ALBUM REVIEW: ROEDELIUS – ROEDELIUS PLAYS PIANO

Roedelius Plays Piano is a live concert recording that has lurked in the vault since the eighties and is only now seeing the light of day. Hans-Joachim Roedelius himself explains thusly: “I always knew that this concert would have to be made available some day. I was just waiting for the right moment, for the […]
As the daughter of Serge Gainsbourg, Charlotte carries a lot of musical expectation on her shoulders. Having Beck by her side for her last album ‘IRM’ must’ve helped her along the way a little, his influence is still occasionally apparent and her vocal style could be likened to her breathy and deep sounding French father. […]

SINGLE REVIEW: CHARLOTTE GAINSBOURG – ANNA

THE XFM New Music Award – 08/02/2012

– THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – There’s been a flurry of excitement around Ren Harvieu on the radio. Touted as the Salford lass with the big voice, she’s getting plenty of attention with her new single ‘Through the Night.’ We get into The Ritz at 8, and as I’m trying to get 2 pints poured our […]
– THE LOWRY, SALFORD –  This year is a year of firsts for the BBC Radio 2 Folk awards. For the first time, the ceremony is being held outside of London in the Lowry at Salford Quays – much to the delight of the northern musicians. 2012 also saw members of the public being allowed […]

Live: BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards – 08/02/2012

LIVE: MURKAGE – 04/02/2012

– THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – Yes it’s cold, yes it’s snowing and yes, you could be easily convinced to stay in. Or so you’d say on other nights. Personally, I’ve been looking forward to witnessing the guys that are on tonight for quite some time now. Having grown out of their, now notorious, Monday Murkage […]
Metronomy are the electric pop band that’s had us humming their catchy as fuck tune, ‘The Look’ for the best part of 2011. Like a musical version of Monty Python’s ‘The Funniest Joke in the World’ (minus inevitable death), I double dares ya not to be belting out ‘da, da, da, da, da, da, da, […]

INTERVIEW: METRONOMY’S ANNA PRIOR

LIVE: LAURA VEIRS – 01/02/2012

– THE LOWRY, SALFORD – It’s the first of February at The Lowry in Salford, and tonight gracing the stage is another of Portland’s exports, folk songstress Laura Veirs. Veirs has been a regular on the American circuit for some time now; having released seven albums, but this is the first time her presence in […]
Divisive, talented and manufactured, Lana Del Rey is the most hyped (over-hyped?) artist of her generation. The superlative ‘Video Games’ has racked up 24 million hits on youtube, and press attention has reached unprecedented levels, rivalling that of a royal hip-replacemnt. Everyone is expecting big things from the 25-year-old New Yorker. For someone whose debut […]

ALBUM: Lana Del Rey – Born To Die

Single Review: Inspiral Carpets – You’re So Good For Me

This is the first new material Inspiral Carpets have recorded in fifteen years after singer, Tom Hingley, departed the band in 2008 amid frustration over gigs and rumours that venue choices were dictated by Clint Boon honouring the network he had built up during his DJ career. Hingley was replaced by original singer and founder […]
Django Django’s sound is difficult to define. To say that they have a sound is probably all that needs to be said, but I have been asked to write a review so I have to struggle to find words that define them. I doubt they are interested in reducing their music to a few soundbites, […]

Album Review: Django Django – Django Django