Indie
New Music: Blessa – Between Times
The American poet John Ashbery once said “Most reckless things are beautiful in some way, and recklessness is what makes experimental art beautiful, just as religions are beautiful because of the strong possibilities that they are founded on nothing.” Sometimes, the things people say, whether or not you agree with everything in it or not, …
Track: Pete Fij / Terry Bickers – Downsizing
I’ve tried to write songs, with no success at all. I can play music all right, but every time I try and write songs, they sound, at best, faintly embarrassing. So I have the utmost respect for those who carve a career in this most mysterious of skills (to me at least). It seems like …
See: Cold War Kids new video for Tuxedo
I’m not like Cold War Kids. I go days without noticing messages my wife has left me around the house, you know the sort of thing, Can you make sure there’s a babysitter for so and so, or we need more milk – that sort of thing. Or I see this new shop that’s opened …
Album Review: Sleigh Bells – Bitter Rivals
Far from being bitter rivals, Sleigh Bells third album actually shows they may be working towards more equality. The Brooklyn duo, singer Alexis Krauss and guitarist Derek Miller met when he served her and her mother at a restaurant. According to legend (admittedly not the most famous of legends, but a legend none the less) …
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 …
NOT FORGOTTEN – PULP – WE LOVE LIFE
Of the Brit-pop bands Pulp were something of an anomaly because they had been around in one form or another since 1978 and had gained acceptance the hard way over fifteen years, rather than being the overnight sensations that so many other big bands of the era were. Jarvis Cocker was a perfect anti-star, a …
See: White Lies release First Time Caller Video
I once was sat at the side of the Royal Albert Hall, waiting to play a concert there (I know, and I apologise for the name dropping, but it’s part of the story) as two conductors were arguing over the seating plan. If I remember rightly it was for a concert in the Proms series …
News: Dead Leaf Echo announce US Tour Dates
The celebrated American Poet Robert Frost noted that “There are two kinds of teachers: the kind that fill you with so much quail shot that you can’t move, and the kind that just gives you a little prod behind and you jump to the skies.” To be fair to most teachers these days, quail shot …
See: Seabirds reveal new video for Real Tears
I been to Nottingham a lot. I even used to work there actually, in a lace factory. Lace is one of the things that the city is well-known for, along with having a couple of football teams, the River Trent, and Robin Hood. Or at least Sherwood Forest anyway.Boots the chemist was formed there, by …
NOT FORGOTTEN – HALF MAN HALF BISCUIT – THIS LEADEN PALL
With references to long distance haulage companies, pear drops and heavy metal groups of the 80s, it’s no surprise that lyrical diversity is a strength of This Leaden Pall. What is perhaps a little more surprising is all these references are squeezed into the opening number… Welcome to the obscure, unique, and yes, occasionally downright …