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A Hawk and a Hacksaw/Dan Haywood’s New Hawks
Polish Club, Bristol (Wed 13 Apr) • Given the band names, you’d expect a hawkish theme - but it’s home, or rather, sense of place, that tonight’s all about. Dan Haywood’s esoteric country-folk reels were borne of a…27.04.2011 READ MORE -
Acoustic Festival
Folk House, Bristol (Sat 13 & Sun 14 Jan) Saturday begins with heartfelt outpourings from Jacaranda and Emily Teague, but the comforting gloom of the Folk House hall is so nostalgically homely that my eyelids grow…13.01.2007 READ MORE -
Acoustic Festival
Folk House, Bristol (Fri 12 Jan) Highly accomplished and perfectly pleasant, Furlined’s guit/bass/drums/cello-plied tuneage slips down without touching the sides, though one can’t help but feel there should be a little…12.01.2007 READ MORE -
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Adem/Nina Nastasia/Richard Swift/Elysium Quartet
Fleece, Bristol (Thur 7 June) • Judging by the solicitous throng door-stepping her at the end of her acoustic solo set, Nina Nastasia is the main draw tonight. A place on the Touch & Go roster and collaborations with…07.06.2007 READ MORE -
African Soul Rebels / Yard Flying Funk Orchestra
Colston Hall, Bristol (Tue 27 Feb) • An occasional bonus of world music is not understanding the words – there’s a great band singing away in Xhosa and the lyrics could be rubbish, but you’ll never know: you just think…27.02.2007 READ MORE -
Air Traffic / Ghosts / Snowfight
Fleece, Bristol (Wed 31 Jan) l Snowfight are not the usual strapped-for-cash first band on. They have shiny guitars, a stage crew allocating bottled water and towels, and the singer’s wearing in-ear monitors. There are…31.01.2007 READ MORE -
Alabama 3: Acoustic and Unplugged
Trinity, Bristol (Fri 20 Apr) The blues came down to Trinity... and blew it away. Alabama 3 walk the line of country, gospel and deep-down dirty delta blues and deliver it with the kind of gritty intensity that would…23.04.2012 READ MORE -
Alice Cooper
(Colston Hall, Bristol, Wed 26 Oct) Considering that this was billed as Alice's Halloween Night of Fear, one might be forgiven for anticipating rather more in the way of theatrics – especially after his grand entrance…27.10.2011 READ MORE -
Alice Russell
Thekla, Bristol (Thur 4 Dec) • There’s dues been paid, and that makes a difference. Alice Russell has earned the right to be as assured as this and so there’s feedback (emotional, not acoustic). She has the voice to do…04.12.2008 READ MORE -
All Tomorrow's Parties
Butlins, Minehead (Fri 8-Sun 10 Dec) It’s the onset of a new era for All Tomorrow’s Parties, the international alt-rock festival franchise that until now has had its UK base in Camber Sands, near Dover. This shift…08.12.2006 READ MORE -
All Tomorrow's Parties
Butlins, Minehead (Fri 27-Sun 29 Apr) • There's a distinctly Antipodean bent to this, the second alt.rock invasion of West Coast holiday haven Butlins following last December's Thurston Moore-curated seaside adventure.…29.04.2007 READ MORE -
All Tomorrow’s Parties
Butlins Holiday Resort, Minehead (Fri 7-Sun 9 May) • Wintry weather in May? Welcome to an English seaside break on British summertime; specifically, three days of experimental sounds selected by ‘The Simpsons’ creator…07.05.2010 READ MORE -
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 play, but today, opening the festival, Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise feature members of Neutral Milk Hotel, Elf Power, The Gerbils and…21.03.2012 READ MORE -
All Tomorrow’s Parties: ATP Vs The Fans II
Butlins Holiday Resort, Minehead (Fri 8 -Sun 10 May) • Despite currently as regular a fixture on the Butlins calendar as devastatingly damp summers, ATP skates thin ice allowing punters to select half its line-up for…08.05.2009 READ MORE -
All Tomorrow’s Parties: The Nightmare Before Christmas
Butlins Holiday Resort, Minehead (Fri 5 -Sun 7 Dec) • It’s almost All Tomorrow’s Parties tradition to open the leftfield-leaning extravaganza with bands so loud your face aches. No different this time around:…05.12.2008 READ MORE -
Allen Toussaint / Preservation Hall Jazz Band
