there’s a soundtrack for every minute or situation in life, what would the soundtrack of a monday be?Read More

You’re as cold as the drink in your hand now So when something like Knots happens, I tend to sit on my couch, lean back and think. I think about moments passed, about what will be, what won’t be and what could be. My eyes wander around my flat. I see my vinyl collection, I see my guitar and that itch in my fingers. I stare through the window. Is it raining? Is it sunny outside? I light a cigarette, maybe grab a cold beer from the fridge, open it,Read More

for the more of us that lift our voices in a song the sweeter life will be Hardcore has always been a thing of unity for me. On saturday I was getting my weekly fix of FIFA with some friends and we were talking about the usual topics: football, sex, work and music. Usually it’s all chitchat, mainly to distract one of your fellow opponents from the game you’re playing. But while that hasn’t worked in a long time, there was one point in this conversation that we started toRead More

The first time I came across the music of Yesterday Shop was in a video trailer about this years ‚Immergut Festival‘ (see below). The guitar hook towards the end of the song Fat Man, Little Boy is beautiful and very much sums up the music. All the songs are so dreamy, without drifting to this introverted self-loathing of Beach House. They just carry the right amount of melodies, twinkly guitars, dragging rhythms and mellow vocals that all you want to do is hang out in the afternoon sun, sit inRead More

A couple of weeks ago, I spent a few hours on the plane, then in a car, then I arrived in a small village. The last kilometers getting off the Autobahn and driving along narrow, winding roads. No hill to be seen, the countryside flat as a pancake. Scattered farm houses made of red bricks, herds of sheep and cattle and the odd tree. Even cars seemed to be a curiosity out here. It’s funny to think that on that night, i witnessed one of the best gigs of theRead More