Reviews/ Interviews
Lights [Toronto] - The Listening Album Review- I really, really wished Canadian singer Lights hadn’t titled her debut album 'The Listening' because after sampling it for the first time it was the one thing I didn’t want to do.This is electro-pop with none of the genre’s redeeming qualities. The album has been produc...
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- Markus the Sadist @ Bloomsbury Theatre - 18/5/2010 - Show Review
- The story: “Markus Wright, a talented underground emcee, who gets spotted by a major label's A & R, and urged into signing a restrictive recording contract, which despite the pros of fortune and fame, distances him from his friends and family in many unanticipated ways....
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Natalie Merchant - 25/05/2010 - Live Review- It is a beautiful Tyneside evening. The sun dances across the river, its light reflected in the voluminous steel and glass curves of The Sage. Inside Hall One of this gloriously ebullient building the feeling is more austere, cold even. The vast cavernous stage is lai...
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Sophie Hunger - 1983 Album Review- A television interviewer once asked Sophie Hunger where her boundaries lie, to which she replied by tracing the outline of her body with a finger. Now, to me, that sounds like someone misunderstanding the question. However, considering Miss Hunger is multi-instrumentali...
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Natalie Merchant @ The Lowry - 24/05/2010 - Live Review- To mark her first European tour since 2003 the former 10,000 Maniacs singer and songwriter, Natalie Merchant flanks herself with two plug-in acoustic guitarists and affords herself the luxury of an adept double bassist, from time to time. The most unique feature of even...
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The John Henrys - White Linen Album Review- Beloved of late night legend and quietly spoken BBC whisperer Bob Harris, Canada’s The John Henrys return with their third album. John Henry, according to folklore and millions of pointy booted country singers, was a giant of a man who laboured on the railroad tracks. O...
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The Gaslight Anthem - American Slang Album Review- Given that so many bands have exploded in the recognition stakes with their third album. It is only natural that plenty of searching has evidently been painstakingly undertaken before The Gaslight Anthem penned this 3rd album, ‘American Slang’. Brian Fallon’s vocals see...
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Gogol Bordello - Trans-Continental Hustle Album Review- You get the impression that Gogol Bordello, the band inspired by the Ukranian/Russian writer Nikolai Gogol, have seen a few things on their travels, not least because this is their 5th album in 11 years and, as they say somewhere, every song tells a story. Or at least i...
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Little Axe - Bought For a Dollar, Sold For a Dime Album Review- The first time ever I saw Skip McDonald he was on stage in the back room of a wine bar in Otley, a gentile market town in West Yorkshire, playing to no more than two dozen people, adding quietly understated blues guitar flourishes to the new world, traditional folk soun...
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- Example @ Academy - Islington - 20/05/2010 - Live Review
- 2010 has been the breakthrough year for Elliot Gleave, aka Example. The rapper from London already had a hit last year with “Watch the Sun Come Up” followed by a more electro themed “Won’t Go Quietly” earlier this year. With his commercial success apparent fans embarke...
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Foals - Total Life Forever Album Review- Bands grow, bands come and go, bands split and bands continue. Where do Foals fit in after this new album then? I would wager the ‘grow’ and ‘continue’ sections, given the strengths (and weaknesses) on here. “Total Life Forever” is what critics call “sophomore”, a lame ...
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- Rubicks - Vanessa Anne Redd Interview
- Q: Congratulations on your new single. I've only just recently been introduced to your music, so tell the world in your own words, how best to describe your music.....A: Thank you! Always hard in your own words. For a long time we've been working on how to really mix th...
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- Pendulum,Sub Focus @ Corn Exchange - 20/05/2010 - Live Review
- On a humid Scottish evening, the jovial Edinburgh crowd were in good spirits, all the way from the 20 minute queue which stretched around the block right until the last song and the mass invasion of Asda at the end. For Pendulum is arguably the most exciting dance band ...
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Morcheeba - Even Though Single Review- Low-key indie-ambient purveyors, Morcheeba gracefully amble into seventh album territory, with the caressing instrumental led single, ‘Even Though’. It’s boosted in no small part, by the soulful vocal glide of Skye.Mogwai and Four Tet territory is carefully stepped into...
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AirSpiel - The Rain Single Review- Indie Disco three piece make a welcome return to the airwaves in 2010 with yet another top quality single, ‘The Rain.’ The song demonstrates their ability to make a modern sounding indie pop song with elements of classic 90’s dance. It's like a wonderful cross between T...
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A Certain Ratio - Mind Made Up Album Review- Having seen ACR wheel out most of this album ‘live’ over the past 12 months in various venues (London, Brussels and Brighton), I have come to the conclusion that this is a rather posthumous review, especially since this collection first saw the light of day in early 200...
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Ann Scott - Flo Album Review- Torch-singers come and go, as do angst-ridden feisty ladies – I’m not talking PJ Harvey who is, to me, the most obvious reference point on Ann Scott’s 3rd stab at Mojo-worship. PJ Harvey is still very much a force-majeure – will Scott be in a few years time, or will she...
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Christina Aguilera - Not Myself Tonight Single Review- Having taken a year out from the spotlight, Christina Aguilera is back with her first release since 2008’s Keeps Gettin’ Better. Taken from her upcoming 4th studio album Bionic, Not Myself Tonight, is foot-stomping, dance-floor-killer, powered by a squelching baseline a...
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Martha Tilston @ Fibbers - 18/05/2010 - Live Review- Thirty years ago today in number 77 Barton Street, Macclesfield and having watched Herzog’s “Stroszek” and listened to Iggy’s “The Idiot”, Ian Curtis chose to take his own life. Possibly wracked by inner turmoil, infidelity, guilt and the vagaries of epilepsy and sandw...
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- Japandroids,Yuck,Love At Death Beach @ The Harley Hotel/ Bar - 17/05/2010 - Live Review
- With a squalling and raucous opening, local band Love at Death Beach warmed up Sheffield’s The Harley nicely. Throughout their short set, claps and whoops from the crowd had an appreciative, rather than a hurry-up-and-get-on-with-it, vibe: an achievement for a little-kn...
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- Ingrid Michaelson - The Way I Am Single Review
- Down-to-earth and endearing, is how Ingrid Ellen Michelson always comes across in her own songs. ‘The Way I Am’, cries out from a clapping percussion and slowly strummed acoustic platform, as that lost and slightly desperate feeling that obviously envelopes her in her N...
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Lee Harvey Osmond - A Quiet Evil Album Review- The Lee Harvey Osmond band produce a kind of music that frontman Tom Wilson describes as “acid folk” and although this is probably an acquired taste, their debut album ‘A Quiet Evil’ certainly stands out from the crowd.Canadian rock veteran Tom Wilson, formerly of Junkh...
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John Foxx - Metatronic Album Review- 30 years ago and John Foxx embarked on a solo career, well away from the confines of a band (Ultravox!). His first album “Metamatic” was sneered at and misunderstood by many critics who cited it as being a cold and machine-like experience. Fools. Now they can’t wait to ...
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Adam Lambert - For Your Entertainment Album Review- Adam Lambert, Adam Lambert, Adam Lambert, the media has been trying so very, very hard to drum the name through, but, like Kelly Clarkson, the American Idols have yet to deliver the same success or songs of our own recent stars. Even with Pink, Justin Hawkins and bizarr...
