The Verve – Forth (EMI/Parlophone) August 25th, 2008 3.5/6.0 Time hasn’t been kind to the Verve. Despite their three studio albums of the nineties being underrated successes, from the shoegaze A Storm In Heaven to the anthemic Urban Hymns, the three wordy, overlong and altogether dull solo records from frontman Richard Ashcroft have seen a [...]
Album Reviews
Cardinal Sin?
Ryan Adams and the Cardinals – Cardinology (Lost Highway) October 27th, 2008 4.0/6.0 Ryan Adams has never done things the conventional way. With Cardinology, the bonus track Memory Lane is better than the decidedly average opener Born into a Light. This is the pattern for much of the new record: for every silver lining (Cobwebs, [...]
Music: Reviews
The Black Keys – Same Old Thing
The Black Keys – Same Old Thing (V2 Records/Co-Operative Music) November 24th, 2008 3.7/6.0 Bagging producer extraordinaire Danger Mouse to work on their latest LP Attack & Release appeared to be a masterstroke by the Akron, Ohio based duo who, since they were blasted into the public consciousness via 2003’s Thickfreakness and some much deserved [...]
Live Reviews
Fasciinatiing
The Faint The Scala, London Thursday, November 20th 2008 It’s blowing a small gale in the Scala, the kind that would have Messrs Saffir and Simpson pretty hot under the collar right about now. While it’s nice to know that the air conditioning is working, I’m clinging to the balcony railing in a desperate effort [...]
Music: Reviews
Tim and Sam’s Tim and the Sam Band – Put Your Slippers On EP
Tim and Sam’s Tim and the Sam Band with Tim and Sam- Put Your Slippers On EP (Full of Joy Records) Friday, November 28th 2008 5.0/6.0 As the dulcet xylophone doodlings of its title track ease the listener into this most soothing of offerings, it becomes clear that the latest recording from a band so [...]
Album Reviews
In The Mix
SebastiAn – A Fine Selection of Remixes (Ed Banger Records/Because Music) October 27th, 2008 4.2/6.0 Finally, a full length album from SebastiAn, a full four years and three EPs down the road from being signed to Ed Banger. But wait! Closer inspection reveals it’s not an album of the artist’s trademark grinding electro, rather a [...]
Live Reviews
Free As A Bird
Guillemots The Plug, Sheffield Sunday, November 16th 2008 Tonight’s choice of venue is one of the more conventional stops on Guillemots’ Fishbone for a Drink tour. So far they’ve already clocked up performances in the Custard Factory complex in Birmingham, Edinburgh Picture House and Lancaster Library (which has a convincing claim to the title “most [...]
Live Reviews
Apocalypso Please
The Presets The Warehouse Project, Store Street Car Park, Manchester Saturday, November 8th 2008 The Presets’ last appearance at the Warehouse Project on the Easter weekend proved to be a Good Friday (ho hum) indeed. Thankfully, the powers that be took heed of the great reception they received and promptly booked them for a repeat [...]
Live Reviews
Come The Revolution
Mercury Rev Academy 2, Manchester Wednesday November 5th, 2008 Today is quite literally the morning after a momentous night before (my fellow Fugitive only got up two hours before the gig after pulling an all-nighter for a certain presidential election, so his body clock is still on Eastern State Time). The Manchester skyline’s contribution to [...]
Live Reviews
Unfailing Loyalty
Cold War Kids The Ritz, Manchester Thursday November 6th, 2008 You don’t have to read very far into the average Cold War Kids review before you find mention of their religious upbringing. Having met at a Christian college, more recent reports put organic farming further up their list of priorities than the man upstairs. However [...]