Music
Live Review: PiL – Manchester, 19.09.2015 + Gallery
A rather nonchalant Mr Lydon, stridently bimbles his way to the front, and a minor eruption occurs in front of him. Amongst the welcoming cheers and raised arms, plastic pint pots are launched skyward and a rain of beer falls on our heads. Seems quite befitting the occasion, and apart from one punter who cops …
Album Review: Youth Lagoon – Savage Hills Ballroom
Trevor Powers has the kind of fragility in his voice that when you hear it you feel at any time during a song he may just disappear into thin air. A pin hole leak in a balloon that slowly releases air into the world. Any kind of pressure or pushing will cause a bevy of …
Peter Hook And The Light, Picturedrome, Holmfirth, 19.09.2015
Poised to commence his legal action against The Other Three, Peter Hook bestrides the legacies of two seminal bands like some kind of a COLOSSUS; Joy Division and New Order. Tonight, it’s “Imperial”-period New Order and he’s playing their mid eighties albums “Low-life” and “Brotherhood.” For reasons that I won’t bore you with, I missed …
Track: Gwenno – Chwyldro (Andrew Weatherall Remix)
On his remix of Gwenno’s album opener Chwyldro, Andrew Weatherall adds his lightest magic touch to an already spellbinding track. Chwyldro is the first track on Gwenno Saunders’ debut solo album Y Dydd Olaf (named for Welsh author Owain Owain’s 1976 sci-fi novel). Sung almost entirely in her native Welsh tongue (one song is sung …
Track: Fine, It’s Pink – Young Burns
I wonder how many successful bands have been formed in karaoke bars. I can’t believe it’s many. But that’s exactly where Fine, It’s Pink started life in Romania in 2013 and now they’re releasing their debut single Young Burns (out on 25 September). It’s hard to believe they’ve gone from being a covers band to …
Track: Maybug – Out to Sea
While the title of Maybug’s latest single conjures up feelings of being carried away from safety into a vast and alien environment, Out To Sea is actually the musical equivalent of getting into the comfort of a deep, warm bath. Bristol based singer-songwriter Joseph Dunn is Maybug and this is the first single from his …
Album review: RHODES – Wishes
A few years ago whilst looking through the Glastonbury line-up, trying to decide which acts to see and which I’d have to miss, I stumbled across a little known singer-songwriter called Ed Sheeran. He was playing numerous times over the weekend on various tiny stages. I remembered the name because his song ‘The A Team’ …
Meet: Kami Thompson from The Rails
Folk rockers The Rails are husband wife team James Walbourne and Kami Thompson who are back on the road promoting their critically acclaimed debut album Fair Warning. If Kami’s surname seems familiar it’s because she is the daughter of folk rock pioneers Richard and Linda Thompson who produced six classic albums before splitting up. Hopefully …
Album Review: Toe – Hear You
Ever get fed up of your music collection? Tire of all the usual indie guitars and house beats? Well maybe you need something completely different. Something unlike anything else you have been listening to. Keep reading. ‘Hear You’ is the new album from Japanese math-rockers Toe, released on Topshelf Records. It is predominantly an instrumental …
Not Forgotten: Ben Folds Five – Whatever and Ever Amen
Popular opinion would have us believe that most acts find their second albums much more problematic than their debuts. In some ways this is understandable as the material on debuts is generally years in the making, having been honed and perfected in the years of hard gigging and demo recordings that inevitably happen before band …