Out on Toast Records, Munkster’s ‘Help Me To Breathe’ just goes to prove that an unfashionable likeness to Police and bizarre ska influences doesn’t ncessarily end one’s career before it even gets started. Sparse and largely acoustic, and with only the merest sprinkling of rip-it-up power chords, Munkster combine the stirring, fragile nature of bands like Coldplay and Starsailor with the spunky, spread-eagle rockiness of Nada Surf and Jeff Buckley. Not quite No Doubt – but not quite Mr G.Sumner Continue Reading

Some might say Morocco and Damon’s Mali Music have changed Blur. Not me though.Think Tank is still a dislocate hotch-potch of ideas struggling to take shape without recourse to entire honesty or procedure. There have been exceptions of course. Modern Life Is Rubbish showed a band grappling heroically with a viable course of intent that was more firmly realised on Park Life, and Blur proved that a change of pace and direction can still seem as natural and as effortless Continue Reading

Another lavishly packaged boxed set is far more than you really deserve after the release of the less than completist, but ultimately satisfying ‘Product’ 3 disc set. What’s more, if you’re the sort of vinyl-munching die hard that must have EVERYTHING by the artist, you’ll be pleased to know that there’s a copy of the ‘legendary’ Spiral Scratch EP as well as rarities including the NME cover freebie ‘I Look Alone’ and ‘Moving Away From The Pulse Beat’ – a Continue Reading

The press spiel reads something along the lines of ‘All About Loving You’ putting priorities back where they belong, and on this evidence those priorities must be placed somewhere between spending more with your hair stylist and more time washing your socks. Unfortunately for Joe Public, making decent records seems to come much further down the list. It now seems a long, long time since the band first charted in 1984 and started racking up a really rather remarkable five Continue Reading

Some things need living in, rolling about on, abusing, scuffing up, stretching, to feel right. Like that clingy, itchy, static-riddled jumper. Or starchy cold, freshly-laundered bed-sheets. Or a droning repetitive paean to the hypnotism of hard drug addiction. There are four, you count ‘em (why not, you’ve got plenty of time), variations on ’91 single and ‘Medication’ EP track ‘Feel So Sad’ included on this rarities retrospective. Three of them back to back. It’s like he’s sprinkling seasoning of such Continue Reading

Perhaps the smartest thing Trent Reznor ever did was sign Marilyn Manson and the Spooky Kids to his label Nothing/Interscope as nobody has stirred up more controversy than this self proclaimed Antichrist Superstar.  Not even the bat/bird biting Ozzy Osborne has pissed off as many conservative politicians and concerned parents as much as Manson.    In the case of Marilyn Manson, words speak louder than actions as he uses his platform to write songs that are politically incorrect.  He has attacked Continue Reading

You know the drill by now. Foreign (preferably Scandinavian) band, practical legends back home (or so we’re told and are wont to believe), an arm-full of albums to their name, precision rock ‘n’ roll butts and cheekbones, sounds to match the curves, coordinated clobber, the lot, bagged up and rolled out as an instant freeze-dried ornament-ready quirk-laden pop group for the UK. We have it so good, no? Well y’know, sometimes we do, yes. For your lazier moments of musical Continue Reading

So finally, out rolls this season’s ultimate must-have fashion thing. And if you were even thinking about pressing play whilst wearing those comfy slacks, that nondescript baggy t-shirt and those Star Wars socks you got for Christmas, just take a moment would you! If you were a religious vegan would you stand proud in the house of God wearing a Cradle of Filth long-sleeve tee and real-leather posing pouch? Absurd comparison maybe, this is not a religious experience by any Continue Reading

Formed in 1981 in Brussels Belgium by programmers Patrick Codenys and Dirk Bergen, Front 242 have been credited for popularizing Industrial Dance along with bands such as Skinny Puppy, Severed Heads, and Ministry.  Taking the robot pop beats from Kraftwork and fusing them with a thunderous cacophony of mechanical noise, tape loops, extremist anti-melodies and bludgeoning beats of Throbbing Gristle, Front 242 successfully carved out a groove and an ambiance that would become mainstream in the 1990’s.  While the band Continue Reading

Long time keyboard player for Buffalo Tom, Phil Aiken has just released his first solo album “Don’t Look Down“. Recruiting a host of musicians (including members of Blake Babies, American HI-Fi, Juliana Hatfield and Buffalo Tom) to play on various tracks, Aiken has produced a collection of songs that mix soft grunge and rough hewn ballads, resulting in a low key but attractive debut. The album has a punchy opening provided by the tracks ‘Lose Yourself’ and ‘Rear View’ – Continue Reading