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Fun - All The Pretty Girls Single Review- The upbeat and yearning indie pop touch of The Thrills with a splash of that MIKA sprightliness, The Magic Numbers yearning edge and a The Beach Boys backdrop. All culminates in a saccharine spiked single, ‘All The Pretty Girls’. This is no doubt designed to switch on t...
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Club Smith - The Process EP Review- In reviewing Club Smith's debut, ‘The Loss’ EP, in February I ended by suggesting that it was so good it would be hard to follow. I waited with great expectations.Without wanting to repeat myself it’s got that same electro indie feel, and surging anthems in the making. ...
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Andy Mason - Contra Costa EP Review- Billed as home town country folk from California. Andy Mason is a little known lyricist and guitarist cutting his path along the "Dylan, Guthrie, Cash" route. Songs about "the Iraq war, pollution, frustrations of modern life, cops, women, booze and being thirsty" are hi...
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Shabby Rogue - Old Man Single Review- Old Man is the new single off Shabby Rogue's recent second album, 'Hook And By Crook'.Having only just been introduced to Shabby Rogue I wasn't too familiar with them. A quartet based in London, one previous album release, 'Hair Nails and Beauty', and some warm support ...
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Rubicks - Giddy Up Single Review- Tremendous. And it’s got to be special if your music is chosen by a top fashion house and used in their latest campaign. Legendary Italian designers Valentino's have picked up on Rubicks’ newest single and are using 'Giddy Up' to promote their wears. How cool indeed and...
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- Cha-Cha @ Camden BarFly - 07/05/2010 - Live Review
- There must still be something exciting about running your own label, releasing your first album and playing a ‘launch’ gig for anything that you have created out of your imagination. Upon meeting Chris Foster, owner and manager of Pop Noodle Records, a new label based i...
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- Bullit [UK] - Get With It Single Review
- Another day, another indie-jingle-jangle-by-numbers band. There are almost as many bands like this in the world as there are wasps, yet every single one of them claims to be ‘different’ whilst drawing from a wide range of box-ticking influences. Let’s look at Bullit’s –...
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- Peter Hook - Peter Hook on DJs, electronic music, charity and Bono... Interview
- There are opportunities not to be missed in one’s life… Like engaging in chit-chat with a living legend, one of the best bass players in the (Western) world aka Peter Hook, formerly of Joy Division and New Order and most recently pumping the beat on his own (as a DJ) or...
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- The Gaslight Anthem - American Slang Single Review
- The Gaslight Anthem have been steadily building up a solid fan base since the release of their debut album in 2007. However, it was probably 2009 when they crossed into most people’s radars after Bruce Springsteen joined the band on stage at Glastonbury whilst they also...
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- The Drums @ Corn Exchange - 06/05/2010 - Live Review
- It is an ambitious task, to name oneself after a musical instrument. Automatically, semantics would suggest that you have rhythm, the ability to perform well, and above all, sustainability. Having watched The Drums live however, it can safely be said: they titled themse...
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Sub Focus - Splash Ft. Coco Single Review- Hovering low key soul indie vocals are filtered through a trickling ambient/spacey backdrop, before the vocals of Coco take on a croaky desperation, as a rugged alt. vibe takes control. Coco adds grit and heart to the proceedings and her range matches the contrasting ba...
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Adam Palmer & The Specialest - Lights Album Review- Adam Palmer and The Specialest present an intriguing combination (although it’s difficult to come to terms with that ‘e’). Folksy guitar and soft vocals from the former is melded with leftfield electronica from the latter, very much in the same vein as The Postal Servic...
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Ice Black Birds - As Birds We’d Be Fine Single Review- Cynically, I’ve interpreted the press release description of new Ice Black Birds single – having “more commercial appeal in comparison to their debut” – as a sly way of declaring the band have sold-out in a rather short period of time.In the spirit of doing-things-prope...
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The National - High Violet Album Review- Ten years after – the circumstance, not the grizzled rock band. Yes, ten years after forming, it looks as though 4AD’s new signing (effectively just down the corridor from label-in-the-stable Beggars) The National is courting the kind of attention it should have had a d...
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Pendulum - Watercolour Single Review- My first experience of Australia’s ‘drum n rock n bass’ threesome, Pendulum, was around 5 years ago when the debut album “Hold Your Colour” wafted out of some speakers in a local music store. The track “Slam” still stands up as their best-known track and, possibly to th...
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Stornoway - Beachcomber's Windowsill Album Review- You may (or should) already know the singles “I Saw You Blink” and “Zorbing”, the former being a sharp contender for Single Of The Year, so I’ll just say that these two are certainly part of the highlights list, but it would be unfair to write off the rest of the album ...
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The New Pornographers - Together Album Review- Now here’s a pleasant surprise because I’ve never gone a huge bundle on Neko Case’s solo works, but this is choc-full of breezy pop-melodies and a sweet sensibility that is actually rather jaw-dropping in places. The New Pornographers is a trio of writers and a larger p...
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- Various Artists - Save 6 Music Awareness @ 93 Feet East - 04/05/2010 - Live Review
- Choosing a venue for such an important event such as a ‘Save 6 Music’ gig must have been a hard task – do you pick a flashy West End venue and dress it with busty tarts and muscle-bound Macs, replete with 6 Music lederhosen and grins broader than Jodie Marsh’s lipstick ...
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The Quails - Masters of Imperfection Album Review- In the week that the country goes to the polls, we are also faced with having to make a decision about “Masters of Imperfection”. Whether or not we mark our ballot paper in favour of The Quails’ second album may not trouble the nation as a whole, but it sure as hell wi...
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- The Vortex,The Targets @ de.bees - 29/04/2010 - Live Review
- Countless numbers of bands have seen line-up changes during their formative years. Less have experienced a change of lead singer but it is far from an exclusive club. During the ‘Madchester’ scene alone, The Charlatans and Inspiral Carpets had a change of front man be...
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- Biffy Clyro @ O2 Academy 1 & 2 [Formerly Carling] - 30/04/2010 - Live Review
- Biffy Clyro are rapidly building their reputation as one of the UK’s most formidable live bands right now and they certainly didn’t disappoint at Sheffield’s O2 Academy on Friday April 30.This Scottish rock trio of Simon Neil, James Johnstone and Ben Johnstone never fai...
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April Maybe May - April Maybe May Album Review- April Maybe May used to be called Fallen Leaves until a bunch of tight trousered punks from London stuck a flag in the name and claimed it as their own. They can keep it. ‘Fallen Leaves’ is a name conjuring images of death; the passing of time and ageing – all good fod...
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- Musee Mecanique - Sleeping In Our Clothes Single Review
- A dreamy, slightly orchestral instrumental hover clears the path for the lamenting yearning, as Portland’s Musee Mecanique push out a jangly ode for their second UK single. A Four Tet exchanging pleasantries with Mum feel takes over, then the melancholy starts to slip ...
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Jim Kroft - The Devil and The Deep Blue Sea Album Review- When you visit the My Space page of Scottish born / Berlin based singer-songwriter Jim Kroft you keep being urged to bring him to Luton – what’s the poor bloke done to deserve that?It’s certainly not due to the release of ‘Between The Devil & The Deep Blue Sea’, which i...
