On a day when that august (and indeed August) celebration of the best albums of the year, the Mercury Prize nominations list, was released, a small part of Southend-on-Sea was showing what a bit of DIY spirit and grit and… Read More ›
Indie
Parquet Courts – Human Performance at Rough Trade East
It was in the sedate-sounding surroundings of The University of North Texas at a record listening club that one of New York’s noisiest exports was first spawned. Andrew Savage was the host at the grandly titled “Knights of the Round… Read More ›
How Cambridge Punks Inspired The White Stripes. Meet The Fire Dept.
It’s funny what you unearth sometimes in the most unlikely places. I was checking through the list of artists that have recorded “You Left The Water Running” for this series of articles. In between all the R&B stars from Detroit… Read More ›
Sweet Billy Pilgrim Reveal Brilliant New Songs. Audience Breathes Collective Sigh Of Relief.
Sweet Billy Pilgrim, as regular readers will attest, are a band worthy of much attention, but are – unfathomably – not yet at the stage where stadia and arenas sponsored by phone companies and chewing gum manufacturers are pleading… Read More ›
Why You Should Hear Drenge’s New Album, Undertow
It’s easy to get complacent sometimes. It starts with a War On Drugs album. It has a bit of guitar, you’re a little uncomfortable that it sounds a lot like that Don Henley record from the eighties or Dire Straits,… Read More ›
Why You Should Hear The New Courtney Barnett LP…
2015 looks like being a big year for Australian singer songwriter Courtney Barnett, with her laconic, grungy, stream-of-consciousness style attracting strong reviews with debut album “Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit”. Barnett brought a three piece… Read More ›
Irrefutable Facts About Two Piece Bands – Plus Hear Two New Songs By Drenge
Adding a third person to a two-piece isn’t always a smooth transition. The day Brad Pitt tentatively sidled up to Jennifer Aniston and suggested that the addition of Angelina Jolie might, in some ways, add to the fun they were… Read More ›
Want To Host A Gig At Your Home? Sweet Billy Pilgrim Can Make It Happen With New Album
The music industry might be on it’s last legs, resembling something that has been dragged backwards through a hedge in a particularly unsavoury part of town, but it isn’t all bad news. If there is a silver lining, it… Read More ›
The Best Records of 2015 So Far #3: Natalie Prass
Rock n roll may never die, but there’s a time and a place for the more extreme varieties. Not every wedding party dance floor, to take one example, would find itself filled were a DJ to “drop” Slayer’s “Angel of… Read More ›
The Best Records of 2015 So Far #2: Ash – Cocoon
Here at ERTAS Towers, the ’96 Dom Perignon* has been rested on ice and the chubbiest of our calves is now looking distinctly regretful about having that extra bag of oats, whilst the other, thinner, calves frolic around the field… Read More ›
The Best Records of 2015 So Far #1: Asylums
Every now and then I get to hear a new record that really stands out from the crowd and brings me to the sort of heightened state of alert that you would normally only see at the Criminal Records Bureau… Read More ›
Josh Tillman is a Rock Star: Father John Misty, Live at the Village Underground, East London
Don’t you just love it when you go to a gig that is so much better than you ever expected it would be? Father John Misty played an incredible show at The Village Underground in Shoreditch last night. Even… Read More ›
Pond Play Rough Trade East to Launch New LP, “Man It Feels Like Space Again”
Pond played live in London today, in a packed Rough Trade East. Where reasons for delaying the start of a gig are concerned, Pond can now claim to be world class. Axl Rose? A mere amateur excuse-maker compared to Pond,… Read More ›
Which Is The Best White Stripes Live Album? And How Much Does It Cost?
You don’t need to take out a second mortgage to hear the best White Stripes live shows… The Jack White collectables range is getting ever bigger. In the month that Topps announced the release of a Jack White Baseball Card,… Read More ›
The Charlatans Debut Songs From New Album Modern Nature At Rough Trade East
It’s a good thing that Tim Burgess is such a positive, likeable frontman. His band, The Charlatans has experienced great highs, including three number one hit albums, and – whether by design or chance – was an integral part of… Read More ›
Every record tells a story 