February 2012
2 posts
Ghostpoet: Rescue Rooms, Nottingham 21st February...
I’ve been slack over here. Here’s my review of Ghostpoet for Nottingham Post. Peace.
Feb 22nd
4 tags
Russell Kane: Theatre Royal, Nottingham 6th...
Had a giggle at Russell Kane last night. Read my review for Nottingham Post over here.
Feb 7th
1 note
January 2012
12 posts
4 tags
Chinese State Circus: Royal Concert Hall,...
So last night was fun. I reviewed this for the Nottingham Post.
Jan 31st
1 note
7 tags
First Aid Kit: The Lion’s Roar
First Aid Kit is made up of Swedish sisters who’d be more of a murmur than a roar. Yet despite their bold album title, when you finally press play on Lion’s Roar you’ll realise why the pair is so self-assured. Since The Big Black and the Blue the girls have learned to pack one hell of an Americana punch. The title track sets the earthy, dreamlike tone for the album, harping back to their woodland...
Jan 26th
1 note
3 tags
Jan 25th
6 tags
Jan 24th
4 tags
Chairlift: Something
Is there anyone left in Brooklyn that’s not in a band? I like to think it’s a requirement along with taking out the trash and sweeping your stoop. American housing stereotypes aside Brooklyn are bringin’ it with Chairlift. This girl-boy electro pop duo has just released their second album Something and it’s something alright.  Four years on from debut Does You Inspire You, Chairlift haven’t had...
Jan 23rd
4 tags
Jan 19th
257 notes
2 tags
Jan 15th
7 tags
Jan 12th
113 notes
3 tags
Jan 10th
4 tags
Jan 5th
Jan 4th
147 notes
3 tags
Albums of 2011
Happy New Year! Well that’s another year over! It’s been a year with music spewing out of our radios, tele boxes and interwebs. Now Hear This: favourite albums of 2011 (the awkward top 12) 12. Fleet Foxes: Helplessness Blues There’s obvious uncertainty and doubt within the ‘difficult second album’, but Helplessness Blues is coated in frail harmonies and adventurous melodies. 11. Bon Iver:...
Jan 1st
December 2011
11 posts
4 tags
Dec 30th
4 tags
Dec 27th
5 tags
Dec 25th
5 tags
Dec 24th
4 tags
Dec 23rd
6 tags
Dec 18th
12 notes
6 tags
Dec 15th
5 tags
Dec 12th
273 notes
3 tags
Dec 8th
3 notes
4 tags
Dec 5th
20 notes
2 tags
Dec 2nd
4 notes
November 2011
9 posts
4 tags
Colourmusic: Bodega Social, Nottingham 29th...
Nottingham Post sent me to see this hairy bunch. Read the review here.
Nov 30th
6 notes
5 tags
Nov 28th
3 tags
Wild Beasts: Rescue Rooms, Nottingham 20th...
Wild Beasts are living a lie. When you see a band play live with such a feral title you’d surely expect something wild, or even beastly. No, because these Wild Beasts know better than that and the sold out Rescue Rooms had an education of the polished, moody music variety thanks to the courteous Kendal boys. Wild Beasts radiate atmosphere and the stage was awash with dense smoke and blue...
Nov 21st
4 tags
Nov 16th
21 notes
3 tags
Nov 15th
9 notes
4 tags
Nov 10th
6 tags
Breaking Dawn, Part 1: The Soundtrack
There’s certain criteria that can save an otherwise doomed film. Entrancing acting, captivating shots, maybe, but a glorious soundtrack will save the most mundane of movies, take, Garden State (The Shins, Simon & Garfunkel, Nick Drake) and RocknRolla, (The Clash, Wanda Jackson, The Sonics) arguably, both saved by their soundtracks. One franchise that illustrates this perfectly is the Twilight...
Nov 7th
6 tags
Nov 2nd
3 tags
Florence and the Machine: Ceremonials
When Florence first unleashed her machine we were in awe of the rich sounds, haunting lyrics, her powerful pipes and pre-Raphaelite looks. Florence Welch’s debut, Lungs proceeded to become one of the best selling albums 2009/10 and lavished Welch in numerous awards and media limelight. Now, to Ceremonials, Florence and the Machine’s second helping of gothic romance. An album peppered with ghouls...
Nov 1st
October 2011
8 posts
5 tags
Oct 31st
4 tags
Justice: Audio, Video, Disco.
Où est le plus proche disco? Erm, what? But I’m sure these two guys will know. Justice are where the disco’s at! Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay quickly became Ed Banger Records most successful act back in 2007. Their first album, ‘†’ was our introduction to electro-dance music from the other side of the Eurostar. Now after four years the duo brings us Audio, Video, Disco. With similar...
Oct 25th
5 tags
Seann Walsh: Glee Club, Nottingham 20th October...
Yes I know he’s a comedian, but who doesn’t love to hear a good joke? Read my review of the very funny Seann Walsh, for the Nottingham Post, here.
Oct 21st
6 tags
Bombay Bicycle Club: Rock City, Nottingham 17th...
