Author: Andy Peterson Page 4
Brandon Flowers - The Desired Effect Album Review
The maxim about solo records here at Contact Towers never lets us down: the reverse of Jim Steinman's compromise epic, we always find that two out of three are bad, an equation you can hang...
Review posted on 23rd June 2015
The Zephyr Bones - Wishes/Fishes EP Review
It's said that there are only seven stories in the world, and that every one that's ever told is merely a variation of these themes. You could argue much the same theory is true of...
Review posted on 23rd June 2015
Everything Everything - Get To Heaven Album Review
Everything Everything's arrival in 2009 came via 'My Kz Yr Bf', a song which gave critics much leeway in comparatives. Based on its poly-rhythmic, twitchy math pop body and almost perfect euphoria soaked chorus, it...
Review posted on 23rd June 2015
Holly Herndon - Platform Album Review
There was a time back in the last century when it felt like every artist on the Gnostic 4AD label was like Holly Herndon. People thousands of miles away used to have every release mailed...
Review posted on 23rd June 2015
Various artists - Walls Have Ears: 21 Years Of Wall Of Sound Album Review
Label retrospectives are not without a degree of risk: it's easy for compilers to fall into the self-indulgent trap of looking after your pet projects, with the line by extension between vanity exercise and faithful...
Review posted on 10th June 2015
Jaga Jazzist - Starfire Album Review
Here at Contact Towers we're always fascinated by the multi-various uses of the word "Interesting" when referred to a new release, often it's a nudge-wink metaphor for it being rubbish, over hyped or just plain...
Review posted on 9th June 2015
DJ Yoda - Breakfast of Champions Album Review
It's been a decade now or more since UK hip-hop looked at itself in the mirror and saw the reflection of a movement no longer second fiddle to its American counterpart. There've been some highs...
Review posted on 19th May 2015
Anathema - Fine Days: 1999 - 2004 Album Review
We at Contact Towers were going to start this review with something hackneyed like "Bands like these.." but then we thought better of it. Bands like what? Skinny jeaned garage kids? Twinkly-eyed synth poppers? Ultimately,...
Review posted on 18th May 2015
Fort Romeau - Insides Album Review
Electronic music is, of course, not a new movement: younger than say rock n' roll, but its late twentieth century roots are frequently betrayed, whether it be in the endless rehashing of its prototypical first...
Review posted on 7th May 2015
Drenge - Undertow Album Review
Frequently bracketed with fellow noise ingénues Royal Blood, brothers Eoin and Rory Loveless (aka Drenge) are a subtler proposition, mixing drone-rock, grunge and, on 'Undertow', freshly acquired elements of new wave into a sound which...
Review posted on 7th May 2015
The Specials - Specials, More Specials and In The Studio (Remastered Editions) Album Review
There have been moments - they're becoming increasingly rare - in which music as an art form wraps itself into the absolute contours of society, perfectly mining the cultural tempest of the moment until...
Review posted on 7th May 2015
Ric Rawlins - The Rise Of The Super Furry Animals Book Review
If the Super Furry Animals were a building, it would have a great big blue plaque on it by now, in recognition of their unswerving dedication to being some of the smartest, principled and contrary...
Review posted on 23rd April 2015
Various Artists - Kitsune New Faces 2 Album Review
The deal hasn't changed: the world's best known couture indie label is still releasing everything from pop to polo shirts, having unearthed the likes of Years & Years, TDCC, Citizens! and, most recently, BeatauCue as...
Review posted on 9th April 2015
Turtle - Colours EP Review
Possibly the greatest thrill of writing about music is the joy of discovery: if you hear something underwhelming for the first time, your thoughts are already turning towards how to filter mood, but when the...
Review posted on 31st March 2015
BeatauCue - Terrah EP Review
Well, just as we'd concluded here at Contact Towers that the role of winsome boys making perfect synth-pop had been taken by Years & Years - whose recent 'Y&Y' EP is as close to perfection...
Review posted on 31st March 2015
BC Camplight - How To Die In The North Album Review
BC Camplight is the sardonic, slightly bruised alter ego of Brian Christinzio, a former New Jerseyian now relocated in Manchester, via stints playing with Stateside indie cause celebres Sharon Van Etten and The War On...
Review posted on 31st March 2015
Venom - From The Very Depths Album Review
One of the great things about music is that, despite the suits attempting to render everything down to a brainless lowest common denominator, its occasional feats of randomness cannot be predicted. You can't imagine, for...
