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Joe Casson

Joe Casson


Interview: Whitney

A year on from the release of their debut album Light Upon The Lake, Whitney are still on the road. Joe Casson speaks to singer Julien Ehrlich about tour vans, Elton John, and pole dancing at Islington Mill

Album: Mac DeMarco — This Old Dog

Mac DeMarco finally grows up, delivering a low-key album full of his most introspective and accomplished songwriting to date

Album: Diet Cig — Swear I’m Good At This

Personal and political blur together in an infectiously energetic debut album that appropriately develops the pop-punk duo’s sound, writes Joe Casson

Album: Mount Eerie — A Crow Looked at Me

A devastating tribute to his dead wife, Phil Elverum’s reflection on love and grief still feels raw. It is his most powerful and complete work yet, and it is a tearjerker

Top 5: Album closers

All good things must come to an end — it’s our last print issue of the year! Let Joe Casson’s selection of album closers help you to wipe the tears away

Review: City of Glass

Duncan Macmillan and 59 Productions’ hi-tech stage adaptation of the Paul Auster novella combines detective drama with postmodern mania to impressively confusing effect

Review: It’s Only The End of The World

Xavier Dolan’s brutally honest and claustrophobic new work shows us “home is where it hurts”, but its emotional disconnection makes it hard to relate, writes Joe Casson

Tracks of the Week: 13th February

Death, aging and loss: grim subject matters make for compelling songs in a strong week for new music

Tracks of the week: 16th January

Geographical metaphors abound in a strong selection of tracks released in the last week, by Joe Casson

Record Reappraisal: Belle & Sebastian – If You’re Feeling Sinister

Twenty years on, head music editor Joe Casson revisits the Glaswegian indie darlings’ high watermark, a singular work of delicate loneliness and wry observation that demands your devotion

Live: The Front Bottoms

A poor choice of songs gives an unflattering impression of the folk-punk fourpiece — but they play with unbridled, endearing energy to an enthusiastic crowd, writes Joe Casson

Live: Arab Strap

After ten years out in the cold, Arab Strap’s comprehensive reunion show retains everything that made them great the first time around, writes Joe Casson

Festival Preview: Latitude Festival 2016

Joe Casson on this year’s well-rounded arts festival, which offers everything from balkan folk to cabaret, and finally gives a reason to get excited about Suffolk.

Watch the Tapes: Are Cassettes Making a Comeback?

Cassette tape sales are the highest in decades. But what is drawing people back to the much-maligned medium?

Album: Wild Nothing – Life of Pause

On his third album as Wild Nothing, Jack Tatum is “terrified of being any one thing”. Therein lies the problem

Live: The Soft Moon

A lively opening doesn’t stop The Soft Moon’s show from becoming repetitive and rather boring