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MUSIC CD REVIEWS : C
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Cabaret Rat
‘Walking With Sharks’ (EP, Cab Records) **** • The jackhammer beats, black humour and pop metal of ‘Slice ’n’ Dice’ signal the return of Matt Prozac, formally of this parish, now residing in Oxford. His gleamingly buff…06.09.2010 READ MORE -
Call The Doctor
CTD (Mini-LP, Glasstone Records) • Not sure we should assume Call The Doctor has taken the Hippocratic oath – this stuff is pure malevolence. Guitars sawing, stabbing and piercing so remorselessly they could have…27.10.2010 READ MORE -
Call The Doctor
‘Dockside Demo’ (EP, self-released) • Tighter than a Pre-Raphaelite curl, Bristol four-piece Call The Doctor are barely a year old yet sound like they’ve shared bunk beds for years. With several well-received local gigs…11.09.2010 READ MORE -
Call The Doctor
‘Riots.’ (EP, Fear of Fiction) Patti Aberhart’s living the dream: black bob, lip gloss and scarlet nails, a tendon-taut band and all the sass a modern post-punk starlet needs. Despite the title, ‘Riots.’ is no…30.09.2011 READ MORE -
Canola Tenderfoot
‘Wining Is For Losers’ (Album, Malicious Damage Records) * • Canola Tenderfoot are a Bristolian husband and wife pairing and this album was three years in the making. Perhaps it sounded more contemporary when the…25.01.2009 READ MORE -
Cara Dillon
‘Hill of Thieves’ (Charcoal Records) **** • Bambi-faced Cara Dillon’s fourth studio album, ‘Hill of Thieves’, produced by hubby Sam Lakeman (brother of Seth), is her first release since the dramatic early birth of their…18.07.2010 READ MORE -
Caricatures
‘Fire In The Womb’ (Single, Anticreation Productions) • Down-tuned strings, irregular drumbeats and body horror lyrics that would make your mother vomit if she caught you singing them in the shower. Yes, it's doom metal…16.02.2011 READ MORE -
Caroline Martin
‘For All That I Do Not Know’ (LP, Smalldog) Second album ‘proper’, and still like being taken to a confession box deep in dark and unmapped woods. The pace is still propelled by slowly circling guitar, still telling…22.03.2012 READ MORE -
Casino Drive
‘Spin The Truth’ (EP, self-release) *** • There is nothing new under the sun, let alone in Trowbridge, but that won’t stop people warming to Casino Drive. Hailing from the third largest town in Wiltshire, the four-piece…25.01.2010 READ MORE -
Cassandra Wilson
‘Loverly’ (Album, Blue Note) **** • Cassandra Wilson does standards? Is this the final crumbling of a career that led from the free modernism of M-Base to the blues’n’country of ‘Songbook’? Well, no, actually. This…20.01.2010 READ MORE -
Catherine MacLellan
‘Church Bell Blues’ (Album, True North Records) *** • Well, it’s certainly pleasant enough if you like that sort of thing, and I do. That, being folky female singers. But like free re-fills of coke, a good thing can…20.06.2010 READ MORE -
Cathy Davey
‘Tales Of Silversleeve’ (album, EMI) ***** • Big news in Ireland where she won a Meteor (an Irish Brit) for best Irish female, there seems little reason why the same can’t be repeated over here. With a rather charming…25.01.2010 READ MORE -
Cemlyn Jones
‘All These Dreams’ (LP, Kargo Records) • Clevedon-based singer-songwriter and former busker Cemlyn Jones has taken his acoustic love songs from the pavement to the studio and recruited a full band, brass and the string…29.04.2011 READ MORE -
Central Spillz
'Space Travel' (LP, Durkle Disco) • In the increasingly boundary-bereft territory between hip-hop and dubstep, it's adapt or die. Bristol's multi-legged collective Central Spillz – featuring Koast and Superisk – choose…23.02.2011 READ MORE -
Centrefolds
‘In Your Blood’ (Single, self-released) • ‘In Your Blood’ is a difficult song to pin to the page with words. It’s a tidy, glossy indie pop tune, and if this was an album review, that’s the billing it would probably get.…04.10.2010 READ MORE -
Centrefolds
'Is Anyone There?’ (EP, self-released) • All hail Centrefolds for their unashamed pursuit of mass approval (and, possibly, the soundtrack to a Miley Cyrus film). This is commercial indie that you happily hum along to…13.04.2011 READ MORE -
Centrefolds
'Fresh Air’/’Jennifer’ (Single, self-released) Fiercely mixed to fizz with high end, these exquisitely machine-tooled recordings are an intriguing dish, like Hard Fi butting heads with Skinny Puppy, or The Knack…30.09.2011 READ MORE -
Chandra Moon
‘Full Circle’ (Album, Self-Released) *** • ‘Singer/songwriter’ tends to suggest something pretty unadorned – voice and guitar or keyboard, maybe, and possibly folkish? Yet isn’t Van Morrison a singer/songwriter, or…25.01.2010 READ MORE -
Chaper XIII
‘Valentine/Just Because Of You’ (Single, Levelsound) *** • You have to take bands like Chapter XIII for what they are - no nonsense, unreconstructed riffmongers, the musical equivalent of a denim jacket, a pick-up truck…25.01.2010 READ MORE -
