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MUSIC CD REVIEWS : M
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Mancini And The Creepers
‘Trouble/Gold Sand’ (Single, self-released) • Times like these you really wish we’d coined that new word for trip-hop. Bristol/London three-piece M&TC here serve up two slices of narcotic hip-hop laced with p-funk…21.09.2010 READ MORE -
Manic Cough
‘Eggs & Chips’ (single, Purr Records) ***** • Sales of vinyl singles are up by 17% this year. Sorry to get all ‘Music Week’ on you there, but isn’t that a cheering thought? The death of vinyl has been falsely predicted…25.01.2009 READ MORE -
Maps and Legends
‘Maps and Legends’ (EP, self-released) Perhaps appropriately given their name, M&L seem somewhat lost in the past. This finely crafted six-track download is a hybrid of earnest words and taut alt.rock, with a…27.05.2011 READ MORE -
Mariah Carey
‘E=MC2’ (album, Island) ** • Here’s a sentence we never thought we’d type: we miss Mariah Carey’s voice. That ridiculously rococo hyperwarble, that Swarovski crystal-encrusted larynx, that racket. Where is it?…25.01.2010 READ MORE -
Marilyn Manson
'Eat Me, Drink Me' (album, Interscope) **** • I expected this to come on like an over-sexed Kiss humping Trent Reznor’s leg, but knock me down with a stainless steel dildo if it isn’t a thoughtful piece of adult rock,…25.01.2009 READ MORE -
Mark Stewart
‘Edit’ (Album, Crippled Dick Hot Wax) **** • Bits of this album sound like they’ve been knocking about for a very long time. ‘Secret Suburbia’, “about wearing a plastic bin liner and walking around Horfield and going to…25.01.2010 READ MORE -
Marshalsea
‘Nine Gates’ (LP, self-released) • Now one thing you couldn’t accuse of Marshalsea of is a lack of ambition. A “concept album based around the nine great rites of enlightenment”, ‘Nine Gates’ opens with a spoken word…06.09.2010 READ MORE -
Martin Wardley
‘Into the Abyss’ (self-released) *** • Spitting, gasping, and slurring his way through 11 spirited tracks, Bath’s Martin Wardley seems to be making a real effort to squeeze out something unique with this release. Though…20.01.2010 READ MORE -
Martipants
‘Good Lads’ (LP, Self Raising Records) ** • There was much love at Venue Towers for the Martipants debut ‘Happy Accidents’ and this follow-up of woozy lo-fi cozytronica again evokes images of Martin Jones sat at his…18.08.2010 READ MORE -
Mary Spender
‘Mirrors’ (EP, self-released) • This EP from Wiltshire lass Mary Spender is a strange mish-mash of genres. Opener, ‘Worthy’ is a chirpy slice of poppy folk-rock which doesn’t quite give her voice the space it needs, but…04.10.2010 READ MORE -
Massive Attack
Splitting The Atom’ (EP, Virgin) **** • After six years the album (allegedly) comes out next February. Meanwhile - here’s four new tracks to placate the baying mob. The stuff’s all here - starting with the dynamic duo…11.09.2010 READ MORE -
Matt Costa
‘Unfamiliar Faces’ (album, Island) * • Aural drizzle. Sounds like The Lighthouse Family but Matt probably thinks he sounds like Devendra Banhart. Blandly inoffensive, lyrics along the lines of ‘You were right so I was…25.01.2010 READ MORE -
Matthew Ryan
‘Matthew Ryan Vs. The Silver State’ (Album, One Little Indian) *** • According to the liner notes: “Our goal was to make a pure Rock ‘n’ Roll record… Now we hope this music brings that cinema of the fighter’s spirit to…25.01.2010 READ MORE -
Maximo Park
'Our Earthly Pleasures' (album, Warp) *** • Despite a fast-approaching deadline, I keep putting off writing this, just having one more listen before committing – and so although yesterday I’d have lamented the lack of…27.01.2009 READ MORE -
Micah P Hinson
‘And The Red Empire Orchestra’ (album, Full Time Hobby) *** • With each song sidling along – tick-tocked by time signatures with a limp in their gait and refrains slow as syrup - Hinson’s latest LP is a listless…20.01.2010 READ MORE -
Mike Bones
‘A Fool For Everybody’ (Album, Vice Records) **** • Featuring the mostly luxuriously chest-haired man I have ever seen. I had high hopes when I saw this album was from Vice magazine’s record label. Vice revels in filth,…20.06.2010 READ MORE -
Mike Collins Trio