Colston Hall, Bristol (Thur 7 June) • Maybe it’s a Katrina thing, or perhaps Abolition 200, but, for whatever reason, there’s been a New Orleans jazz revival this year and it’s appropriate that Preservation Hall were…07.06.2007 READ MORE -
Amanda Palmer / Zoe Keating / Jason Webley
Thekla, Bristol (Tue 7 Oct) • This is what gigs should be like! I skip downstairs to find Seattle’s shaggy folk-punk funnyman Jason Webley leading an ecstatic horde through accordion-reeling wonder stomps, spinning in…27.08.2008 READ MORE -
Ambrose Akinmusire Quintet/Robert Mitchell 3io
Colston Hall 2, Bristol (Tue 27 Mar) “We don’t have much time,” announces pianist Robert Mitchell as his trio begin their short support set. Maybe not, but in the 40 mnutes or so that follow he proves exactly why he’s…29.03.2012 READ MORE -
Amida/The Hi-Life Companion/Electrophonvintage
The Hatchet, Bristol (Sat 22 Mar) • On the night before what was to be Bristol’s coldest Easter since 1963, indie-pop lovers united to partake in another Big Pink Cake night. Electrophonvintage began with darlingly…22.03.2008 READ MORE -
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Amy MacDonald/Jersey Budd
Colston Hall, Bristol (Sat 3 Apr) • Saturday night and outside, the ladies of Bristol display their enduring commitment to wearing very little despite the lashing rain as Easter Playboy bunnies shiver in their fishnets.…03.04.2010 READ MORE -
Amy Winehouse: Vodafone TBA Live
St. Paul’s Church, Brunswick Sq, Bristol (Thur 20 Apr) • Tonight’s media junket is a strange and unwieldy craft, with tri-plane wings of laminated corporate excess, compere Alex Zane and a secret city-church location.…20.04.2007 READ MORE -
An Experiment On A Bird In The Air Pump/Not Cool/Emphatica
Start The Bus, Bristol (Thu 4 June) • If they sucked then the name wouldn’t matter, but ill-monikered Bristol three-piece Emphatica make a promising racket, their insistent punch-bag riffing tempered by an acute and…04.06.2009 READ MORE -
Andrew Bird
Thekla, Bristol (Sun 10 May) • In the presence of a creature as advanced as Andrew Bird, I feel positively protozoic. Within milliseconds of taking the stage, he’s looping together two patterns of each - violin strums,…10.05.2009 READ MORE -
Anika/Beak>
The Croft, Bristol (Wed 15 Dec) • Invada Records is Bristol’s home of the weird and wonderful, and tonight’s Christmas show rounds off its strongest year to date. Beak> are effectively Invada’s house band, and they…22.12.2010 READ MORE -
Animal Collective/Dent May
Trinity Centre, Bristol (Sun 22 Mar) • Trinity swiftly fills to folksy, flowers-in-your-hair harmonising from Dent May, a diminutive, bespectacled and uke-strumming crooner with a tall dark friend on maracas and…22.03.2009 READ MORE -
Animals And Men/Rita Lynch/Bimbo Spam
Fleece, Bristol (Thu 13 Aug) • Bimbo Spam are lyrically neat (“Patience is a vulture”), lost in weary kitchen sink dramas but always with one optimistic eye fixed on the pretty garden through the window. Still, given…13.08.2009 READ MORE -
Anna Calvi
Trinity Centre, Bristol (Mon 31 Oct) Anna Calvi released her self-titled debut album at the beginning of the year, but despite notable critical success (including nominations for the BBC’s Sound of 2011 poll and the…01.11.2011 READ MORE -
Annette Berlin/The Hide
(Thunderbolt, Bristol, Sat 16 July) I guess they must have the odd off-night at The Thunderbolt but, happily, I’ve never been there when it happens and I arrive hoping for the best. I’m not disappointed. First up the…18.07.2011 READ MORE -
Antoni Maiovvi/Stuart Warwick
The Cube, Bristol (Sat 18 Sept) • Stuart Warwick normally goes by Jacob’s Stories, but he’s listed on the stage times under the name his mother gave him and so that’s what we’re going with. Tonight his slot feels like a…21.09.2010 READ MORE -
Antony And The Johnsons
Colston Hall, Bristol (Sun 24 May) • In less delicate hands, two seated hours bereft of interval, photography and alcohol – all three banished for the evening – should equal staid, charmless entertainment. Fun’s cause…24.05.2009 READ MORE -
Anvil/Girlschool
O2 Academy Bristol (Thu 8 July) • So would this be more like the grim gig in the Prague bar or the triumphant return to Japan? Initial signs were not good, as lovable perennial underachievers Anvil were booked into the…08.07.2010 READ MORE -
