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C-Froo / RSVP / Emily Teague
Colston Hall Bar, Bristol (Thur 18 Sept) • Opening up Venue’s launch for our forthcoming, actually bloody good CD (free to you with the mag in a fortnight’s time) comes Emily Teague’s slow-brew blend of harmony and…18.09.2008 READ MORE -
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 crowded Trinity has a fancy dress party feel for the endearing shambles that is Howling Lord. Dressed in a hurry, with a hastily…23.11.2011 READ MORE -
Cabaret of Curiosities
The Cube, Bristol (Sat 21 Mar) • Beers are served in brown paper bags alongside a neon green cocktail the bartenders call Cure All Elixir. Giddy with festive libations and spiritedly dressed in a fair share of ruffles,…21.03.2009 READ MORE -
Call The Doctor/Dharmata
St James Wine Vaults, Bath (Tue 14 Apr) • Dharmata are a low-on-frills three-piece happy to knock out ‘Bleach’-era homages to Nirvana. Guitars are scrubbed, flannel shirts are left untucked and Marshall amps are tested…14.04.2009 READ MORE -
Caroline Martin / Roger Tarry / Tessa Bickers
The Lansdown, Bristol (Fri 9 Feb) • It’s a freezing February evening, and perhaps that’s why the Lansdown feels particularly cosy. A perfect setting for Caroline Martin, whose intimate songs feel confided as much as…09.02.2007 READ MORE -
Casiokids / Tokyo Pinsalocks / Lego Castles
Moles, Bath (Thu 14 May) • Delayed by the eternal dilemma of which of the two pairs of shoes to wear, Venue has joined Bath’s beautiful teens fashionably late and entirely missed tonight’s openers, Lego Castles; a…14.05.2009 READ MORE -
Cee Lo Green
O2 Academy Bristol (Wed 13 Apr) • Out in the foyer, the rather vulgar ‘Cee Lo Says Fuck You!’ T-shirts are doing only moderate business. The owner of probably the biggest voice to ever fill the Academy looks like a…27.04.2011 READ MORE -
Ceu/Curumin
St George’s, Bristol (Wed 18 Apr) Electronic bands rarely sound good in St George’s and Curumin were no exception. The eponymous drummer and his two friends played “some sounds from my house” using three MPC consoles,…20.04.2012 READ MORE -
Chapter XIII
Louisiana, Bristol (Thur 3 May) • The tell-tale warning signs are all too apparent. Take Chapter XIII’s Eddie Vedder in chief for the evening – foot on monitor, decked out in token kilt and throwing out…03.05.2007 READ MORE -
Charity All-Dayer
Louisiana, Bristol (Sun 13 Mar) • Initiated as a Save Venue gig, still a Bristol Samaritans fundraiser, and bringer of overwhelming confirmation of just how much the local scene deserves comprehensive representation.…16.03.2011 READ MORE -
Charity Fundraiser
The Croft, Bristol (Thur 17 Mar) • Another week, another Save-Venue-turned-charity-fundraiser night. And, admirably, another outing from Lunarians. There’s a proper intensity about them this eve. Guitar variously snaps…23.03.2011 READ MORE -
Charity Fundraiser
The Lanes, Bristol (Sun 27 Mar) • The Lanes gets taken over by Department S for a St Peter’s Hospice fundraising (nee Save Venue) all-dayer, which, with a line-up of nine local bands, promises much. It’s a slightly slow…30.03.2011 READ MORE -
Charity Fundraiser
Fleece, Bristol (Sun 3 Apr) • The last of the Save Venue turned Bristol Samaritans fundraiser gigs, and Leander Morales is wonderfully committed, strongly singing in the faces of a sparse early-doors crowd. In another…06.04.2011 READ MORE -
Charles Hazlewood All-Stars
Old Vic, Bristol (Fri 5 Nov) • Rolling in theatrical mist, the stage set-up of vintage instruments (including harps, Hammond organ, Farfisa and a proper knobs-and-dials synth) had a faded, crypt-ic charm. It seemed…10.11.2010 READ MORE -
Charles Hazlewood: Army of Generals
St George’s Bristol (Fri 21 Jan) • In a singularly narcissistic, ill-informed and intellectually specious post ahead of his period-instrument band’s debut in a new St George’s residency (http://tinyurl.com/6gsmmoa),…26.01.2011 READ MORE -
Cheap Trick/Plead the Fifth
(O2 Academy, Sun 12 June, 2011) • The members of Plead the Fifth look about ten years old and could be Cheap Trick's (pictured) grandchildren, though the internet tells us they're fronted by one of actress Jane…13.06.2011 READ MORE -
