The Thrill of Imperfection: Dan Patlansky On Keeping It Raw

Photo: Tobias Coetsee If you’re fed up with over-produced music and sick of average singers having their voices enhanced by studio technology, then Dan Patlansky feels your pain. Which is why ‘Perfection Kills’, the guitar slinger’s aptly-titled new album, deliberately aims a blues-rock blunderbuss at any notion of flawlessness. It’s delivered with an unvarnished live sound that’ll make you feel like you’re in the front row having the fortitude of your eardrums tested.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Thursday, 01 February 2018

Rock 'n' Soul Preacher Man: Arise For Anderson East

Straight out of Alabama (via Nashville) and armed with a voice that sounds like Ray Lamontagne if he was possessed by the spirit of Otis Redding, Anderson East is on the cusp of the big time thanks to a heart-wrenching mix of smoking soul, super-charged R&B and gospel on his new record, ‘Encore’.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Wednesday, 31 January 2018

Everything Evolves: The Barr Brothers On Fusing Past And Present With 'Queens of the Breakers'

Photo: Pedro Ruiz “Music is a very humbling experience. Humility is the key to a greater sense of humanity, leading to better compatibility, sympathy, compassion and communication with people. When you strengthen your musical voice, the ability to listen to other musicians and feel compassion grows. That is just a theory. But I absolutely subscribe to it.”

Written by: Milly McMahon | Date: Thursday, 25 January 2018

Shooting For The Stars: The Xcerts' Murray Macleod On New LP 'Hold On To Your Heart'

The Xcerts have been labelled underdogs so often it’s almost become a running joke. In the context of the UK alt-rock scene, this makes sense: the Scottish trio have made three albums of angst-ridden power pop in a decade when it’s hardly been in vogue.

Written by: Jonathan Rimmer | Date: Wednesday, 17 January 2018

"Being Perfect Is Not Important": Shopping Talk New LP 'The Official Body' And Defying Expectations

Photo: CJ Monk The office. The bank. The government. “There is no ‘official body’, in any sense of the term, it’s just society has made it so that there is,” Shopping’s Billy Easter says. “And it’s not even like there’s this one person, we’ve ended up in this place where we somehow believe that there’s the correct way to do things, the correct way to look, or you have to go through the official channels and stuff. And it’s all just not real.”

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Thursday, 11 January 2018

Stereoboard's Albums To Look Forward To In 2018

New year, new music. Them’s the rules. In 2018 we can expect a boatload of exciting stuff from faces old and new - head below to get the basics on just a few of the records we’re excited to get our hands on in the next 12 months.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Monday, 08 January 2018

Stereoboard's Gigs to Look Forward To In 2018

Feeling a bit blue from the post-Christmas slump? Here at Stereoboard, we’re missing those mince pies, putting out recycling bins full of used wrapping paper, finishing the last of the chocolate and looking at the now-depressing Christmas tree with despair. Fear not - we’ve a list of the most exciting events in live music to start thinking positively about the new year. Get out your diaries, kids...

Written by: Helen Payne | Date: Friday, 05 January 2018

The List: Stereoboard's Best Albums of 2017

td#right {display:none !important;} ​ That's another 12 months (almost) filed away. If we're being kind, it was a mixed bag. But one thing 2017 had on its side was the music. We had a couple of future all time classics dropped into our laps and a consistent stream of exciting, thought-provoking and, importantly, fun records to keep us occupied. 

Written by: Stereoboard | Date: Tuesday, 12 December 2017

Trashing The Past: Why The Darkness Are Still Smiling

For those who only listen to music that’s deemed trendy by self-appointed tastemakers, the Darkness will always be a joke. Their comically anachronistic rock ‘n’ roll shone brightly on their unit-shifting, award-winning debut ‘Permission To Land’ before the novelty factor evaporated.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Wednesday, 06 December 2017

Lou Reed: Many Happy Returns To 'Transformer'

Now 45 years old, Lou Reed’s ‘Transformer’ still manages to hide some of its secrets. At the time of its release in November 1972, its discussions of drug use and transgender issues were taboo and flew right over the heads of many listeners. At this remove it retains the capacity to surprise and challenge us.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Tuesday, 28 November 2017

"We Were Both Behind and Ahead of Our Time": Amusement Parks on Fire Return

When a teenage Michael Feerick completed the first Amusement Parks on Fire record back in 2004, he achieved something quietly remarkable. It was an ambitious and ethereal rock project that renovated ‘90s shoegaze for the 21st century.

Written by: Jonathan Rimmer | Date: Wednesday, 15 November 2017

With Ire: The Great Discord Go Down The Rabbit Hole For Album Two

When someone says ‘pop music’, you now fear the worst. You think of the Black Eyed Peas. You think of Justin Bieber before he started getting tattoos and being pwopa nawty. You think of ghostwriters, lip-syncing and Simon Cowell. You don’t think of the Great Discord.

Written by: Alec Chillingworth | Date: Wednesday, 01 November 2017

Sex Pistols: Many Happy Returns To 'Never Mind The Bollocks'

Amazing as it may seem, Sex Pistols’ notorious album ‘Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols’ just turned 40 years old. And yet, the whirlwind of bad press, controversy and monstrous songs that accompanied it came and went in the blink of an eye.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Tuesday, 31 October 2017

Path Best Travelled: SoCal Country Troubadour Sam Outlaw's Unique Journey

You wouldn’t expect a country artist named Outlaw to follow a conventional trajectory, would you? He’s a former business high-flyer who didn’t become a professional musician until he’d turned 30. He's a singer-songwriter who, in spite of being inspired by the greats, didn’t fall in love with country until his early 20s. And he resides in Los Angeles, not Nashville. This is the story of Sam Outlaw, a neo-traditional troubadour whose melancholy SoCal sound belies his rebellious moniker.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Monday, 30 October 2017

Snowed In: And So I Watch You From Afar Discuss Their Immersive New Record

We catch up with And So I Watch You From Afar (or ASIWYFA) at a particularly fitting time. The instrumental heavyweights’ fifth album, ‘The Endless Shimmering’, is easily their most tempestuous release, packed with anthemic guitar hooks and unpredictable detours.

Written by: Jonathan Rimmer | Date: Wednesday, 25 October 2017

I Will Have Hope: Julien Baker On 'Turn Out The Lights'

It’s not always the case that a cover version tells us something about the artist performing it. Sometimes they barely register as an empty gesture. But Julien Baker’s take on Badlands - recorded live at the Newport Folk Festival last summer - is a perfect exception.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Tuesday, 24 October 2017

Return of the Good Souls: Starsailor Talk Past, Present and Future

The music business is nothing if not fickle. Few bands know that better than Starsailor, a group whose million-selling debut album ‘Love Is Here’ catapulted them into the limelight seemingly overnight before they crashed back to earth almost as fast.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Thursday, 12 October 2017

Mr. Scruff: Get Inside A Groove/Get Lost In It

Since the ‘90s, DJ and producer Mr. Scruff has gone from left field beat-matcher to a bonafide fixture in British festival culture, deriving his own brand of sample-led electronica from a deep appreciation of soul and funk.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Monday, 09 October 2017

Comfortably Confident: Introducing Alex Lahey

When it’s put to Alex Lahey that ‘I Love You Like A Brother’, her first album, is impressively confident it makes her smile. But it is.

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Wednesday, 04 October 2017

Ian Dury: Many Happy Returns To 'New Boots And Panties!!'

There are only a handful of artists who can claim they saw off extreme physical odds to forge hugely successful careers. Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder, certainly, also Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi and Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Tuesday, 03 October 2017