 Latest
Album Reviews |
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| Lightspeed Champion - Falling Off The Lavender Bridge | | "not every band that NME champions has to be shite" (More) |
| | Los Campesinos! - Hold On Now, Youngster... | | "It can’t be denied that Hold On Now, Youngster is fun" (More) |
| | British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music? | | "Not all British bands with guitars sound the same" (More) |
| | The Aliens - Astronomy For Dogs | | "Instead of listing all the influences just go to wikipedia and search for popular musical styles" (More) |
| | Idlewild - Make Another World | | "A band at the crossroads" (More) |
| Latest Gig Reviews |
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| Radiohead, Bat For Lashes, MGMT | | "29th June 2008 - LCCC, Manchester" (More) |
| | Half Man Half Biscuit | | "17th April 2008 - Coronation Hall, Ulverston, Cumbria" (More) |
| | Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark | | "13th May 2007 - Olympia Theater, Dublin" (More) |
| | Black Rebel Motorcycle Club | | "17th April 2007 - Wolverhampton Wulfrun Hall" (More) |
| | Paul Weller, The Charlatans, Ian Brown, Echo and the Bunnyman, Noel Gallagher | | "30th March 2007 - MEN Arena Manchester" (More) | |
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 - Recommended |
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Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Some Loud Thunder |
Voted no. 43 in the Indietron top 50 ’06 (though some insisted it was released in ’05) CYHSY return early in ’06 with their follow-up (or was it late ’05?). Still sounding very much like “Talking Heads”. I quite liked their previous offering, but I’m a bit disappointed with this one. It’s all just a bit dull really.
Try Before You Buy: I’m struggling. Maybe “Yankee Go Home”? I dunno. |
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Earlies - The Enemy Chorus |
Interesting band these guys. 2 guys from Texas hooked up with 2 guys from Burnley, and they later brought in several local Burnley musicians. There are currently something like 11 people required for the live shows. It’s an interesting blend of laid back prog rock / folk, with a bit of electronica thrown in. In addition to the electronics & guitars, they quite often use traditional instruments, such as piano, woodwind, violins etc, so you get some really atmospheric tracks. They skirt dangerously close to Clannad at times, but just about manage to steer clear.
Try Before You Buy: Enemy Chorus, The Ground We Walk On. |
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Field Music - Tones Of Town |
Not to be confused with “Fields”. Nasty distortion, terrible hissing and horrible buzzing sounds. That’s not the music, that’s the quality of the tracks on the second half of the album! Come on Napster! Now you’ve sold your soul to the devil, you could at least provide decent quality recordings for your paying subscribers! Anyway, Field Music…the half of the album I did hear was actually quite nice, twee 60s/70s pop. A bit like Belle & Sebastian, but less dull. Beautiful chill-out tunes to detox those Christmas excesses. I will hopefully do a full review when Napster get their act together.
Try Before You Buy: Tones of Town |
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Gruff Rhys - Candylion |
A rather splendid solo effort from the Super Furry Animals front man. As you’d expect, it’s not a million miles away from SFA, but it is ever so slightly different. More acoustic action and less electronic twiddlings, and because it’s a solo side-project, there is the odd experimental bit, with a recurring theme of terror.The final track for example is a 15 minute “story” about a flight on a hijacked plane. Generally though, it’s lovely, laid-back, melodic, chill-out stuff, sung in mainly English but with a bit of Welsh & Spanish. If you’re a fan of SFA or Flaming Lips, give this a listen.
Try Before You Buy: The Court of King Arthur, Gyrru Gyrru Gyrru |
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Jamie T - Panic Prevention |
I don’t really know a lot about Jamie T and naturally assumed he was a mainstream pop crooner like James Blunt. I was wrong. He’s a cross between posh mummy’s boy Tom Vek, white trash rockabilly Dan Sartain & inner city rude boy Plan B. When he gets it right, it’s quite good, but when he gets it wrong it’s laughable. His “white boy talking black” starts to grate a bit after awhile.
Try Before You Buy: Salvador |
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Klaxons - Myths Of The Near Future |
More of that there made-up “Indie Rave” music. I’ve quite liked some of the singles, and they always sound great at Indietron Nights, but a whole albums worth is a step too far for me. You definitely have to be in the right mood for it, which is basically when you are out & about, doing your rave-on thang.
Try Before You Buy: Golden Skans, Totem On The Timeline, Magick |
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Little Man Tate - About What You Know |
Another band from Sheffield that sound like Arctic Monkeys (albeit slightly rockier & raunchier), but these guys also have the stupidity of Art Brut thrown in for free. Unashamedly laddish to the point of being cringe-worthy. If you hate the Arctics, don’t bother with these, you’ll hate them even more. One decent song on the album. The rest just make me want to puke & punch someone.
Try Before You Buy: House Party At Boothy’s |
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The Good, The Bad & The Queen - s/t |
I like Damon Allbran. I loved Blur. I quite like some of that Gorrilaz stuff, and I really really like this. It’s not what I expected though (but to be fair, I don’t really know what I was expecting, I just know it wasn’t this). It’s really laid-back, acoustic, downbeat, almost depressing, but you just can’t help but get pulled in by the beautiful melodies. Sometimes I find this type of album a bit dull and so end up skipping through parts of it. I don’t have that problem here. It’s top stuff.
Try Before You Buy: Kingdom of Doom, Nature Springs |
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The Hold Steady - Boys & Girls In America |
I loved last album "Separation Sunday". It was one of those albums you either loved or hated. I think this one will appeal more in the middle ground. It’s what I like to call “Good Old Fashioned Rock ‘n’ Roll With a Bit Of Country Thrown In”, or GOFR’n’RWaBOCTI (pronounced “gofran rower bokty”. Snappy isn’t it? Expect to see it listed as a new genre in NME soon. Anyway, similarly to Separation Sunday, the machine gun vocal delivery is still there, as are the religious references. What’s missing though are the standout tracks, of which there were loads on the last album. It’s good, but it’s not outstanding.
Try Before You Buy: Chips Ahoy!, Massive Night |
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The Shins - Wincing The Night Away |
If The Smiths married The Beach Boys, but The Smiths had an affair with The La’s and got pregnant, but then didn’t tell The Beach Boys so that the child was brought up as their own, this would be that child. Looks like it’s mum, has it’s dad’s traits, but where the hell has that ginger hair come from? They are the Prince Harry of the Indie world. Musically, this is lovely stuff. A good mix of laid-back melodies & livelier numbers.
Try Before You Buy: Phantom Limb, Turn On Me |
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The View - Hats Off To The Buskers |
Released in a hail of marketing. These boys from Dundee have been hyped & hyped again, being built up to be this years Arctic Monkeys. The album has a few nice moments (“Superstar Tradesman”, “Wasted Little DJ’s” & “Streetlights”), but in general, just another Arctic Monkeys / Libertines clone. If you liked the singles, just buy those. Don’t waste your money on a whole albums worth.
Try Before You Buy: Wasted Little DJ’s, Streetlights |
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