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Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Round and Round Single Review- Sporting a sleeve of a sketch featuring a man tongue-kissing a husky and a woman playing tonsil hockey with a cat, it’s hard to forget Ariel Pink’s new single. “Round and Round” sports a bass-line straight out of “Broken English” (Marianne Faithfull) or Giorgio Moroder ...
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The Big Pink - Tonight Single Review- Here’s a funny thing – The Big Pink rack up a pretty big hit with “Domino”. What does the label go and do? Reissue the admittedly stunning “Velvet” as a single with little promotion, following it up with this next oddity (a 7” and download of yet another album track). T...
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- The Duke And The King @ Union Chapel - 19/04/2010 - Live Review
- The Union Chapel is without a shadow of a doubt my favourite venue in London. It has everything; great acoustics, coffee and tea on demand and seats! Huzah! The Duke and the King have picked a great venue, on a heady spring London evening. Openers, Trevor Moss and Han...
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- John Butler Trio @ Hammersmith Apollo - 14/04/2010 - Live Review
- Walking up to the Hammersmith Apollo, the sudden realisation of the gravity of this gig dawns on me. Until now, my gig reviewing career has always taken me to small, intimate venues. The Hammersmith Apollo, although not quite the 02, is huge. Having seen the Counting...
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Tony Bennett - The Ultimate American Songbook Album Review- This is so much more than just a celebration of Tony Bennett’s sixty years as a recording artist. It is a celebration of popular music and, ultimately, of life itself. Twenty one songs chosen by Bennett himself, spanning more than six decades of music and covering some...
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Charlotte Gainsbourg - Time of the Assassins Single Review- The cult indie film queen, Charlotte Gainsbourg shows that diversity could well be her middle name. This is done as she falls into a dreamy, weaving acoustic ballad, ‘Time of the Assassins’. It’s one of the peaceful sounding, yet dark edged lyrical turns from her explor...
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- Mystery Jets - A chat with Blaine Harrison Interview
- Four years, two albums and the Twickenham quintet, Mystery Jets, count as heavyweights in British indie pop. In anticipation of their third outing, ‘Serotin’ the band will embark on a sponsored tour, the Chevrolet Spark Unscheduled tour, during which they will showcase ...
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Lights [Toronto] - Saviour Single Review- ‘Saviour’ is the UK debut from Canadian electro-pop singer-songwriter Lights (born as Valerie Anne Poxleitner), taken from her forthcoming album 'The Listening'. However, for a big label (Warner Bros.) signing that has achieved relative success across the Atlantic in he...
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Doves - The Places Between - The Best Of Album Review- ‘The Places Between’ is the self selected and sequenced, career-spanning best of compilation from Manchester three piece Doves. Brothers Andy and Jez Williams (who play drums and guitar respectively) together with their bass playing friend Jimi Goodwin formed the band b...
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The Dead Weather - Die by the Drop Single Review- It’s just a year since the Dead Weather’s debut was released but Jack White, Alison Mosshart and friends are back. The return of this project so soon is a little surprising, especially considering that ‘Horehound’ didn’t quite reach the heights of either White’s other r...
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Diana Vickers - Songs From The Tainted Cherry Tree’ Album Review- An X-Factor product with a difference is eccentric 18 year old Blackburn lass Diana Vickers. Having left the fifth (2008) series of the hit reality show in the semi-final, Vickers signed to RCA and, with the exception of a recent run as Little Voice in the West End revi...
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Castrovalva - We Are A unit Album Review- Teenagers always enjoy music that upsets their parents, it’s never cool to find mother singing along to the band written on the pencil case. Castrovalva certainly don’t fall into that bracket. They take the audio attack of Death From Above and run with it. Well to be fr...
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- The Gaslight Anthem - American Slang Single Review
- A swirling rhythmic drive is catapulted by the raw vocal lag of Brian Fallon and the simmering pacing percussion of Benny Horowitz, marking the lead single and title track from forthcoming 3rd album, ‘American Slang’. It’s this combination that made 2nd album, ‘The 59 ...
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The Joy Formidable - Popinjay Single Review- I've been a fan of this trio for a while now. Basically it’s new wave punk rock. Searing loud guitars are their main stay throughout all previous work, and this new release follows a similar path.Led by the talented vocals, guitars and looks of Ritzy Bryan, this Welsh o...
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Lucky Soul - A Coming Of Age Album Review- ‘The Great Unwanted’, Lucky Soul’s debut 2007 album, is one of the most well played in my collection. So how much was I looking forward to their new showing? I will tell you. ‘A Coming Of Age’ is one of the best indie pop records you will hear this year.From the opening...
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Chris Riffle - Introducing Album Review- He’s worked in coffee shops, he lives in East Village and he’s written an album centred on those two facts as well as being inspired by his artist-partner. So it could be safe to assume that Chris Riffle has plenty to inspire him, but I reckon he’s probably got a few Ni...
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Darren Frank - That Lived In Look Album Review- Singer-songwriters, eh? Millions of ‘em, plundering woe like the proverbial prophet of doom with a sandwich-board around his neck that reads, “We’re all going to die”. Strum-drum. Go to My Space – just look at them all, filling the band-width with dour nuts-shrivelling ...
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Foals - This Orient Single Review- Heralding the arrival of the ‘tricky second album’, “Total Life Forever”, this is the second track to be wheeled out as a promo item except that “This Orient” is getting a physical release, such is the band and label’s belief in it.It’s Foals being energetic and being a...
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K-OS - Yes! Album Review- According to the ‘blurb’ accompanying this CD, Kheaven Brereton aka K-OS was kept indoors until he was 21 – that must have been a pain in the backside when he wanted to nip out for a pack of fags or loo rolls – and it was all down to his strict upbringing. Eventually, t...
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Draw Me Stories - Becomes The Hunted/ Oars Single Review- Rattling percussion rhythms, haunted Veils styled vocals and winding guitars wretch out feeling, bemusement and heart, ‘Becomes The Hunted’. Indie eeriness gives the track a chilling edge, as the rustic Draw Me Stories reel off a good line in meandering bemusement. Bef...
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Hungry Kids Of Hungary - Mega Mountain EP Review- This revisit of the second EP from ‘Hungry Kids Of Hungary’ is a welcome one. It is a good collection of four very enjoyable songs, played through with upbeat enthusiasm and ability. With this EP they improved tenfold on their self titled debut EP, which had six songs w...
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Kim Richey - Wreck Your Wheels Album Review- For fifteen years Kim Richey has been releasing album after album of joyful, original and heartfelt music which as earned her Grammy nominations, number 1 spots in the US and praise from top music press including Rolling Stone. There is no doubt that she is one of the m...
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Mark Huff - Feels Like California Album Review- Mark Huff always knew that it would be one hell of a challenge to emulate or even better his cracking 2007 album ‘Gravity’, which propelled him right into the spotlight over in the US. To help himself along he joined forces with producer Adam Landry and after a few year...
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- Drawn From Bees - Long Tooth Setting Sun Album Sampler Review
- This sampler mini album is the musical equivalent of a bag of Revels, you don’t really know what you’re going get from one song to the next but it is rather enjoyable all the same, unless you get a coffee one. Wait, that part of the analogy doesn’t work but you get the ...
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Otis Gibbs - Joe Hill's Ashes Album Review- If you thought that the days of rambling folk artists akin to Woody Guthrie, Jack Elliott or Bob Dylan were as dead as the American dream they we’re out searching for, then Otis Gibbs may be the man to prove you wrong. However, for Gibbs to truly earn the title of a mo...
