Rising Tide - Painkiller (EP Review)

For those of you that, like me, have never heard of Rising Tide, I can promise you, if you like Alternative, Indie music you will not be disappointed. Their debut EP is titled Painkiller and is more than well worth a listen. The band hail from Brighton and are described as a four piece alternative/indie/rock outfit. The group consists of: Martyn Wilson (vocals/guitar), Emma Newlyn (guitar/keyboards), Adam Rutherford (bass), Frankie Sparrowhawk (drums).

Written by: Lee Johnston | Date: Tuesday, 20 September 2011

Steven Wilson - Grace For Drowning (Album Review)

It would be easy to write this album off as a prog rock indulgence. At over eighty minutes in length and stretched out over two discs, there is no doubting that 'Grace for Drowning' is an epic in an era in which albums beyond fifty minutes or so in length are resolutely unfashionable. However what has always marked out Steven Wilson’s work from many of the classic prog artists, and indeed what has distinguished his band Porcupine Tree from many other modern prog bands such as Dream Theater, is his lack of willing to engage in unnecessarily lengthy bouts of musical virtuosity. In fact, despite its extended running time, 'Grace for Drowning' arguably proves this point better than any of his other works. For a work so defiantly widescreen in its intentions as this it is truly remarkable that there is nothing that could, or rather should, be accused of being filler or being over the top.

Written by: Ben Bland | Date: Tuesday, 20 September 2011

Opeth - Heritage (Album Review)

So, Opeth have left behind death metal at last. It was always going to happen and only the most stubborn of metal heads can seriously begrudge its passing. Yes it gave rise to Opeth’s unique style but by the time of 2008’s 'Watershed' it was clear that Mikael Åkerfeldt was becoming increasingly tired of the extreme aspects of his band’s music. Although it might have been more commercially prudent to gradually ease such extremity out rather than dump it wholesale, it is undoubtedly preferable for the purity of the music that such elements are jettisoned now that Opeth’s main man is ready to do so.

Written by: Ben Bland | Date: Monday, 19 September 2011

Patrick Wolf - Time Of My Life (Single Review)

Patrick Wolf thinks he’d be at number one if he was a woman, but at the young age of 28 he’s already set to release his 5th album - so there’s still time to grab that chart position. Wolf is able to combine his effeminate, romantic folk elements with his eccentric, sexy electro pop to create ‘Time Of My Life’, the single to introduce the album.

Written by: Emma Newlyn | Date: Thursday, 15 September 2011

Little Roy - Battle For Seattle (Album Review)

Just in time for the 20th anniversary and subsequent re-issue of Nirvana’s grunge classic and breakthrough album ‘Nevermind’, Jamaican reggae legend Little Roy has done for the Seattle alt-rock trio what the Easy Star All-Stars did for Pink Floyd, Radiohead and The Beatles. That is, he’s taken a bunch of their most celebrated and well-loved music and added his own loving reggae touch.

Written by: Rob Sleigh | Date: Wednesday, 14 September 2011

Soul Rebels Brass Band - Unlock Your Mind (Album Review)

Anyone familiar with the work of Chicago’s Hypnotic Brass Ensemble – who released their eponymous debut album through Damon Albarn’s record label Honest Jon’s in 2009 and even featured on the third Gorillaz album ‘Plastic Beach’ last year – will be pleased to learn of the Soul Rebels Brass Band – New Orleans’s answer to the future of music in the American South.

Written by: Rob Sleigh | Date: Monday, 12 September 2011

LaFaro – Meat Wagon (Single Review)

Don’t expect any sign of remorse from LaFaro. These Northern Irish tricksters are going to take your ears and slice them into hundreds of tiny little pieces and 'Meat Wagon' is them doing that at their very best. There’s an element of their countrymen, and alt-metal legends, Therapy? in their snarling delivery and breakneck intensity but there is also a heavy dollop of seething The Jesus Lizard-esque devotion to noise that sets them a little apart.

Written by: Ben Bland | Date: Monday, 12 September 2011

Chuck Ragan – Covering Ground (Album Review)

The voice of Chuck Ragan is a thing of quivering intensity. One of the voices of legendary punk outfit Hot Water Music, Ragan’s excursions into folk music have impressed ever since his assured solo debut 'Feast or Famine' in 2007 but 'Covering Ground' is a step up for the Floridian native. Think of him as being the American equivalent of Frank Turner if you will but what you are really getting here is something far more rough and tough than Frank could ever be.

Written by: Ben Bland | Date: Monday, 12 September 2011

The Rapture - In The Grace Of Your Love (Album Review)

It’s sad when bands that were formerly regarded as fresh and exciting slip into the totally mundane. Few bands capture such a slip as well as The Rapture. When they burst onto the scene they, alongside acts such as The Strokes, were seen as the future of indie music. The beguiling dance-punk of their 2003 breakthrough 'Echoes' seems a very long time ago and, judging by this record, the band aren’t likely to return to former glories any time soon.