APE/Wizard
The Croft, Bristol (Mon 24 Jan) • Fat Paul’s been decorating since Venue last entered The Croft, and we like what he’s done. The front room makes for a friendly-sized mini-club that comfortably stages tonight’s bands…02.02.2011 READ MORE -
Arabella Sprot Quartet
Bebop Club, Bristol (Fri 6 Jan) Given the styereotype of the lazy, time-wasting student, it seems nothing short of miraculous that someone doing a German degree can also find time to flower into one of the most…09.01.2012 READ MORE -
Arabic Balkan Gypsy Band
Tue 13, St Aidan’s, Kingswood, Bristol (Tue 13 Apr) • You have to hand it to the people at St Aidan’s – a doughty crew of volunteers who manage to keep a programme of live music running and somehow cover all the bases…13.04.2010 READ MORE -
Arctic Circle / Shiu-Yeung Hui
Cube Cinema, Bristol (Thur 1 Mar) • Lest there still be any water held in the notion that the Cube is some kind of rarefied, parochial cabal (‘Sorry mate, if you don’t have a working knowledge of countercultural…01.03.2007 READ MORE -
Ashton Court Fundraiser
Thekla Social, Bristol (Sat 19 May) • With no less than 18 bands on board, Thekla’s hold bulges with a who’s who of local talent – a boatful to keep Ashton Court afloat. Hugging a hair-of-the-dog half, I settle in for…19.05.2007 READ MORE -
AU / Fredrick Stanley Star / Rozi Plain
The Cube, Bristol (Fri 1 May) • Tonight, Rozi’s lullabies are especially affecting. Midway through her set, a baby gets the hiccups and coos, approvingly. “Baby’s been gone 500 years...,” sing four of the Fredrick…01.05.2009 READ MORE -
Avi Buffalo/Admiral Fallow/Tripwires
Thekla, Bristol (Mon 11 July) At first sound, the year goes fuzzy. Tripwires, a Reading foursome, have the greasy hair in eyes, the flannel, the thrashed guitars that say g-r-u-n-g-e. Their effect washes overnostalgic…15.07.2011 READ MORE -
Avison Ensemble
St George’s Bristol (Fri 6 Mar) • For those used to the sound of a contemporary Beethovenian piano on disc it can still come as a bit of a shock to encounter the beast live in a concerto situation. The kaleidoscope of…06.03.2010 READ MORE -
The Answer
Trinity Centre, Bristol (Fri 2 Mar) • There’s no shortage of young acts ploughing the ‘classic rock’ furrow, and no shortage of hacks queuing up to hail them as the second coming. But we old-timers steeped in this stuff…02.03.2007 READ MORE -
The Answer/Gentleman's Pistols
Thekla, Bristol (Thur 13 Oct) On paper, joining your own former support band seems like an odd career move. But it's actually a natural progression for genre-defying Napalm Death/Carcass/Firebird guitarist Bill Steer as…14.10.2011 READ MORE -
The Answer/New Device/DarkHorse
O2 Academy, Bristol (Fri 4 Dec) • There’s been no shortage of bus pass classic rockers packing out Bristol’s biggest concert halls this autumn, with Daevid Allen (71) and Gilli Smyth (76) of Gong ranking as our most…04.12.2009 READ MORE -
The Answer/The Union
O2 Academy, Bristol (Fri 16 Mar) Let's hear it for the return of the big-value rock package tour! Take two bands who might otherwise struggle to fill the Academy, set a recession-friendly ticket price, and watch the…19.03.2012 READ MORE -
The Automatic / The View / The Horrors / Mumm-Ra
Carling Academy Bristol (Tue 20 Feb) • Last year the NME bagged a genuine phenomenon with the Arctic Monkeys, so the whole evening had a frisson of excitement throughout. This year, well, it’s a bit of a dud. Mumm-Ra…20.02.2007 READ MORE -
The Avengers / Da Capo / The Dues
The Junction, Bristol (Wed 7 Mar) • Short-shriven opener ‘Fuck Knows’ sets the tone for The Dues, their angular, twitching frontwoman’s screams punctuating a pithy assault. They’re best when the bassist doesn’t sing,…07.03.2007 READ MORE -
…And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead/Middle Class Rut/The So So Glos
Thekla, Bristol (Wed 22 Apr) • Disappointment that tonight’s curtain raisers The So So Glos are, tragically, a plural rather than the planet’s most Gloucestershire-embodying men isn’t the only downer. The Brooklynites’…22.04.2009 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 -
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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