New Single: Amber – Heaven
It must be cos they’re young. And that I am beginning to get middle-aged. I mean, I was interviewing some people at work a week or so ago and in an unwary moment described the 22-year-old applicants as ‘kids’. Well Amber are that fresh-faced and we’ve already featured them three times. They put themselves about …
Album Review: The Provincial Archive – Maybe We Could Be Holy
“We hope for a warmer November But we’re changing with the air It’ll be colder soon And we’ll be in the darkness through the daytime Waiting for phone-calls from your shaking voices” Such a sad autumn, young as it is. I can’t and won’t explain the sadness. There are many things that have helped to …
Into The Woods with Kathleen Lolley
editing by Nick Pett words and interview by Su Ciampa About a decade ago, my friend Courtney, whom I met while living in a New York City women’s hotel run by Nuns, introduced me to the work of American artist Kathleen Lolley. Courtney met the artist at a gallery event that Lolley curated at Camp …
Burning Condors – Last Train Home b/w Gambling Hearts
“Coz every night I’m out with you I’m always chasing that train home” I guess it doesn’t matter where you live – even though this IS, and feels like, a London thing; we’ve all been there, pissed as farts, sodden with autumn rain, fags all wet, pubs shut, no money for expensive clubs, the hideous …
Video of the Day: Little Death Machine – Velvet Skin
In early September we brought you the smack-in-the-face first single from London’s Little Death Machine. Following on from the attention-grabbing simplicity of the “Hit Me” light show comes “Velvet Skin” a disturbing black and white horror story. Our music-makers Daniel and Clare are blindfolded and bound, kept prisoner in a sparsely-furnished flat in a dilapidated …
New Music: Eli Lieb’s cover of “Wrecking Ball”
*please note: the by-line for this article is ERRONEOUS. This piece is by Su Ciampa* A little over a week ago, American singer/songwriter Eli Lieb released a video of himself covering “Wrecking Ball,” Miley Cyrus’ current chart topper, on YouTube. Since then, it has racked up some 800,000 views. Stripped down in the tradition …
Black Rooster Black Shag – Amsterdam
They come on like a sexed-up, city-dwelling Campbell & Lanegan; the modern, urban cousins of that gothic, reeking-of-myths-and-folk-tales duo. They describe themselves as rock’n’roll noir, broadcasting from Hove, and international in origin (Mirika – NZ/Canada, JJ Symon – Britain/Australia). There’s something Blues in “Amsterdam”‘s sensibility – the power of expression and feeling gained by lyrics …
New Music: The Hics, Little Death Machine, Steve Rich & The Hills
Rounding up some new sounds for you, first we have The Hics, a band manufactured in one of my old stomping grounds – the music factory that is… Pimlico, south London. This six-piece met taking the classical/jazz course at the quirkily-shaped Pimlico School and they release their first EP, “Tangle”, today on SQE. Mellifluous instrumentation …
Carnabells – The Ramshackle Rattle EP
Until I met my wife, I’d never heard of skiffle. To me, Lonnie Donegan was a weird name that cropped up with disconcerting regularity in the Mojo crossword. I first heard “Rock Island Line” when her Uncle Joe unleashed it on stage at a dinner dance. From there it has been a slow introduction to …
Vandetta – Ground Zero
It is an impressive feat, to have constructed a song using sampled and manipulated versions of your own vocals. As with earlier single ‘Fly’, singer Vanessa Fernandez has built this track organically and that approach extends to the whole of her forthcoming EP. Formerly part of twosome Octover, from Singapore, she will release the full “Vendetta …