INTERVIEW: DAVID BREWIS DISCUSSES HIS NEW ALBUM, RECORD LABEL, FIELD MUSIC AND THE LIFE OF DIY RECORDING ARTISTS

Since 2005, Field Music have released a string of consistently pleasing records via Memphis Industries, virtually developing a template for sustaining creativity over a lengthy period while gaining sufficient sales to dent the album charts. In addition, David Brewis has recorded three albums under the guise of School of Language but this month sees the […]
David Brewis is fond of a good concept. In recent years, he has created the Trump-based School of Language ‘45’ album and Field Music’s ‘Making A New World’ album consisting of songs based on his research for shows at the Imperial War Museum about tangential discoveries emerging from World War I. With the debut album […]

ALBUM REVIEW – DAVID BREWIS: THE SOFT STRUGGLES

ALBUM REVIEW – ANNA B SAVAGE: IN/FLUX

Confessional singer-songwriters face a quandary of how much to reveal, whether to go down the misery memoir route or strive too hard to convey a positive message. With ‘in/FLUX’, Anna B Savage gives herself an examination that sounds like the best ever episode of the old Radio 4 series ‘In the Psychiatrist’s Chair’ while accepts […]
With a title like ‘Kyiv Eternal’, there is no escaping the associations with what, for many in the West, is a distressing reminder of the precariousness of our comfortable modern life but which, for those remaining in Kyiv, must be a constant source of underlying tension. This tension is the main feeling that Heinali’s new […]

ALBUM REVIEW: HEINALI – KYIV ETERNAL

ALBUM REVIEW – THE GOLDEN DREGS: ON GRACE AND DIGNITY

High or low, voices that hit extremes are exhilarating. There is a thrill to vocals that soar stratospherically, such as Billy McKenzie or Roy Orbison, but there is a contrasting engagement with singing that appears to emerge from the soles of hobnail boots. One of my earliest musical memories was making ludicrous attempts at singing […]
Writers, me included, have been tripping up over our words trying to describe Mogwai’s sound for decades. We can go on endlessly about their ability to create huge sounding records, matched with a delicate side to their craft that’s just as spellbinding, yet at the end of the day, they’re four down to earth blokes […]

INTERVIEW: MOGWAI – STUART BRAITHWAITE SPEAKS TO US AHEAD OF TWO MANCHESTER GIGS, REISSUES OF THE FIRST TWO ALBUMS AND DISCUSSES HIS RECENTLY RELEASED AUTOBIOGRAPHY, PLUS THAT AMAZING NUMBER ONE ALBUM “I THINK I WAS PUTTING THE BINS OUT WHEN WE FOUND OUT”

ALBUM REVIEW – ROBERT FORSTER: THE CANDLE AND THE FLAME

As a fickle music fan easily transferring affection to the latest exciting new performer, it is easy to miss out on the joys of eagerly following an artist through their (at the risk of sounding like a ‘Strictly’ contestant) journey. Since hearing ‘Part Company’ in 1984, The Go-Betweens and subsequently Robert Forster’s solo career have […]
‘Mercy’ is the first new album in over ten years from the Welsh legend and former Velvet Underground member, however those expecting an album of rock n roll tunes, should know by now that Cale likes to look forwards, not backwards, living by his own musical expectations and no one else’s. It’s one of the […]

ALBUM REVIEW: JOHN CALE – MERCY

ALBUM REVIEW: DEALING WITH DAMAGE – USE THE DAYLIGHT

A hardcore band who sample 13th Floor Elevators, creating soundscapes which recall Loaded era Primal Scream, Dealing With Damage are redefining what you thought a hardcore band could sound like. Formed of members from hardcore, punk and indie bands Done Lying Down, Sink, K Line and Jerry Built, Dealing With Damage’s second album is packed […]
Here is one I missed, and maybe you did too?  Metal for a long time in my humble opinion has been slept upon for too long. People must have lost their sanity. Mainstream music right now is indie rock or the highway. Politely I’m fed up. Its irritating that there is no escape from this […]

ALBUM REVIEW: THE GENTLE MEN – EVOLUTION OF TEARS