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- James @ O2 Academy 1 & 2 [Formerly Carling] - 08/04/2010 - Live Review
- The most common debate amongst fans during a tour is over the choice of songs played at shows. The majority of bands write a setlist at the start of a tour and then perform that selection in the same order for however many nights they happen to be on the road. James h...
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Trace - Under Cover Album Review- Awards for bravery – definitely a good thing I reckon. A man rescues a child from a blazing house-fire by climbing three flights of stairs. Remarkable. Pins medal onto chest. A soldier pulls a baby from a bomb-spattered wasteland in foreign climbs. Salute administered. ...
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Fighting Fiction - We Will Not Forget Single Review- Fighting Fiction have come back swinging with their latest release, the single ‘We Will Not Forget.’ From start to finish it is an impassioned, vitriolic punk diatribe against the failings of the political system and a call to arms for a change in the running of governm...
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- The Bang Bang Club - Chemistry Single Review
- The Bang Bang Club’s debut single ‘Chemistry’ is a fun, if not overly progressive few minutes of indie pop from a cocksure group. Musically it is well put together but has nothing overly special, sounding quite like something the Scissor Sisters would knock off for a b-...
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Roll Deep - Good Times Ft. Jodie Connor Single Review- Grime legend Roll Deep returns to the music scene with ‘Good Times’ and in all honesty, it ain’t that good. The song sounds like standard fare for any club DJ and this is a major disappointment to me for Roll Deep always had more of an edge to his style of music and thi...
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Sarah Blasko - All I Want Single Review- Currently riding a wave of popularity and critical acclaim, Sarah Blasko has relocated to London to promote her name even more and one things for sure; this single will do absolutely no harm in achieving that goal.The song is a strange piece of music for a modern pop so...
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- Attack! Attack! - Not Afraid Single Review
- Welsh punkers Attack Attack have returned afresh after a little break with a single as catchy and likeable as anything they’ve done before. The melodies as always are key to this band and they have hit a fine balance yet again, with a great verse/ chorus set up that let...
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Mini Viva - One Touch Single Review- Mini Viva came out of nowhere last year to storm the UK charts for four weeks with their magnificently infectious debut single ‘Left My Heart In Tokyo’. They left the charts with a lot of new followers and on the cusp of releasing their debut album they have given us an...
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Nero - Innocence/ Electron Single Review- Nero have been slowly gaining a name for themselves in the business and with their debut album out later this year they have given us a good glimpse of what we could be in for with this very strong release.‘Innocence’ is all about the slow build up. Taking a blueprint f...
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- Joshua Radin @ Brudenell Social - 21/04/2010 - Live Review
- “Take your shirt off”. Joshua Radin had only just come onto the Brudenell stage and up went the cry. Mildly irritated, the man from Shaker Heights, Ohio protested that he was more than just a piece of meat. On tonight’s evidence, however, I would have to severely que...
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K-OS - I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman Single Review- This single sees the return of Canadian rapper K-OS with his first release since 2006 and it is a sure fire winner. The song samples Phantom Planet’s hit song ‘California’ and features Nelly Furtado on vocals so it already has a better foundation than most and it is fur...
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Breakage - Foundation Album Review- This album may be 5 weeks old but it certainly isn’t out-of-date, in fact I reckon you could re-visit this album in 5 years and it would still sound damn fresh, such is the quality of the man called Breakage.“Foundation” is James Boyle’s (no relation to carpet-faced Sus...
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Sub Focus - Splash Single Review- Ram’s profile just keeps improving and with it Sub Focus’s prospects as reasonable contenders for crossing over big time. “Splash” is taken from the self-titled debut album released in 2009, a set that has already seen some commercial reward with “Rock It!” sneaking him...
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- Neu! - Crazy/Euphoria Single Review
- I won’t bore you with how important or ahead-of-their-time Neu! have been since the early 70s, I’ll let you dwell on the short biog included on their page – there are some pretty big names from the world of rock who have doffed the proverbial cap in the direction of Din...
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White Lies - The Remixes EP Review- This CD-only release came out on Record Store Day and, as such, is going to prove to be a devil to get hold of – but, as they may say, the detail IS in the devil and this EP of rarities is pretty well worth seeking out.3 of the 5 tracks here have been previously issued ...
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- Liam Frost @ The Louisiana - 18/04/2010 - Live Review
- With the mood well set by the local support artist Bobby Anderson, it was all about the one man and his guitar show tonight; a raw, Mancunian, alternative folk, singer-songwriter accompanying himself with his guitar followed, taking us on a 13-song, captivating, poetic ...
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Rollerball - Two Feathers Album Review- If you think Rollerball, and that is if you ever think about that term at all, you automatically think movies. You surely think James Caan in that bright orange American football uniform, complete with those space age knuckledusters, hurtling around and around that trac...
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Efterklang - I Was Playing Drums Single Review- After seemingly floundering in choppy indie-waters, where opportunity knocks the hardest lives into oblivion and the audience favours the gobby talentless acts swimming with a fringe in their face, Efterklang appear to be experiencing what is known as “a chance in life”...
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Lostboy AKA Jim Kerr - A.K.A Jim Kerr Album Review- By the time you read this, the previewing single from this debut solo album, ‘Shadowland’, may just be gracing a few playlists across radio-land. It seems funny to think that, 20 years ago, Jim Kerr and his influential Simple Minds would be automatically a part of Radio...
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Stornoway - I Saw You Blink Single Review- We reported on this chipper little pop song last month when it was but a mere download – now it gets a low-key 7” issue but it deserves far, far more than 4AD seem willing to spend on it. For a start, the record is housed in a plain die-cut black sleeve – I know packagi...
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Tin Soldiers - Telling Tales Review- This might be just the ticket in thumping, riffy power-punk, built around don’t-fight-it-you’ll-only-lose melodic, sing-along, song-centric, hit-you-between-the-eyes rock ‘n’ roll.Precisely forty seconds in to ‘Five By Five’, you’re picking up your mobile to tell the wo...
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Nero - Innocence/ Electron Single Review- A slightly orbital and relaxing ambient build gives off an initially floating Zero 7 meets X-press2 vibe. Before ‘Innocence’ veers off into a digitally intoned epic, retaining the initial vocal smoothness. It creates a down-tempo dance track with variety and bit of spic...
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Various Artists - Deutsche Elektronische Musik Album Review- From the moment the avant-funk quirkiness of “A Spectacle” starts to unravel, you know that once again the Soul Jazz label has come up with another take on a musical genre, by way of a compilation designed to educate and astound in equal measure, as well as move the fee...
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AC/DC - Iron Man 2 Album Review- AC/DC have never done things by halves, you just need to listen to one of their albums to discover that. So why should their first ever greatest hits album be any different? 200 million albums and 37 years later, AC/DC have finally got round to creating a definitive bes...
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Lights [Toronto] - Ice Single Review- Lights is a Juno Award winning Canadian singer-songwriter who is best known for composing and performing electro pop music such as her songs ‘Ice’, ‘Drive My Soul’, ‘Saviour’ and ‘February Air’. She has a dedicated following in her home country and has just recently bee...