Review posted on 20th March 2015
Various Artists - House Couture mixed by Terence:Terry Album Review
Anyone can do mixtape, right? All sounds so easy: a few audio files, your free trial software, combine it with the sweet vibes only your bedroom can produce and, hey presto, suddenly you're Paul Oakenfold....
Review posted on 19th March 2015
Charli XCX - Sucker Album Review
In many ways, Charlotte Aitchison is an atypical twenty first century star-in-the-making: whereas most of those around are trust funded, stage school veterans whose every nuance is airbrushed into bland conformity, both her past and...
Review posted on 13th March 2015
Olafur Arnalds - Broadchurch (Soundtrack Series 1 & 2) Album Review
In order to really get fully into character for this review, I watched 'Broadchurch' for the first time. For those of you who haven't, it's basically a detective yarn set out in sticks somewhere in...
Review posted on 13th March 2015
Mary J. Blige The London Sessions Album Review
After a bit of reflection, 'Coming to London' just sounded so odd. We live in a world now, after all, where artists need nothing more than an internet connection to be able to collaborate with...
Review posted on 3rd March 2015
Only Real - Jerk At The End Of Line Album Review
Only Real AKA Niall Galvin used to make music on a battered laptop in the West London suburbs and, like many bedroom aesthetes, he worked with what he had, producing functional yet appealing songs...
Review posted on 3rd March 2015
Hooka Hey - Untamed EP Review
Hooka Hey have a back story that's not quite your average bear's. Originally from France, they've now migrated their asses to Austin, Texas, having toured with the likes of Ted Leo and Miles Kane. A...
Review posted on 19th February 2015
Chicane - The Whole Is Greater Than The Sum Of Its Parts Album Review
Admit it - if you were born before 1990 there's a good chance you've lost it at some point to a Chicane track, be it at the work's Christmas do or some dodgy nightclub you...
Review posted on 17th February 2015
Plastikman - Ex Club Mixes EP Review
It always sounds a little odd applying the term veteran to anyone who came up through the stentorian, often misunderstood techno movement, but along with luminaries such as Carl Craig, Kevin Saunderson and Brits such...
Review posted on 12th February 2015
Deus - Selected Songs 1994-2014 Album Review
There's a problem with weird: it's got a limited shelf life. dEUS are from Belgium, a country that has separate charts for its Dutch and French speaking populations and a brief, unflattering history at rock's...
Review posted on 12th February 2015
Sherwood And Pinch - Late Night Endless Album Review
Few people are better qualified to provide commentary on both the origins and future of dubstep than Adrian Sherwood, a fifty-something who launched his own On-U Sound label in the aftermath of punk and has...
Review posted on 4th February 2015
Ariel Pink - Pom Pom Album Review
As we've said before, the lingua franca of pop music around the world is in its conformity, that chameleon like ability to adapt, blend in, emulsify into something that can be easily digested anywhere...
Review posted on 4th February 2015
Hawk Eyes - Everything Is Fine Album Review
Modern rock music often has the broadest - or narrowest - set of definitions. On the one hand, Leeds quartet Hawk Eyes are screamo curmudgeons, part of the city's (in)famous DIY scene which has been...
Review posted on 27th January 2015
Public Service Broadcasting - The Race For Space Album Review
Normally the words "Concept Album" are enough to make everyone at Contact Towers' blood run cold - we're thinking full on Jeff Wayne, chances of anything coming from Mars here - but for Public Service...
Review posted on 27th January 2015
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Upcoming Releases: The February albums we're sure you're going to fall for
As the second month of 2021 gets ever nearer we take a look at the new releases that are set to delight our ears over the coming weeks.
Glastonbury 2021 Cancelled: The first of many festivals, or just the biggest casualty?
"With great regret, we must announce that this year's Glastonbury Festival will not take place," came the not altogether unexpected announcement from...
Twitter reacts to unforgivable headlines surrounding the death of convicted murderer Phil Spector
Here's what the public had to say about the death of Phil Spector.
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Lana Del Rey - Chemtrails Over The Country Club Video
Lana Del Rey takes her 60s vintage aesthetic to the extreme with the video for new single 'Chemtrails Over The Country Club'.
Thom Yorke, Garbage and more react to disastrous visa negotiations
As negotiations continue, it's clear that the UK government doesn't have everyone's best interests at heart.
Racism or white fragility? We need to talk about Lana Del Rey
The singer awkwardly responded to potential backlash regarding her new album cover.
Album of the Week: The 5th anniversary of David Bowie's Blackstar
Five years ago, on the day of his 69th birthday and two days before his death, David Bowie released his 25th, and final studio album, 'Blackstar'.
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