Category: Indie
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Why Comebacks Are Always A Good Idea*: Bowie, Blur and Even Aerosmith
Blur guitarist Graham Coxon made a startling confession on Twitter the other day. Following the release of David Bowie’s comeback single Where Are We Now? (to a hail of publicity only matched by Tesco’s foray into selling burgers made of horse-meat) Coxon revealed he had listened to Bowie (properly) for the first time. Coxon’s Twitter…
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Sound of 2013: Your New Favourite Bands
New Music Acts for 2013: The Sound of 2013 There’s no doubt that 2012 was a fantastic year for music. From Gentle Whale’s sophomore effort to the amazing debut by Ginster Pye, both of which appeared on almost every end-of-year list, there has been much to admire. Could 2013 possibly get close? It would appear…
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Jack White: The Lightning Bolt of Inspiration That Is Blunderbuss
Jack White‘s Blunderbuss was one of my Records of The Year in 2012. I was therefore pleased to receive an early Christmas present this morning: a little parcel from Third Man Records. For the princely sum of twenty American dollars I picked up a nice copy of his solo album Blunderbuss – something I had…
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The Top Ten Records of 2012
The Ten Best records of 2012? Growing up in the eighties, you didn’t hear much about end of year best-of lists, but now, like reality TV shows featuring people I have never heard of, they appear to be everywhere. It almost seems rude not to nail my colours to the mast and tell you what…
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Beck’s New Album Song Reader Gets UK Premiere
Have you heard the new Beck album Songreader? If you are taking a stroll through Leigh on Sea this weekend, and you hear the sound of some cats being strangled, don’t call the police straight away. It may just be me playing the new Beck album. Wait: that sounds bad. What I mean is, it’ll…
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Tom Hickox, Jake Bugg, Tom McRae: It’s Singer-Songwriter Time!
I have found a most beautiful song. It’s by a singer songwriter called Tom Hickox. The song is called The Pretty Pride of Russia, and you can hear the song and watch a most affecting and sweet (and at the same time dark, cynical and slightly strange!) video that goes with it perfectly at the…
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Destroyer: Live at The Village Underground
Destroyer played The Village Underground last night to support their Kaputt album. Reason I’m not cool #349 When a friend offered me the chance to see Destroyer, my mind immediately conjured up the cover of the classic Kiss album. Four cartoon clown-faced rock heroes striding boldly out of Detroit Rock City looking for merchandising opportunities.…
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Spiritualized – Live At The Camden Roundhouse
Jason Pierce and his band Spiritualized played The Camden Roundhouse last night. Reason I’m not cool #348: Despite Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space being the NME Album of 1997 (beating Radiohead’s OK Computer no less) I had always avoided Spiritualized like the plague. The reason for this rather odd situation is that…
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Mystery Jets’ Will Rees Talks About Radlands, Party Bags and Rod Stewart’s Trousers – Exclusive Interview
At Jack Daniels’ recent Mr Jack’s Birthday shows in Castleton I was given the opportunity to interview Will Rees, guitarist with The Mystery Jets. Their 2012 album Radlands is one of my favourite records of the year so far so it was great to get the chance to find out the story behind the album….…
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Cowbell – Live at the Lexington, N1
Having raved about Stoke Newington garage rockers Cowbell following the release of their single Tallulah, I braved the muesli-and-vegetarian-infested Islington scene and found its finest music venue / boozer The Lexington on Wednesday night to see the band play live. A decent old pub with an upstairs area for bands, The Lexington was a perfect…
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How I Learned To Love Radiohead – Live At The O2 Arena
In many ways, writing a Radiohead concert review is somewhat redundant. What do you want to know about last night’s O2 Arena show ? That they were mesmeric? That they played two songs each from OK Computer and The Bends? (Airbag, Street Spirit, Paranoid Android and Planet Telex)… Strangely enough last night was my first…
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Palma Violets: Mr Jack’s Birthday Show Live at The Leadmill, Sheffield
“The best new band in Britain” screams the NME’s front cover this week which features a chaotic interview with Palma Violets – a South London four piece who played a secret show at Sheffield’s Leadmill last night as part of Mr Jack’s birthday celebrations. The article is great fun, as the band explain: How they live…
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Mystery Jets Live at Mr Jack’s Birthday Show
The Mystery Jets supported The Vaccines at the Jack Daniels Mr Jack birthday shows at The Devil’s Arse in the Peak District last night and nearly stole the show. The Mystery Jets are a band I haven’t seen since 2006, when they were a fresh faced bunch from Eel Pie Island mainly notable for their…
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The Vaccines, Mystery Jets, and Tribes at Mr. Jack’s Birthday
The Vaccines headlined a special show last night – at The Devil’s Arse Cave in the beautiful Peak District as part of Mr Jack’s (of Jack Daniels) Birthday Celebrations. It has been quite a couple of years for The Vaccines. Their rise must have seemed pretty meteoric when they played Later…With Jools Holland before they…
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Why Cowbell Should Be Your New Favourite Band: Exclusive Interview
Isn’t it great when you hear a new song that reminds you what rock n roll is all about? It happened to me the other day when I heard the two minutes and forty six seconds of garage rock bliss that is Tallulah by the improbably named band Cowbell. Regular readers will know it is not…
Every record tells a story 