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Rose Elinor Dougall - Find Me Out Single Review- Now here’s a pretty thing and I DO mean the song. Coming on like a Richard Hawley whistley-curio from yesteryear sung by a mix of Lily Allen-cum-Kate Rusby, this is a veritable little kitten just begging to be tickled under the chin. It’s unfair to compare Dougall to an...
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Batusis - Batusis EP Review- I’ve always liked the idea of New Yorks Dolls, even if I don’t get all hot and bothered with their music. It’s the same with their solo projects – last year’s Steve Conte stuff was OK and here we have a taste of what the outrageous Sylvain Sylvain has been up to lately....
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Mirrorkicks - Podium Single Review- Do you have a girlfriend? Does she like Radio 1 Live Lounge, Maroon 5 and Lenny Kravitz? Enjoys festivals, but only if they are very clean and not too far away from home? If so, Mirrorkicks are the band for her.Sounding as middle of the road as any artist could possib...
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Miss Massive Snowflake - Songs About Music Album Review- Yours is no disgrace, Mr de Leon. You may well be rocking a fairly dodgy haircut on the cover of your band’s second full-length album - a cover which, by the way, looks like it has been designed by a kid weaned on hallucinogens and which contains therein a picture of t...
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Lovehead - Vanity Project Album Review- Bands emerge from time to time that sound like they come from a different era. Not in the sense that their reference points and inspiration are obvious but in the sense that they actually sound like they were working at the same time as their heroes, in the recording st...
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Cha-Cha - We Are... Album Review- On the back of the promising debut single ‘Phonographic Love’ and cracking second release ‘The Fellowship’ comes the album ‘We Are…’ Can they build on the momentum and quality displayed in their two singles to live up to their potential?
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- James - Jim Glennie Interview
- I have to admit to being slightly nervous before my meeting with founder member of James, the eternally youthful Jim Glennie. I have met with singer Tim Booth on several occasions and often see guitarist, Larry Gott in Manchester but have never had a chance to chat wit...
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- The Bang Bang Club - Chemistry Single Review
- Fuzzed up funk dance with pop touches a plenty, builds up to the 80s pop veined chorus renders ‘Chemistry’. It’s a debut single that will have radio listeners humming and muttering the chorus at least 20 times, before they find out who the song is by?The simple, but eff...
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The Travelling Band - Sundial Single Review- Now here’s a first; can I write about Sundial by The Travelling band without replicating any of Elly Roberts’ review of the track which appeared on the site last month?The answer is no, because I agree that the opening few bars DO have the whiff of Eastern promise about...
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Various Artists - Ashes To Ashes Series 3 OST Album Review- First things first, how has ‘Ashes To Ashes’ managed to run three series long when the infinitely superior ‘Life On Mars’ only managed two? It is a mild grievance as the two series of ‘Life On Mars’ were a joy from start to finish and it set up the return of Gene Hunt f...
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Stevie And The Moon - These Old Traditions Album Review- Most debut albums/ mini-albums are released with a press release that calls it a ‘statement of intent’ and this one is no different. However as the album is based around the idea of small town people that fall into a life they don’t necessarily want it could well be a g...
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Natascha Sohl - Fade Single Review- Natascha Sohl is set to release her second album ‘Dirty Little Word’ and this is her second single release, following on from the ‘Dirty Little Word’ single.This song is instantly more likeable than ‘Dirty Little Word’, which felt like a mature singer trying to capture ...
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McLean - My Name Single Review- McLean may just land on the main stage with this song and if he does, then the boy deserves it. The music itself may not be the most originally styled piece out in the urban scene these days but it is more than effective, with rising synths and beats keeping the ears fi...
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Amy Wadge - Hold Me Single Review- Amy Wadge has returned to the music scene with a trademark piece of simple, effective and very enjoyable pop music. She has never been the most over the top of female vocalists, which may have done her a disservice in a modern world of lady singers that are more mouthpi...
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Max Raptor - The Great And The Good Single Review- Max Raptor cannot be faulted for giving it his all. From start to finish the song is full of energy, verve and likeability to an extent. It is these good qualities that tend to make a rather stale song slightly better. The song itself is nothing out of the ordinary, bas...
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Natascha Sohl - Dirty Little Word Album Review- Well here it is, the moment of truth. After two singles that were sublime (Fade) and, to put it kindly, a bit poor handed (Dirty Little Word) here comes the album. So is it going to be subtle beauty or empty punk that wins out? Let’s hope the fact the album has the same...
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Michael Buble - Cry Me A River Single Review- Michael Buble has got to that stage in his career where he is so confident and popular that he could record himself gargling mouthwash and make it sound classy. Thankfully he hasn’t gone down that road yet, instead he is still releasing top notch vocal performances like...
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Fortune - Staring At The Ice Melt Album Review- Hot on the heels of their fantastic single ‘Bully’ comes the debut album from Fortune, ‘Staring At The Ice Melt’. Can it all sound as flamboyantly fantastic as it’s lead single?After an inauspicious start with the bland ‘Under The Sun’ the album kicks off with the infec...
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James - The Night Before Mini Album Review- A seven track mini-album of brand new studio material, ‘The Night Before’ is the first of two offerings this year from Manchester band James; the follow up, ‘The Morning After’, is scheduled for release later this summer.James’ career has been one of many ups and downs;...
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- Natalie Merchant - Leave Your Sleep Album Review
- It was 2002 and for reasons long since lost in the mists of time, though quite possibly shrouded in inertia, I had chosen not to go to see Natalie Merchant perform that night in Manchester. In the intervening years I have followed her from a respectful and regretful di...
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Natalie Merchant - Leave Your Sleep Album Review- A wandering poetic, seeping loneliness cries out from the shadows of opening track, ‘Nursey Rhyme of Innocence and Experience’. Signalling the start of a searching, brooding and well crafted 2 disc album that was six years in the making. A Country N’ Western flavour emb...
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Moneen - The World I Want To Leave Behind Album Review- Emo seems to be about as fashionable as being in a skiffle band these days, but in some corners of the planet there is still the sound of its weeping heartbeat. Moneen have enjoyed the highs and lows of the genre and with ‘The World I Want to Leave Behind’ they have act...
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Dance to the Radio - Still Occupied Though You Forget Album Review- A Saturday release for a limited-edition 12” compilation can mean only one thing – 17th April and Record Store Day. Every day should be RS Day in my opinion, but it’s a start and Leeds’ Dance To The Radio label takes another lyrical excerpt from Joy Divison for the sub-...
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Martin Hagfors - Men and Flies Album Review- This is a curiously absorbing and absorbingly curious release from Norway’s Martin Hagfors. Initially unleashed last summer around Europe, ‘Men And Flies’ finally gets a US issue and a UK push (of sorts – sending this out to reviewers for belated reviews....) and it’s t...
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- Lostboy AKA Jim Kerr - Shadowland Single Review
- Back in the 80s, I was a huge Simple Minds fan – certainly up until the ‘Alive & Kicking’-era which I really struggled to get on with. Pomposity had taken over the Minds’ sound and the magic of the landmark ‘Empires & Dance’ set from 1980 was long gone. Still, they cont...
