Reviews
Before The Walls Came Down - Computer Club [UK] Album Review- Computerclub: another nu-rave techie-sounding name soon to be emanating from the speakers of your local record store, or so you thought. Birmingham raw indie quartet’s first album is set to be a stonker as yet another band with an alternative moniker prepares to grace ...
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- Exit Calm,No Tokyo @ The Castle - Oldham - 27/09/2008 - Live Review
- At 3pm this afternoon there was a battle of the roses at Oldham’s Boundary Park football ground as Oldham Athletic and Huddersfield Town went toe to toe in a bruising encounter. Jump forward almost eight hours and move about a mile into Oldham’s rundown town centre and...
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Kaki King @ ICA - Institute of Contemporary Arts - 04/10/2008 - Live Review- Kaki King, American solo guitar queen, left us wide-eyed and begging for more after her gig at the trendy Institute of Contemporary Arts. The guitar-shredding Kaki, who recently toured with Foo Fighters, is essentially a one-woman show with occasional accompaniment from...
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- The Levellers,Nick Harper @ Royal Albert Hall Live Review
- The Royal Albert Hall is an awe-inspiring place. Not for the faint-hearted, to stand on its stage demands presence and the ability to prove to a 6000+ audience that you command the right to be there. Tonight the mighty Hall played host to the Levellers, supported by a...
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It's You - Helen Boulding Single Review- They say that coffee time is for meditation, reflection and relaxation. The recent Cafe Nero Artist of the Month, Helen Boulding grounds these qualities and condenses them into a new offering of calming composure and contented serenading, ‘It’s You’.Not content to bath...
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Can’t let Go - 15 minutes with Will Young - Will Young Interview- To mark the release of his fourth album, “Let It Go”, Will Young gave a delightful showcase of it at the ultra slick venue, the Cadogan Hall in Chelsea, on 25th September.The next day, I caught up with him at one of his (very enviable) locals, to talk Soul, genius and e...
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- Imelda - Ann Scott Single Review
- Ireland’s Ann Scott has a calming authority and a skill at creepily building the tone to take you on a tour of your emotions. This is on the way to the mild pop strut of a chorus that makes you feel like you’ve been on a journey through your soul. An empathetic Bjork an...
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Broken Hymns Limbs and Skin - O'Death Album Review- Now on their third album, this Greg Jamie driven New York quartet continues to add more concrete to their foundation as the Bet Lynch of country and folk. They tease the traditionalists by starting off quite conventionally, before shooting off into goth, anti-folk and i...
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One Night Stand - Big City Kids Single Review- Big City Kids have recently made a name for themselves, achieving over 1 million profile views and touring with bands such as 3OH!3, Millionaires and Slow Motion Red Lights. Floridians, Emerson, FYJY, Swoop and Lecarison seamlessly unite, becoming a unique four-piece ba...
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- Will Young @ Cadogan Hall - 25/9/2008 - Live Review
- In advance of his UK tour and fresh from appearances at various summer festivals, Will Young showcased from his new album, "Let It Go", at the super posh Chelsea venue, Cadogan Hall.Will took to the stage at 7.45pm, introduced by his very (physically and sonically) funk...
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- A Wonder Summer's Night - Stevie Wonder @ The O2 (02 - Millennium Dome) - 1/10/2008 - Live Review
- This just so happened to be my second Stevie Wonder O2 gig in as many months – I went to the Sept 12th gig as well, so I was interested in seeing (hearing) whether it would be any different, so you lucky readers will get the benefit of a little comparing and contrasting...
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Grapefruit Moon: The Songs of Tom Waits - Southside Johnny Album Review- One great meets another – Southside Johnny – Tom Waits.Seems like enigmatic Tom Waits is the guy to check - out these days. Scarlett Johansson, John Hammond and Holly Cole have all been at it; rifling through ol’ gravel necks’ songbook. This exhilarating 12 tracker of c...
