Sara Bareillas - Kaleidoscope Heart (Album Review)

From the very first track, 'Kaleidoscope heart', you know that you're in for something different and very very special from one of the most talented, most underrated young artists around. 

Written by: Sophie Monk | Date: Wednesday, 18 May 2011

Beastie Boys ‘Hot Sauce Committee Part 2’ (Album Review)

“Here we go again/give you more nothing lesser” yells Adrock on the aptly-titled ‘Make Some Noise’, the opening track from the Beastie Boys’ long-awaited eighth album. How, indeed, could we expect anything less? 25 years on from their chart-destroying debut ‘Licensed to Ill’ and the New York trio are back with their latest effort ‘Hot Sauce Committee Part 2’. Over the past quarter-century, the boys have given us plenty of reasons to expect great things. On their previous six albums since ‘Licensed to Ill’, the Beastie Boys’ sound has matured, evolved and expanded to transform them into one of the most diverse and highly-regarded acts in the world, successfully redefining them at a more gradual and convincing pace. Long gone are the days of pop hits such as ‘Fight for Your Right to Party’, although an amusing nod towards their early classic is made here.

Written by: Rob Sleigh | Date: Tuesday, 17 May 2011

Amoriste - The Mascot (Single Review)

Any song that features the iconic James Alexander Gordon, not just via lyrical mention, but also by featuring a soundbytes of him reading out scores from the nPower League Two during the closing seconds deserves nothing but an excellent review. The man is a king.

Written by: James Ball | Date: Monday, 16 May 2011

Flashguns - Passions Of A Different Kind (Single Review)

If there ever was a band that sounds exactly like todays indie music scene, then Flashguns are exactly it. 'Passions of a Different Kind' brings to the table a slightly moody, if upbeat twinkle of emotive jangly guitar pop rock. Even the vocals by frontman Sam Felix Johnston have a particular wail about them that doesn’t really set them apart from their peers. So, while this song is about as original and fresh as anything U2 have released in the last ten years, that doesn’t mean to say it’s bad. After all, Radiohead sounded like Pixies when they started out, and Muse sounded like Radiohead. Look what’s happened to the pair of them now.

Written by: James Ball | Date: Monday, 16 May 2011

Stealing Sheep – The Mountain Dogs (EP Review)

The very first thing I thought when playing the title track of this EP was that I was going to get a boring country tinged piece of American bore. Not that country music is bad in any way, but any country music that isn’t excellent is awful. There seems to be no in-between. Anyway, I’ve digressed. So, when the lo-fi harmonious female vocals popped in for a tea party, flitting between the childish and playful, I was honestly surprised by what I was hearing. It’s certainly not country.

Written by: James Ball | Date: Monday, 16 May 2011

The Keys - Bitten By Wolves (Album Review)

If you ignore the needless genre-hopping on 'Bitten By Wolves' (ska, electronica and jangle-pop are all touched upon), there’s a lot to be respected about Welsh trio the Keys. Their pop sensibility and obsession with 60s psychedelia is clearly a positive trait in a world of autotune and overproduction.

Written by: Jonny Rimmer | Date: Saturday, 14 May 2011

AC/DC - Live At River Plate (DVD Review)

Roll out the cannons, ring out hells bells and let there be rock as AC/DC release their new long-awaited live concert DVD 'AC/DC Live At River Plate'.

Written by: Jon Stickler | Date: Thursday, 12 May 2011

Oxygen Thief - Destroy It Yourself (Album Review)

“This morning kicked me in the shins” exclaims singer-songwriter Barry Dolan on the closer to 'Destroy It Yourself', the debut Oxygen Thief record, and if there was ever an album to kick me in the shins when waking up then this was definitely it.

Written by: Jonny Rimmer | Date: Thursday, 12 May 2011

Wild Beasts - Smother (Album Review)

My personal anticipation for Wild Beasts’  third long player has actually been, to my surprise, minimal. After being more than impressed with their debut 'Limbo, Panto' and then being blown away, along with everyone else, by 'Two Dancers', at the start of 2011 I pinpointed 'Smother' as an album to get excited for. But if I’m honest, I sort of forgot all about. I never got around to listening to 'Albatross' when it was first posted to the net, which, in hindsight, I’m pretty happy about. Missing those singles and coming to an album totally in the dark is always the best way to experience music. So, let me tell you now, 'Smother' is all kinds brilliant.

Written by: Rhys Morgan | Date: Thursday, 12 May 2011

Maybeshewill - I Was Here For A Moment, Then I Was Gone (Album Review)

When Maybeshewill first sprung up from the murky depths of the post-rock world they were often dismissed as mere 65daysofstatic copyists. Of course this was utter rubbish. They may have shared 65dos’s passion for combining traditional soaring post-rock with electronic elements but Maybeshewill were always a whole different beast at heart. 65dos have always been more of an electronic act deep down and in recent times have even chosen to practically abandon the guitar from their recordings. Maybeshewill on the other hand have frequently ventured into the genre’s heavier realms and even verged on metallic territory at times. The band’s third album, the excellently titled 'I Was Here for a Moment, Then I Was Gone', is another journey into sonic bliss, although one that differs subtly from its predecessors.  

