Recent
-
Alex Bleeker And The Freaks – Don’t Look Down
As bassist with one of the best indie guitar bands out there, Real Estate, Alex Bleeker should have plenty of opportunities to see his lightbulbs […]
-
Photo Ops – Someplace
Nashville’s Terry Price has been around the block once or twice (with his old band Oblio) and has suffered quite a few slings and arrows […]
-
Harper Simon – Bonnie Brae
Harper Simon’s new LP is called ‘Division Street’ and for a minute I thought I’d spotted the primary influence in it’s naming. With receding braincells […]
-
Streamadelica
When it comes to listening to digital music iTunes remains the dominant player, not because it offers a particularly brilliant service (it offers a particularly […]
-
The Books – Beautiful People
I’ve taken this line directly from the Books record label Temporary Residence ‘the deluxe 2xLP format comes packaged with 36 full-color die-cut stickers for you […]
-
Fascinator – Summer Dream
Partly chosen because summer has become somewhat of a dream of late, especially in light of the hailstone showers earlier. Mostly chosen though for being […]
-
Thumpers – Sound of Screams
A bit like the Go! Team if they were slowed down and put back together with the misfiring parts given a brand new role ‘Sound […]
-
AfterParty – Jungle Dreams
Not sure what stopped me from destroying this mp3 because on initial inspection it had a tad too much cheese to go the distance. Putting […]


Beth Jeans Houghton – Dodecahedron
Could well be that the naysayer’s were right. The pick-n’-mix approach as practiced by iTunes and their brethren has sounded the death knell for the album. Now I’ll preface this argument by saying that I have no idea what is going on in genres beyond ye olde indie but from where I’m listening the assembly line of quality new guitar based LP’s has stalled, perhaps permanently. Of course one or two new classics will always emerge but not since 2005 has there been a consistent supply of outstanding new releases. Not a good development at all but given the all pervasive tendency to shuffle from tune to tune rather than focus on a specific work this turn of events has gone almost unnoticed. And we blogs are hardly blameless given our weakness in focusing on individual tracks rather than the album they are taken from. New music consumption has been changed radically by the internet, supply is effectively unlimited (even if you just take the legit route), this week’s favourite new song is forgotten by next week, this paragraph could have been a thesis. And for all that I wouldn’t change it for the world. Or doubtlessly would anyone else who spent their mid-1980′s evenings trawling the airwaves for any opportunity to press the play and record buttons in harmony. We may have lost the art of the cohesive listen but we’ve found a world of new tricks that were heretofore the preserve of the evil gatekeepers. By way of example here is a glimpse of the here and now from Newcastle lass Beth Jeans Houghton. Hotter than a chilli pepper. KD
Beth Jeans Houghton – DodecahedronMore Info: Official
Buy Songs: Beth Jeans Houghton
Year: 2011