Cheltenham Festival Monteverdi Vespers
Tewkesbury Abbey (Thu 8 July) • Riches-filled festival all of its own, who needs the excuse of an anniversary to programme the Monteverdi Vespers? Festivals up and down the land can’t resist leaping onto the 400th…08.07.2010 READ MORE -
Cheltenham Jazz Festival
Various venues, Cheltenham (Fri 1-Sat 3 May) • Shush! I have a ‘jazzover’ - the cumulative mental overload that comes from three days of binge-jazzing. Vintage stuff, admittedly, but that always makes it worse. The CJF…01.05.2009 READ MORE -
Cheltenham Jazz Festival
Various venues, Cheltenham (Fri 4-Sun 6 May) • This review could go two ways… Version one: Ingrid Laubrock is a genius. Her specially commissioned music for nine players was so blindingly good that I’ve completely…04.04.2007 READ MORE -
Cher Lloyd
O2 Academy, Bristol (Tue 10 Apr) It's a struggle-to-get-through-the-door sell-out tonight, Cher Lloyd's first Bristol show since a poorly attended three-song singalong at Syndicate following her exit from ‘X Factor…24.04.2012 READ MORE -
Chew Lips/Robot Disaster
Start the Bus, Bristol (Thu 21 Jan) • Awkward tension. Two guys have turned up in novelty animal hats: one in bear ears, one in raccoon. Eager to watch how this meeting of the animal kingdom plays out, I keep an eye on…21.01.2010 READ MORE -
Chew Magna/Freeze Puppy/Magnus Spectrum
Arnolfini, Bristol (Sat 7 Feb) • After a last-minute venue shift from the main auditorium to the sweltering, over-crowded bar, the musical component of the 'Fini’s ‘We Live Here’ weekender kicks off with…07.02.2009 READ MORE -
Chiaroscuro Quartet
St George’s Bristol (Fri 24 Apr) • The Chiaroscuros do it Brodsky-style - save for the cellist, standing up. But there any similarities end. Their repertoire is deliberately circumscribed and period instruments (and…24.04.2009 READ MORE -
Chief/Illustrated Men/The Naturals
Moles, Bath (Fri 9 July) • The Naturals are staggeringly loud this early in the evening and Venue flees upstairs to scribble notes on their sound, Foals in a wind tunnel with a singer bellowing forlornly like a cow…09.07.2010 READ MORE -
Chipmunk/Tinie Tempah/Daisy Dares You/Skepta/Tenny Ten
O2 Academy Bristol (Thu 18 Feb) • Welsh pensioners are burning paperbacks in order to keep warm, we are told. They can’t be flinging Wilbur Smiths onto the flames as quickly as rappers are being chucked onto the stage…18.02.2010 READ MORE -
Christian Wallumrod Ensemble
St George’s Bristol (Thur 27 Nov) • There’s cool, there’s supercool and there’s Christian Wallumrod’s Norwegian minimalism, which could chill out the Large Hadron Collider – it’s that cool. Unamplified in St George’s…27.11.2008 READ MORE -
Christian Wallumrod Ensemble
St George’s, Bristol (Mon Oct 24) He’s all in black at the piano and there’s a general greyness to the rest of Christian Wallumrod’s six-piece ensemble except for a livid flash of orange, the drummer’s T-shirt, hidden…25.10.2011 READ MORE -
Chromeo/Midnight Juggernauts
O2 Academy Bristol (Sat 6 Nov) • Midnight Juggernauts is a pretty heavy name for a dance act, but then this is dark, brooding, and heavy dance music: slow-burning pagan psychedelia played out through twisted synths and…10.11.2010 READ MORE -
Classical Opera
St George’s Bristol (Fri11 May) An opera by an 11-year-old … in Latin. Talk about a hard sell! Which is perhaps why St George’s wasn’t exactly bursting at the seams for Classical Opera and boy Mozart’s ‘Apollo et…13.05.2012 READ MORE -
Classical Opera Company/Zaide
Theatre Royal, Bath (Thu 1 July) • Peter Sellars’ Vienna production of Mozart’s unfinished opera ‘Zaide’ relocated the action to a New York sweatshop and opted to leave the threads dangling. The Classical Opera Company…01.07.2010 READ MORE -
Claudia Aurora
Metropolis, Bristol (Thu 10 June) • “I am a castaway of the moon,” recites the poet. “I am a castaway of the sea.” He speaks with the heavy, portentous and precise intonation of Serge Gainsbourg, with every sentence…10.06.2010 READ MORE -
Claudia Aurora