‘Suite Gorgeous’ (Self produced) **** • Contemporary jazz piano trios are big news these days and the prevailing mood is for hard-driving flamboyance. Local musician Mike Collins has always ploughed a different furrow…18.07.2010 READ MORE -
Mike Scott
'…Um…' (album, unsigned) **** • This is Mike Scott the local songwriter, not the Irish front man of The Waterboys. However, there are some similarities: both Mikes write excellent songs and both sing with their native…25.01.2009 READ MORE -
Million Way
‘Your Circuitry’ (EP, self-released) // Dream Continuum release the ‘Reworkz’ EP and, thus, dance music continues to break ground like no other form. On the other hand, Million Way release this handy reminder it can be…20.04.2012 READ MORE -
Minotaur Shock
‘Amateur Dramatics’ (Album, 4AD) **** • This is the beating, boyish heart of intelligent electronica, handbuilt with love - and though 4AD have opted to release ‘AmDram’ as a download-only affair, you get so much more…20.01.2010 READ MORE -
Mireille Mathlener
‘So Much for Superman’ (Album, Self-released) **** • Ambiguity is always interesting, and one of the most beguiling things about this album of sharp, wry, infectious country-pop is that you’re never quite sure whether a…20.06.2010 READ MORE -
Mirror Music
'The Strange Things I'll Remember' (Darkroom Dubs) *** • MM comprises Graham Reedle, one half of Glaswegian house veterans Silicone Soul, and composer Dave Donaldson, who's worked on all manner of Hollywood soundtracks.…20.01.2010 READ MORE -
Miss Skarlet
‘This Beautiful Lie’ (LP, ViperMusic) • Miss Skarlet don’t sound like they come from Nailsea. They peddle the slick blend of 90s rock and tender balladry that dominates the US teen market. They’ve got the genre’s…21.09.2010 READ MORE -
Mississippi Witch
‘Rot Foot’/‘Van Nuys’ (Single, Colony2) *** • This is another rumbling not-quite-so-traditional blues duo gone scuzzed up and downright lo-fi dirty. Following in the something-old-turned-into-something-new (or is that…20.06.2010 READ MORE -
Mississippi Witch
‘Black Gamble’ (album, Colony 2/Redcob) ***** • On which our two self-confessed bible belt escapees deliver everything you'd want from a duo whose moniker teams up the famous blues delta region with a practitioner of…25.01.2009 READ MORE -
Monkey Fighters
‘Key Rights of Men’ (Shakeshake) ** • Grunge. When bands - such as Bristol’s answer to Soundgarden, Monkey Fighters - are unselfconsciously tagging themselves with Nirvana’s afterbirth, it’s fairly certain new ground…18.07.2010 READ MORE -
Monkey Steak
'Hyped Up' (EP, Steak House) **** • If the internet has been good for anything aside from bountiful pornography, then it’s the globalisation of dance music. This EP from Steak House label bosses Monkey Steak (aka Atki2…06.09.2010 READ MORE -
Morales/Watts
‘The Quarange Tree’ (EP, self-released) *** • Intricate acoustic folksiness from singer/songwriter Leander Morales and virtuoso guitarist Jon Watts. It’s tender-hearted, naïve stuff, full of wide-eyed world-to-rights…20.06.2010 READ MORE -
Moreton Vue
‘Moreton Vue’ (EP, self-released) *** • Track one from this Bristol-based band, ‘I Said No’, and I like it. It is galumphing, sinister and slow. The dry-throated Dom Ford sounds like a creepy stalky ex-boyfriend who…13.08.2010 READ MORE -
Morningstar
‘A Sign For The Stranger’ (LP, self-released) **** • Oh yes! It’s Jesse D. Moonflower-Morningstar Vernon, stylishly exiled in Paris and sending us nine three-minute postcards from his head and heart. It’s a lovely…06.09.2010 READ MORE -
Mostly Other People Do The Killing
‘This Is Our Moosic’ (Album, Hot Cup) ***** • There’s a clue in the band name. This is not an album for serious jazz fans – they don’t deserve it. It’s for the fun-loving jazz wise-guys’n’gals and they’ll love it. Like…20.06.2010 READ MORE -
Mouse Deer
‘The Mouse Deer EP’ (EP, self-released) Girl-group harmonies forged from a single vocal melody and a bounding guitar line. The elegance of a Joni Mitchell ballad veering towards a Disney-esque union of romance and…14.12.2011 READ MORE -
Mr Gasparov/Octa Push
‘1975’/‘Ai Nadia’/‘Laika Likes It’ (EP, Steak House) **** • The new label from the same camp as Bristol’s Ruffnek Diskotek club night - and if you’ve ever found yourself on the dancefloor there, you’ll know exactly what…06.08.2010 READ MORE -