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And They Said It Wouldn’t Last (My 50 Years In Music) - Cliff Richard Album Review- And they said it wouldn’t last eh? 50 years on, Cliff has the last laugh, so the bachelor boy’s done well.Britain’s answer to Elvis, Indian born Harry Roger Webb aka Cliff Richard OBE has just set a new record, unlikely to ever be broken.
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I Don’t Feel Like Dancing -Theatretrain - 28/09/2008 - Live Show Review- On 28th September, the trailblazing performing arts touring company Theatretrain hosted their latest production, “I Don’t Feeling Like Dancing”, at the Royal Albert Hall.This year’s gathered 1400 performers (dancers and vocalists), aged 6 to 18, and a 22-strong orchestr...
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Seeing Double - Duncan Lloyd Album Review- After being in a band for several years, releasing solo material can be a daunting and intricate task. Duncan Lloyd however, seems to have relished such an opportunity with his first solo album, ‘Seeing Double‘. The Maximo Park guitarist has certainly proved on this rec...
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Let It Go - Will Young Album Review- The former winner of television show “Pop Idol” has shown that reality show winners can become successes. Whilst many so called reality stars have sunk without a trace, Will Young released his fourth studio album on Monday.Since rising to national prominence after defea...
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Dirty Soul - The Vortex Single Review- In recent years, new Manchester bands have divided into two categories, those that choose to completely eschew the sound of their city and those that whole-heartedly embrace it and feed off it. The Vortex sit firmly and unashamedly in the latter category. Imagine a ba...
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Nights of Error - Trash Fashion Album Review- "So what's it all about then?It’s a rave Dave......Just lots of people, in a room, spreading love and listening to tunes, its a rave Dave"Wise and emotive words from Trash Fashion's debut album, ‘Nights of Error’ which is set to be released on Propaganda Records. The ba...
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Delicious Vinyl All Stars-Rmxxology - Delicious Vinyl Album Review- Delicious Vinyl All Stars: Rmxxology! A blend of the past and present mixed to make one great musical cocktail! Released on the 22nd of Septemeber 2008, it’s sure to make a dent in the music scene. The first two singles from the album has already made a giant footprint ...
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- City Lights - The Bishops Single Review
- A wandering feel flows through the vocals, the funk sliding bass and guitars for the tempo to be picked up by some steady percussion, as London based trio The Bishops show off their tight rhythm that has been six years in the nurturing.In ‘City Lights’ they manage to il...
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Move - CSS Single Review- After the rather disappointing last single, ‘Left Behind’, I had almost given up on the bouncy Brazilians as one-hit wonders. This is an improvement in a Tom-Tom Club sort of way but it still falls short of the charm and sexiness that they seem capable of at their live ...
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Live At The AB - The Black Box Revelation EP Review- I say Brussels, you say sprouts? It is a sorry state of affairs indeed; perhaps we have been so busy spitting out the sprouts that we have failed to notice that Brussels has been spitting out a new form of dirty rock ‘n’ roll. My friends, behold; the resolution, the rev...
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- Holding Out/Deep Freeze - The Elements Single Review
- The Elements’ chief chomp, Andy Bennett has a voice that sounds familiar and, it probably is if you have shown even a passing interest in Ocean Colour Scene in the past four years, as he has been providing the backing vocals for Fowler and co. There is the obvious influ...
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- Come Up (With Me) - Thea Gilmore Single Review
- Thea can carve a fine tune most of the time - here is another. The only problem with this single is it sounds a bit like a stab at mainstream radio rather than from the heart. However, it was allegedly written in a tour dressing room so you have to make allowances. Her ...
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- 93 Years On - Digitonal Single Review
- I have to ask - what is the point? Much as I enjoyed Digitonal's luxurious album, a single just doesn't make sense. Banco De Gaia and Future Sound Of London released remixes back in the day when 'ambient' was de rigeur. But today it just doesn't work. However, there are...
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