May 2013
2 posts
2 tags
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April 2013
4 posts
1 tag
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February 2013
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December 2012
1 post
October 2012
4 posts
August 2012
7 posts
6 tags
Review: Owz Hoskins, 'Tell All Your Friends... I'm...
YOU know when a friend of yours says, “I’ve made an album” and you sort of don’t believe them?
Well I have to admit that’s what happened to me when I first heard about Owz’s debut EP.
But I am delighted to say that, of course, it wasn’t a wind-up. The resulting five tracks are heartfelt and lovingly put together, particularly my favourite...
4 tags
Review: Fleetwood Mac, 'The Chain - 25 Years'
LET’S get this out of the way, The Chain (also known as the F1 music) isn’t until halfway through the second disc. OK?
To be honest you’ll have forgotten about that by the time you’re through Disc 1. Kicking off with the absolute gem ‘Paper Doll’ - I think it’s what you’d call ‘bossa nova’ - it’s a great start to what can only be...
4 tags
Review: Japandroids, 'Celebration Rock' (out now)
I HAVE been listening to Japandroids for a few weeks now as their album tracks weave their way through my iTunes, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised. Every track is one you actually want to listen to, rather than skip as is the temptation with bands you’re less familiar with.
So, a zero skip rate is an excellent start, but what of the band themselves?
This is fun shouty Canadian...
July 2012
10 posts
4 tags
Review: Silversun Pickups, 'Neck of the Woods'...
THE cover artwork for this album - and, frankly, the band name - does not do justice to the rocky output from Silversun Pickups.
I was expecting a group of old codgers twanging banjos (not necessarily bad, but what resulted is infinitely better).
Instead I got dynamic, modern American alternative rock, made even more interesting by the interplay between the two singers. The male vocalist Brian...
8 tags
Review: trioVD, 'Maze' - out now
NO messing about - this album dives straight into a sonic wall of bleepy weirdness before stomping along like Jack White playing with a wobble board and blowing into a duck whistle. Then a Marilyn Manson bassline cuts in, a police siren, some drums, some distortion and - yes - some kind of saxophone. Before you know it you feel like you’re sliding down one of those completely enclosed...
11 tags
Review: Linkin Park, 'Living Things' (out now)
NOT all bands can do what Foo Fighters did and release one of their best albums almost two decades into their career. Linkin Park are no exception.
It has been 12 years since ‘Hybrid Theory’ and oh boy does the band’s latest offering ‘Living Things’ reflect that - gone is the primal anger of crunching guitar to be replaced by electronica and reverb, slick spoken...
“Since my early days as a reporter, I have worked hard to accurately and fairly...”
– Anderson Cooper, in an e-mail to Andrew Sullivan, on being gay.
Cooper discusses negotiating privacy as a reporter. It’s certainly worth a read:
I’ve always believed that who a reporter votes for, what religion they are, who they love, should not be something they have to discuss publicly. As...
June 2012
1 post
8 tags
Interview: A Plastic Rose on Wakestock Festival,...
IT CAN be a boring life on tour.
Leaking (or exploding) vans, time to kill, your band mate constantly drumming on your head.
Well, A Plastic Rose - whose fans on Twitter and Instagram are known as #APRmy - have found a way of keeping things interesting.
“We follow Banksys,” explained Ian, who along with fellow singer Gerry, drummer Dave and bassist Troy completes Irish band A Plastic Rose.
...
May 2012
5 posts
11 tags
Review: Hospitality Summer Drum & Bass 2012
Various Artists Hospitality Summer Drum & Bass 2012 Hospital Records - out now
LUCKILY for the hard-working d’n’b heads at Hospital, summer has well and truly arrived, and this seasonal offering adds a little extra encouragement (not that you need it) to wind down the car windows and blast passing grandmas off their feet.
The summer 2012 compilation hinges around the fantastic Logistics...
11 tags
DVD review: No Room for Rockstars, the Vans Warped...
Contains spoilers!
FOR many young kids, even from a far-flung island such as ours, going to the Warped Tour is seen as a rite of passage, something which demonstrates and celebrates a love of music (Blink182 even name-checked the 17-year-old festival in the lyric ‘I couldn’t wait for the summer and the Warped Tour’).
As a long-standing fan of many of the bands who have made...
Crumbs from the Communion Table: A challenge to... →
gcnjustin:
This is probably the most political thing I will ever post on this blog, but in spite of the fact that it was inspired by a recent political debate, this isn’t actually a political post. It’s actually about people, and how we respond to these sorts of polarizing political debates.
As you may…
12 tags
2012 Powys County Council election coverage
My contribution to the world of politics, for this week’s County Times.
AS predicted the Independents took the lion’s share of 30 contested seats in Brecon and Radnorshire at last week’s county council elections. Labour and the Liberal Democrats took six seats apiece, the Conservatives took four while the Independents took 21 seats across the two old shires. Across the whole council area,...
April 2012
8 posts
7 tags
Getting Around Rome With A Wheelchair
I’ve just returned from a four-day trip to Rome, accompanied by my boyfriend, my uncle and my 79-year-old grandmother who used a wheelchair throughout the trip. Here’s an insight into getting around the Italian capital on four wheels.
A few months ago one of my cousins included me in an email, inviting our family to a Christening in Rome. As most of that side of the family is from...
2 tags
Gig preview & interview: Billy Lunn, the Subways
THE Subways are coming to Cardiff at the end of the month, so the County Times caught up with front man Billy Lunn for a chat about charity, writer’s block and getting high on coffee.
