Archive for the ‘ Reviews ’ Category

Album Review: Purple Naked Ladies by The Internet

The aim of a film score is to encapsulate the mood of the movie, to add an aural element to fully immerse the viewer in the storyline. The very best of these can stand alone as albums in their own right, like the scores to Grease and The Godfather, or soundtracks to films such as [ READ MORE ]

Live Review: Low at The Old Market, Hove 3/12/11

In 1974, at 14 years old, my father went to see Pink Floyd at Wembley. Along with his friends he stood on his seat and cheered loudly as the band came on stage but was immediately given a stern tap on the shoulder by a Floyd fan who said; “Sit down you lot, they’re not [ READ MORE ]

Live Review: Summer Camp at The Green Door Store, Brighton 19/11/11

The lights go down and the crowd goes quiet. The strumming of an acoustic guitar and the opening lines to ‘Better Off Without You’ become audible but there’s no one on stage. Heads turn to the back of The Green Door Store and from behind a curtain emerges Elizabeth Sankey singing at the top of [ READ MORE ]

Live Review: The Fall at Concorde 2, Brighton 17/11/2011

Mark E Smith is squaring up to me and everyone else in the audience. The bloody cheek of us Fall heads having paid £20 a ticket to come and see his band. How dare we? And they are his band. Within minutes the Fall front-man is asserting his authority by turning down the amps of [ READ MORE ]

Live Review: Scroobius Pip at Coalition, Brighton 11/11/2011

From the moment the doors opened at The Coalition on Friday night Scroobius Pip was manning the merchandise stall. With an album, book, t-shirts and hats on sale, the most hirsute man in British hip-hop was posing for photos, shaking hands and signing each and every item he sold as his fans crossed his palm [ READ MORE ]

Album Review: Sticks + Stones by Cher Lloyd

After the irritable ‘Swagger Jagger’, Cher Lloyd delivers a debut album bursting with personality. Every track on Cher Lloyd’s debut album could easily have come from a different artist. From the dancehall bounce of opening track ‘Grow Up’ to the balladry of ‘Beautiful People’; the album is an erratic and jumpy affair saved by its [ READ MORE ]

Album Review: Mylo Xyloto by Coldplay

At this year’s Glastonbury Festival, Coldplay put on a show so spectacular that the Pyramid Stage itself burst into life with an explosion of colour. On Mylo Xyloto the colour is splashed right across the record sleeve, but musically there isn’t quite as much colour as youone might hope. Jonny Buckland’s Edge-like guitar-play and Martin’s [ READ MORE ]

Album Review: Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming by M83

15 million light years from earth, the M83 Galaxy has not only been the site of 6 supernovae but also contains several red knots – the parts of space where active star formation takes place. Its spiral arms create a mesmerising view, earning it the nickname of the Pinwheel Galaxy. All in all, the M83 [ READ MORE ]

I’ve Listened to This Song 20 Times Today…

  … and I’ve loved every single moment of it[ READ MORE ]

Album Review: New Brigade by Iceage

Despite one being a Danish punk band and the other being an LA hip-hop collective, there are comparisons that can be drawn between Iceage and Odd Future (OFWGKTA). The hype surrounding both comes largely from their highly energetic live shows, which often end with injuries sustained to both band and audience. Taking a look at [ READ MORE ]

Album Review: A Different Kind Of Fix by Bombay Bicycle Club

Three albums in and Bombay Bicycle Club look close to hitting their stride. While not exactly a departure from the sound they have come to be known for, Bombay Bicycle Club’s third LP is an assured album that builds upon their existing style; adding more textures and layers than previously heard from the Crouch End [ READ MORE ]

Track Review: Lucky Day by Nicola Roberts

The Daily Mail recently described ‘Lucky Day’ by Nicola Roberts as “totally catchy-sounding”. Catchy-sounding? The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word ‘catchy’ as “appealing and easy to remember”. ‘Lucky Day’ is both of those things, specifically the latter. Easy to remember sounds are the noises we first make as children. Repetitive noises so catchy that [ READ MORE ]

Live Review: DELS & Ghostpoet

With a Mercury Prize nomination behind Ghostpoet and a wealth of acclaim from critics up and down the country for DELS, you would be forgiven for thinking that getting hold of tickets for their double-headline show in Brighton last week would be a challenge. In reality, tickets were being offered at almost half price just [ READ MORE ]

Glastonbury 2011

Despite the festival being famous for its often erratic weather, it’s the eclectic choice in music that makes it the greatest party on earth. 2011 was another great year for Glastonbury, making it all the more upsetting to know that it won’t be back until 2013. Friday opened with a performance from The Master Musicians [ READ MORE ]

