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30 Years On: Kate Bush – The Dreaming

  

Released in 1982 to a baffled public and laudatory (if similarly bewildered) critics, The Dreaming was the first album where Kate Bush took sole credit for production. She had assisted Andrew Powell on Lionheart (1978) and co-produced Never For Ever (1980) with Jon Kelly. The latter work proved to be pivotal. During the sessions she discovered the Fairlight CMI, a sampling synthesizer very much in its infancy having been created in 1979. She was introduced to the machine, along with the rhythm box, by Peter Gabriel, while recording backing vocals for his third eponymous album (also known as Melt). Read the rest of this page »

ILLLs – Dark Paradise (E.P. Review)

  

By all accounts, these two tasters from the band’s forthcoming debut EP should be as unappetising as the ice cream goo soup that adorns its sleeve. ILLLS hail from Oxford, Mississippi and though it’s tempting to lump them in with Southern garage exemplars like The Black Keys, they make quite a different kind of noisenik pop. Both records feel like a lank-haired American approximation of English post-punk influences. On Bathroom Floor, in particular, the band battens down the hatches to cope with the oncoming Anglo-rock onslaught. With its serrated guitar and rapid fire tub-thumping, the song replicates the stampede of the Banshess/ Cure in their early 80’s heyday. Somewhere in the murk of the mix, synth strings, that staple of portentous doom-pop, struggle to assert themselves. The vocals are double-tracked with an almost alien distance. It all ends up sounding like the shimmering din of My Bloody Valentine’s sonic cathedral but repositioned state side. By the time of the breakdown, rippling fretwork (is it a bass or guitar through a chorus pedal?), US alt-rock & UK indie form a stellar hybrid.  Scuzzy finesse with fangs. Read the rest of this page »

Dark Shadows (Film Review)

 

Dark Shadows is Tim Burton and Johnny Depp’s 8th collaboration and their interpretation of the cult 1960s Supernatural drama of the same name. In both versions the Collins family is the order of the day, of which we are introduced to through Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp), an early patriarch of the family who helped establish them after moving from England. Who was at the centre of an unfortunate love triangle between his true love Josette DuPres and the jealous servant Angelique Bouchard – a spiteful witch. Angelique concludes that if she cannot have her love no one can by murdering Josette, cursing Barnabus to spend eternity as a vampire and then setting the townspeople on him, sealing him in a coffin, burying him ‘alive’. Then, thanks to all the  curses on his family and lover lining up he is freed from his captivity. No longer is it 1790s frontier America, it is 1972. Read the rest of this page »

Listen: Bullion – It’s All In Sound

 

Listen to Bullion’s It’s All In Sound from new E.P. Love Me Oh Please Love Me and read Jenner Cole’s latest review of the E.P.

When you first see the title of Love me oh please love me, the new EP by Bullion, you probably picture a weepy, downtrodden winey compilation of songs. Bullion delivers something quite different. The west Londoner serves a diverse range of tracks with different feels based loosely around a kind of chillwave/trip-hop sound. However tracks such as All in Sound reflect influences divergent of those genres. It’s All in Sound boasts a funky persona towards the end, more commonly heard in the 70/80s complimented by some killer sax and jazz keyboard sounds which promote a nostalgia as the song fluctuates between modern electro energy and the soulful mood comparable to the likes of Grover Washington.

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Ryan Adams – London Palladium (Live Review)

 

Ryan Adams played at the London Palladium on the Wizard of Oz musicals off day on April 23rd. Blue Peter legend Janet Ellis was there and here’s her review

It was the red coats that did it. Allowed into the theatre while the Wizard takes Mondays off, another tousle-headed magician took to the stage. But the flunkeys- the regular Royal Palladium crew, tricked out in their less-than-casual red dress coats, were still on duty outside. Tearing tickets and forbidding alcohol, they stood by while bemused folk gulped down their gig beers before being allowed to sit down. Into this unrelaxed and wary auditorium, Ryan Adams crept onto the darkened stage. The lights never went up; instead a red glow (obviously the Palladium has a thing about red) suffused the stage. Kindly, you might think it a homage to Adam’s latest album title, unkindly you might just think ‘Can we see him, please?’. Read the rest of this page »

Doomtree – Bangarang (Single Review)

  

Fair warning: “Bangarang” by Doomtree will inevitably get stuck in your head. But with that being said, this catchy song and quirky music video are definitely worth checking out. Read the rest of this page »

Safe (Film Review)

You rarely get a surprise when you visit the cinema intending to watch the latest Jason Statham movie.  You know he’ll be bald and stubbly, his dialogue will be delivered in a very gruff accent, he’ll make a few sarcastic comments, and he’ll kick seven shades of shit out of nameless bad guys for 90 minutes. Read the rest of this page »

We Are Augustines @ O2 Academy Liverpool (Live)

  

O2 Academy Liverpool 09/05/12

9th May 2012 and American rockers We Are Augustines have found themselves Liverpool bound on the UK leg of their tour in support of their album Rise Ye Sunken Ships. Having already played to sold out crowds in Manchester, London and Birmingham they were well in their stride, and well prepared for the nights antics. Opening up for the guys were the rock band with a tinge of metal, My Goodness.  Having journeyed from their hometown of Seattle to the UK for the first time they’re only just picking up on the different crowds and what to expect; as were we. Joel and Ethan work as a two-piece with just a guitar and drums; so perhaps people were expecting more ballads, soft indie pieces? Oh no, “safety in numbers” isn’t always the case, especially with My Goodness. There are many a five piece rock band that would struggle to create the energy that My Goodness conjure, not to mention sharing the limelight equally. Musically they blew up the stage with power chords, drumbeats like no other and definitely a sense of “banter” between them. Whilst they rarely made eye contact they were bouncing off one another’s energy, almost like a playful battle. Joel would pipe up with a strong guitar riff with Ethan hitting straight back throwing his entire body into those drum beats; an intense atmosphere but hugely entertaining. With bluesy Kasabian-esque vocals “In The Sun”, certainly caught the attention of crowd members; and even more so with their single “C’mon Doll”. It went down a treat with head nodding and leg popping from people around the venue, sipping their drink in appreciation. My Goodness kept crowd interaction to a minimum perhaps through nerves but more likely because they were so engrossed in the music, powering through their triumphant set. Read the rest of this page »

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