Various Artists - Keep Calm and Relax (Compilation Album Review)

‘KEEP CALM AND RELAX’ screams the title of Sony’s latest compilation mash-up. Hot on the heels of Decembers ‘best of’ Christmas albums and February's ‘best of’ Love Songs albums comes an album specifically designed for your dear old Mother just in time for Mothering Sunday. Next month will surely see The Best of Chas and Dave - ‘Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit’ just in time for Easter……or perhaps not.

Written by: Daniel Clark | Date: Monday, 12 March 2012

White Bone Rattle - When I Return (Single Review)

An aptly named song title for the band hailing from Kent, as they return with a great new track that really showcases the versatility in their sound.

Written by: Ryan Crittenden | Date: Monday, 12 March 2012

Lights - Siberia (Album Review)

Being dubbed a sensation of synth-pop to many, LIGHTS had quite a pressure to follow up her 2009 release ‘The Listening’. While it was good, it seemed a relatively standard release for the genre musically, although well executed. With the initial release of her follow up ‘Siberia’ being late last year, the album finally sees itself being officially dropped in the UK and we’re presented with a more dynamic and more enjoyable offering than its predecessor.

Written by: Heather McDaid | Date: Monday, 12 March 2012

We Are Augustines - Rise Ye Sunken Ships (Album Review)

Music is a wonderful artform, open to interpretation and able to be used as a musical outlet. Music is there to tell a story in a form the population can access with ease and allow people to turn their own experiences into works of art – be it stooped in intricate metaphors or presented as a straight forward cry of angst. With this option of storytelling in mind, we come to We Are Augustines’ debut full length release ‘Rise Ye Sunken Ships’, one that needs to be put in context before you hear anymore.

Written by: Heather McDaid | Date: Monday, 12 March 2012

Ian Anderson - Thick As A Brick 2 (Album Review)

There’s been something of a second-coming for the concept album in recent years. The excesses of progressive-rock led to the form being derided as esoteric musical snobbery only enjoyed by men with beards and glasses thicker than milk bottles. Yet the proceeding decades have seen the concept album crawl back up from the underground and gain newfound notoriety after several mainstream successes from the likes of Green Day (American Idiot is now a popular Broadway musical), My Chemical Romance, and Coldplay, to name but a few. If there’s something prog-rock cannot stand, it is to be outdone. There is only one thing more indulgent than a concept album: a sequel to a concept album. And to mark the 40th anniversary of the quintessential conceptual specimen, Jethro Tull’s Thick As A Brick, front man Ian Anderson has taken it upon himself to show the young pretenders how it’s done.

Written by: David Owen | Date: Thursday, 08 March 2012

The Who - Quadrophenia (Remastered) (Album Review)

If one was to compile a catalogue of the great bands in rock history The Who would undoubtedly hold a place high up the list alongside the likes of The Beatles and The Stones. The high octane quartet made up of Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, Keith Moon and John Entwistle were a pivotal band in aiding British rock n roll’s transatlantic explosion back in the 1960’s.

Written by: Mark O'Donoghue | Date: Thursday, 08 March 2012

The Stranglers - Giants (Album Review)

A sense of freedom, away from the niggling pressures of the mediated world, the Stranglers have released their 19th studio album, ‘Giants’.

Written by: Yasmin La Ronde | Date: Thursday, 08 March 2012

Futures - Start A Fire (Single Review)

There are many ingredients to a good song. A catchy hook, an engaging chorus, a potential sing-along, great musicianship and thought provoking lyricism. Let me get the record straight here in the opening paragraph so this doesn't come as a huge surprise to anyone by the time they reach the end, and that is that Start a Fire doesn't really have any of these things in any real abundance.

Written by: James Ball | Date: Tuesday, 06 March 2012

Alphabet Backwards - British Explorer (EP Review)

Alphabet Backwards, the Oxford based bubblegum rock group have been gaining a lot of exposure in the local area for the past few years and they have slowly, but surely, risen up to the upper echelons of Oxfords local scene to the point where people from outside the dreaming spires have started to sit up and take notice.

Written by: James Ball | Date: Tuesday, 06 March 2012

Maverick Sabre - Lonely Are The Brave (Album Review)

Hackney born and Ireland raised Maverick Sabre is fast becoming a household name. Having started his career working with artists such as Professor Green and Chase & Status, and appearing on Later......with Jools Holland, Maverick released his debut single, 'Let Me Go' in late July 2011, charting at No.16 - that well played radio hit catapulting him into a pretty bright future.

Written by: Katie Territt | Date: Monday, 05 March 2012

Olly Murs - Oh My Goodness (Single Review)

When thinking of Olly Murs, chances are one of the first things to pop into somebody’s head would be the phrase “cheeky chappy” and for all we know, we’re right. If we were to base our ideas on his latest single, ‘Oh My Goodness’, alone, it would probably still be one of the first things we’d think of.