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Doves - The Places Between - The Best Of Album Review- There have been some great ‘Best Of’ albums over the years, although personally I tend to avoid a lot of them for two reasons:1 – I may already have all of the tracks if it’s an assemblage of a favourite band I have invested in, or
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- Jarmean? - Bad Penny Single Review
- Broad indie funksters, Jarmean use the sauntering blues licked single, ‘Bad Penny’. That merges in a touch of ska, to show their colourfulness and grit, with the latter element being provided mainly in the vocals. It is a horn kick and the marching drumming of Sara Lei...
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The Preserves - How Excellent & Civilized We Are Album Review- My oh my, who would have thought that a diamond like this would emerge from the northern exoticness of Alaska – man, this is great. Led by Tony Tengs and Albert McDonnell from state capital Juneau, population circa 30,000, The Preserves are folk festival stalwarts. Quir...
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Matthew Glenn Thompson - The Garden And The Arcade Album Review- Following on from albums with band Quickserv Johnny and a live circuit spanning Texas and Oklahoma, Memphis-via-Dallas son of a concert pianist Matthew Glenn Thompson releases this carefully-crafted pop-rock album. His cloudless vocal on the young-country ‘End Of The P...
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Angry Vs The Bear - Show Emotion/Mystery Girl Single Review- A big success at last year’s Austin Texas SXSW festival, Colchester’s hi-energised pop-punkers Angry Vs The Bear now release their debut single. The hair, the clothes, the photo-friendly attitude are impressively bang-on, très rock ‘n’ roll, but do they cut the mustard,...
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Cha-Cha - The Fellowship Single Review- Cha-Cha’s previous single ‘Phonographic Love’ was a solid, if not overly memorable song that despite its flaws left me with the feeling that they could deliver truly good music if they stepped out from the shadow of other bands to stamp their own original brand onto the...
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- Fraser - 18/03/2010 - Interview
- Q: Thanks for sparing the time for this interview. I’m really enjoying your debut album 'A Garden At The Top Of The Tree' – has there been a lot of good responses ahead of its release on March 15th?A: Glad you’re enjoying the album- it’s makes it all worthwhile when som...
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- Mother Mother - Hay Loft Single Review
- Adventure and rhythm tick along neatly, before quirkily cosmopolitan vocals make a dart between New Wave, Nu Rave, twisted folk and quirky indie. Vancouver’s, Mother Mother uses the winding single ‘Hay Loft’, to show off their adventurously expansive ways. Saucy provoca...
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Jim Kroft - One Sees the Sun Single Review- An early bid for a summer single sees Jim Kroft go all 90’s on us. Resurrecting the spirit of lost Brit Pop icons Cast and Dodgy to conjure up a rather spiffing single, inspired by a meeting with Outsiders author Colin Wilson ‘One Sees the Sun’.The Scottish, Berlin bas...
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Luther Russell - Motorbike EP Review- The New York singer-songwriter Luther Russell releases ‘Motorbike’, a taster from the upcoming double album ‘The Invisible Audience’ due out later in the year. Recorded on classic one-inch tape, in only an 8 track studio, Russell played all instruments as well as the pr...
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Subsource - The Ides Single Review- Electro slanted adventuring is seemingly carelessly cobbled together, using blotches of Pendulum, Hadouken, Gym Class Heroes and Ferry Corsten. It makes lead single, ‘The Ides’ robust, ranging and rave friendly. It’s a striking signpost to their forthcoming album, ‘Tale...
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- Ganglians - Candy Girl Single Review
- Anti-folk and pop are introduced to each other and the meeting is a little edgy at first, but the rustically meaningful Sacramento numerically varying, Ganglians soon ensure that the two start getting on famously. For latest single ‘Candy Girl’, the melody takes on an e...
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- Projekt - The Compass Single Review
- Three really strong tracks here that grabbed my attention straight away. Projekt are a rock 'n' roll 4 piece based in London who hopefully could well make huge strides this year. Keep your eye out for these guys - they will certainly attract attention with this release....
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- Untitled - Getting Older Single Review
- Hovering around on the edge of the UK Hip Hop scene for a sometime now, Untitled releases his debut single 'Getting Older'.The track is a nod towards growing up and the struggles of life around. A London based artist trying to make a sound, trying to find a direction, a...
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Steve Mayone - Long Play Record Album Review- If you’re into you Country and Blues this is the one for you. A mild mix of Ryan Adams and Neil Young is where this Steve Mayone release lies.Hailing from Somerville, Massachusetts in the States, Mayone has been producing and songwriting for over 20 years. His main focu...
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Eutoxita - Trainwreck Album Review- Well, where to start. It’s certainly a strange one this. I've had to come back to it a number of times over the past week or so. You have to listen to this kind of stuff in different chairs, rooms and with varying amounts of alcohol on board. Difficult to get my head ro...
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The Supernovas - Slaughter In The Gaza Single Review- Aw right mah son? Fancy a bit o’ ‘Slawta In The Garza’? Course you do ...Actually, I’m belittling the power within this short and sweet satirical hell-fire single – The Supernovas have written and released a belter here and no mistake and whilst it might not make many r...
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Noisia - Split The Atom Album Review- Dutch brain-mashing masters Noisia have already re-arranged my grey-matter with their maniacal single ‘Machine Gun’ so I was rather looking forward to being a gibbering wreck by the end of this 19-track album – instead I am rather enthralled with their capable foray int...
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Frank Turner - Isabel Single Review- Our Frank seems a nice enough geezer – his remarks about playing Brixton on 12th December later this year sum him up nicely – “...Headlining Brixton really is something special; I’m not sure I ever dared dream I’d get to this stage. It’s an honour”. Bless him! He is als...
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Scroobius Pip - Poetry In (e)Motion Book Review- Being a white, middle class, 40 plus bloke meant that hip hop and I were not natural bed fellows. That all changed a couple of years ago when I stumbled across the video for ‘Thou Shalt Always Kill’ by Scroobius Pip and Dan Le Sac on You Tube. Since then Stanley Odd, Bl...
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Laura Marling - I Speak Because I Can Album Review- Laura Marling is exceptionally talented, not only for someone so young (she has just entered her second decade), but in terms of the bigger picture singer songwriters. ‘I Speak Because I Can’ is her second album release, her first ‘Alas, I Cannot Swim’, was a firm favo...
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Soulcage - Soul For Sale Album Review- Soulcage are a Finnish five piece that are set to embark their brand of metal onto the UK public. As many music enthusiasts may know Finland is a country that loves its heavy metal, and have produced some fine bands. So will Soulcage be good enough to join the elite?Li...
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Barney Bentall - The Inside Passage Album Review- Canadian Country rocker Barney Bentall has quite possibly made his best work to date with this uplifting set of easy going fun country tracks, his seventh studio album. From the start it comes across as a happier brother album to Neil Young's 'Prairie Wind' and quite of...
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John Butler Trio - April Uprising Album Review- Until quite recently I had not heard of John Butler and his trio, it wasn’t until a friend of mine announced on Facebook (that hub of all modern knowledge) that she had missed the John Butler Trio by being at the wrong venue at the wrong time, she appeared inconsolable....
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Jerry Dammers' Spatial AKA Orchestra @ The Bridgewater Hall - 30/03/2010 - Live Review- There is a place called space. It was, and possibly still is inhabited by the great cosmic jazz explorer Sun Ra who apparently left this planet for Saturn in 1993. But there is also room there for Jerry Dammers, who left The Specials some twelve years beforehand, was th...