Album Review – 4 by Beyonce

When Neil Young released Harvest, he was booed on stage for playing his new album in its entirety. He promised the crowd that when he had finished it, he’d play them “something you’ve heard before.” True to his word, after finishing the set, he played it all again. Musicians performing a new album in its [ READ MORE ]

Album Review – Pala by Friendly Fires

Headlining Brighton’s Great Escape Festival this weekend, Friendly Fires went down a storm. The entire audience were on their feet shaking, grinding and clapping along to tracks both new and old from the St. Albans band. They’ve returned with a second album that will see them continue to excite festival audiences for the rest of [ READ MORE ]

Album Review – Goblin by Tyler, The Creator

With the blanket coverage that has come with the recent emergence of Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All (OFWGKTA / Odd Future for short) you’d be hard pushed to find someone who hasn’t heard of the group’s enigmatic leader, Tyler, The Creator. Goblin is his second full length release after 2009′s under the radar [ READ MORE ]

Album/Packaging Review – Hot Sauce Committee Part Two by Beastie Boys

I was immediately impressed with the artwork for the new Beastie Boys album, Hot Sauce Committee Part Two. With the album now in my hands I feel confident enough to say that this is the best album artwork and packaging of the year so far. Not only is the front cover of the CD striking [ READ MORE ]

Album Review – Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes

“So now I am older / than my mother and father / when they had their daughter / now what does that say about me?” The opening lines to Fleet Foxes’ new album, Helplessness Blues, see front-man Robin Pecknold ask a question, and it’s not the only one. The Seattle band’s second album is a [ READ MORE ]

Video Review: Beatie Boys – Fight For Your Right (Revisited)

Amazing[ READ MORE ]

Album Review – Angles by The Strokes

When Is This It was released in 2001 I was eleven years old. I remember it for two reasons: 1) My brother owned a copy, and 2) The cover was of a naked woman (at least as naked as I’d ever seen at eleven years old). As I grew older and each of The Strokes [ READ MORE ]

Album Review – Long Player Late Bloomer by Ron Sexsmith

After releasing 11 albums to almost no fanfare whatsoever, it is his twelfth offering that is finally getting Ron Sexsmith wider recognition for his work. With celebrity fans from Elton John to Bob Dylan, Sexsmith has long been known as a ‘songwriters songwriter’ but with his Radio 2 playlisted single ‘Believe It When I See [ READ MORE ]

Album Review – The King Of Limbs by Radiohead

This morning, Radiohead’s new album was released a full 24 hours earlier than had been expected. This caused a flurry of excitement all over the place, but at the time of release I was stuck in the office with the internet down. I had no way of hearing The King Of Limbs until I reached [ READ MORE ]

Album Review – Computers and Blues by The Streets

Mike Skinner may well have made the right decision in retiring The Streets. When Original Pirate Material was released in 2002, Mike Skinner’s ordinary bloke lyrical style was refreshingly unique, but as with anything popular, it drew its fair share of copycats (some of which Skinner even signed to his ill-fated label). While the influence [ READ MORE ]

Album Review – Michael by Michael Jackson

I refuse to dignify this travesty with a review longer than this sentence[ READ MORE ]

Album Review – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West

Kanye West couldn’t have come up with a more apt description of his latest record than the very title he gave it; My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is just that. Anyone familiar with Kanye’s Twitter feed will know just how erratic he can be. Tweets about his new diamond teeth run close to hour long [ READ MORE ]

Album Review – Progress by Take That

With the fastest selling tour in British history tucked firmly under the belts of the recently reformed five piece, you’d be forgiven for expecting an album harking back to their 90′s heyday. However with Progress, the band have released one of the most striking albums of the year. Lead single ‘The Flood’ is the closest [ READ MORE ]

Album Review – Loud by Rihanna

“Hey Mr DJ won’t you turn the music up?” When Rihanna released her debut album Music Of The Sun in 2005 she was 17 years old, and the album’s opening track ‘Pon De Replay’ was about a DJ not playing music loud enough. Now in 2010, the Barbadian has released Loud, whose opening track ‘S&M’ [ READ MORE ]

Track Review – Bodies by Catfish & The Bottlemen

Indie rock isn’t in the position it was five years ago, it’s not even in the position it was in two years ago; Kings Of Leon have just released their worst album so far, Oasis have split up, and no one’s pretending to enjoy The Enemy anymore either. So what to do with a band [ READ MORE ]

Album Review – Insatiable by Nadine Coyle

Apparently Nadine Coyle’s debut solo album isn’t doing too well, which is a shame because it contains some pretty good pop songs. Actually, it contains about three or four good pop songs and several other tracks that aren’t quite as good but are still better than most songs on Cheryl Cole’s Messy Little Raindrops. This [ READ MORE ]

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