It makes you wonder, how much stuff actually matters. Time and place stuff, the alignment of the planets, random courses crossing, ley lines, manifestations of energy, all that bollocks. Because wherever he was 13 years ago (even 7 to be fair) along with his 3 supposed spiritual musketeers, he isn’t anymore. And it would appear that the once iconic Stone Rose has also tossed aside any chance of redeeming himself from the late Brit-pop cash cow that was The Seahorses, Continue Reading

Two years on from the surprise Mercury Music Prize nomination, Little Black Numbers and feisty yet tender songbird, Kathryn Williams releases ‘Old Low Light’ – a delicately profound and moody exploration of modern living – a kind of Bridget Jones in the country with her wellies on. As twisty-turny as an autumn leaf – Crud rates the album as one of the best of 2002 . It’s sparse, it’s pastoral and it’s often wickedly amusing – not unlike a boiled Continue Reading

Belonging to that same ‘I’m not going to open my mouth too much for fear of something ordinary falling out’ bronkin’ band of brothers as Mike Nesmith and Beck Hansen – Jay Farrar spits and drawls his way through a gritty 5 tracks of visceral alterna-country; inebriate but tuneful, incisive but happy. Pitched somewhere between Neil Young and Bob Dylan, a deliriously psychedelic Mike Nesmith and with the awkward tenderness of a young Michael Stipe, ‘ThirdShiftGrottoSlack’ is four tracks of Continue Reading

Smarter than the average head-banging bear, Montreal’s Pulse Ultra crank up the paranoia and tricky time-signatures to make a credible (if slightly unremarkable) stab at the really rather ripe pop-metal market. Largely compacted into 3 minute punches, tracks like ‘Acceptance (Phase 1 )’ and ‘Void’ capture all the gothic sorcery needed to heave a metal band into the brutal sonic equivalent of a Lord of The Rings style quest for enlightenment. Lyrically coming perilously close to the interstellar conscience of Continue Reading

Previously referred to as “the heaviest band in rock”, one might (erroneously) predict that the guitars opening “Diamond”, are playing tangled barre chords with raging dual kick drums, grinding bass, and a singer imitating Tom Waits, or his uncle with the scissors down his throat.Here is a band that easily disproves the concept that “weighty” or “big” is ever really down to the amount of distorted guitar tracks on a single number, and shows, again, the overall sensation of the Continue Reading

The press release reads “ Athens, GA 1996: A loose collective of companions, sharing a common love of classic songwriters such as Dylan, Costello and Richard Thompson, are seeking to distil these influences into a sound…somewhere between The American Music Club and The Replacements“ And to be perfectly frank: it would be very difficult to disagree. It’s a simple design, a simple objective and its been carried out with such an inspired, miraculous innocence that it’s damn near impossible to Continue Reading

I said I should have known better when I heard the single “Dem Girlz’ and discovered with more than a modicum of surprise and embarrassment that I actually really liked it. With it’s cooky Jay-Z sample and it’s ‘comic’ take on hip-hop it was an effortless piece of bubblegum: reckless and commanding, all at the same time. One might remark on the ‘cartoon realism’ of the delivery – imbuing it with all the undeserved irony and self-awareness of a post-modernist Continue Reading

Now, this particular correspondent first came in contact with Liars a few months ago at the top of a bill featuring, in support, two of the best live bands on the go right now or anytime at all in the near past, Mclusky and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. It was like following electric shock treatment with a limp Chinese burn. Naturally they fell flat on their collective face. But not only that, it was like they’d done it on purpose, Continue Reading

Punk Rock. It conjures up images of spiky Mohawks, dog chains, ripped clothes, slam dancing and safety pins. While this was how it was perceived by most of the public, it went much deeper than a simple fashion statement. It was as much a movement as the hippies in the late 60’s and early 70’s, only Punk was not promoting peace and love. Rather it was a “fuck you” to governments, suburban life and corporate rock. Although the Ramones are Continue Reading