Rome, 24th February
The Leicester lads came back to Italy, after a successful gig in November, playing two sold-out dates, eagerly awaited by their Italian fans.
I was in Rome to see the first date and it was mega, as usual.
I was a bit reluctant because the sound of Atlantico used to disappoint me, there are loads of reverbs, audio feedbacks and it sounds like a metallic shed, but in this case Kasabian’s sound engineer made a very good job, if you [...]
A triumphant return for Pete Yorn, with his new single Sans Fear forecasting his coming album.
Sans Fear seems like a self-imperative hymn tune, repeated for minutes through a nasty guitar opening the first of two tracks, filled to the brim with Frank Black’s offish genius, and a chanting voice repeating I can never change you, I can only change my view. And my eyes are open, I wish yours could be open too, but something, something, something won’t [...]
Ever heard a classical piece and thought: “this needs added glitch”? Well, Black Market Serotonin have beat you to it, and not only created some beastly yet emphatically melodic riffs drenched in computerised buzz, but hybridised it with punk rock bile and a sense of the adventurous on their EP, ‘DeadByFiveOClock’, the quality of which excuses the fact that some appears to have lost the space bar.
Seething opener ‘DeadByFiveOClock’ is a five-minute thrill ride that takes Mozart and Slash in [...]
Oh Yellowcard how I’ve missed you! “When You’re Through Thinking, Say Yes” has been a long time coming but trust me when I say that it has been well worth the wait. This release marks the band’s return in emphatic style managing to echo their past work at the same time as sounding remarkably fresh.
When Yellowcard first burst onto the scene they were chastised for the use of a violin within a genre that tends to tie itself to a [...]
Once in a while an EP lands in your inbox which takes your breath away and all you want to do is write about it; ‘Tumble Down’ the debut from Marcus Foster is one of those rare gems that did just that. It takes a lot to enthuse a writer; we receive so much dross that sometimes the good stuff just gets lost in with the bubble-gum that’s only interested in a perfect rhyme scheme. However, ‘Tumble Down’ just leaps [...]
Indie rockers LEIKA dig deep into their musical memory to shine through the cream of contemporary composers with four tracks of cleverly interwoven, futuristic yet iconic alt-rock that showcase what is to be expected of their debut long-player – ‘Space on Tuesday’ (set for release on March 7th ).
London-based LEIKA, a band described by industry experts as the missing link between the Buzzcocks and Talking Heads have produced an album that is unashamedly catchy and radio-friendly yet as original and [...]
The latest effort from uber hip label Kitsuné promises the essence of Paris on this relatively short album and it certainly delivers. The best thing about Kitsuné compilations is that even if you don’t fall in love with every track, there will almost certainly be one that will speak to you. It is interesting that the language barrier doesn’t seem to matter on this album; lyrically I couldn’t understand some of the songs even a little but one I still [...]
Goodness I have missed Candie Payne and it takes less than twenty seconds for me to remember everything about her that made me fall in love in the first place. The contrast between the warm tone of her vocals to the electro backing elevate the track so that it is indistinguishable from anything else about at the minute. Yet one listen to “Are You One?” will only make you wonder why no one else is making music like this; the [...]
Sacramento two piece Middle Class Rut are in possession of the greatest song title in the known universe. That song title is Busy Bein’ Born and it sums up their manifesto in three words, it’s catchy, its succinct, it’s sexy and the tune it’s strapped to is absolutely monumental, Introducing what simply has to be one of the debut albums of the year. Yeah, you heard me Ellie Goulding…
Knocking around since 2006, MC Rut made a name for themselves pretty [...]
At the risk of sacrificing any journalistic integrity I may have had, I am an atheist. A committed atheist at that. You, dear reader, might be wondering why this is an issue, but all of Anberlin are equally committed Christians, have played in Christian rock bands prior to playing in Anberlin and are signed to Tooth and Nail records, a subsidiary of the EMI Christian music group. So it is quite hard to separate faith from music for this particular [...]
Having never heard of Younger Brother, I’m not entirely sure what I expected when I listened to their ‘Night Lead Me Astray’ EP but whatever I thought I didn’t think that it would be anywhere near this good. Opening track ‘Night Lead Me Astray’ sounds like a band who are selling out stadiums rather than anyone who could have just slipped through the net. The sound is understated at the same time as being anthemic, beautifully delicate at the same [...]
‘On Ebay’ is one of those strange songs that you know that you should like but are left feeling a little bit like you have been short changed. The vibe is mellow which is in contrast to the huge sounding production of the track and although there is nothing offensive here, there is equally nothing that makes the track memorable. There is something interesting with an intermittent almost spaghetti western sounding instrumental, it is just a shame that the vocal [...]
Fans of intelligent, arty and dynamic indie-rock are in for a treat as Oxford pioneers Spring Offensive unveil that their near 14-minute long track, ‘The First Of Many Dreams About Monsters’ will be available for free download from today onwards.
What BBC 6 Music describe as ‘a mega-single’, Spring Offensive’s intelligently crafted, inspiringly creative and often intricately complex new release is totally unique in its conceptual identity. The impetus for the record came from On Death and Dying, a book [...]
And so the quest for the name that gives the least clues to musical style continues with Tweak Bird’s self-titled offering. You would be forgiven for assuming that Tweak Bird are another twee indie-folk wittering, but this could not be further from the truth. Right from the first granite-hard riff of album opener ‘The Future’, Tweak Bird are a distortion-pedal stoner metal band of a very high order, as every possible riff grinds and pounds to the rhythms of driving [...]
Richard Ashcroft comes back with a new solo album, supported by United Nations of Sound, a group of top American soul players.
It’s not an easy album, it contains a lot of religious references, Richard seems to be affected by a mystic crisis.
In doing the album, Richard Ashcroft couldn’t be better supported: recorded in Los Angeles, New York and London, the album was produced by Chicago hip-hop pioneer No ID (Common, Jay-Z), string arrangements are by Benjamin Wright, the man responsible [...]
