Apologies for the lack of posts over the festive period but I’ve been too busy. Getting drunk. Now the hangover has cleared, I thought it was time to give you a run-down of my favourite musical moments of the last twelve months, starting with my top album of 2009; The Fruit Bats‘ The Ruminant Band: [...]
It’s Chriiiiiiisss-maaaaaassssssss!!!!!!!!
Fans of the bequiffed indie-pop genius of Sunderland’s Frankie & The Heartstrings should check out my feature on the band in this month’s Dazed & Confused. You can find it on page 124. Let me know what you think.
Synesthete singer-songwriter Marina Diamandis arrived to near-universal acclaim in mid-2009 with her colour-drenched double A-side “Obsessions”/”Mowgli’s Road” on the New York and London-based indie Neon Gold Records. Signed to 679 in the UK following the release of the stunning The Crown Jewels EP, the Welsh-born musician’s full-length debut is already shaping up to be one [...]
You’d have thought I lived in New York rather than Newcastle with the amount I’ve been banging on about Big Apple bands of late. But when the banks of the Hudson river can spew forth the indie-pop genius of The Drums, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart and Acrylics, who can blame me? Check [...]
South Shields-based six-piece rainfalldown have just finished recording the brand-new The Mexico EP. You can check it out on their MySpace page. In the meantime, why not get into the festive spirit and get this onto your whey-aye pod? rainfalldown – Footprints In The Snow MP3
I love Acrylics. I mean, I fucking love them. The Brooklyn-based outfit’s seventies-tinged lo-fi indie makes a refreshing change to the too-cool-for-school post-punk that dominates much of the city’s output. Built around the songwriting partnership of Molly Shea and Jason Klauber, the band’s sound owes more to the mega-selling Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac than regular NYC [...]
Laura Marling plays The Journal Tyne Theatre on April 19 as part of her UK tour. The full dates are: Belfast Limelight (April 9) Dublin The Academy (10) Manchester Lowry (12) Glasgow Fruitmarket (13) Edinburgh Queen’s Hall (14) Birmingham Alexandra Theatre (16) Cambridge Corn Exchange (17) Newcastle Tyne Theatre (19) York Opera House (20) Bristol [...]
Painty-faced US glam-rock legends Kiss have added a number of extra dates to their forthcoming tour of the UK that now includes a gig at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle on May 2. Gene Simmons and co will be calling at: Sheffield Arena (May 1) Newcastle Metro Radio Arena (2) Liverpool Arena (4) Birmingham [...]
Check out this footage of Brighton-based noiseniks Bad For Lazarus recording their debut single. The band play The End in Newcastle this Friday (December 18):
