by Ollie Rankine Earlier this year, Band Of Skulls fans were left in state of eager anticipation after guitar and vocalist, Russell Marsden labelled their upcoming fourth record, By Default “a new era”, having spent the best part of decade dwelling in the hinterlands of British rock. Choosing the unusual setting of a central Baptist church to facilitate the Southampton trio’s busy rehearsal schedule, the forecast for By Default appeared to
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by John Tindale It seems strange for a musician to build an entire concept about something a taxi driver said in passing – but that is exactly what eccentric London producer, Gold Panda, did upon the release of third original record Good Luck And Try Your Best. The meeting with the unknown taxi driver came during a trip that Panda took to Japan with the photographer Laura Lewis in a bid
by Ed Biggs The hybrid genre of so-called ‘folktronica’ is more in vogue now than in any point in last 20 years, but English singer-songwriter Beth Orton was laying languid beats underneath acoustic guitars when the likes of Alt-J were still learning to walk. As a regular guest vocalist for The Chemical Brothers, Orton was the comedown queen, a sultry siren guiding bleary-eyed ravers back to reality. Subtle flourishes of electronica
by John Tindale It took six albums for Marissa Nadler to find her true voice and there is no better attribution to that than the Bella Union record label which housed the 2014’s record July, a breakthrough for the singer. Since that record, Nadler has found her style as a pop virtuoso set to a brilliantly descriptive backdrop and that is never more present than in seventh record Strangers.
by Ed Biggs No amount of hypnotherapy will make anyone who heard it forget how poor Richard Ashcroft’s last album United Nations Of Sound was back in 2010. To hear this totemic figure of Britpop, who defined the zeitgeist in 1997 with The Verve’s multi-million selling masterpiece Urban Hymns, stoop to such depths in a flawed attempt to re-brand himself would have been hilarious if Ashcroft hadn’t been responsible for such
by Ollie Rankine Historically speaking, Australia has never fully been able to keep hold of its reputation of being a regular breeding ground for quality popular music. Recently going to spectacularly impressive lengths to prove us wrong, it seems the Aussies have finally got their act together by giving birth to Tame Impala, Courtney Barnett, Pond and Jagwar Ma to name just a few.
by John Tindale During ‘All We Got’, the first track on Coloring Book (thanks for the spelling America…) the follow-up to 2013’s vibrant Acid Rap exudes joy, Chance The Rapper boasts “Man I swear my life is perfect, I could merch it” and it’s easy to understand why. The past three years have seen Chicagoan Chancelor Bennett rise into the upper echelons of hip-hop’s stars and over the course of his
by Ollie Rankine It’s taken six years and 14 home-recorded albums for Car Seat Headrest’s Will Toledo, a bedroom artist par extraordinaire, to finally step into a recording studio. Previously managing to turn a handful of heads with 2011’s Twin Fantasy, fans waiting patiently for Toledo’s studio scepticism to subside finally have something to cheer about with Teens Of Denial, the release of his first ever professionally produced studio album.
by Ollie Rankine It appears Twin Peaks are in the process of parting with their adolescence. In typical high school band style, the Chicago quintet released their lo-fi, angst-propelled debut mini-album Sunken in 2013 in an attempt to stimulate interest from America’s petulant and apathetic youth. Since then, much has changed. Having embarked on their quest in the search for musical maturity via 2014’s Wild Onion, Twin Peaks’ new record Down In Heaven
by Ollie Rankine We can all remember Alex Turner’s triumphant, mic-drop acceptance speech following AM’s Album of the Year victory at the 2014 BRIT Awards. “Rock ‘n’ roll will never die” was his ego-encased message to the watching world. Two years later, it seems fitting that his choice of support act to accompany The Last Shadow Puppets’ latest venture reinforces his statement’s sincerity accordingly.