Bombay Bicycle Club’s third album, A Different Kind of Fix made the band stand out from the harvest of indie groups. We soon realised that right in front of us, looking like a bunch of awkward geology students, stood a band uncovering brilliant songs like semi-precious stones. We stopped and witnessed growth, depth and creativity blossom before our eyes within such a young and bright-eyed band....
Oct 18th
5 tags
Florence + the Machine: Addicted to Love
Florence Welch appears to have the voice capable of covering and making her mark on all matter of songs. From Beirut, Buddy Holly to Beyonce, the Machine has breathed new life and converted them all into mystical and powerful pop gems. Now Flo’s even rekindled our love of guilty 80’s pop classics. Remember Robert Palmer’s Addicted to Love? Complete with a band of serious-faced, leggy models?...
Oct 12th
3 tags
Oct 10th
4 tags
Feist: Metals
Feist first dipped into commercial awareness with the aid of Apple, using ‘1234’ to sweetly sell the Nano, a track that’s as colourful as the new Ipod Apple had decidedly spat out. Since then, Leslie Feist enjoyed ground breaking success with 2007’s Reminder. This was Feist’s introduction to the mainstream that proved she could transform even the most morose of subjects into jovial sing-a-longs,...
Oct 4th
6 tags
The Smiths: Complete
This year, Nirvana, Pink Floyd, U2, Jimi Hendrix and Phil Spector have all released remastered albums encased in shiny boxes and adorned in their most iconic images, the reason? It’s the box set, and the most recent is The Smiths: Complete, cramming the band’s whole career neatly into eight discs. The Smiths have been in the consciousness of the young, troubled and poetic among us since...
Oct 3rd
61 notes
September 2011
7 posts
7 tags
Dum Dum Girls: Only in Dreams
If you take four Californian girls, give them a band name inspired by The Vaselines and Iggy Pop and present the singer with the nickname Dee Dee, well, that’s some punk mathematics right there. Following a commendable cover of The Smiths, There Is A Light that Never Goes Out, Dum Dum Girls have released their second album, Only in Dreams. Their trademark scuzzy guitars and honey harmonies...
Sep 27th
8 tags
Emmy the Great: The Glee Club, Nottingham 18th...
Men, known to cause torment and all matter of confusion in a young woman’s life, something Emmy the Great knows all too much about. Music has been Emma-Lee Moss’ way of venting the frustration caused by troubled relationships. Her debut, First Love was the tale of a breakup, followed by Virtue, an album coated in the anguish of Moss’ fiancé leaving after converting to Christianity. Emmy the...
Sep 19th
2 tags
Nirvana: Nevermind
Can you believe it’s been twenty years since the release of one of the most iconic albums of the 90s? Nirvana’s second studio album, Nevermind caused a stir and elevated grunge to phenomenal popularity. It’s an album crammed with the most renowned of all Nirvana’s catalogue, Smells Like Teen Spirit, Come As You Are, Lithium…the list goes on. To celebrate, a website devoted to fans’ memories...
Sep 19th
6 tags
Laura Marling: A Creature I Don’t Know
Girls hiding behind acoustic guitars singing about flowers in their hair and being rock n’ roll queens doesn’t really instil much encouragement in today’s folk females. Yet on the other end of the spectrum is 21 year old Laura Marling with her third album, A Creature I Don’t Know. Marling has untangled herself from the Mumford and Sons and Noah and the Whale connection she was so quickly...
Sep 14th
21 notes
7 tags
Girls: Father, Son, Holy Ghost
Christopher Owens and Chet “JR” White are Girls. Regardless of how weird that may sound, they’re back with their second full-length album to distill any stagnant giggles we had over their name in 2009. These are real men. Father, Son, Holy Ghost builds on the rockabilly riffs and sixties surfing tunes we first heard on the imaginatively named record, Album.  Yet, what we do realise is...
Sep 9th
PJ Harvey: Let England Shake
The winner of the Barclaycard Mercury Music Prize 2011 went to favourite, PJ Harvey last night. It would have been nice to see an unfamiliar artist pick up the award and revel in the exposure. But Polly has proven that you can win twice and still make music deserving of the prize, even after 10 years. I wanted to make something that was meaningful not just for myself but for other people,...
Sep 7th
5 tags
Mercury Music Prize 2011
Chart topper’s rubbing shoulders with nobodies and Lauren Laverne circling the room like a giddy homing pigeon. Yes, the quest to find the best album from the UK and Ireland, The Barclay Card Mercury Prize 2011 is go!  With less than a week to go, let’s take a peek at who’s in the running and the odds for the award that’s been dubbed as both prestigious and a curse, oh the controversy! PJ...
Sep 2nd
August 2011
3 posts
7 tags
Bombay Bicycle Club: A Different Kind of Fix
Pigeon-holed firmly as an indie-disco band as soon as their debut album ‘I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose’ hit us was a mistake. Now, Bombay Bicycle Club are going all Harry Houdini on us and breaking free from the genre-shackles we encased them in three years ago. ‘A Different Kind of Fix’ is a complex affair, pretty surprising coming from a band named after a chain of London curry...
Aug 31st