Music
ALBUM REVIEW – NEKO CASE – THE WORSE THINGS GET, THE HARDER I FIGHT, THE HARDER I FIGHT, THE MORE I LOVE YOU
Its her voice that strikes you at first. It’s a clear voice, an honest voice, a strong voice. A voice that’s compelling whether you like alternative country music or not. The first song I heard her sing was “Margaret Vs. Pauline”, the stunning opener to her gorgeous Fox Confessor Brings the Flood album and since …
Meet: The Kitchens of Distinction, and news of their new album
Sometimes you have your head turned. By money, by people you find attractive, by a job offer. For me it was much more simplistic. It was by records. So when I saw something made by the impossibly named Kitchens of Distinction (named, unsurprisingly I suppose on thinking about it) after a shop the band drove …
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 …
Not Forgotten: XTC – Nonsuch
In the latter half of the 80s the combined successes of Skylarking and Oranges & Lemons had saved XTC and they had re-established themselves as mature and intelligent pop-rockers that could appeal to all ages. The conceptual grandeur of Skylarking had initially been a commercial failure, but a freak hit on American College Radio with …
See: Fallulah – Out of it Video
Part of growing up is the inevitable invites to dinner parties. I try, as much as I can to avoid them. The strained conversation, usually about a mutually convenient, middle of the road topic, such as the weather, the fact footballers get paid too much, the school your children go to…. Although sometimes you’re lucky, …
See: Savages announce tour details
Savages. You had us with your darkly brilliant debut album. All that post-punk Magazine and Gang of Four type stuff, dragged into the modern, and given that feminine touch. Somehow it seemed somewhat cooler, somewhat darker that their predecessors. Certainly it got us and a lot of other observers excited about it. Savages themselves formed …
Track: Blood Sport release new track Palomar, plus album news
When I came to Sheffield, I got told that people had said it was the largest village in the country. This (for those that don’t know) is one of the biggest cities in the country. Rubbish I thought on arriving here, but since then I have found it to be one of my favourite cities …
Album Review: Franz Ferdinand-Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action
How many of you like me were enamored with Franz Ferdinand back in 2004? It’s hard to describe, but something about that debut album lit a post-punk fuse in me. I’d just begun listening to Gang of Four and had dabbled in The Jam as well. These cats were just the right modern take on …
See: Editors reveal new video for Formaldehyde, plus November tour news
Sometimes, as much as I love music, the way things look is the thing that makes them beautiful. When I was at University I had a poster of (this might seem a little sad) Edvard Munch‘s The Scream. To me it was scary and comical and cool and meaningful and, well, just brilliant. He himself …
Album Review: White Hills-So You Are…So You’ll Be
White Hills are one of those bands that are pretty much fearless. They’ve run the gamut on their records over the years from Sabbath gut busters to spaced-out Hawkwind to Tangerine Dream-esque ambient interludes. And the crazy thing is that they can pull them all off quite well. Their 2010 double album H-p1 seems to have …