"The Weezer wannabe tags were certainly understandable when it came to Nada Surf's debut; besides a similarity of intent (a quick, punchy post-grunge pop/rock album with quick, punchy post-grunge pop/rock songs), the production from Ric Ocasek sealed the deal for many. The fact that the band had been going for a while before Weezer's own 1995 splash seems to have been ignored, admittedly. But if Nada Surf never came up with anything that had the influence and lingering impact of Pinkerton, say, High/Low is a nicely frazzled and fun release that actually bears a little similarity at points to prime Cheap Trick. To be sure, it's not an exact comparison (Caws is nowhere near the singer Robin Zander is, for a start), but in terms of spiky intensity shot through with just enough emotional yearning, Caws has the job down well. His guitar playing does the business well enough, while the Lorca/Elliot rhythm section similarly shows its skill track for track."
"In 2001, a Gothenburg, Sweden-based duo called the Embassy released a 7" titled Sneaky Feelings. Sharing a name with both an Elvis Costello song and a jangly 1980s New Zealand indie-pop group, the four-song EP was little-noticed by Americans at the time, but it marked a turning point for their city's music scene. Blending Fredrik Lindson's yearning vocals and chiming guitar chords with Torbjörn Håkansson' pattering percussion, euphoric electronics, and occasional exotic sample or two, the record had more in common with the twee-meets-house hybrids of early-1990s Saint Etienne than with any record of its period-- even the Avalanches' similarly balmy, ambitious Since I Left You. By the end of the 2000s, echoes of the Embassy's aesthetic could be found in critically acclaimed albums by Jens Lekman, the Tough Alliance (who named their imprint, Sincerely Yours, after an Embassy song), Studio (ditto for their Information imprint), Air France, jj, and the Honeydrips, among others. Gothenburg's indie pop scene was now run by mysterious pranksters all too happy to tie the already thin line between sincerity and artifice up in sailing knots."
"Seven of the thirteen tracks were composed by full-time members Johnny Marr and Bernard Sumner, and the other six co-written with former Kraftwerk member Karl Bartos. He was recommended to Electronic via a friend of Sumner's, and commuted to Manchester throughout 1995 during the recording sessions, which stretched from late 1994 to late 1995. The protracted sessions resulted in a dense, thick production that was later acknowledged by both Sumner and Marr and criticised in professional reviews; they consequently spent much less time on their next album Twisted Tenderness. Raise the Pressure was also remarked upon for Bernard Sumner's impressionistic lyrics, which some saw as the result of his use of Prozac during this period, following an appearance on the BBC 2 programme The Late Show, which explored the effects of the antidepressant on creativity. According to Sumner, however, he only wrote one lyric whilst under the influence of Prozac. Musically the album comprises guitar pop/rock songs ("One Day", "Out of My League") and more dance oriented tracks ("Until the End of Time", "If You've Got Love")."
"John Charles Lodge (20 July 1943 – 10 October 2025) was an English musician, singer, and songwriter, best known as the bass guitarist, co-lead vocalist, and principal songwriter for the longstanding progressive rock band the Moody Blues. Joining the group in 1966, Lodge contributed to many of their most acclaimed albums, including Days of Future Passed, Seventh Sojourn, and Long Distance Voyager, helping shape the band’s signature symphonic rock sound."
"The opening track, “Earthquake,” opens with a plodding progression of electronic beats that mounts into a soothing line of arpeggiated guitar chords and electronic tones that creates the sensation of a steam locomotive slowly chugging out of the station and fading into the distance with a ribbon of steam and smoke trailing behind it. The second track, “Don’t Cry,” continues the train-journey theme with a pulsating drumbeat that transitions into the next track, “Revival,” the lyrics alluding to the resurrection of Jesus Christ along with the light, plinking banjo in the background. This creates a feeling of floating above the music at the beginning of the song. “I am saved, unscathed,” sings lead vocalist Bradford Cox, “and oh, could you believe it?”
"With a voice that wavers between Jane Birkin's and Neil Young's, Swede Sarah Assbring, or El Perro del Mar as she calls herself, writes of hope and loneliness, sometimes at the same time. Cleary influenced by Burt Bacharach and Phil Spector, El Perro del Mar sings a kind of indie doo wop, bringing together syllabic backing harmonies ("sha-la-la-la," "shooby doo-wop bah," and "be-bop a loo-lah" are some of the phrases she uses throughout the album), poppy melodies, simple vocal lines, acoustic guitars, and twinkling pianos on her self-titled full-length. But despite these brighter, happier elements that envelop her music, Assbring has a kind of despair in her voice that veils even the most cheerful of her songs in sadness. "It's All Good," in which she echoes variations of "it's all good, take a new road and never look back" throughout the entire piece, even in its optimism, conveys the sense that at one point things in fact were not good at all, even though they might be changing, and the breezy warmth of "God Knows (You Gotta Give to Get)" is more of a criticism of herself for "taking a lot without giving back" than advice regarding the benefits of altruism."
"Plastic Flowers is the solo project of George Samaras, a Greek-born producer, multi-instrumentalist, and dream pop artist based in London, UK. His music blends shoegaze, vaporwave, and lo-fi aesthetics, often drawing influences from 90s indie pop and contemporary dream pop acts like Deerhunter or My Bloody Valentine. The band/project started as a bedroom pop endeavor during his college years, evolving into full-length albums praised for their analog warmth and emotional depth."How Can I" is a track from Plastic Flowers' third full-length album, Absent Forever, released on November 10, 2017, via The Native Sound label. The album was recorded onto tape between April and July 2017 in London, amid Samaras' PhD workload, and features collaborations with a string quartet, his former bandmate Angelos Paschalidis on bass for one track, and drummer Nikos Panaroudis. It captures a shift toward richer, tape-recorded soundscapes, with themes of absence, longing, and introspection."
"The following song, Sweet Arcadia, is the masterpiece. It starts in familiar territory, Sarah narrating a train journey, just as she has on Saint Etienne songs in the past. But this one turns from idyllic catalogue to Wicker Man style threat, the sweet arcadia no longer sounding like the cosy nooks and havens of the lyrics, but instead falling into a spiralling hell of proggy, intoxicated keyboards. Sarah's voice is threatening, the music is anxious and seductive all at the same time. Like a 1970s made for TV ghost story, or Arthur C Clarke's Mysterious World come to marvel at the self build homes of Essex and Lewisham. Angel of Woodhatch, the final melody, is a folksy, chiming lament, an arts and crafts folly that would fit nicey into John Betjeman's Metroland."