The Folk House, Brisrtol (Fri 26 Nov) It’s packed down in the Folk House’s hall basement and we’re here – belatedly, given Claudia Aurora’s rapid rise over the last two years – on a recommendation. If the Bristol-based…28.11.2011 READ MORE -
Climax Blues Band / Groundhogs Rhythm Section feat. Eddie Martin
Cheese & Grain, Frome (Thur 29 Mar) • This debut outing for The Groundhogs Rhythm Section featuring Eddie Martin was extremely successful. The rhythm section, Ken Pustelnik (drums) and Pete Cruikshank (bass), have been…29.03.2007 READ MORE -
Clockwork Sniper / Hope Remains Lost
The Hatchet, Bristol (Thur 4 Dec) • Most of the crowd mill around near the back wall. It’s probably a licensing requirement, balancing out the sheer cliff face of amps at the opposite end of the room. One misplaced…04.12.2008 READ MORE -
CocoRosie/Light Asylum
Trinity Centre, Bristol (Thu 6 May) • Though lost on many younger onlookers tonight, there’s a deflating irony about icy Brooklyn cold wave duo Light Asylum, hugely indebted to the 1980s on an election day when the Tory…06.05.2010 READ MORE -
Cold War Kids / Pink Mountaintops
Bierkeller, Bristol (Wed 19 Apr) • Word around the campfire is Pink Mountaintops don’t sound like they should tonight – there’s a half-asleep country-stained pair onstage, a hirsute guitar warmer and his beautiful…19.04.2007 READ MORE -
Concepts Of Inebriation/The Reckless/Knights Move Thinking
Fleece, Bristol (Mon 26 Jan) • One band stands head and shoulders above the others tonight. Hell, you could throw in hips and knees, too. First, though, angst - and presumably a penchant for computer chess - is afoot.…26.01.2009 READ MORE -
Contraband Sessions
The Golden Lion, Bristol (Weds 25 Aug) • Unseasonably crap weather doesn’t stop Contraband celebrating their birthday in style. Bristol’s Hip Hop community is out in force - transforming this cosy Bishopston boozer…25.08.2010 READ MORE -
Cosmo Jarvis/The Darlingtons/Jacket
The Fleece, Bristol (Wed 21 Sept) The apparently required Jacket – aka Jack Hobbs – plies plaintively sung songs featuring interchangeable guitar strums and lots of AA rhyme schemes whereby “taking time” means that he…23.09.2011 READ MORE -
Countryside/We Yes You No/Emphatica
The Junction, Bristol (Thu 29 Apr) • Hearing Emphatica build songs from silence to blistering, delay-drenched crescendo, it's clear that they have managed to pull off the rare feat of combining soaring melodies with…29.04.2010 READ MORE -
Courtney Pine’s Jazz Warriors: Afropeans
St George’s Bristol (Thur 12 Mar) • Courtney Pine’s grandstanding showmanship and occasionally clunky fusions have not always endeared him to jazz fans but his ‘sell-out’ pulling power always packs St George’s. The…18.07.2010 READ MORE -
Cracker/Gerard Langley & Rodney Allen/Deer Park
Fleece, Bristol (Wed 6 Dec) • When you walk into a gig and see a host of Aran jumpers, fleeces and the odd smattering of corduroy you know what you’re going to get from a night. The exquisitely attired Mark from Deer…15.12.2010 READ MORE -
Crippled Black Phoenix/John E Vistic/Austere
Fleece, Bristol (Sun 10 Apr) • If you’re unmoved by the melodic bit/chuggy bit vein of prog metal, then Austere – very much of their genre – are unlikely to motivate a change in your outlook. With that said, within the…13.04.2011 READ MORE -
David Thomas Broughton / Chipper / Rosie Garard / Charlie Draper
The Lansdown, Bristol (Sun 4 Feb) l Given the grand Victorian parlour room setting, the parade of technical gimcrackery and restless invention was entirely appropriate. First, Charlie Draper uses his new-fangled…04.02.2007 READ MORE -
The Cardinall’s Musick
St George’s Bristol (Sat 24 Mar) When not directing The Cardinall’s Musick, the Renaissance-focused vocal ensemble he established in 1989, Andrew Carwood’s day job is heading up the music at St Paul’s Cathedral, and…27.03.2012 READ MORE -
The Cave Singers/Deer Park/The Short Life of Gracie
The Fleece, Bristol (Sat 13 Aug) Every musician knows that you have to dress to match your sound — and as a hirsute chap in a baseball cap and his three bandmates attired in well-worn shirts come on, we all know that…15.08.2011 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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