EP Review: Death To The Strange – Sign On

As someone who grew up with the screams of Kurt Cobain in one ear and a stream of brilliantly unpredictable Radiohead albums in the other, I’ve reached an unfortunate plateau of boredom. I’m bored with bands that bafflingly become increasingly popular for being vaguely ‘vintage’ and ‘indie’ without being either vintage or indie at all. […]
Joe Banfi’s Nomads is the second EP to come after 2012’s Iron EP and it is evidence of how far he has come since then. Banfi is a relatively new artist, but this is in no way clear – the production (Ian Grimble of Communion) and feel of this EP is outstanding. “Please don’t let […]

EP Review: Joe Banfi – Nomads

EP Review: Bird – Shadows

Liverpool ‘s musical renaissance continues aplenty with the recent emergence of Stealing Sheep and a thriving local live music scene to rival Manchester. One of the latest talents to emerge is the three piece band Bird, who comprise of Adele Emmas (singer, songwriter), Sian Williams (guitar, harmonies) and Alexis Samata (drums). Their press release talks […]
Here is something new from Planet Mu with this latest EP from Protect-U, the brainchild of Mike Petillo and Aaron Leitko, two of the “new breed of dance music producers” presently emerging from Washington DC. ‘Motorbike’ opens with a half drunken metallic coated bassline pulsing its way through the track, kept in check by the […]

EP Review: Protect-U – Motorbike

EP Review: Dream Continuum – Reworkz EP

Dream Continuum is the coming together of two artists, Machinedrum (aka Travis Stewart) and Om Unit, (Jim Coles), also known as Philip D. Kick. The partnership formed when the two realised they’d both been working on the same concept separartely, and so naturally put their heads together to produce this phenomenal EP. The concept in […]
It never really happened for Hal. Seven years ago they were being overshadowed by the Magic Numbers at their co-headline show at the Roadhouse (as most bands would have been). A few months later they released their exceptional début album to mass public indifference. And then they disappeared The band’s return now is something of a surprise. […]

EP: HAL – Down In The Valley EP

EP Review: Ital Tek – Gonga

The chameleon of the jungle, Ital Tek, changes colour once again as he turns his hand to carving his own EP of footwork-influenced beats. Ladies and Gentlemen, we give you Gonga. Title track ‘Gonga’ opens the EP. Those shattered footwork-style drums set the pace, rising and falling from one to the next, and create a […]
In keeping with its string of synth-pop releases throughout 2011, Planet Mu presents Keep Shelly In Athens. Unfortunately, there isn’t much information I can give you about the duo. My research produced few answers, but I can confirm that there are two of them, the singer, Sarah, is a very pretty lady and together they […]

EP Review: Keep Shelly In Athens – Campus Martius

EP: MOUNT FABRIC – THREADS

Mount Fabric are a Manchester-based band whose lyrics walk a fine line between profound and ridiculous – “The flickering embers of a sleeping fire/The shivers descending down a grid of wires/The master pretending like he has not heard/The tectonic bending of his island world.” Admittedly, these words do at least avoid the usual clichés and […]
This latest release from the splendid Fruits de Mer record label is a six track EP that is a kitsch retro fest. Six theme tunes, three each from the halcyon days of the BBC and ITV when summer holidays meant badly dubbed and almost impossible to follow TV shows from the colonies, and SUPERMARIONATION meant […]

EP: Fruits de Mer Records – Do Not Adjust Your Set