From the very first bars of Fantasy Black Channel, the youthful vigor of Britain’s Late Of The Pier is obvious. Bursting through the quartet’s debut full-length is a firm understanding of what made the hits of the ’80s so much fun—think Gary Numan and Soft Cell. This is witnessed in the amalgamation of high-energy styles Read more...

(New York, NY – Jan. 12th, 2009) – Norwegian duo Röyksopp, Svein Berge and Torbjørn Brundtland have announced the release of their 3rd studio album, Junior, set for release by Astralwerks Records on March 24th, 2009.  Junior follows the band’s 2001 platinum break-through Melody A.M and 2005’s The Understanding.
As always, Berge and Brundtland wrote, performed, Read more...

”Talisman”

Genre: downtempo, lounge, hipster elevator music.
Sounds like: modern musicians blending traditional orchestration with electronica.
Bottom line: Tempted to say a majority of these instrumentals resemble background music to ’80s porn flicks. However, Air deserves much more credit here on their ten-year anniversary classic, honored with a bonus disc and DVD.

On Diamond Hoo Ha, Supergrass has done what is possibly a first for a British band: it has shifted its sound from British rock of the ’60s to mimicking American rock of the ’70s. The title track sets the tone for the big-bottomed, large stage sound that is the driving force for the record. The Read more...

Following a successful springtime swing through North America that hit both coasts, Canada and the Coachella Festival, Astralwerks singer-songwriter Yelle will return to the US with her three-man stage show for a series of club dates in October.
“Ce jeu”

Organized chaos? Melbourne, Australia’s Midnight Juggernauts got it. That’s not readily noticeable from their arpeggio-flowing sequencers, lithe harmonies and grandly sawing string sounds. There’s nothing but clarity in the instrumentation and deep voices that fill the space-whirring Dr. Who-dance of “Into the Galaxy” and the sparkles that fill Dystopia.
“Into the Galaxy”