Chapter XIII
‘Valentine’ (Levelsound Music) *** • West Country by location but West Coast in spirit, classic rock five-piece Chapter XIII are a lovely blend of ooh-argh and AOR. Here - drawing inspiration from the likes of…18.07.2010 READ MORE -
Charlie Ansell
‘I Was Told Folk Song Had Died’ (EP, self-released) *** • Shane McGowan. Billy Bragg. And now Bristol’s own Charlie Ansell: a soapbox folkateer with a trilby, a sneer and a healthy suspicion of “aw-thoruddy”. With nowt…25.01.2010 READ MORE -
Chatterbox & Samuel Otis
‘Hard Graft’ (Killamari Records) Hip-hop is always at its most convincing when you can hear where it’s coming from. This mixtape pairs Tyneside rapper Chattabox with MC Samuel Otis and DJ Needlefluff of Bristol’s…30.09.2011 READ MORE -
Chris Bradshaw
‘Quantum Breaks’ (EP, Artificial Bliss) **** • If we’re being vindictive, one downfall of Bristol scenesters is their misguided geographical allegiances, myopically trumpeting local acts over equally inventive talents…13.08.2010 READ MORE -
Cindy Stratton
‘Portraits of Life and Love’ (LP, Skywren Records) • For this album, singer and songwriter Cindy has gathered together an impressive bunch of local musicians and written some of the most powerful songs of her career.…20.10.2010 READ MORE -
Circus Of Invention
‘Party Bubble’ (EP, self-released) *** • Here’s a mongrel mash-up of ska, punk and dance all swirling beneath a big top of carnival strangeness with a hint of early Sugarcubes and Mark Stewart’s scattergun coalition of…06.09.2010 READ MORE -
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Colman Brothers
‘She Who Dares’ (Single, Kudos) **** • Making excellent use of their abundant jazz talent, the multi-instrumental Colman Brothers release a follow-up to last year’s Latin dancefloor sizzler El Nino. Matt (trombone and…25.01.2010 READ MORE -
Color Of The Sun
‘Solong Suckers’ (LP, self-released) • Multi-instrumentalist Aron Ward is a Californian in Bristol (and therefore allowed to spell his own band name wrongly). His hyperactive, over-stimulated electronica is a constantly…16.03.2011 READ MORE -
Concepts Of Inebriation
‘Greatest Hits (in the time allocated)’ (Album, Self-released) ** • All you need to know about Bristol’s Concepts Of Inebriation screams forth from this debut album’s front cover: their idea of getting pished is a round…20.06.2010 READ MORE -
Cottonmouth
‘Wake Up’ (EP, Permanent Damage) • And so, like a zombie virus, what began in the cities spreads to the sticks. Cottonmouth is Cheddar-based producer Oliver Edgecombe’s dubstep alter ego, only 24, yet a drum & bass…04.10.2010 READ MORE -
Countryside
‘Home Made Recordings’ (LP, self-released) • Pitched somewhere between Sophtware Slump-era Grandaddy and a woozed-out Deathcab for Cutie, this self-consciously lo-fi bedroom-tape retrospective oozes warmth and sadness.…09.12.2010 READ MORE -
Crowded House
'Time On Earth' (album, Ato Records) *** • Neil Finn, now well established as a solo artist, originally intended this as a solo album. But working with Nick Seymour eventually evolved into the reformation of Crowded…25.01.2009 READ MORE -
Curse You Damn Kids
‘Sorta Like An Epiphany’ (EP, Screamlite Records) There’s much to admire in this youthful two girl/three boy’s punk-laced six-track debut. Annie Kelleher has a fine way with a livewire riff, the band gel tightly and…27.08.2011 READ MORE -
The Cave Singers
‘Invitation Songs’ (album, Matador Records) **** • A Seattle trio with disparate backgrounds in US post-punk bands like Murder City Devils and Pretty Girls Make Graves, they’ve successfully reconnected with the spooked…25.01.2010 READ MORE -
The Charlatans
‘You Cross My Path’ (album, Cooking Vinyl) *** • This, the Charlatan’s tenth album since their formation in 1989, was originally released for free through XFM’s website and has apparently had over 80,000 downloads in…25.01.2010 READ MORE -
The Chemical Brothers
‘Brotherhood’ (Virgin) **** • Hang on, haven't we already had a Chemical Brothers best of? After 15 years of brain cell-bashing dancefloor hedonism, perhaps Tom 'n' Ed are getting a little forgetful. Owners of ‘Singles…20.01.2010 READ MORE -
The Chemical Brothers
‘We Are The Night’ (album, Virgin) *** • Funny how dance music never took over the world after all. Albums like this sixth effort from The Chemical Brothers rather demonstrate why. A blipping, tinging, doinging puree of…25.01.2009 READ MORE -
The Chemists
‘The Theories of Dr Lovelock’ (LP, Distiller Records) ** • On the strength of their pharmaceutically minded name and the imposing spoken-word introduction of Richard E Grant, The Chemists initially seem to promise a…06.09.2010 READ MORE -
The Chemists