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- Petter And The Pix - Good As Gold Album Review
- I’m actually shocked – no, I’m gobsmacked. Norway’s Petter & The Pix annoyed the nipples off me with the single from this album, ‘Never Never’. In fact I am still irritated so much that I want to send the band my unwashed socks filled with tinned salmon.However .....
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Serj Tankian - Elect the Dead Symphony (live with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra) Album Review- I have been a huge System of a Down (or SOAD as they are known to the metal masses) fan since the late 1990s; they brought something new and fresh to the metal scene, namely a great vocalist in the form of Serj Tankian. Tankian, a famously political Armenian American, ...
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- Broken Links Interview
- Q: As you can tell from my review of The Fine Line Between Choice / Decay I really liked the EP. Are you pleased with the way it’s turned out?A: We’re very pleased with how it turned out. I guess some people might say we went a bit OTT with this EP, but it’s been so lon...
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Sankorfa - In Between Instruments Mini Album Review- Sankorfa are a four piece group of Guildhall percussionists who have created one of the most intriguing EP’s of the year with this great six track mini album, ‘In Between Instruments’. Let me say this, it is definitely not going to be everyone’s cup of java and it shoul...
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Mirrorkicks - Mirrorkicks Album Review- After the release of their awesome single ‘Anything’ earlier in the year my expectations were raised for the album. Now it’s arrived and it has lived up to those high hopes.Album opener ‘On TV’ is pure and simple punky wonder, one of those ignore the lyrics and just lis...
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Autechre - Oversteps Album Review- Longevity is a funny thing – Rochdale’s electro-glitch duo Autechre just never give up and thank God they never do. ‘Oversteps’ is their 10th album in 17 years and they show no signs of quitting due to musical differences. Their music sounds equally like the bowels of H...
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Losers - Flush Single Review- This is a very rare thing to come out of my mouth but the remixes are the best thing about this single. Some of them (especially the Skism and South Central remixes) are cracking tunes in their own right. Sadly, it's a case of maximising the best moments from a very sta...
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The Chemists - This City Single Review- The Chemists already seem to have landed in the gold stuff, with their debut album receiving much critical praise and now they are releasing ‘This City’ which has an accompanying video with none other than top British thespian Richard E. Grant. So it doesn’t really matt...
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- Conchitas - Butterflies Single Review
- Conchitas have released a song that on first listen I could only conjure up the word ‘bewitching’ to describe it. Vocalist El has one of the most strikingly original vocals I’ve heard in a while. Her vocals have a rough quality to them that not many female singers are b...
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Rodina - Always Had A Dream/ Over The Sun Single Review- Rodina is set to release her debut album and on the basis of this double A-side single she may be the lady to fill the void left since Amy Winehouse famously fell in love with drugs and out of the music scene. The musical style is a stirring blend of jazz, soul and chil...
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Fortune - Bully Single Review- When all the ingredients come together well then French electro synth-pop is nigh on impossible to beat. This is one of the finest examples. The six piece’s follow up single to ‘Highway’ is full of wonderful synthesised tricks with a real solid punky backbeat and chorus...
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Angel - There's a Girl Single Review- London singer/ songwriter Angel has as fantastic voice. And with her soon to be released single ‘There’s A Girl’ she also has a great ear for a complimentary cut of music. The single does not strike straight away as a particularly memorable tune but that is all part of ...
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R.I.O [RIO] - Narrow Roads Single Review- Apparently with this single Grime newbie R.I.O wants to put “Manchester on the map”. Well if Oasis didn’t do that already then this man will definitely not but what he has done is create a very striking mix of his own style of MCing with some good electronically aided R...
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The Dangerous Summer - Reach For The Sun Album Review- Building on from a double whammy of expansive EPs, feral rocking, emo skirting and bristling Baltimore quartet, The Dangerous Summer unleashes a striding and expressive debut album. Right from the off with ‘Where I want To Be ‘, inner searching and trundling riffs sets ...
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Adam Lambert - For Your Entertainment Album Review- The last time I wrote about a musical product of reality TV, it was about blonde-quiffed teenage pop star wannabes Jedward who have since, following the flop of their debut single, been dropped by Sony. It seems, as far as the UK is concerned, if you’re a male contestan...
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Kyte - Dead Waves Album Review- Think of a mellow, yet equally dramatic, Animal Collective and a possibly a subtler version of the excellent, yet now gone, I Was A Cub Scout. You would probably meet somewhere in between the sound of Kyte.Symphonic, epic and even explosive, are some of the words used i...
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Creatures of Love - Creatures of Love EP Review- It seems like I’ve lived with these songs for some time having been observing their progress since last year. This is their long-awaited debut 6-tracker, most of which will be familiar to anyone who has hauled their butt to a venue to see them recently. Despite the fami...
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The Lancashire Hotpots - Criminal Record Album Review- Everyone’s favourite Northern dish is back on the musical menu with a mini-album devoted to the biggest human weakness – criminal temptation. The light-hearted look at cheating lying bastards in our neighbourhoods is somewhat refreshing and equally depressing, although ...
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The Travelling Band - Sundial Single Review- New summer anthem. Looks like it.Manchester six-pack The Travelling Band have certainly stirred up some interest.
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Various Artists - Nigeria Special: Volume 2 Album Review- Afro-sounds part two.This recent release on Soundway comes almost two years after Volume 1, featuring an abundance of talent that created Modern Highlife and Nigerian blues between 1970 and 1976.
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Visage - The Face (The Very Best Of) Album Review- It’s official – there have been more Visage ‘Best Ofs’ and ‘Collections’ released than bog-standard studio albums, which kind-of gives you an idea of how their 80s stable, Polydor, has done more milking than a Cravendale farmer with a penchant for udders. Basically, one...
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Akai - The Coldest Hour (Is Just Before Dawn) Album Review- St Paul, Minnesota, is a city I’m familiar with having been there in 1995, and so from that very city comes Akai, with their new album – The Coldest Hour (Is Just Before Dawn).I’m not sure when this album was recorded, but with a title like this, it’s pre-empted one of ...
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- States of Emotion - Fight Them on the Beaches Single Review
- “We will fight them on the beaches” the historic Churchill speech from yesteryear is quite a way to open a single. What follows may not equal the same vengeance of the British Empire, but it’s an ambitious try.State of Emotion are here to make an impression. The Essex q...
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Neil Cowley Trio - Radio Silence Album Review- I bought ‘Displaced’, the first album by the Neil Cowley Trio; because it won 2007 BBC Jazz Award for best album and at the age of 42 I thought it was about time I listened to some jazz!It proved to be a wise move as it’s had regular outings ever since, but with ‘Radio ...
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- Beatbullyz - Skills Single Review
- Beatbullyz have been described as the UK answer to the Black Eyed Peas but on listening to their stylish yet jumpy new single ‘Skills’ it becomes clear they’re certainly not a dance band that wear their influences on their sleeves.Instead the sound is completely new, di...
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Ice Black Birds - Ears To The Ground Single Review- This is different. For their debut single, the Brighton four-piece Ice Black Birds apply 'The Rule of Thirds' to music. They divide “Ears to the Ground” into three distinct parts. Held loosely together by what I would imagine to be matte black gaffer tape, the three mi...
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- Limozine Interview
- Interview with Dean from LimozineQ: I was really sorry not to be able to come down the other week and interview in person (Adrian had a stinker of a cold). How have your recent gigs been going?