Written by: Ben Bland | Date: Monday, 12 September 2011

Fostercare Vs. Ritualz - †‡† (Split LP Review)

This split LP between Fostercare and Ritualz is pretty insane stuff. With neither artist content to just bust out the same old tired beats again and again what one gets with this record is an avalanche of ‘haunted pop’ with synths that seem to be trying their very best to make your head explode and your body implode.

Written by: Ben Bland | Date: Monday, 12 September 2011

Pigeon Detectives - Lost (Single Review)

As Coldplay once sang, “Just because I’m losing, doesn’t mean I’m lost…”

Written by: James Ball | Date: Monday, 12 September 2011

Scams - Helicopter Parents (Single Review)

“I DON’T THINK SO!!!” Yells Andy Morgan, front man of Leeds-based punky guitar botherers Scams, as the rest of the band, a conglomerate of guitar, bass and drums, all better the living shit out of each other in a bid for total prominence. Welcome to the scene, Scams. Where have you been all my life?

Written by: James Ball | Date: Monday, 12 September 2011

Longevity – Tantrum (Single Review)

This is dirty.

Written by: James Ball | Date: Monday, 12 September 2011

Apparat - The Devil’s Walk (Album Review)

The last time we saw Apparat release an original, self-made record was in 2007 and it was 'Walls'. Since then we’ve seen collaboration’s and DJ albums, but now Sascha Ring is no longer alone in his musical quest. Apparat is now a band, although that could quite easily go unnoticed. The sound hasn’t changed dramatically, the inclusion of new musicians, however, does make for some of Apparat’s most expansive and, quite frankly, beautiful music to date. If you can imagine Burial covering Thom Yorke, you won’t be a million miles away from the sounds of 'The Devil’s Walk'.

Written by: Rhys Morgan | Date: Wednesday, 07 September 2011

Canyons of Static - Challenger (EP Review)

This latest offering from Wisconsins Canyons of Static can in some ways be seen as a perfect introduction to the bands fascinating infusion of the distorted melodies of shoegaze with the multifaceted emotional aspects of post rock. Recorded in an attic in one afternoon, the 'Challenger' is a collection of older tracks reworked with new guitarist Nick Elert to document his addition to the line up.

Written by: Patrick Gormley | Date: Wednesday, 07 September 2011

Cosmo Jarvis - Is The World Strange Or Am I Strange? (Album Review)

Cosmo Harrison Krikoryan Jarvis dropped out of school aged sixteen to pursue a career in music and film, and at the age of 21 has already been proclaimed as ‘one of the most special talents around’ by the likes of Stephen Fry and Brian Eno.

Written by: Emma Newlyn | Date: Wednesday, 07 September 2011

The Feeling - A Hundred Sinners (Come And Get It) (Single Review)

‘The Feeling’ released their pop phenomenon on Britain in late 2005 with their first single ‘Fill My Little World’ which hit number 7 in the British charts. Since then, these West Sussex boys have released two more studio albums and countless singles which have branded them one of Britain’s most successful pop groups.

Written by: Catherine Rea | Date: Wednesday, 07 September 2011

Blessthefall - Awakening (Album Review)

‘Witness’ – Blessthefall’s album of 2009 – was not only their first album on Fearless Records but their first with new vocalist Beau Bokan, replacement of Craig Mabbitt. Two years on, the metalcore fivesome are back with their second Fearless release - ‘Awakening’. With hardcore being a scene growing at rapid speed, it’s difficult to find a band who push forward and innovate with their music and, currently, the jury is still out as to whether blessthefall are the men for the job.

Written by: Heather McDaid | Date: Monday, 05 September 2011

Anathema - Falling Deeper (Album Review)

With this reworking of material from their earliest days, Anathema have proved themselves to be masters of creating atmospheric music once again. The difference this time around is that 'Falling Deeper' is more of a soundtrack than an album. This is music that lingers, builds and fades with immaculate beauty and delightful simplicity.

Written by: Ben Bland | Date: Monday, 05 September 2011

The Feeling - Leave Me Out Of It (Single Review)

Three Albums in and these West Sussex boys have failed to re-hit the height of their multi-platinum-selling album released in 2006 ‘Twelve Stops And Home’. The Feeling emerged as a group during a musical period when many bands were competing for the space left in the market for an indie-pop group, though despite their well established efforts in their 2006 debut album, their barefaced clinch of soft rock attracted many critics as fans, causing the Sussex boys to gather a ubiquity that contradicts their forgettable songs.

Written by: Catherine Rea | Date: Friday, 02 September 2011