‘A Love Like No-One Else’ (Single, Distiller) ** • Not to be confused with Brighton drum & bass crossover crew The Qemists, these Bristolian sonic scientists are altogether more formulaic. With Feeder and The Music tour…11.09.2010 READ MORE -
The Clientele
‘God Save The Clientele’ (album, Track & Field) **** • Few geo-historical flashpoints have proved as long-term desirable to bedroom-bound Brit tunesmiths as West Coast 60s pop. From Teenage Fanclub to The Thrills, some…25.01.2009 READ MORE -
The Communicators
‘Care In The Communicators’ (LP, Loony Fish Records) ***** • I wasn’t expecting this. I was not expecting happiness, vibrancy, saxophones and to keep turning the volume up. I was expecting whining inertia and I got the…13.08.2010 READ MORE -
The Consequences
‘Consequences’ (album, self-released) ** • Bass riff, guitar riff, drums… and away we go, head nodding, lower jaw forward. Nice solid garden shed rock. So far so good, until the vocals first kick in – a lurching,…25.01.2009 READ MORE -
The Corrections
‘Repeat After Me’ (album, self-released) *** • The band formally known as The Fallout Trust release their debut album on download, having split with EMI. The album opens with the Hammer Horror-styled minor chords of…20.01.2010 READ MORE -
The Cortinas
‘Mk 1’ (LP, Bristol Archive Records) • Back in 1977, The Cortinas were routinely cited as being amongst the best punk outfits beyond London’s inevitably dominant Pistols/Clash/Damned faction. At the time, new bands were…04.10.2010 READ MORE -
The Crimea
'Secrets of the Witching Hour' (album, Free, Two, One) *** • Assuming that anyone attracted to their brand of romanticised recidivism will probably download it off dodgy Russian websites anyway, The Crimea decide to…25.01.2009 READ MORE
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THE BIG GIG
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Gary Numan
Mike White muses on the missing link between Kraftwerk and NIN. The same year as ‘Alien’, three years before ‘Blade Runner’, awkward, acne-ridden 21-year-old Gary Webb wrote a song called ‘Are ‘Friends’ Electric?’. It sounded…23.04.2012 READ MORE
Live Reviews
Classical Opera
St George’s Bristol (Fri11 May) An opera by an 11-year-old … in Latin. Talk about a hard…
13.05.2012
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Dave Stapleton
St George’s, Bristol (Thur May 5) There are eight players on stage – and great ones at…
04.05.2012
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Simone Felice
Colston Hall, Bristol (Sat 28 Apr) The Felice Brothers came out of New York State with an…
01.05.2012
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Dan Baird and Homemade Sin
Beeses Tea Gardens, Bristol (Sun 29 Apr) I used to think I was the sole person who'd ever…
30.04.2012
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Neil Cowley Trio with the Mount Molehill Strings
St George’s Bristol (Thur 26 April) It’s the last night of a national tour and Neil…
27.04.2012
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Cher Lloyd
O2 Academy, Bristol (Tue 10 Apr) It's a struggle-to-get-through-the-door sell-out…
24.04.2012
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Alabama 3: Acoustic and Unplugged
Trinity, Bristol (Fri 20 Apr) The blues came down to Trinity... and blew it away. Alabama…
23.04.2012
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Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra/Chorus: ‘Carmina Burana’
Colston Hall Bristol (Thur 19 Apr) Time was when the definition of an intellectual was…
23.04.2012
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Filthy Six/Benny Sensus
Mr Wolf’s, Bristol (Fri 20 May) Mr Wolf’s on a Friday night and it’s a bit slow to fill…
23.04.2012
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Empty Pools/Schnauser/Glis Glis
Louisiana, Bristol (Wed 18 Apr) The three Glis Glis members repeating crystalline,…
20.04.2012
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Ceu/Curumin
St George’s, Bristol (Wed 18 Apr) Electronic bands rarely sound good in St George’s and…
20.04.2012
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Meshuggah/Animals as Leaders
O2 Academy, Bristol (Thur 12 Apr) Animals as Leaders are the missing link between The…
16.04.2012
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Orange Goblin/Church of Misery/Grifter/Dopefight
Fleece, Bristol (Sun 8 Apr) It's Easter Sunday and a sweaty, sold-out Fleece is…
09.04.2012
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The Magnificent Seven
Coronation Tap, Bristol (Sun 1 Apr) OK, it’s the usual suspects, but the discerning…
03.04.2012
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Spiro/Cliff Stapleton/Katey Brooks
Fleece, Bristol (Sat 31 Mar) It’s very satisfying when your local heroes get national…
02.04.2012
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Ambrose Akinmusire Quintet/Robert Mitchell 3io