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Putumayo - Various Artists - Rhythm & Blues Album Review- All-star line-up on sizzling compilation.Quality control at Putumayo World Music has raised the bar with this outstanding release, showing they’ve done their homework thoroughly.
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Let's Go To War - Karmageddon Album Review- “When you’ve produced for the likes of Britney Spears, you’re already on your way to cementing your place in the higher echelons of the music world, but Canada’s Let’s Go To War aren’t stopping there.”It might be lazy, but that first sentence from the press release for...
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Psychopathic Romantics - Pretty Prizes Album Review- Take The Strokes at the very beginning of their career. Put them on to boil (with a glug of vinegar) and cook off the hype, fashion obsession and tight rhythms. The resulting gloopy, PVA glue-type substance at the bottom of your metaphorical pan could well resemble Psyc...
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Violet Bones - I Feel the Need Single Review- ‘I Feel the Need’ debut single from Violet Bones is an upbeat punky single guaranteed to get you singing and dancing along, leaving you shaken and sweaty.Violet Bones, as a four piece indie pop band from Cambridgeshire, are building monumentum with a support slot with N...
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Civilized Animals - Civilized Animals Album Review- Seattle rockers Brock Boehm (vox / drums) Jason Casatelli (vox / guitar, bass) and Michael Romagnino (vox / guitar) collectively known as Civilized Animals are indirectly hanging onto the grungy aesthetic formed in the city in the early 1990’s by bands like Nirvana, Pea...
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Ian De Sylva - Josephine Single Review- With a name like Ian De Sylva you are most surely born to be a rock n roll star. But eighteen years later to be fronting the 90’s Britpop band Silver is not perhaps where you would have wanted to find yourself in that particular firmament. And were you to then fast for...
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Enter Shikari - Tribalism Album Review- After an amazing year following the release of Common Dreads, Enter Shikari have released a “Common Dread companion” in the form of “Tribalism” bringing with it a mixture of live tracks, remixes and a dabble of new material. Starting with the new stuff; accompanying sin...
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We Rock Like Girls Don't - Welcome To My World Single Review- Uncut, ravishing rock pairing of Ros Cairney and Vas Antoniadou, use this AA sided release of tension to continue their gritting over of femme rock. The harness sharp edged guitar licks and Cairney’s Suzi Quattro being introduced to Katie Jane Garside at a high school p...
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Glee - Glee - The Music Volume 2 Album Review- Whilst it seems highly unlikely that fashionable television guilty pleasure Glee will ever ‘do a Lost’ and descend into tales of the most unexpected, the novelty will inevitably wear off at some point.A similar path was trod by Ugly Betty. The initial hook for that show...
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The Automatic - Tear The Signs Down Album Review- Since blasting onto the scene back in 2006 with their huge debut album ‘Not Accepted Anywhere’, difficulties with their previous record label contributed to The Automatic meandering off the path to further prominence so perhaps it’s fitting they’ve called their latest r...
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Jason Derulo - In My Head Single Review- It's a simple enough formula: a sing-a-long "oh-oohhh" chorus for the kids, a media-friendly image (with a phenomenal Craig David-ly coiffured jawline), the obligatory singing of your own name down an autotune mic to avoid being mistaken for Taio Cruz, and there you hav...
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Nick Harper - The Last Guitar Album Review- If Nick Harper is known for two things it is being the son of veteran folk artist Roy, and being something of a pretty darn good acoustic guitarist and wordsmith in his own right. With 16 years or so of recorded work have come a raft of albums and a wealth of accolades...
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Yardsale - Knock Alley West Album Review- Rootin’ tootin’ rock…from Kentucky. Where else?If there was ever a band that captures the spirit of the Stones, then it’s Yardsale.
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Killing Phantoms - Heroes Night Album Review- In life, we all need to take responsibility for our actions. Take a crap in a child’s sand-pit and you should own up. Quickly. Write the word ‘FAIL’ all over your flat-mate’s ill-fitting jeans and it’s a kicking-to-the-head you fully deserve. Park your bike in the arse ...
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Antena - Bossa Nova Songs Album Review- OK, quick introduction time. Antena formed in the early 80s in Paris, recorded a handful of samba-scented pop vignettes for chic Belgian label, Les Disques Du Crepuscule, before key member Isabelle went solo and delivered a million sales from a dozen albums across the g...
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- Petter And The Pix - Never Never Single Review
- The Swedish band Petter and the Pix is a strange collective from what I’ve heard so far – an amalgam of every rock music genre going, they are certainly ones to watch if only to see how many roads they can travel down. Their forthcoming album, ‘Good As Gold’ is also in ...
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Various Artists - Rob's Records Album Review- The name of the label suggests how unfussy and unpretentious its owner was – New Order’s then manager, the late and much-missed Rob Gretton, set the whole Rob’s Records caboodle up as a direct middle-finger aimed squarely at Factory’s Tony Wilson and, more importantly, ...
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A Certain Ratio - Force Album Review- 24 years ago saw this ACR album, their last for Factory, hit the racks and sink without trace. Still, this wasn’t before the album sold a few copies and became a courted darling of the music press (a music press that had previously shat on ACR from a great height for th...
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Crazy Arm - Still to Keep Single Review- Remember Big Country? Well the epic Scot rockers spring to mind during Crazy Arm’s latest single ‘Still To Keep’. The galloping bass lines and gun shot guitar replicates times of old, but revved up enough for the Red Bull generation and with a lot less bagpipe- imitatio...
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Jason Derulo - Jason Derulo Album Review- American R&B sensation Jason Derulo has already scaled the dizzy heights with his hit singles ‘Whatcha Say’ and ‘In My Head’ and there’s more of the same in his debut self-titled album.It’s as glossy and infectiously catchy as you might expect from an easy listening dan...
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Lisa Mitchell - Wonder Album Review- Lisa Mitchell is the latest in a long line of artists whose work has probably wormed its way into your brain while you’re none the wiser. The single ‘Metropolitan Dreams’ may sound oddly familiar as it is currently being used to sell washing powder. It is not surprising...
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Alberta Cross - Old Man Chicago Single Review- Don’t get me wrong, melodious low-key blues howling can be both poignant and cathartic, but when it reeks of forcedness, relies a little too much on trite guitar hooks and lingering vocal cries. Then it doesn’t take long to reach grating point. In ‘Old Man Chicago’, New...
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Chris T-T - Love Is Not Rescue Album Review- He didn’t look a lot like Che Guevara, though a number of the man from Brighton by way of Winchester’s earlier songs were mined from a similar seam of political struggle and revolution being in the air and Chris T-T does, after all, write for the Morning Star.Here on hi...
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Paramore - The Only Exception Single Review- The third single from their number one album ‘Brand New Eyes’, ‘The Only Exception’ brings about a completely different feel to the bands previous two singles taken from the album.Where ‘Ignorance’ and ‘Brick By Boring Brick’ take a more rocky approach, ‘The Only Except...
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- A Certain Ratio @ Concorde 2 - 07/03/2010 - Live Review
- There are some things I never tire of – beer, Charlie Brooker and Horace Andy singing ‘Skylarking’ are three of them. Watching A Certain Ratio play live is a fourth (and certainly not a first for me), but tonight in Brighton, my birthday was given a memorable shot in th...
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