The Return of Mumbles, or why Father John Misty is amazing

Hullo.

In a stunning turn of events, 78sDW returns for a roundup of stuff before we slip back into more regular blogging for the remainder of the year, hopefully with more exclusive to this site content - no promises, mind.

Before that, though, here's that round-up....

In the album reviews section we have:

Marissa Nadler - The Sister
The Mynabirds - Generals
Visions of Trees - Visions of Trees
Guided By Voices - Class Clown Spots A UFO
Blues Control - Valley Tangents
POP ETC - POP ETC  (quite possibly the worst album you'll hear all year)
Sonny and the Sunsets - Longtime Companion
Ikons - Life Rhythm
Mission of Burma - Unsound
Erika Spring - Erika Spring
Serengeti - C.A.R.
Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music
Beat Connection - The Palace Garden
Dignan Porch - Nothing Bad Will Ever Happen

In the interviews, you've missed chats with:

My Heart Belongs to Cecilia Winter
The Legendary Lightness
Metric
Ikons
Dinowalrus
O Children

and one single live review, Bloc Party's first gig in a few years.

Until the next post, I'm going to leave you with some words about my favourite record of the year so far. If you've not heard Father John Misty's Fear Fun then you should rectify that as soon as you can. A record to fall in and out of love to, to drink, laugh and cry along with, it's the sound of Neil Young's On The Beach rewritten by Harry Nilsson, and it's Josh Tillman's crowning achievement thus far. Topping anything he's been a part of as Fleet Foxes or under the J Tillman pseudonym, there aren't enough words to describe the brilliance of this album, so just listen and watch instead:

and if you fancy something a touch louder, here's something from the best guitar record you'll probably hear all year, Japandroids' Celebration Rock:

 or how about some wonderful Julia Holter and her album Ekstasis:

A great big roundup of stuff

Alright. How've you been? Me, I've been grand. Busy, but grand.

There's been a month of radio silence at 78sDW Towers (not so much if you follow me on Twitter) and that's due to paid work overtaking this silly wee folly of mine. Still, I'm back now you lucky people and you can find out what's been happening by reading on....

I've started writing for the mighty fine The 405, doing the usual reviews stuff, and you can read the first fruits of this venture by taking a squizz at my reviews for S.Carey's Hoyas EP and the debut album from Soren Andreasen, Barefoot Memories.


Back over at my first and true love The Line of Best Fit it's been the usual busy time with an email interview with Canadian surf-poppers Hooded Fang first up, closely followed by a cup of tea and a chat with one of my musical heroes and Teenage Fanclub member Gerard Love about his new Lightships project.

Over in the reviews department, I've taken a close look at the mighty fine Glitter by Dead Mellotron, the promising-if-derivative debut from Citizens! titled Here We Are and the beautiful new album from Marissa Nadler, The Sister.


And if that's not enough for you, then coming up are reviews from The Mynabirds, Visions of Trees, Guided By Voices, Blues Control, Sonny and the Sunsets and Mission of Burma.... and interviews with Dinowalrus and O Children.

Phew. See you all real soon.