Colston Hall 2, Bristol (Tue 27 Mar) “We don’t have much time,” announces pianist Robert…
29.03.2012
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Black Stone Cherry/Rival Sons
O2 Academy, Bristol (Mon 26 Mar) Even when the Academy is sold out, as it is tonight,…
29.03.2012
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Tall Ships
Thekla, Bristol (Wed 21 March) Tall Ships, originally from the harbourside town of…
29.03.2012
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UFO/Heavy Metal Kids
O2 Academy, Bristol (Sun 25 Mar) There are two things every rock trivia freak knows about…
27.03.2012
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The Cardinall’s Musick
St George’s Bristol (Sat 24 Mar) When not directing The Cardinall’s Musick, the…
27.03.2012
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Earth/Mount Eerie/Ô Paon
Arnolfini, Bristol (Sat 3 Mar) Ô Paon opens with a set of slow burners; her clumsily…
21.03.2012
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All Tomorrow’s Parties curated by Jeff Mangum
Butlins, Minehead (Fri 9- Sun 11 Mar) It’s a different line-up almost every time they…
21.03.2012
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The Answer/The Union
O2 Academy, Bristol (Fri 16 Mar) Let's hear it for the return of the big-value rock…
19.03.2012
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Get The Blessing/Pops Parker/The Liftmen
Arnolfini, Bristol (Thur 15 Mar) Like their seething soup-pond visual backdrop, there’s a…
16.03.2012
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Gabrielle Aplin/Hudson-Taylor
Thekla, Bristol (Mon 12 Mar) Still only 19 but nevertheless managing to rack up 1.3m…
14.03.2012
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The Tender Trap
Southbank Centre, Bristol (Fri 24 Feb) The Southbank has many guises and tonight it’s…
12.03.2012
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Ugetsu feat. Damon Brown and Yutaka Shiina
Colston Hall 2, Bristol (Tue 6 Mar) Yutaka Shiina heads straight for the piano as if he…
07.03.2012
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Field Music/Stealing Sheep
The Fleece, Bristol (Thur 23 Feb) A timid ‘hello’ from Stealing Sheep’s Lucy…
28.02.2012
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High Places/The Hysterical Injury/Hesomagari
The Cube, Bristol (Fri 17 Feb) If the idea of a boy/girl duo-themed night makes you feel…
21.02.2012
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Mouse Deer
The Old Bookshop, Bristol (Thur 16 Feb) Lord knows US coffee shop culture took a long…
20.02.2012
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OAE: The Glory of Venice
St George’s Bristol (Sun 19 Feb) With Vivaldi’s ‘L’Olimpiade’ about to be unleashed up…
20.02.2012
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James Morton & Friends
The Prom, Bristol (Fri 17 Feb) Lately, alto sax player James Morton’s career’s demanded…
19.02.2012
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Rich Robinson
Fleece, Bristol (Wed 15 Feb) With the Black Crowes on apparently indefinite hiatus, the…
17.02.2012
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Shinedown/Halestorm
O2 Academy, Bristol (Sun 12 Feb) It demonstrates considerable confidence to take a band…
13.02.2012
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Roots Manuva
Anson Room, Bristol (Fri 3 Feb) Having seen Roots Manuva take to the stage in riding…
06.02.2012
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Gannets/Tamco Trio/Three Cane Whale
St George’s Bristol (Fri 3 Feb) Can you have a game of three halves? It’s a Zen question…
05.02.2012
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Nigel Kennedy/Orchestra of Life
Colston Hall, Bristol (Wed 18 Jan) Telephone-hold to elevator music, ‘The Four Seasons’…
25.01.2012
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Bristol Acoustic Music Festival
St George’s Bristol (Fri 13-Sun 15 Jan) Who'da thunk it: some folk are dancing – dancing…
25.01.2012
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Howler/Man Made
Louisiana (Mon 23 Jan) Support act Man Made arrives on stage wearing the kind of gold…
24.01.2012
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Sir Henry at Rawlinson End
St George’s, Bristol (Thur 19 Jan) ‘Sir Henry’ distilled and squandered the late Viv…
22.01.2012
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Arabella Sprot Quartet
Bebop Club, Bristol (Fri 6 Jan) Given the styereotype of the lazy, time-wasting student,…
09.01.2012
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Denny Ilett plays Led Zeppelin
Coronation Tap, Bristol (Thur 5 Jan) There’s an inevitable sense of laddishness about…
06.01.2012
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The Peters
Coronation Tap, Bristol (Tue 3 Jan) Here’s a mind-boggling little collective of young…
04.01.2012
