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.

Interview : Sweet Lights

Sometimes, it's just a real pleasure to do this sort of thing. The amount of great music I get to listen to, and the great people I get to speak to is really fantastic. To that list I can now add Philadelphia's Sweet Lights.


Formed by Shai Halperin, formerly of The Capitol Years who was also a band member with Kurt Vile in an early lineup of Adam Granduciel's The War On Drugs, this band trade in sweet and melodic soft pop, influenced by The Beatles and Daniel Johnston, and their self-titled new record is a thing of quiet beauty.

I interviewed Shai recently for The Line of Best Fit, and you can read the fruits of that by following this link.

EP Review : Paul Thomas Saunders

Here, this new Blogger's a bit pish isn't it?

Anyway, here we are again. How've you been? I'm returning with a review for The Line of Best Fit of the new EP by young Leeds native Paul Thomas Saunders. Descartes Highlands is the latest EP from him, and it's four lovely tracks of expansive yet brooding music that showcases not only Saunders' great voice but also his band's knack for a thrilling and tear-jerking outtro.

As usual, you can read more by making the jump here!

EP Review : CYMBALS

Hmmm, how unfortunate.

Listen to this:

http://soundcloud.com/cymbals/jane

then listen to this:

http://soundcloud.com/tough-love/cymbals-no-bad-decisions-1

CYMBALS decided to make an album, then an EP, mostly in the style of the second track, and I think that was the wrong decision. Just my opinion, which I express in a bit more detail for The Line of Best Fit.

It's all just a bit....disappointing. I don't think they're a bad band at all, I guess I wanted a bunch of tracks that sounded a bit like 'Jane'. At least it's not Metronomy, eh? Anyway, read on after the jump!

Interview : Thieves Like Us

Surly sods.

That's how, if I was being vindictive, I'd describe Thieves Like Us following my interview with the band for The Line of Best Fit. But I won't do that, simply because the multi-national glam-pop collective make shiny, danceable music with excellent visuals, and I'm easily swayed by such things.

I caught up with them to chat about their new album Bleed Bleed Bleed, their new and glamorous band members, and Fassbinder. To read more, just follow the link.....

Album Review : Bear In Heaven

Bear In Heaven's 2009 album Beast Rest Forth Mouth was so good that I ended up including it in my albums of the year for 2010; a record that melded pop, electro, prog and art-rock together so brilliantly and seamlessly it seemed like a defining statement never to be topped. But the band has persevered, and this time I'm keeping up with what's going down by reviewing new album I Love You, It's Cool for The Line of Best Fit.

Not quite scaling the heights of the last record, it's still a great listen; a layered and textured piece that bears repeated listens and a little bit of patience. You can read a bit more, plus watch a mockumentary put together by the band, at this link right here.