The band are touring their most recent album, ‘Money and Celebrity’ which came out in September last year, but it wasn’t exactly smooth sailing getting the record done, Billy explained.
“We were keen to get the...
8 tags
Clwb Ifor Bach gig preview: We The Kings
FLORIDA quartet We The Kings are set to bring some American sunshine to South Wales when they hit Cardiff’s Clwb Ifor Bach in two weeks’ time.
Just two short days after the Cardiff gig they’ll release new album ‘Sunshine State of Mind’ on this side of the pond, out on May 7 on S-Curve Records/Warner Bros.
With over three million sales to date, the album - put together by frontman Travis Clark,...
5 tags
Review: All The Young, 'Welcome Home'
All The Young Welcome Home 14th Floor Records - out now
HOW exciting is this! If you remember my review of All The Young’s EP ‘Live at King Tuts’ from last year, I was a big fan, and now feel weirdly privileged to get to listen to their new album, ‘Welcome Home’, a full 24 hours ahead of the official release date. (By the time you read this, the album will be...
4 tags
Review: Get The Blessing, 'OC DC'
Get The Blessing OC DC Naim Jazz Records - out now
THIS is the kind of jazz I can get my head round.
You may have read my review of the recent Empirical album a few weeks ago and this contrasts quite strongly with that. There’s still plenty of crazy sax and rhythms which I definitely can’t follow but there’s an underlying element of funk and finger-clicking toe-tapping beats...
4 tags
Review: Neil Cowley Trio, 'The Face of Mount...
Neil Cowley Trio The Face of Mount Molehill Naim Audio/Hide Inside Records - out now
MUCH has been made of Neil Cowley’s success featuring on Adele’s ‘21’ album this summer. But are him and his band (Rex Horan on bass and Evan Jenkins on drums) actually interesting to listen to in their own right?
First impression says, pleasingly, ‘yes’.
It’s easy to...
5 tags
Review: Hogarth and Barbieri, 'Not The Weapon But...
Steve Hogarth and Richard Barbieri Not The Weapon But The Hand Kscope - out now
‘SO the guy from Marillion and the keyboard player from Porcupine Tree have teamed up and made an album,’ I ascertain from the blurb which comes with this record.
A little feeling of unease nestles itself in my stomach and I wonder aloud (indeed, on Twitter) if I’ll struggle to sit through one...
6 tags
Review: Hooray for Earth, 'True Loves'
Hooray for Earth True Loves Memphis Industries - out now
DEBUT album, eh? Tricky. How to strike the balance between polished yet gutsy young musicians and lo-fi indie start-ups who perhaps haven’t got the cash to afford the traditional glossy studio sound.
Not a problem for Hooray for Earth. Opening track ‘Realise It’s Not The Sun’ could have come straight off the...
March 2012
9 posts
6 tags
Review: InMe, 'The Pride'
InMe The Pride Graphite Records - out now
IT makes you feel old when you realise that InMe’s debut album came out NINE YEARS ago.
Very much a product of the nu-metal and young British rock explosion of the early Noughties, InMe are a band which a lot of people did not expect to last.
They even released a ‘best of’ two years ago. Despite this ‘The Pride’ does not...
4 tags
Review: Phantom Limb, 'The Pines'
Phantom Limb The Pines Naim Edge Records - out now
IF you’re looking for something a little bit sophisticated, you could do worse than Phantom Limb.
Their lead singer Yolanda Quartey has recently enjoyed success with Chase & Status, writing for Will Young and performing backing vocals for Adele.
The kinship with Will Young really shines through - this is exactly the sort of album I...
3 tags
Review: The Human Project, 'Trials'
The Human Project Trials Hidden Talent - out now
SPEAKING to these guys recently they told me that their live shows are incredibly fast-paced and energetic, so much so that they can’t physically play for more than about half an hour.
Listening to this EP (which the record company insist on calling a ‘mini album’) you can clearly see why.
It’s also no surprise that...
4 tags
Review: Empirical, 'Elements of Truth'
Empirical Elements of Truth Naim Jazz Records - out now
JAZZ is a genre, along with perhaps opera, which we the general public tend to perceive as closed off, inaccessible.
It’s incredibly technical, for one thing, and there is not always an obvious melody or regular beat, at least not to the untrained ear.
Empirical, I fear, are a little beyond me, for those very reasons. Talented...
6 tags
Review: The Wedding Present, 'Valentina'
The Wedding Present Valentina Scopitones - out now
I DON’T know why but as soon as I saw this album I immediately wanted to listen to it. Something in the back of my mind instructed me that I had already heard of this band, and that they were good, or at least came highly recommended. I wish I could put my finger on it.
Reading through the PR blurb I learned that this band have been...
10 tags
More singles reviews March 2012
Young Guns Bones Play It Again Sam/PIAS - out now
YOU would have to be a robot not to be just a little bit impressed with this single. Or just asleep. If I was 13 again I’d probably have a Young Guns pencil case and dozens of black t-shirts with the band name on. They’re perfectly targeting that niche little market which sits somewhere between My Chemical Romance, The Calling and...
9 tags
Interview/review: Napalm Death, 'Utilitarian'
“THIRTY years of the band? Yeah, you’d think that would be the main thing for us!”
Napalm Death are not a band to rely on history to promote themselves. Speaking to Barney from the band, Napalm Death is all about forward momentum.
“Some bands grasp at milestones,” Barney told me over the phone. “We’re firmly of the opinion that history is really important, but you’re only really as good as...