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The Hook 'Em Boys
The Croft, Bristol (Wed 21 Dec, 2011) It’s the longest night and it’s slipping by very…
22.12.2011
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Mike Willox Quartet
Bebop Club, Bristol (Fri 16 Dec) Mike Willox has long been master of the element of…
20.12.2011
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La Nuova Musica/Messiah
St George’s Bristol (Sun 18 Dec) Anyone nervous about the one-to-a-part line-up promised…
19.12.2011
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Oxford Philomusica/Schiff
St George’s Bristol (Thur 8 Dec) Intriguing to see Andras Schiff in front of an orchestra…
19.12.2011
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Holy Stain at Festive Fest
Thekla, Bristol (Sun 18 Dec) It’s Holy Stain’s second to last ever show, so we can…
19.12.2011
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Hawthorne Heights/The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus/Failsafe
Thekla, Bristol (Wed 14 Dec) Golly, when Thekla say ‘early show’, they mean it. Failsafe…
19.12.2011
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Get The Blessing
(Thur 15 Dec, Canteen, Bristol) They’ve clearly been missed. Get The Blessing’s 2011…
16.12.2011
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Little Dragon/White Hinterland
Thekla, Bristol (Fri 2 Dec) Despite the name, ‘White Hinterland’ is not a right-wing…
14.12.2011
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Ginger Wildheart and Friends
Fleece, Bristol (Tue 13 Dec) Ginger's guitar is out of tune and the drum monitor isn't…
14.12.2011
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The Magic Band
Thekla, Bristol (Sun 4 Dec) When rock visionary Captain Beefheart passed away in December…
07.12.2011
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Bleeding Heart Narrative
The Cube, Bristol (Sat 26 Nov) Watching Bleeding Heart Narrative at The Cube, it's…
07.12.2011
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Uriah Heep
O2 Academy, Bristol (Mon 5 Dec) When a band has been around as long as Uriah Heep, it's…
06.12.2011
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Emily Wright & The Royals
The Old Bookshop, Bristol (Sat 3 Dec) A nice new band in a nice new venue - Christmas has…
06.12.2011
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Wire/Talk Normal
Thekla, Bristol (Tue 29 Nov) At the merch stand, sales of the Wire shopping bag appear…
02.12.2011
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Zappa Plays Zappa
Colston Hall, Bristol (Wed 30 Nov) This is weird. There's a biggish band on stage – two…
01.12.2011
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In:Motion – RBMA & Futureboogie
Motion, Bristol (Sat 26 Nov) Tonight sees two of Bristol’s biggest dance music beacons,…
01.12.2011
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Billy Bragg: Left Field In Motion Tour
The Fleece, Bristol (Nov 28, 2011) Typical of Billy Bragg: he didn't just show up for a…
01.12.2011
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John Cooper Clarke
The Fleece, Bristol (Sun 27 Nov) Like a wizened stick-insect love child of 60s-era Bob…
29.11.2011
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Blakeley's Messengers
Bebop Club, Bristol (Fri 25 Nov) These days there’s so much going on in the name of jazz…
28.11.2011
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Claudia Aurora
The Folk House, Brisrtol (Fri 26 Nov) It’s packed down in the Folk House’s hall basement…
28.11.2011
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John Pearce & Mike Willox Classical Duo
El Rincon, Bristol(Sun 20 Nov) I ring Mike Willox shortly before this lunchtime gig is…
23.11.2011
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C.W. Stoneking & The Primitive Horn Orchestra/Howling Lord
Trinity, Bristol (Tue 22 Nov) It’s a remarkable crowd both in numbers and style, and the…
23.11.2011
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WNO: Don Giovanni
Bristol Hippodrome (Tue 8 Nov) Hearing Leporello’s ‘black book’ aria (in which he lists…
22.11.2011
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St. Vincent
The Fleece, Bristol (Fri 11 Nov) There’s always been a tension about St. Vincent’s live…
22.11.2011
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Benn Clatworthy Quintet
Bebop Club, Bristol (Fri 18 Nov) It’s a quintessentially Bebop gig, this, as club mainman…
21.11.2011
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Gillian Welch
Hippodrome, Bristol (Tue 15 Nov) “I learnt this from Doc Watson,” she says, before…
17.11.2011
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The Melvins
The Thekla, Bristol (Fri 4 Nov) Just when you thought The Melvins couldn't get any more…
11.11.2011
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Balkanarama feat. The Destroyers
