ALBUM REVIEW: TY SEGALL – HELLO HI

Just when you think you know Ty Segall as the modern king of psych rock, he blasts any preconceptions you have of him into outer space, as the ‘Whirlybird’ soundtrack released earlier this year demonstrated. Hot on the heels of that epic, comes his latest studio album ‘Hello, Hi’. There’s always been a touch of […]
During ‘Vietnam Tabloid’, the closing track on ‘The Sound of Musick’, Stan Batcow launches into a spoken description of what it takes for a piece of music to become popular, arguing that it merely has to become familiar. In safe, formulaic music, the listener can easily predict the chord changes, where the chorus and instrumental […]

ALBUM REVIEW: HOWL IN THE TYPEWRITER – THE SOUND OF MUSICK and THE RED ALBUM

ALBUM REVIEW: THE BURNING HELL – GARBAGE ISLAND

Anyone who writes a song about a gannet called Nigel, which starts with the opening lines “They’ve all been making plans for Nigel, and by them I mean the ornithologists”, is already on to a winner. ‘Nigel The Gannet’ is a catchy tale of the natural world complete with The Burning Hell’s brilliant take on […]
Luis Roberts is a Welsh wonder! A songwriter who sings in the Welsh language, yet his songs have a universal appeal, steeped in a gentle folk psych pop forest of lush melodies, delicate guitars and pianos. His debut album ‘Cloeon’ has hints of Talk Talk’s expansive soundings, mixed with Elbow’s subtle melodic ways, and is […]

INTERVIEW: LUIS ROBERTS – NEW WELSH WONDER RELEASES DEBUT ALBUM: A DELICATE FEAST OF FOLK POP WITH HINTS OF TALK TALK AND ELBOW, A WELSH LANGUAGE ALBUM WHICH IS ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL ALBUMS YOU’LL HEAR ALL YEAR

ALBUM REVIEW: PLACEBO – NEVER LET ME GO

Placebo have always walked the line between clever lyrics, and a dark melodic edge, with guitarist and singer Brian Molko and bassist Stefan Olsdal being  the two original members who have kept the Placebo flame burning bright for over twenty five years. Molko has always had an astute lyrical wisdom, which thankfully is still as […]
Ceramic Animal play a blues inspired rock that caught the ear of Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach, who liked them so much he signed them to his own Easy Eye Sound label, and has produced their latest album ‘Sweet Unknown’. Hailing from  Pennsylvania, the band create a lush densely melodic sound, somewhere between War On […]

FEATURE: CERAMIC ANIMAL – NEW ALBUM PRODUCED BY DAN AUERBACH OF THE BLACK KEYS

ALBUM REVIEW: THE MONOCHROME SET – ALLHALLOWTIDE

When you can count Iggy Pop, Johnny Marr, Jarvis Cocker as fans, you know you must be doing something right. After more than forty years of music making The Monochrome Set are back again with their sixteenth studio album.  From the opening refrains of title track ‘Allhallowtide’ the chamber pop tone for the rest of […]
I can clearly remember where I was when I first heard The Coral, at home tuned into the radio in 2002, the magnificent ‘Skeleton Key’ blasted out with all its frantic rhythms and psychedelic induced melodies, and so began my musical love affair with the scouse musical magicians. They created the kind of melodies and […]

LIVE REVIEW: THE CORAL – ALBERT HALLS

ALBUM REVIEW: CARAMBOLAGE – CARAMBOLAGE / EILZUSTELLUNG-EXPRES / BON VOYAGE

Let’s face it, the thrill of discovering new music, new bands you’ve never heard of before keeps us music fans entertained and constantly striving for the next music fix. Whether it’s digging through the vinyl and CD shelves in your local record shop, hearing something new on the radio, or in this case getting a […]
The life of a writer can be a fun but frustrating experience, there’s the endless waiting around at venues, hotels, record label offices, or waiting for the phone call to be answered, yet the rewards almost always make it worthwhile. For writers, meeting or talking to your favourite artists, discovering what’s behind their craft and […]

INTERVIEW: JOE MATERA – AUTHOR OF BACKSTAGE PASS, THE GRIT AND THE GLAMOUR. DETAILS HIS ENCOUNTERS WITH THE LIKES OF LEMMY, GEORGE MARTIN, DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE AND MORE