Arcade Fire have overcome many obstacles in their path over the years. Grabbing the attention of the world through their indie-released debut LP Funeral; delivering credible follow ups to one of the decade’s most critically acclaimed albums, and then dealing… Read More ›
Stuart Murdoch walked out intrepidly into the crowd last night during “Dear Catastrophe Waitress”. It’s a Belle and Sebastian crowd, so it’s a friendly, unthreatening and relaxed crowd, more likely to offer him a Tunnock’s Wafer than trouble. But then… Read More ›
In a week that saw the demise of the NME’s print edition after sixty-odd years, it is reassuring that some traditions remain. The country is still run by incompetents, it’s impossible to find a telecoms provider whose call centre isn’t… Read More ›
It has been quite a journey since Gaz Coombs began his rock career as the teenage lead singer of…. The Jennifers. Signed to Nude Records in 1991 – the contract signed by his mum as he was too young –… Read More ›
As the dystopian nightmare of 2017 fades, to be replaced with fresh, new dystopian horrors with a shiny “Made In 2018” badge on them, we find ourselves looking for a fresh start. And what better way to find a fresh… Read More ›
Seattle. Early 2000’s. Robin Pecknold meets Skyler Skjelset at school and they bond over a love of Mike Wilson, Bob Dylan and Neil Young. They form a band, and give it a quirky name that people will remember and could… Read More ›
Gentrification. “The process of renovating and improving something so that it conforms to middle-class taste”. Or “the process of making a person or activity more refined or polite”. Last night, the thankfully ungentrified Ty Segall and his ungentrified band played… Read More ›
Car Seat Headrest announced themselves with something of a flourish last year, surfacing seemingly fully formed with one of the albums of 2016. It turned out that band leader Will Toledo had already released (at the still tender age of… Read More ›
King’s X, a three piece band from Texas, are hugely influential, have a large and loyal fan base, and last night played a show in London for the first time in six years. They are, perhaps the archetypical Cult Band. … Read More ›
We don’t always turn to the leading lights of progressive music for our daily dose of politics (see: Phil Collins 1997), so it was interesting to hear Steve Hackett’s thoughts on world events last night. This happened mid-way through his… Read More ›
In 1975, a British rock writer went to see an unsigned band called The Ramones at The Performance Studio as part of a report for the NME in on the burgeoning scene in New York’s CBGB club and the surrounding… Read More ›
Tonight is a Tuesday. Kasabian’s beloved Leicester City are being knocked out of the Champion’s League. It’s surely no coincidence that the band don’t take the stage of Kentish Town’s Forum until seconds after the final whistle… They might be… Read More ›
In the midst of Storm Doris last night, Band of Horses braved the wild winds of East London and The Troxy in support of their latest album “Why Are You OK”. Band of Horses are five albums in to their… Read More ›
It is something of a mystery, akin to that of why men have nipples, as to quite why Teenage Fanclub have not set the world alight in quite the same way as some lesser bands. From the moment Raymond McGinley… Read More ›
There are two kinds of live artists: those who play the hits, and those who don’t. One of my favourite Neil Young stories is about the time Young played a set of completely new, unheard songs to an audience,… Read More ›