The Fleece, Bristol (Fri 4 Nov 4) It's an inspired way to start proceedings: they've put…
07.11.2011
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This Is My Normal State/Tomorrow We Sail
The Cooler, Bristol (Sat 5 Nov) A wrapt, standing-down-the-front crowd for a support act?…
07.11.2011
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WHY? Acoustic Grand Piano Tour
Colston Hall 2, Bristol (Sun 23 Oct) There is usually something jarringly civilised about…
01.11.2011
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Anna Calvi
Trinity Centre, Bristol (Mon 31 Oct) Anna Calvi released her self-titled debut album at…
01.11.2011
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Alice Cooper
(Colston Hall, Bristol, Wed 26 Oct) Considering that this was billed as Alice's Halloween…
27.10.2011
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The Union/Fighting Wolves
Fleece, Bristol (Sun 23 Oct) The huge cheer that greets Fighting Wolves' announcement of…
27.10.2011
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Oxjam Takeover
Various venues, Bristol (Sat 22 Oct) It may well be an overcast Saturday afternoon, but…
27.10.2011
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Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes
O2 Academy, Bristol, Sept 25 2011 New Jersey r’n’b stalwarts Southside Johnny & The…
27.10.2011
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Laura Marling
Bristol Cathedral (Tue 25 Oct) Spotlit columns vaulting to the heavens, a stage backed by…
27.10.2011
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Christian Wallumrod Ensemble
St George’s, Bristol (Mon Oct 24) He’s all in black at the piano and there’s a general…
25.10.2011
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The Duval Project
The Bell, Bath (Mon 10 Oct) “There are some people that, when they tell you they have a…
21.10.2011
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The Pierces/Marcus Foster
Anson Rooms, Bristol (Thur 20 Oct) Hadn’t heard Marcus Foster’s ‘Nameless Path’, but knew…
21.10.2011
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Maybeshewill/Lite/The Naturals/This Is My Normal State
The Fleece, Bristol (Wed 19 Oct) So, what exactly is post rock when it's at home?…
21.10.2011
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CD Reviews
Kid Carpet
‘Kid Carpet & The Noisy Animals’ (LP, self-released) // Few things are more intoxicating…
20.04.2012
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Million Way
‘Your Circuitry’ (EP, self-released) // Dream Continuum release the ‘Reworkz’ EP and,…
20.04.2012
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Paul Garry
‘With Love Comes Rescue’ (EP, BMS Records) // Offensively inoffensive and supremely…
18.04.2012
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Dave Stapleton
‘Flight’ (LP, Edition Records) // Dave Stapleton's Cardiff-based Edition Records is fast…
17.04.2012
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Hello Lazarus
‘Hello Lazarus’ (EP, Scylla Records) If there's a theme for this EP, it's that it implies…
26.03.2012
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Lady Nade & The Silhouettes
‘All I Am’ (EP, unsigned) Lady Nade’s deep-hued voice adds archaic credibility to…
22.03.2012
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Caroline Martin
‘For All That I Do Not Know’ (LP, Smalldog) Second album ‘proper’, and still like being…
22.03.2012
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Island Audio
'The Drift' (Single/Sink & Stove) It's early days for glam-y, knife-edged post-punkers…
15.02.2012
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Rock In Your Pocket
‘Gutterdub’ (LP, Artscare Records) There are Riot Grrrl-invoking essays to be written…
15.02.2012
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Get The Blessing
‘OCDC’ (LP, Naim Jazz) Bish bash bosh, here they come, but there’s a sparkling new…
14.02.2012
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Experimental Pop Band
'Little Things' (Single, Wear It Well) Since 2007 EPB have written, recorded and scrapped…
13.02.2012
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Phantom Limb
‘The Pines’ (Album, Naim Edge) The title could’ve been swiped from a new-build…
19.01.2012
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Josh Arcoleo
‘Beginnings’ (Album, Edition Records) It takes practice and inspiration to become a…
19.01.2012
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The Hysterical Injury
‘Dead Wolf Situation’ (LP, Crystal Fuzz) Yes, Hysterical Injury brandish nothing more…
19.01.2012
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Silent Tides
‘Silent Tides’ (EP, self-released) This is Silent Tides’ debut EP and, as such, serves as…
19.01.2012
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The Liftmen