Written by: Melisa Greenfield | Date: Monday, 05 March 2012

Saturday Night Gym Club - How To Build A Life Raft (EP Review)

As a band starting out, everyone is looking to attach a label to you. Once appropriately tagged you can be neatly packaged up and sent off to market. The snag is, when you become affiliated with one genre it becomes less acceptable to experiment with others. Saturday Night Gym Club seem determined to avoid such a fate; ‘How To Build A Life Raft’, their debut EP guides the listener down ambient, pop, glitch, modern and eighties avenues adeptly dodging gaping pigeonholes along the way.

Written by: Tim Cox | Date: Thursday, 01 March 2012

Toy Horses - Toy Horses (Album Review)

Toy Horses are, as by the revered Steven Fry “his new favorite indie band”, an unlikely but invaluable event on the Toy Horses timeline that saw them entering the attention span of millions of tweeters nationwide. So In a way that is completely unique to most stories so far, Toy Horses are the latest potential pop act to surge to fame through the social media world. Not your typical troupe of uni dropouts hoping their band are really going to make it, these Cardiff new comers are centered on songwriting relationship of Adam D Franklin and Tom Williams.

Written by: Owen Sheppard | Date: Thursday, 01 March 2012

Antlered Man - Giftes Parts 1 & 2 (Album Review)

Since their emergence proper towards the end of last year there have been few plaudits that Antlered Man have not been offered. For an arty yet punky noise rock group / thing, this London based quartet have picked up more attention than one would be quite within their rights to expect. Partly this is because of their genre-busting sound. Despite taking clear influence from the likes of American legends Queens of the Stone Age, Melvins and Mr. Bungle, Antlered Man also sound completely a product of the grubby underbelly of London and are all the better for it.

Written by: Ben Bland | Date: Thursday, 01 March 2012

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Dream On (Single Review)

Noel Gallagher is a man who needs no introduction. Oasis helped shape the 90s and their influence can be heard with plenty indie-guitar bands such as The Enemy and The Courteeners. Not only that but they also contributed to that Mancunian sense of pride that's brought about by the mention of names such as The Smiths, Joy Division and The Stone Roses. However, this isn't Oasis is it? It's Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.

Written by: Steven James | Date: Wednesday, 29 February 2012

British Theatre - EP (EP Review)

For those in the know the release of the debut material from British Theatre has been one of the most anticipated moments of 2012. Formed of ex-Oceansize men Mike Vennart and Richard ‘Gambler’ Ingram, British Theatre have celebrated their one year anniversary, and the anniversary of the sad demise of their previous band, with the unveiling of imaginatively titled three track release “EP”.

Written by: Ben Bland | Date: Monday, 27 February 2012

A Whisper In The Noise - To Forget (Album Review)

Whispering in the midst of a lot of noise, and yet being audible, is a difficult art at the best of times. How do you manage to clearly enunciate your words to the listener while a great cacophony is going on around you? That is, if you can attract attention sufficiently enough for your whispers to actually have listeners. I mean, you might be trying to say something important. Why don’t people just stop that bloody racket and devote their ears to you and your delicate murmurs?

Written by: Ben Bland | Date: Friday, 24 February 2012

St Spirit - Pigeon (Album Review)

Volumes can be said about this young quintet, St. Spirit, who seemed to pique the media’s interest with the anticipated release of their debut EP Pigeon. After coming across My Bloody Valentine’s seminal album — Loveless, these five friends from Crystal Palace (in South London) set out to prove their sound has a place in the kingdom of music. Listeners are led into a soft, mystifying abyss right from the album’s start, an absent-minded study which catches us by surprise. The improvident first track ‘Pigeon’ begins with a crawl which then accelerates to become a trendy cut complimented by sorrowful keys, energetic strings, droning drums, and muffled lyrics. In between tangled tones, American singer/songwriter Conor Oberst channels through St. Spirit frontman Myles McCabe’s soothing yet edgy delivery. From the beginning, you cannot help but notice there is more at work here than what fans expect. There is this mystic flavor looming over St. Spirit’s music, a sweet aftertaste which is left behind for fans to contemplate and decode.

Written by: Joshua Leyvas | Date: Thursday, 23 February 2012

Will Young - Losing Myself (Single Review)

Is there anything Will Young can’t do? Since winning the original series of Pop Idol back in 2002, Will Young has released six albums, tried his hand at various music genres and succeeded in all and, as if that wasn’t enough, he proved his worth as an actor when he turned up in the hit TV series, Skins.

Written by: Melisa Greenfield | Date: Thursday, 23 February 2012

Band Of Skulls - Sweet Sour (Album Review)

Band of Skulls don’t do things conventionally. In a rare turn of events it’s the UK catching up with America as the Southampton trio begin to make a name for themselves at home having already succeeded stateside. Tracks in a Mustang car commercial (ala Killers ‘Mr Brightside’ on UK TV) and appearances at American festivals established their worldwide appeal. Add to that a blistering second album at a time when many bands falter and you have a pretty formidable outfit. And that’s before they’ve blown your ears off!

Written by: Daniel Lynch | Date: Wednesday, 22 February 2012