65daysofstatic are a band who, for the last few years, have been on the brink of making it big. They’ve released wave upon wave of incredible records to a largely un-noticing public, and to be honest, it’s about time people started to sit up and take notice. Read More…

I don't like Ronnie Corbett or David Jason. I'm not too keen either on oompaloompas. Dwarves give me the creeps. I hate it when a liquorish string leaves you unsatisfied and my penis leaves me in tears. Put bluntly; I hate things that are too short and this album is too short!! I WANT MORE! ENCORE!! Which is quite fitting as this is a live album. Read More…

Shipping News
Shellac
Slint

Many ingredients go in to ‘The Hurt Kingdom’, the debut EP from To Bury A Ghost; Matt Bellamy-esque vocal stylings courtesy of main dude Jon Stobler, some heaving, groovy, almost trip hop like beats from Rupert Boddington and then Marc Bransgrove chucks in some hefty basslines, to this basic mix they stir in some Radioheadish electronic noodling, post rocky guitars and shake liberally. The result is quite staggeringly pleasing on the ear. Read More…

Listening to ‘Modern Bodies’ by Chickenhawk is like being repeatedly hit in the face with a hammer, but in a really, really good way. It’s brutal, aggressive and kind of painful but after a while, like a hostage suffering Stockholm syndrome, you can’t help but enjoy it. Read More…

Aesthetically, there's plenty to relate to in 'The Sound of the Vanishing Era' – it sounds like lots of other stuff, which is always comforting. You get flashes of a lot of other great bands and songs – a slightly less-melodic Dananananakroyd; Fugazi and Sonic Youth (particularly on '2009 Crusade'). There's a kraut-rock sound to the album that perches it on that peculiar shelf where it somehow seems both a bit dated and quite fresh, all at once. Read More…

Lush Rimbaud

There are times when I realise just how lucky I am doing this. Over the years of doing this website I have been sent an awful lot of music, some good, some bad, some indifferent, but sometimes, just sometimes, I get sent something truly exceptional. Today is one of those days. Read More…

Irata

What's the lowest you've sunk? Was it alone, in a grey bed sit, cranking*? Was it sitting in just a string vest, eating raw frankfurters from a jar watching Pretty Woman and crying? Or was it listening to The Feeling? Well prepare to be taken to another level. Read More…

U.S. Christmas

Another frantic month has passed us by here in the Echoes And Dust offices, mostly spent organising the next instalment of our Sunkan Dymonds charity gig shenanigans, so as a result we’ve got a bumper crop of releases that we’ve utterly failed to write about so far and now need to catch up on. Read More…

White Hills
White Noise Sound
The Antikaroshi
Action Beat
The Killing Fields Of Ontario
Wild Dogs In Winter

People discussing Pontiak often comment on how amazingly prolific they are (this being their 4th album in just over 2 years), but on the evidence of this album that's akin to saying 'this band are awesome! They have virtually no quality control'!! Read More…

In ‘First Class, And Forever’ The Poison Arrows produced what turned out to be one of my top albums of 2009 but it was such a slow burner that I didn’t realise at the time. They seem to have been trying to pull the same trick with ‘Newfound Resolutions’ but this time I’ve caught them at it. Read More…