‘Troubled Teens’ (Single, Twisted Nerve) It’s disappointing that the first pressing of…
19.01.2012
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Francois & The Atlas Mountains
'E Volo Love’ (LP, Domino) Whilst the minutiae of the human condition might not present…
19.01.2012
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Mouse Deer
‘The Mouse Deer EP’ (EP, self-released) Girl-group harmonies forged from a single vocal…
14.12.2011
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Radio Banska
‘The Balkan Courtesan’ (LP, Get Real Records) Who knew John Zorn was composing 13-time…
14.12.2011
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Sarah Menage
‘In A Mood’ (LP, Independent) Just ‘a’ mood? There’s a range on offer in Sarah Menage’s…
14.12.2011
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The Short Life of Gracie
‘The Short Life of Gracie’ (EP, self-released) There’s a moment on opener ‘How to Kill…
14.12.2011
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Bleeding Heart Narrative
‘Bison’ (EP, Brainlove Records) As opening gambits go, 'Shoals' has to be one of the…
07.11.2011
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The Hit Ups
‘Unforgivable'/'66 Sexy’ (Free download, self-released) The Hit Ups: ‘parties, death,…
21.10.2011
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Follow The Sun
'The Evening Light’ (EP/self-released) Pushed just beyond ambient loveliness by gentle…
21.10.2011
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The Groove Farm
‘I Know It’s Only Indie Pop… But I Like It’ (LP, Big Pink Cake) From ’86 to ’90, South…
21.10.2011
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The Bad Joke That Ended Well
‘The Meteors Are Coming’ (LP, Little Paradise Records) Zips in on an express banjo…
30.09.2011
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Smile, LOOKALIVE!
'Ringside Seats’ (EP, self-released) Smile, LOOKALIVE! (or SLA, for those with…
30.09.2011
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Centrefolds
'Fresh Air’/’Jennifer’ (Single, self-released) Fiercely mixed to fizz with high end,…
30.09.2011
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Call The Doctor
‘Riots.’ (EP, Fear of Fiction) Patti Aberhart’s living the dream: black bob, lip gloss…
30.09.2011
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Chatterbox & Samuel Otis
‘Hard Graft’ (Killamari Records) Hip-hop is always at its most convincing when you can…
30.09.2011
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Curse You Damn Kids
‘Sorta Like An Epiphany’ (EP, Screamlite Records) There’s much to admire in this youthful…
27.08.2011
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Echo Park Orchestra
'Hymns of the Black Flag’ (LP, self-released) Echo Park Orchestra mainman Peter…
27.08.2011
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Rossanne Hamilton
'Attic Tapes/Live At The Thunderbolt 09’ (Double EP, self-released) Classically trained…
27.08.2011
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Baobinga & Co
‘Joint Ventures’ (LP, Build Recordings) DJ, producer and blogger Sam ‘Baobinga’ Simpson…
27.08.2011
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The Weary Band
‘Office Doodles’ (LP, self-released) At last! We’ve waited almost a decade – and a couple…
29.07.2011
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Planting_Claymore
‘Re-Gen’ (EP, self-released) Not, as the name suggests, a Clifton estate agent but a…
29.07.2011
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Electric Contradiction
‘Gold Mind EP’ (EP, self-released) This Bath-based five piece describe themselves as an…
29.07.2011
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The Minke Whales
‘Turncoat’ (LP, Tandem) The Minke Whales – possibly named in honour of that doomed…
29.07.2011
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The Divided Circle
‘The Divided Circle’ (LP, Lonely City Records) • Why isn’t everyone talking about The…
30.06.2011
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Edenheight
‘Peaceboy’/‘Trouble’ (Single, Breakin’ Bread Records) • One of Bristol’s…
30.06.2011
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Hi Fiction Science
'Hi Fiction Science' (LP, self-released) •A lass with a high, folksy voice ponders aloud…
30.06.2011
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Zero Pilot
‘XY’ (EP, self-released) If ‘Ice Road Truckers’ were a record, it’d be this ballsy,…
27.05.2011
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James Hollingsworth
‘Two And Two’ (EP, self-released) Awful cheesecloth rock channelling mawkish Chris De…
27.05.2011
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Oxygen Thief
‘Destroy It Yourself’ (LP, Broken Tail Records) Bristol’s Barry Dolan, in-your-face raw…
27.05.2011
