Music
Album Review: Michael Kiwanuka – Love & Hate review
I was immediately intrigued when I first heard Michael Kiwanuka. That feeling of intrigue later changed to one of being deeply impressed when I saw him live for the first time at Splendour in the Grass in the winter of 2012. There’s a lot to like about the guy – he writes his own sad …
Compilation – On-U Sound presents: Sherwood At The Controls Volume 2: 1985 – 1990
Okey dokey, Adrian Sherwood is back with the follow up to the first Sherwood at the controls this time hitting from ’85 to ’90. Electro, Industrial, Noise, Hip-Hop, Afrobeat and Dub. This time up we get five unreleased tracks plus four tracks previously only available on vinyl, sleeve notes and the usual goodies, so lets have a stroll …
Premiere: Quiet Type – Times are strange
Quiet Type, aka Portland indie pop duo Lee Barbara & Bobby Seus, have spent the last two years put writing, recording, producing and funding their first full-length record. Describing the process as being “an intense journey, fraught with unexpected twists and turns” they’ve finally made it and have announced that the record is available to …
Classic Album: Motorhead – No Sleep ‘Til Hammersmith
Black clad, rickenbecker-bass wielding, rock and roll enthusiast Lemmy spent much of his post-Hawkwind career fronting Motorhead, a band that could play a range of slow, medium and fast-paced numbers, as long as they were loud. No Sleep ‘Til Hammersmith was a well-received live album which cast a long, often mutton-chopped shadow over the band’s …
Meet: The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer
Vancouver duo The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer are fresh from a handful of European dates, in support of their recent record Don’t Make ‘Em Like They Used To. Although the name suggests something of the extremes (I had dutch happy hardcore, or Swedish death metal in mind) they actually make this rather intoxicating mix …
Classic Album (Glastonbury 2016 Special Pt4): Coldplay – Viva la Vida
Has there been any other band that have endured such a prolonged kicking by the cool kids as Coldplay over the last decade? On one hand, they are a hugely popular, continent-straddling, stadium-filling, radio-friendly rock band with a social conscious. Millions around the globe adore their music and whatever they do in the next few …
Not Forgotten (Glastonbury 2016 Special Pt3): Electric Light Orchestra – Eldorado
The clue is in the name. Electric Light Orchestra. The brainchild of Jeff Lynne and fellow Brummie and future Wizzard Roy Wood, they had initially started out as sideshoot of Sixties popsters The Move. They got off to a good start too, with debut single “10538 Overture” becoming a top ten single, however their self-titled …
Album Review: Swans – The Glowing Man
SWANS have one of the most intriguing discographies in music and with front man Michael Gira recently announcing that The Glowing Man would be the last for this incarnation of the band, it makes it a pivotal part of the history. So after the seminal To Be Kind, does The Glowing Man act as a …
Album Review: Ladyhawke – Wild Things
Ladyhawke is back and celebrating life with an album as sugar-coated and colourful as a pack of party ring biscuits. Ladyhawke, aka New Zealand songstress Pip Brown, has gone all synthesised on us with third album ‘Wild Things’ (out now via Mid Century Records). Her self-titled debut album was a delicious slice of indie pop …
Classic Album (Glastonbury 2016 Special Pt2): Adele – 19
Adele, that icon of modern popular song, seems to be quite a divisive character. While she has an undoubtedly splendid voice, she has attracted a fair amount of criticism for her writing, nowhere more so than here on her debut album. Consider this though, this debut was released when she was 19 years old right? …