Mutya Buena
'Real Girl' (album, Island Records) * • Pleasantly vapid histrionics to little effect. Ex-fame with the Sugababes is not enough. These songs can’t even stand up to a ringtone. Always a bad sign. An overproduced and…25.01.2009 READ MORE -
My Morning Jacket
‘Evil Urges’ (album, Rough Trade) *** • Album number five, and Kentucky’s finest purveyors of gentle introspection and melodious delta indie are kicking back, cutting loose and applying the throttle. There’s a playful,…20.01.2010 READ MORE -
My Own Flag
'I Think I’m Made Out Of Robots' (album, Amzuto Records) *** • ‘… Robots’ opens with a stalking, agitated bassline so deep it could be prowling the ocean floor. Its findings are translated by a scything guitar nearer…27.01.2009 READ MORE -
My Two Toms
‘Who We Were and What We Meant By It’ (LP, Stitch-Stitch Records) • Fortunately, the past tense verbs in the title don’t mean the Bristol twosome have changed much of what they do so well; their instrumentals are still…04.10.2010 READ MORE -
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Mystery Jets
‘Twenty One’ (Album, Sixsevenine) **** • Demonstrating a 21-year-old’s enthusiasm and willingness to experiment, Mystery Jets approach their second album as an opportunity rather than burden. It seems they’ve abandoned…25.01.2010 READ MORE -
The Mars Volta
‘The Bedlam In Goliath’ (album, Island Records) **** • The experimental rockers from another dimension (and California) get possessed and step it up a crazed notch. This album is apparently inspired (and haunted) by…25.01.2010 READ MORE -
The Minke Whales
‘Turncoat’ (LP, Tandem) The Minke Whales – possibly named in honour of that doomed visitor to the Bristol Channel two years ago – come across like a sort of Celtic Arcade Fire. Scottish frontman and songwriter Stuart…29.07.2011 READ MORE -
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The Monaros
‘Revenge’/‘The River Winds Slowly Through the Field’ (Single, self-released) • This disappointing double A-side from Bristol five-piece The Monaros is sadly lacking in distinctive quality. Opener ‘Revenge’ begins nicely…27.10.2010 READ MORE -
The Monaros
‘The Monaros Family Album’ (Album, Unsigned) ***** • Proof that, armed with great songs and attitude; an album’s quality will shine through despite the most parsimonious of recording budgets. The gloriously named Aero…20.06.2010 READ MORE -
The Monaros
‘Ultramarine’(EP, self-released) *** • Fronted by a soulful lass with the superbly bonkbusteresque name Aero Monaro and possessing some very smooth tunes indeed, this fledgling Bristol five-piece - also comprising one…25.01.2010 READ MORE -
The Motherload
‘Randyroamers’ (EP, self-released) ** • ‘Soul’ isn’t a word that deserves to be thrown around liberally. Though I’m tempted to use it here to describe the gravel-and-tears groans the Motherload’s vocalist is going for,…11.09.2010 READ MORE -
The Motherload
‘The Motherload’ (EP, self-released) *** • If this reviewer had 20 pence for every local indie band in recent years who’ve claimed Radiohead and Jeff Buckley’s influence while replicating neither their inspiration or…13.08.2010 READ MORE -
The Mountain Goats
‘Heretic Pride’ (album, 4AD) **** • John Darnielle has been making Mountain Goats albums for over a decade, and some things never change: his manic punk/folk fusion, wit, hyper-speed strumming…but of course there’s…25.01.2010 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 -
Philharmonia/Ashkenazy
You have to feel sorry for any young pianist braving a Chopin concerto under the baton of Vladimir Ashkenazy. Poacher turned gamekeeper, Ashkenazy’s glittering career as a pianist was kick-started by success at the Warsaw Chopin…23.05.2012 READ MORE
Live Reviews
The Handsome Family
The Fleece, Bristol (Mon 21 May) There's a warmth about The Handsome Family, a kind of…
23.05.2012
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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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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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