Written by: Ben Bland | Date: Tuesday, 10 May 2011

Tom Moriarity - Fire in the Dolls House (Album Review)

I begin this review with a confession. I can hardly contain my excitement about this next album -  'Fire in the Dolls House' by Tom Moriarty.

Written by: Craig Willis | Date: Monday, 09 May 2011

Twenty Twenty - Small Talk (Album Review)

Twenty Twenty are a band who are on the verge of breaking into the mainstream. They have created a little buzz around them which is growing very nicely with their brand of pop/rock which could see them sit alongside the likes of McFly in the pop market.

Written by: Steve Wellman | Date: Monday, 09 May 2011

Sound of Rum ‘Balance’ (Album Review)

While the likes of Dizzee Rascal and other so-called leaders of British hip-hop are trading in their streetwise, socially-conscious lyrics for songs about dancefloors, discos and holidays, it’s refreshing to discover a new act that still manages to bring the rawness of genuine UK rap music while continuing to keep things sounding fresh and exciting enough to prevent the genre from going stale. Anyone who agrees will be pleased to hear that Sound of Rum are offering exactly that.

Written by: Rob Sleigh | Date: Monday, 09 May 2011

Mojo Fury - Visiting Hours Of A Travelling Circus (Album Review)

Having played with everyone from recently departed legends Oceansize to fellow countrymen And So I Watch You From Afar on recent UK tours, Mojo Fury’s debut full-length comes highly anticipated by many who have been impressed by the Northern Irish quartet’s spiky live shows. The impressively titled 'Visiting Hours of a Travelling Circus' is a record in which Mojo Fury try to forge their own sound whilst also paying tribute to the bands that have clearly influenced them along the way.

Written by: Ben Bland | Date: Monday, 09 May 2011

The Libertines - There Are No Innocent Bystanders (Film Review)

There was much anticipation surrounding the upcoming Libertines film ‘There Are No Innocent Bystanders’ which premiered at the opening gala of the East End film festival. For members of a certain generation, The Libertines were the dirty-faced champions of national pride, and so the fact that this film premiered in the week of the royal wedding, as London stood draped beneath a thousand Union Jacks, seemed sweetly ironic.

Written by: Victoria O'Hagan | Date: Monday, 09 May 2011

Jeudah - While We Sleep (Album Review)

If there is anything to be said about the new Jeudah record While We Sleep, it is that time and distance should never be seen as a barrier to creativity. A collaboration between Kristian Karlsson, multi instrumentalist with Pg.lost, and Khoma vocalist Jan Jämte, While We Sleep substantiates that not everything needs to be done within the constraints of convention.

Written by: Patrick Gormley | Date: Thursday, 05 May 2011

Comodo - To The Sun (EP Review)

There’s a very thin line in music between an amateur and a professional. That line is raw talent. Well, fortunately for us Oli Shilling aka Comodo has more than enough to step him over that line and have him sprinting towards the upper echelons of the unsigned music world.

Written by: Rhys Morgan | Date: Tuesday, 03 May 2011

The Procession - Sometimes (EP Review)

The opening fade-in to this debut EP’s title track marks a breach of middle-of-the-road indie flooding clubs across the land. 'Sometimes' is a three-and-a-half minute tour through the band’s best qualities: genial guitar subtlety over muted vocals, bass and drums doing more than keeping pace; the song in isolation contains half a dozen memorable hooks book-ended by enticing guitar drone. The song’s chorus first sounds like a conflict of interest between lead guitar and vocal, but somehow the two fit. The build-up first and cut-away second verses indicate genuine intelligence on the musicians’ parts: rather than loud/quiet/loud, we are treated to writhing bass and clever use of snare.  

Written by: Ed Davies | Date: Tuesday, 03 May 2011

Panda Bear - Tomboy (Album Review)

Now I don’t for a second believe that my mind is in any way capable of interoperating half of the shit that goes on in Noah Lennox’s, but I’m going to try my best to do his artistic genius justice. Lennox aka Panda Bear has already released three acclaimed solo albums and as a founding member of Animal Collective, has had his fair share of praise there too. But solo album four, 'Tomboy', is up for a much harder time of it. Being released into a musical landscape post 'Merriweather Post Pavilion', there is widespread expectation where there was none for the post 'Strawberry Jam', 'Person Pitch'. The masses now know Panda Bear and the masses are waiting for something spectacular.

Written by: Rhys Morgan | Date: Tuesday, 03 May 2011

Skindred ‘Union Black’ (Album Review)

Despite earning themselves a strong reputation as one of the best live bands in the country, the success that has followed Newport’s Skindred in their home country over the past seven years has never quite equalled that offered by their transatlantic fans. Unlike many of Skindred’s British contemporaries, American audiences seem to have responded much better to the quartet’s music than they have among the home crowds. Each of the band’s first three albums, along with a number of the accompanying singles, received respectable chart placings in the US and Skindred followed their successes with relentless touring on that side of the pond. Following the deafening buzz created by so-called nu-metallers like Limp Bizkit and System Of A Down, it seemed that American rock fans were only too keen to take to Skindred’s blend of metal, reggae and dance music and the South Wales four-piece were more than happy to provide.

Written by: Rob Sleigh | Date: Tuesday, 03 May 2011