Reviews/ Interviews
Various Artists - Mercury Music Prize 2010 Album Review- Marking this out of 5 is a curious concept because it’s only got a week to sell through, oddly getting a release just 7 days prior to the official awards-night on 7th September. It hardly seems worth the bleedin’ bother, quite frankly.So what you get is a budget-priced ...
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RUMER - Slow Single Review- Inspired by the world of musicals and the emotional world of the torch-singer, Pakistan’s Rumer is an interesting prospect who has embraced musical purity from both her home-culture and her adopted one in the West. Her voice is akin to Karen Carpenter and “Slow” is the ...
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The B-sharps - Cherchez Kahuna Album Review- Fort Wayne’s B-Sharps are obsessed with the 50s, though you wouldn’t know it to look at them – they look a little like surfer-bums giving it the West Coast hippy-rock, rather than amp-pummelling rock ‘n’ roll. Think Gallon Drunk, think Jim Jones Revue and think aspirin ...
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Huoratron - Prevenge EP Review- Music’s a funny thing – some of the time it can bring joy to your bones and a smile to your face but most of the time, well you just feel like joining the bomb-disposal squad as a stand-in.Huoratron (pronounced ‘whore – a – tron’) hails from Finland and is actually toug...
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The Wombats - Tokyo (Vampires & Wolves) Single Review- The autumn is bringing about a change in direction for Matt Murphy and his fellow musical marsupials. Through ‘TOKYO Vampires & Wolves’ they seem to be beginning the retreat from teeny indie pop into a sorrowful, haunting and hanging sound that twists together elements...
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Magic Kids - Memphis Album Review- If you live in a world of Big Wednesday's or Endless Summer's, own a station wagon with the obligatory surf boards atop the roof rack and have an 8-track compilation containing your favourite Jan & Dean, Beach Boys and Surfaris cuts on then Memphis band Magic Kids shoul...
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Hans Zimmer - OST Inception Album Review- The film is looking to be one of the biggest movies of the year and surely has a place at next years Oscars. But will the score be worthy of a nomination?Hans Zimmer, over the last 20 years has established himself as one of the most acclaimed film music composers, scori...
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Various Artists - Various Assets: Not for Sale Album Review- I’m rather sceptical of branded collections – Diesel were sponsoring this sort of collection years ago and who can forget the Levi branded nonsense in the 80s. This, I have to say, is a spot-on selection of electronic, slow-beats, dubstep, nu-soul and some obvious plagi...
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3OH!3 - Streets of Gold Album Review- 3oh!3 are an electro group formed in Boulder Colorado, the unique name came from the area code 303 both band members grew up in. The band are best well known for their song ‘Don’t Trust Me’ from the first album released by the duo ‘Want’ and collaborating with artists s...
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- Laura Catlow - If There’s Anymore More Single Review
- The flavour of John Cooper Clarke, Sheryl Crow and touches of a chilled out Ida Maria floats around the scene that’s set by a trickling acoustic guitar slide and hollow, a little haunting percussion a la Rodrigo & Gabriela. This culminates in Laura Catlow’s latest mini-...
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The Brute Chorus - How The Caged Bird Sings Album Review- A few weeks after the release of their new single ‘Heaven’ The Brute Chorus are ready to let the world see what they’re made of with their second album: ‘How The Caged Bird Sings’. After hearing ‘Heaven’ and being pleasantly surprised at what I heard, I had some quite h...
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Holy State - Holy State EP Review- The last two years has seen a host of British bands, from Dananananaykroyd to Pulled Apart by Horses, turn up their amps to play loud post-punk with a dash of noise rock thrown in for good measure. The new EP from Leeds’ based quartet Holy State is their attempt to show...
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- Foals - Spanish Sahara Single Review
- We’ve all heard the expression ‘punching above your weight’ and it kind of refers to the situation some people find themselves in, after receiving rather more accolades and plaudits than the sum of their artistic parts suggest they should. Blackpool FC, for example. New...
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Lee Ritenour,Keb' Mo',George Benson,Steve Lukather,John Scofield,Joe Bonamassa - Six String Theory Album Review- What we have here ladies and gentlemen is a rather classy collection of guitar songs, from “Captain Fingers” Lee Ritenour. “Class” is a word I have often used with Lee’s recordings (especially 1993’s ‘Wes Bound’ – an homage to the late self-taught guitar virtuouso Wes M...
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Tweak Bird - Tweak Bird Album Review- I don't think the Hairy Bikers have ever done a show highlighting the culinary delights of Illinois, nor have they any offspring to speak of in the former Colonies. However, it would appear that their Stateside spirit is alive and kicking in the shape of the Bird brothe...
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The Brute Chorus - Heaven Single Review- The Brute Chorus are back again with this new release from their upcoming second album ‘How The Caged Bird Sings’. ‘Heaven’ makes wonderful use of lead singer James Steel’s improvised lyrics: Heaven, don’t ever think that you’ll get in, they’ll leave you standing in you...
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The New Evils - Piece of Tomorrow Album Review- At least once in their life everyone’s received a CD that they listened to once and then threw it somewhere dark to forget about, and never listened to again, that would be this album.The New Evil’s latest piece of work doesn’t spark any inspiration or love; instead wha...
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The Disguises [Australia] - Fly Close to the Ground Album Review- What is it with Australia? Go-Betweens, The Church, Allo Darlin’? The bloody country is full of talent, teeming from every orifice. The Disguises are another interesting prospect, although they do occasionally fall short on this, their debut album.In true time-honoured ...
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- Draytones,The Invasion of...,Silicon Kid - Pull up the Roots @ The Monarch - 18/8/2010 - Live Review
- For a music night with five bands playing I really wasn’t expecting much from the first band Bibelots, everyone knows the drill: usually the worse the band the earlier time slot they receive. Bibelots however pulled through on this occasion and pleasantly surprised me. ...
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Various Artists - It's Like That Album Review- Ok, what you get with this compilation is hands-in-the-air fist-pumping youthful-degenerate boom-funkin’ licks, or whatever other description the PR boys can come up with. Actually, it ain’t half bad to be fair – until I get to disc 2 and I feel the urge to crossbow my ...
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Avenged Sevenfold - Nightmare Single Review- Following the tragic loss of Jimmy ‘The Rev’ Sullivan, Avenged’s return is even more anticipated as the drummer’s final imprint will be made. So with single “Nightmare”, all eyes are on the Californian rock band with eagerness to see what direction their sound will be t...
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Mark Chadwick [Levellers] - All The Pieces Album Review- The pre-release word on Levellers frontman Mark Chadwick’s first solo album has been that while the vocals may be familiar, this is not a Levellers album. Given that Chadwick has been an integral part of the Brighton folk/rock outfit for over 20 years, both vocally and ...
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Klaxons - Echoes Single Review- Three years ago they rode off the back of new wave to give it a prog/space feel that caused stirs, sky gazing and general dance frenzies. Klaxons set out the blueprint for their follow up by merging a hazy stoner lag to their mystical, spasmodically brazen and spacey ap...
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The Debutante Hour - The Birth and Death of Meaning Album Review- The Debutante Hour are a trio of mixed Americans performing cabaret, vaudeville and burlesque-style songs laced with a spot of roots and blues and the requisite injection of extrovert and, um, fashion-sense you’d expect from across the pond. “The Birth.....” is their de...
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The Suzukis - Reasons for Leaving Single Review- From the same musical stables as The Stooges and Kasabian, comes The Suzukis from Wigan. They’re loud, uncompromising and rather bullish and aren’t afraid to ramp up the amps and scream forth like a wailing banshee. This is all very admirable but unlike, the above two g...
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