Features
Feature: Britpop – A music fan remembers…
I don’t know when I became aware of Britpop as a ‘scene’. In late 1994 I had read a few articles on a hotly-tipped band called Suede, and then watching Top of the Pops one Thursday evening it featured a band called Blur playing a slightly annoying song called “Girls and Boys”. Personally I was …
Feature: Darker Sound – Helltrash
Helltrash is the scuzzy and sleazy industrial metal project of Vlixx Vaden. Whilst Vlixx is joined by several others for liveshows, Helltrash is in essence Vlixx (in the same way NIN is Trent Reznor). Blending chunky chugging riffs with pulsating synth beats, samples and Vlixx’s intense filtered vocals. Helltrash are a musical tour de force. …
Feature: Denmark’s El Paraiso Records
It seems that Denmark is much cooler than I ever thought possible. The reason for this newfound revelation? El Paraiso Records. El Paraiso is a Danish record company run by Jonas Munk and Jakob Skott. These two fellows are in the incredible band Causa Sui, as well as putting out stellar records under their own …
Feature: Seeing Black Circles :: Confessions of a Music Junkie
It’s usually this time of year when I really start to think about my obsession. It’s not something I’m necessarily proud of, but it’s not something I’m ashamed of either. It’s not an obsession that will land me in rehab, jail, or divorce court. There’s no lurid tales of back alley smack shooting, or maxing …
Feature: A dozen reasons to See The Blue Aeroplanes December Tour (Playlist)
My daughter brought home some maths homework that really didn’t make any sense to me. I wondered if it was just me, but the more people I showed this homework to, the more people who were confused and baffled by it. There just seemed to be something wrong with the whole thing. The often feel …
Feature: 5 reasons to buy the forthcoming Gene album reissues
It all happened quite by accident for Gene, who, when they started were going about things quite happily as Sp!n, releasing a couple of single as an album on the Foundation label. But singer Lee Clark felt he was too old, and the following day the band had a serious accident and band member John …
Feature: Okay, now I REALLY want to see Atoms For Peace live…
It’s not like I didn’t want to see them live before, but after watching them play on The Daily Show I have become a devout fan. Amok I believe will end up being one of my very favorite albums this year. I knew this would be the case after living with that record for a …
Feature: LCD Soundsystem – James Murphy Is Playing At My House
Last night I finally watched LCD Soundsystem’s swan song live documentary Shut Up And Play The Hits. While it didn’t move me quite like I’d hoped it would(an 8 year old punching couch cushions pretending to be a member of the Justice League throughout the film didn’t help…in my living room, not the movie itself), …
Feature: Bella Union’s world domination plan running to schedule; a Tramlines perspective
TWENTY YEARS AGO, as the Cocteau Twins conceived the idea of self-releasing as an antidote to the sting of broken relationships with record labels, little could they have imagined the hugely successful and fashionable beast it would become. Simon Raymonde, the band’s former bassist, has now been running Bella Union for over fifteen years, and …
Preview: Ten bands to see at Tramlines Festival, this weekend 19th – 21st July
One of the best things I discovered when I moved to Sheffield was Tramlines. I’d never really heard of it (it was, to be fair, in its infancy then) but now it’s returning, this next weekend for its fifth and biggest year. Last year saw 80,000 turn the city centre into a huge (family) friendly …