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Maps and Legends
‘Maps and Legends’ (EP, self-released) Perhaps appropriately given their name, M&L…
27.05.2011
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Hello Lazarus
‘All Alliteration’ (LP, self-released) • It whizzes. It buzzes. Noisy and precise guitar…
29.04.2011
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The Short Stories
‘Small Mercies’ (LP, The International Lo-Fi Underground) • A lo-fi thrum of songs…
29.04.2011
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Cemlyn Jones
‘All These Dreams’ (LP, Kargo Records) • Clevedon-based singer-songwriter and former…
29.04.2011
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The Carny Villains
The Carny Villains (EP, Unsigned) • The seven-piece band from the heart of Bristol’s…
29.04.2011
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Narco Lounge Combo
‘Music for Ice Rinks’ (LP, self-released) • “She got freckles and a blow-job nose, kitten…
20.04.2011
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The Cheaterslicks
Rev Up, Burn Out’ (LP, Western Star) • Here’s a blistering debut mixing up rockabilly,…
20.04.2011
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Heg Doughty
‘Little Red’ (EP, self-released) • Ah, the sadly defunct Dartington College in the green…
20.04.2011
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Centrefolds
'Is Anyone There?’ (EP, self-released) • All hail Centrefolds for their unashamed pursuit…
13.04.2011
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Okus Dolphin
‘Spiritual’ (LP, self-released) • With its Glastonbury candle shop sleeve, ham-fisted…
13.04.2011
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Rachael Dadd ‘
'Elephee’ (EP, Broken Sound Music) • Rachael Dadd is a songwriter in thrall to nature,…
13.04.2011
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Elliot Hall
‘Adults Are Stupid’ (LP, self-released) • The title is just one affable feature of this…
06.04.2011
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James Brewster
‘As a Hovering Insect Mass Breaks Your Fall’ (LP, Make Mine Music) • Now living in Malmö,…
06.04.2011
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The Naturals
‘Gifthorse’/‘He Has An 80ft Tarantula’ (double A-side single, self-released) • The thing…
06.04.2011
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Principal Participant
‘Principles’ (Download LP, self-released) • “Minotaur Shock is my regular outlet for…
30.03.2011
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Emily Teague
‘Emily Teague’ (LP, self-released) • Bristol’s folkies have some bad habits – ‘spiritual’…
30.03.2011
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Pat Nicholson
‘Roll With It’ (LP, Pan Records) • Australian Pat Nicholson’s debut arrives with some…
30.03.2011
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The Egret Seacrow
‘Imaginatively, A Silk Wasp’ (LP, self-released) • A slight, delicate release – our copy…
23.03.2011
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Tony Harris
‘Choices’ (LP, self-released) • There is something of the madrigal about these simple,…
23.03.2011
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Color Of The Sun
‘Solong Suckers’ (LP, self-released) • Multi-instrumentalist Aron Ward is a Californian…
16.03.2011
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Honour Your Pain
'Between Blood and Pride' (EP) • Metal's such a crowded marketplace these days that you…
16.03.2011
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The Get-Outs
‘Exit’ (LP, Kitchen Rock Records) • The Get-Outs, currently celebrating their tenth year…
09.03.2011
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The Zen Hussies
‘Troubled Feet’ (LP, Musique DaDA) • If you’ve ever stumbled across a Zen Hussies gig the…
09.03.2011
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Badgertrap
‘Agony of Choice’ (EP/download, Kangaroo Kourt Records) • Product of Hal Camplin/Barry…
02.03.2011
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Central Spillz
'Space Travel' (LP, Durkle Disco) • In the increasingly boundary-bereft territory between…
23.02.2011
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TwoManTing
‘Legacy’ (LP, self-released) • Formed from Afro-dance outfit Le Cod Afrique, duo…
23.02.2011
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David Britton
'The Oldland Commoner Album’ (LP, self-released) • David Britton is a gent from Bristol’s…
23.02.2011
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Caricatures
‘Fire In The Womb’ (Single, Anticreation Productions) • Down-tuned strings, irregular…
16.02.2011
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Secret Shine
‘The Beginning and the End’ (LP, self-released) • Hard to believe these passionless…
16.02.2011
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