Album Reviews | MTTM - More Than The Music

Mar 4, 2012

Maps & Atlases – Beware And Be Grateful

Beware and Be Grateful is exactly how I feel about Maps & Atlases second full length album, to be released by Barsuk on April 17, 2012. I approached wary of the dreaded Sophomore Slump, afraid that my admiration of their 2010 debut Perch Patchwork would be setting me up for a fall. The Chicago based indie quartet produce a distinct brand of ‘asymmetrical pop’;...

Feb 23, 2012

Posted by Tess Askew | 0 comments

Emeli Sandé – Our Version Of Events

The hype surrounding Aberdeen’s Emeli Sandé over the past months has been steadily building. She has just picked up the Brits Critics Choice award following in the footsteps of Jessie J, Ellie Goulding, Florence and the Machine and Adele, and it’s pretty clear to see, or hear rather, that she means business. Sometimes though, it’s nice to forget about all the...

Feb 5, 2012

Posted by Lisa Ward | 0 comments

Beth Jeans Houghton & The Hooves of Destiny &...

Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose, really is as strange as it sounds. It fuses operatic vocals, with time changes and strange stories, culminating in a diverse and yet ultimately engaging offering. It’s odd, in the same way Regina Spektor’s early work was, which though at times leaves you wondering what on earth is going on, in the end only seems to draw you in more. It’s...

Jan 29, 2012

Posted by Jo Cox | 0 comments

Gretchen Peters – Hello Cruel World

It’s no secret that Gretchen Peters’ success since the late 1980s has come mainly in the form of songwriting credits. Martina McBride, Bryan Adams and Faith Hill have all enjoyed far more success as recording artists by her pen than she has. Not that, as she tells it, this was accidental – Peters wanted her songs to be heard and worried that she wouldn’t be accepted as a...

Jan 28, 2012

Posted by Jo Cox | 1 comment

Nanci Griffith – Intersection

Nanci Griffith once sang that “no one ever knows the heart of anyone else”. Nevertheless, 20 albums in and we seem to be getting close. Intersection is deeply personal, finding this much celebrated singer-songwriter once again on top form, although fans shouldn’t expect the quiet contemplation of old. Griffith describes herself as being at a musical crossroads and the result...

Jan 17, 2012

Posted by Maria Turauskis | 0 comments

First Aid Kit – The Lion’s Roar

Listening to First Aid Kit is always a slightly bizarre experience. Music by the Soderberg sisters is so irrevocably of another era that it is very easy to forget this is music by two very young Swedish girls. Like the group’s previous releases, The Lion’s Roar is awash with country folk influences from Gram Parsons to Fleetwood Mac, and each track (and indeed the girl’s...

Jan 16, 2012

Posted by Nichola Eastwood | 0 comments

Foxes! – Foxes!

Today sees the release of Brighton based four piece Foxes! self titled debut album. Husband and wife duo, Adam and Kayla Bell, team up with Alan Grice (bass and keyboard) and Matt Twaites (guitar and Keyboard) to produce a sound more sugary than a sweet shop. It’s an album of infantile whimsy, charming but an acquired taste. Aisle No. 3 is as soft and cuddly as a teddy...

Jan 15, 2012

Posted by Jo Cox | 0 comments

Vardo & The Boss EP

You’d forgive me for thinking Colchester based four-piece Vardo & The Boss were a humble covers band based on a trawl of their Youtube videos. Whilst I particularly enjoyed the Price Tag vs Halo mash-up first hand when I saw them perform a support slot for Kate Miller-Heidke at The Water Rats last year, their debut EP sees me stand corrected on my original assumption. You...

Jan 12, 2012

Posted by Lisa Bentley | 0 comments

Frank Turner – The Second Three Years

This coming week Frank Turner’s new album The Second Three Years will be available for purchase or download. To say it is a new release is somewhat misleading as the album is a collection of the songs he has recorded over the past few years. However, what could be misconstrued by the more cynical among us as an attempt to squelch more money from fans by repackaging a selection of...

Jan 10, 2012

Posted by Emily Bruce | 0 comments

The Twilight Sad – No One Can Ever Know

Scottish band The Twilight Sad’s third album No One Can Ever Know has been rather a long time coming – their last record, Forget the Night Ahead was released back in 2009. Following the departure of founding bass player Craig Orzel, the band have said their new record would head in a different direction, with guitarist Andy Macfarlane describing their new songs as “sparser...