Reviews

  • Dolly Parton – Better Day

    Dolly Parton – Better Day

    Better Day is the 41st album release from the legendary country singer Dolly Parton whose longevity in the music industry has been born from her musical talent, her magnanimous personality and her shrewd business skills – all of which have earned her the title of most successful woman in country music of all time.  Not bad going from a girl who grew up...

  • Danny And The Champions Of The World – Hearts and Arrows

    Danny And The Champions Of The World – Hearts and Arrows

    Danny And The Champions Of The World’s third studio release Hearts and Arrows dropped earlier this year.  It would be difficult to talk about this album without mentioning the overwhelming parity to early Bruce Springsteen sounds, the driven, forceful optimism with anthemic and punchy choruses. Three songs into the album you are still riding the...

  • 22/08/2011 | Ginger – O2 Academy, Oxford

    22/08/2011 | Ginger – O2 Academy, Oxford

    Despite being a long-time Wildhearts fan, having seen them play live numerous times, including  a near-legendary Download Festival performance in 2008, and being into several of Ginger’s various other projects, I’ve never managed to catch him on one of his acoustic tours. As such, I’m not entirely sure what to expect, in terms of the...

  • Big Deal – Lights Out

    Big Deal – Lights Out

    September 5th sees the release of Lights Out, the debut album from Big Deal, a recent addition to the currently trending boy/girl group.  It is with a quiet curiosity, introspective lyrics that drip with melancholia and angst that we get the first full block feel for what Big Deal are all about.  It is almost emo-indie, if ever a genre were to exist then...

  • She Keeps Bees – Dig On

    She Keeps Bees – Dig On

    The latest offering from Brooklyn duo, She Keeps Bees, is the result of a timely seclusion in New York’s Catskill Mountains.  Holed up in a log cabin together, Jessica Larrabee and Andy LaPlant recorded Dig On in November of last year, the third full length album from this twosome.  Be warned, if you like your music complicated, filled to the brim with...

  • Eleanor McEvoy – Alone

    Eleanor McEvoy – Alone

    The 9th studio album from Irish singer Eleanor McEvoy is set to be released September 9th and with it we get a very introspective series of songs, ones we have heard before but re-recorded to give a more personal and intimate feel. Acoustic in the delivery, McEvoy has set about telling stories with her songs.  Intro track Did I Hurt You reveals the worst...

  • Twilight Singers – Dynamite Steps

    Twilight Singers – Dynamite Steps

    Twilight Singers, started in 1997, is the side project of The Afghan Whigs leader Greg Dullii. Dynamite Steps is the fifth offering, a return to Sub Pop for Dulli and the first Twilight Singers release for 5 years. It sees him take on full production duties and is a cathartic collection steeped in the dark elements of love, sex, drugs, death and life....

  • Beirut – The Rip Tide

    Beirut – The Rip Tide

    The Rip Tide is the third full-length release from Beirut after their recent hiatus. Their last release was way back in 2007, and the group’s sound has changed somewhat since then. Where The Flying Cup Club was filled with an almost innumerate amount of instruments, from cellos, accordions, ukuleles, violins, saxophones and euphoniums, this new album has...

  • She Keeps Bees – Dig On

    She Keeps Bees – Dig On

    The music industry has become a fickle mistress over the past 20 years.  Gone are the days when a band can be attached to a label for years before one of their many releases becomes an out and out hit.  Nowadays, you have to have a number one record, a platinum selling album and a clothing range to be considered a success.  Artists and bands need to make...

  • Wretch 32 – Black and White

    Wretch 32 – Black and White

    Wretch 32 – real name Jermaine Scott – first burst into the charts in January with super-catchy Traktor. His sound is grimy, his lyrics slick (my lifestyle’s terribly wild/but you’ll never catch me on the Jeremy Kyle show – Traktor is a favourite) and his friends the hottest stars (Example, Professor Green, Chipmunk, Ed Sheeran to name a few). So...

  • Hyde & Beast – Slow Down

    Hyde & Beast – Slow Down

    What do you get when you mix together The Futureheads’ drummer with the former drummer of Golden Virgins? No, the answer is surprisingly not a cacophony of drums. The answer, my friends, is Hyde & Beast. Dave Hyde and Neil ‘Beast’ Basset are releasing their debut album Slow Down this month on their own label, Tail Feather Records. Made up of ten...

  • F8stercare Vs. †‡† (RITUALZ) Split LP

    F8stercare Vs. †‡† (RITUALZ) Split LP

    September 5th 2011 is the scheduled date for a spilt LP featuring the newest material from two of dance music’s most innovative, curious and challenging acts – F8stercare and †‡† (pronounced RITUALZ). This new joint release from hip east London indie label Robot Elephant Records features five tracks from F8stercare and four tracks from...