Kanye West - Yeezus (Album Review)
Separating the artist from the music is never the easiest thing to do. In the case of Kanye West, it's nigh-on impossible.
Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Friday, 21 June 2013
Black Sabbath - 13 (Album Review)
It all kicked off in 1978. Black Sabbath’s eighth studio album, Never Say Die!, was met with apathy by fans and critics alike, and they subsequently fired singer Ozzy Osbourne amid a haze of booze and narcotics. Vocalists came and went, with mixed results, until the original members built some bridges as the '90s drew to a close. Still, though, a new album didn’t arrive.
Written by: Gemma-Louise Johnson | Date: Thursday, 20 June 2013
Wisdom Of Crowds - Wisdom Of Crowds (Album Review)
The Pineapple Thief’s Bruce Soord and Katatonia’s Jonas Renkse have something in common. Rather unfairly, they are both best known for being in the shadow of other musicians. Soord will always be dogged by his association with Steven Wilson and Porcupine Tree, no matter what he produces, while Renkse is inexorably linked to his close friend Mikael Åkerfeldt and Opeth. Wisdom of Crowds presents an opportunity for both to gain the recognition they deserve.
Written by: Ben Bland | Date: Thursday, 20 June 2013
Palms - Palms (Album Review)
Ever since it was announced that Deftones vocalist Chino Moreno would collaborate with Jeff Caxide, Bryant Clifford Meyer and Aaron Harris of Isis on a new project, Palms, there has been an almost unfeasibly high level of expectation from metal fans.
Arctic Monkeys - Do I Wanna Know? (Single Review)
It can be tough at the top, as Arctic Monkeys are all too aware. Their latest single, Do You Wanna Know?, dropped on June 19 and immediately spread across the web like wildfire. Soon enough it wasn't just a song, it was a Twitter trend, a YouTube curio. Luckily, there's some substance to back up the inevitable hype.
Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Wednesday, 19 June 2013
Kodaline - In A Perfect World (Album Review)
Hailing from Swords, just outside Dublin, the four unassuming lads that make up Kodaline found themselves catapulted into the limelight following the release of a touching video for All I Want in 2012. A modern take on Beauty and the Beast, set in an office environment, the video has clocked up in excess of three million views on Youtube.
Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Wednesday, 19 June 2013
Fist City - It's 1983, Grow Up! (Album Review)
Fist City's new record, 'It's 1983, Grow Up!', is a grimy beauty, a collection of swaggering punk tunes boasting huge melodies, wild surf guitar and swirling psychedelia.
Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Tuesday, 18 June 2013
Beady Eye - BE (Album Review)
It appears that Beady Eye fully intended on making amends for their somewhat disappointing debut, ‘Different Gear, Still Speeding’, with its follow-up ‘BE’.
Written by: Brian Thompson | Date: Tuesday, 18 June 2013
Landshapes - Rambutan (Album Review)
Hands up if you remember Lulu and the Lampshades? Anyone? In essence, Landshapes used to be Lulu and the Lampshades, but after a spelling error on a French gig poster, they’re not anymore.
Written by: Ben Bland | Date: Monday, 17 June 2013
Queensryche - Queensryche (Album Review)
You couldn’t make up the current Queensrÿche situation. Two bands now exist where there was once one. Geoff Tate, the original vocalist, now heads up one outfit under the name, and released the almost universally panned ‘Frequency Unknown’ a couple of months ago.
Boysetsfire - While A Nation Sleeps... (Album Review)
Some bands are destined never to be remembered. While others take attention they scarcely deserve, some must lurk on the edge of the spotlight, destined to be ignored despite their accomplishments. When it comes to the American post-hardcore scene, Boysetsfire are one of a number of bands who have a right to feel hard done by.
Written by: Ben Bland | Date: Friday, 14 June 2013
Emily Barker And The Red Clay Halo - Dear River (Album Review)
There are a handful of very simple rules when it comes to creating a great album; the songs must be from the heart, they must connect with their audience and filler is a no no. Emily Barker and her band have nailed them on 'Dear River'.
Written by: James Ball | Date: Thursday, 13 June 2013
Lemuria - The Distance Is So Big (Album Review)
Lemuria are a band that inspires devotion. Whether it's Bridge Nine records breaking from their hardcore tradition to sign them, or their growing following learning every word of Alex Kerns' idiosyncratic lyrics, once you're in, you're in for good.
Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Thursday, 13 June 2013
KT Tunstall - Invisible Empire//Crescent Moon (Album Review)
Let's start with a promise. If you buy this album and put it on your CD player, deck, iPod, or whatever, and listen to it (actually listen to it), it will change your life.
Written by: James Ball | Date: Wednesday, 12 June 2013
Master Musicians Of Bukkake - Far West (Album Review)
The incongruously-named Master Musicians of Bukkake have been frying brains left, right and centre for the best part of a decade. Their ‘Totem’ trilogy, released between 2009 and 2011, contained elements of drone, folk, psychedelia and various world music styles, but what held it all together was a collective determination to be as weird as possible at all times.
Written by: Ben Bland | Date: Wednesday, 12 June 2013
The Maine - Forever Halloween (Album Review)
The Maine are a pop-rock band that sound exactly like hundreds of other pop-rock bands. With their fourth release, ‘Forever Halloween’, they fail to bring anything new to the table, and if anything drag the standard down.
Written by: Katie Vowles | Date: Tuesday, 11 June 2013
The View - Seven Year Setlist (Album Review)
Scottish indie-rockers the View have only been releasing their catchy tunes since 2006. With thousands of shows and four albums under their belts, including a number one debut in 'Hats Off To The Buskers', the boys have decided that the time is right for a Greatest Hits compilation spanning their relatively short career.
Written by: Katie Territt | Date: Tuesday, 11 June 2013
Swindle - Long Live The Jazz (Album Review)
For his debut album, Swindle has teamed up with Deep Medi to bring us ‘Long Live the Jazz’. Having previously worked with Roll Deep, Chipmunk and Professor Green, Swindle is no stranger to a grime/pop crossover and can provide a successful street formula when called upon. None of that can be found here, though.
Written by: Josh Adams | Date: Tuesday, 11 June 2013
Walter Trout - Luther's Blues (Album Review)
Following 2012's 'Blues For The Modern Daze', Walter Trout pays tribute to late, great Chicago bluesman Luther Allison on 'Luther's Blues', the first covers album of his esteemed career. With unstoppable passion and dedication, Trout and his electric band tear through a winning selection of Allison classics, expertly reworking the energised cocktail of soul, funk and blues rock that was his trademark. The result is sonically Trout, and spiritually Allison.
Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Monday, 10 June 2013
SHY & DRS Feat. Nazareth - I've Got (Enough Love) (Single Review)
Don't tell anyone, but I think we have a kick-ass tune for summer on our hands. In fact, it may be kick-ass classic. The third single from hip hop duo SHY & DRS features 1970s rock giants Nazareth, and it's a powerful 'rap ballad' that, to put it bluntly, is awesome.
Written by: Helen Marie Grant | Date: Monday, 10 June 2013
