Category: Indie
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The Best Records of 2014 So Far: #2 Tom Hickox
It’s day two of The Best Records of 2014, and this one is an album that is released today. A long way removed from the blood and thunder of yesterday’s pick, Royal Blood, Tom Hickox is a singer/songwriter I have kept an eye on since I heard his single “Pretty Pride of Russia” waaaaay back…
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Midlake Joined Onstage By Gaz Coombs At Shepherd’s Bush Gig
Midlake played a terrific show on Wednesday at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire as part of their European tour in support of their latest album “Antiphon”. If Midlake has passed you by, let’s have a quick recap: Hailing from Denton, Texas, they play a harmonious brand of occasionally complex (even prog-y) folk rock. Imagine Fleet Foxes…
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Drenge – Live at The NME Award Show: The Scala
It was somehow fitting that Drenge should play their biggest headline gig so far, in the week that the country watched the Reverend Alex Turner at The Brit Awards musing in a stoned statesman-like way “That rock’n’roll, eh? That rock’n’roll, it just won’t go away. It might hibernate from time to time, sink back into…
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New Radiohead App #PolyFauna – The New Future of Gaming or A Bit Rubbish?
After Bjork released her last album Biophilia via an app, and the likes of Blur, Noel Gallagher, David Bowie and Rush all making songs available via this means, Radiohead are the latest band to embrace the medium. The new Radiohead app, or “video game” as some of my more ancient readers may prefer, was released…
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Temples – Live at Rough Trade East
With February well underway, thought it might be about time we had something new to listen to. I mean, it’s all very well digging through loads of old songs, but what about the new guys? Can’t have them playing to empty rooms just because bloggers like me are too lazy to give them a mention.…
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Are You A Music Obsessive? Check This Scientific Test: Plus A 2013 Mixtape
How much of a music fan are you? You may be pretty keen, but just how keen? I remember many years ago someone called Danny Baker’s radio show to say he had regularly sorted through Paul McCartney’s bins and pulled out a Christmas card from one of the other Beatles. What was interesting about that, aside from…
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The Every Record Tells A Story Best Albums of 2013
The votes are in *, the jury has sat **, and the die is cast ***. The Every Record Tells A Story Albums of the Year 2013 have been decided upon. And what a year it has been. Thanks to Spotify, I have been able to give insufficient thought, time and consideration to so many…
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Arcade Fire – Live At The Roundhouse: Review
THE REFLEKTORS – LIVE AT CAMDEN ROUNDHOUSE 12th NOV 2013 “Costumes or Formal Attire Mandatory” I’ll admit my heart sank just a little when I saw this email from The Reflektors – the secret name that Arcade Fire are touring under to promote their new album. It rather reeked of “organised fun”, “team building off-sites”…
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Panic Spreads As New Arcade Fire Album Rumoured To Be “Not Quite As Good As The Last One”
The music world was reeling last night after rumours spread that the forthcoming album by saviours of French-Canadian-tinged indie rock Arcade Fire might be “Almost, but not quite, as good as the last one”. The shock revelation that Arcade Fire may not have literally sprung fully formed from the loins of Zeus, but actually be…
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London Grammar – Strong First Impressions
I had an hour to kill before taking a train and a friend called to say he was going to see a band instore at Rough Trade East and did I want to join him? I said I’ll see what I can do… I’m glad I did too, because the band we saw were London…
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The Strypes – Live In London
The teenaged smart-suited boys onstage are tearing up the tiny stage with their maximum RnB sounds. Guitar, harmonica, bass, drums, no nonsense. Nods to the old blues masters and the crowd are dancing. The Rolling Stones in The Station Hotel, Richmond c1963? Dr Feelgood‘s pub rock at The Half Moon in Putney 1974? Nope. It’s…
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Drenge – Live at the St Moritz Club, Soho
The St Moritz club is named after a part of the world more normally associated with Swiss efficiency. I don’t approve. To paraphrase Orson Welles, what did 500 years of peace get Switzerland? The cuckoo clock? I can only assume the name for this venue is somewhat ironic, as the St Moritz club, Soho is…
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A Loft Discovery of 45s. Goths. Jesus And Mary Chain.
Morgan Howell’s exhibition of super-sized 7″ singles in Snap Galleries captures the magic of old 45s in a unique way. He cleverly recognises there is something quite perfect about having one song on one side of a record. It becomes the focus of attention. My brother in law just cleared out his loft and found…
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Look Out For… MGMT’s New Video: Your Life Is A Lie
MGMT has returned with a new song “Your Life Is A Lie” with an brilliant, brilliant accompanying video which features Flipper, Hall and Oates (kind of), a chorus of skeletons and – well I won’t ruin it for you… The first single from the new self titled album, “Your Life Is A Lie” appears to…
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Cassettes: A Newbies Guide For Cassette Store Day
The exciting prospect of Cassette Store Day has got many of us very excited. Just two years after I sold all my cassettes believing the format to be as relevant as a Phil Collins greatest hits laser disc, here’s a grass-roots movement to try to ensure that, like Gordon Brown selling the UK’s Gold Reserves…
Every record tells a story 