Reviews
Under Pressure Ft. Vanilla Ice - Jedward Single Review- I’ll hazard a guess that you may have heard of these guys; blonde-quiffed Irish teenage identical twins John and Edward Grimes, Jedward. The boys’ involvement in series six of the dreaded X Factor has taken them on a journey through much ridicule and negativity and mad...
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Evil Love - Limozine Album Review- You have to admire Hammersmith’s (or should I say, ‘Ammersmif’s’) Limozine – 10 songs, 26 minutes, no filler – that’s how album’s should be (provided they don’t charge anymore than a tenner of course!). Purporting to being ‘punk rock n roll’, something I cannot argue wi...
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Some Kind Of Salvation - The Features Album Review- The Features have been knocking around in the States for a while now and their new home on Kings Of Leon’s label, Serpents and Snakes, came about through the band’s agreement with the publisher Bug Music – and the fact KOL get the horn when they hear Nashville’s The Fea...
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Winter Kiss - Young Guns Single Review- This High Wycombe 5-piece have warmed my cockles a few times before, not least for the pile-driving pop-metal hues of previous EP ‘Mirrors’ and its memorable track, ‘In The Night’. Since last summer’s release, they have been touring hard, playing hard and generally bask...
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Orchestrion - Pat Metheny Album Review- When it comes to Jazz, I’m a dabbler – Miles Davis, Lee Morgan and Grant Green have all caught my attention over the last 30 years or so, yet only Jan Garbarek has induced any form of completism since first hearing him in 1989, courtesy of a flatmate’s enthusing. Meanwh...
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Halcyon Times - Jason and the Scorchers Album Review- Yeeha and giddy-up-a ding dong and ring those cowbells out loud because Jason & The Scorchers have recorded their first album of all new material since 1996’s “Clear Impetuous Morning”. When the band’s Mr. Jason Ringenberg himself (and his alter-ego and children’s favou...
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Nostalgia - Emily Barker and the Red Clay Halo Single Review- Those of you with nowt else to do on a Sunday night after Antiques Road show will already be familiar with this rather lovely piece of music as it’s the theme tune Kenneth Branagh’s reworking of Swedish detective drama ‘Wallander’. A melancholy and thoughtful series, th...
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Sleep When We Are Dead - The Organ Beats Album Review- Despite the popularity of guitar music in general being at a natural low, after indie rock became stale and was replaced by a deluge of synth pop bands and artists, radio-friendly rock lives on with bands who play rock at its poppiest. The type of band that your little ...
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- John Cooper Clarke,Frank Sidebottom @ Bloomsbury Theatre - 30/01/2010 - Live Review
- Two Manchester legends on one bill would normally send Londoners running to their Gaggias, but JCC and supporting Sidebottom means a whole lot more than just regionalist snobbery – this is serious stuff and yet hilarious to boot.John Cooper Clarke is in his early 60s, h...
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The Prester John Sessions - Tommy T Album Review- Gogol man’s side project…seriously cool.Super-bassist Thomas T Gobena aka Tommy T, is best known for his membership with multi-ethnic Gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello from the Lower East Side of New York. Much of that band’s sound emanates from their love of Gypsy music b...
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Stanley Brinks & The Wave Pictures - Stanley Brinks Album Review- Off-the-wall folk-ish delights.Under various pseudonyms Stanley Brinks aka Andre Herman Dune (amongst countless others, Ben Dope, John Trawling, Lord Stanislas ) has been ploughing his ant-folk thing for several years, occupying a virtually singular space.
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Yeti Lane - Yeti Lane Album Review- This Parisien- based psychedelic pop trio has signed itself to Sonic Cathedral, ‘The Label That Celebrates Itself’, its strap-line adapted from ‘the scene that celebrated itself’, otherwise known as ‘shoe-gazing’ in the late 80s – early 90s. Short-lived and maligned by ...
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Real Live Flesh - Tune-Yards Single Review- The buzz on Tune-Yards continues with another single and some further live dates, plus some likely festival appearances later this year (probably likely anyway). But while previous 7” and download, ‘Hatari’, gave pop traditions the middle-finger and the kitchen-sink, th...
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The Garden And The Arcade - Matthew Glenn Thompson Album Review- Matthew Glenn Thompson: ‘The Garden And The Arcade’ (12/04/2010 Teddev Music)Cruising and thoughtful Tennessee born pop, indie and folk tinkerer, Matthew Thompson opens this foraging UK debut album with a textured and melodious guitar swirling, echoing vocal led lament...
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Falling Down a Mountain - Tindersticks Album Review- I have a confession to make – Tindersticks have evaded my radar since their formation some two decades ago and I am now asking myself the question (before you do) – how? With several albums and a few admittedly impressive moments on each, still no cigar. Time to start s...
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Creatures Of Love @ At Proud - Camden - 27/01/2010 - Live Review- If I was heartless enough to mark this down on sound quality then it would get a zero – Proud is a great idea but whoever was engineering the night’s entertainment needs to hand over the mixing duties to the local road-menders. Shocking. The band before sounded like the...
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Rotten Pear - Andrew Vincent Album Review- Canada seems to be a gold mine of musical talent, from Neil Young to Arcade Fire. Canada has a knack of producing such inspirational, original and awe-inspiring artists. Andrew Vincent seems to be a new breed of talented Canadian acts, even though he has been around fo...
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Call Me Dragon - These Monsters Album Review- These Monsters have been gaining many plaudits and fans for their live shows, creating a fantastic heavy rock atmosphere ( i.e. loud) but can they be victorious where so many other live greats have failed by transferring the sound over successfully to a studio recording...
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Little Speck Of Blue - Marvin B Naylor Single Review- Retro-sounding psych-folk. A Green message.Despite the fabulous 60s / 70s soundscapes, sadly this pretty loaded song may not hit the airwaves. I’d like to think it will though.
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Heartkiller - HIM Single Review- It’s quite possible that the improvement in HIM’s rival bands in recent years has inspired (or required) them to find a new level of music but found it they have from the sound of this new single, preceding the album, ‘Screamworks: Theory In Love & Practice.’I’m not goi...
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Enemy - Lucius Single Review- Swansea singer/songwriter Luke Morgan aka Lucius shows people he knows how to spin out a good Green Day imitation with this new single.It is pretty much cut from the blueprint of 21st Century Breakdown with a few effect loops thrown in for a change up. It’s admittedly n...
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Wishing/ Finger On It - Mama's Gun Single Review- Mama’s Gun are back, following up last year’s excellent but flawed album ’Routes To Riches’ with their new single, an ambitious double A-Side.‘Wishing’ is a soulful song that is firmly wearing its primary influence on its sleeve. It has been practically deep fried in th...
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Moon Landing - Sivert Hoyem Single Review- Sivert Hoyem is not a name on many people’s radars but it may well be now the former member of Norwegian band ‘Madrugada’ is on the verge of releasing his new album, preceded by this great first single.Right from the start it feels a world away from the sound of ‘Madrug...
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Through The Annular - Clem Leek EP Review- Captivating piano lines meandering over the crackle of a 78” record; ‘Through the Annular’ is an utterly beautiful, mesmerising debut from talented musician and composer Clem Leek. Each titled with coordinates, the tracks on ‘Through the Annular’ serve as sonic painting...
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Skinny Jeans And A Mic - New Boyz Album Review- Preceded by the release of single ‘You’re A Jerk’, a song that sounds like Crazy Frog guests on vocals and makes it as annoying as his own chart topper, signs were not boding well for this 13 track album from New Boyz, leaders in the new Jerk music movement (?). So are ...
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