Home 
H
H
MUSIC LIVE REVIEWS : H
-
Haiti Benefit Gig
The Cube/The Croft, Bristol (Sat 6 Mar) • Trembling in his chair, Men Diamler murmurs confessionals, bellows foot-stamp spirituals, howls tramp-ranting blues to the small but spellbound crowd, riding his…06.03.2010 READ MORE -
Harbour Festival: Saturday
Queen Sq, Thekla, The Louisiana, Cascade Steps, Bristol (Sat 30 July) Back in the day – late 70s/early 80s – Talisman were picking up Record of the Week in NME and supporting Burning Spear, The Clash and the Stones.…01.08.2011 READ MORE -
Harbour Festival: Sunday
Queen Sq, Cascade Steps, Thekla, Bristol (Sun 31 July) Getting Sunday’s proceedings underway on the Cascade Steps is Danielle, a 16-year-old singer and her guitar. Considering the mid-day billing, the youngster plays to…01.08.2011 READ MORE -
Harptallica/Rufus T. Firefly
The Croft, Bristol (Mon 24 Aug) • “We’ve got some new shit for ya!” There’s a line we’ve heard barked many times by James Hetfield addressing a stadium full of metalheads. It sounds a little strange coming from a…24.08.2009 READ MORE -
Hawkwind/Arthur Brown
Academy, Bristol (Mon 14 Dec) • Still reassuringly crazy after all these years, Arthur Brown gibbers, rolls around on the floor, dances like a man on all the wrong drugs, teases us for paying £20 and plunders the depths…14.12.2009 READ MORE -
Hawthorne Heights/The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus/Failsafe
Thekla, Bristol (Wed 14 Dec) Golly, when Thekla say ‘early show’, they mean it. Failsafe are on stage at the ungodly hour of 6.30 when Venue is still in front of the mirror teasing his hair into novel and exciting…19.12.2011 READ MORE -
Helele/Beth Porter/Smith & Willox/Eyebrow
(Queen Square, Bristol, Fri 14 Aug) • There’s a tantalising magic about the way Queen Square transforms. First thing in the morning you have the familiar, slightly austere, heritage site criss-crossed by people en route…14.08.2009 READ MORE -
Here There Be Monsters/Spirytus/Zero Pilot
The Croft, Bristol (Wed 26 Aug) • Zero Pilot look like they're having more fun than it's legal for a metal band ever to have as they fly through their set of heavy, melodic rock songs. They are an act with an edge that…26.08.2009 READ MORE -
Herman Dune
(Thekla, Bristol, 12 April) • You don’t expect to leave a Herman Dune gig feeling a little hollow and cheated. This is a band after all which thrives on the genuine bonds of affection that tie them to their fans in ways…12.04.2007 READ MORE -
Hidden Orchestra/Lucas Renney/Samantha Crockford/Paul Garry
Mr Wolfs/Mother’s Ruin (Bristol, Thur 18 Nov) • Free entry’s a slippery fish. Sure, you get a bigger crowd, but you also risk being overrun by braying, guffawing tosspots with no interest in music. Witness Mother’s…24.11.2010 READ MORE -
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 a little queasy, you’re not alone. Thankfully, if there’s one place that’s going to do it right, whose DJs will choose The Fiery…21.02.2012 READ MORE -
Hip-Hop Lounge
The Croft, Bristol (Fri 27 Feb) • This time out, the Hip-Hop Lounge includes more than 10 different acts, most of them live. The decision to make the night non-profit-making gives them coffers big enough to promote…27.02.2009 READ MORE -
Holy Stain at Festive Fest
Thekla, Bristol (Sun 18 Dec) It’s Holy Stain’s second to last ever show, so we can forgive them for believing volume is synonymous and interchangeable with enthusiasm. Their joyful send-off; our week of tinnitus.…19.12.2011 READ MORE -
Hope Sandoval/Dirt Blue Gene
The Fleece, Bristol (Thur 5 Aug) • There are divas and there is Hope Sandoval. To recap: the tills must be switched off; the bar must stop serving; the lights must be out. There must be no photography (we are told this…05.08.2010 READ MORE -
Horace Andy and Dub Asante
(Bristol Academy, Sat 9 July) “Money, money, money is the root of all evil…”: never a truer word spoken. An apt sentiment for the times as Studio One legend and now Bristol resident and Massive collaborator Horace…11.07.2011 READ MORE -
Hot Chip/Casiokids
02 Academy Bristol (Tue 23 Feb) • Not really kids at all, Casiokids prove to be a hairy thirtysomething Norwegian quintet, pumping out studiedly playful retro-electro and crooning soft falsetto harmonies in their native…23.02.2010 READ MORE -
Hot Club of Cowtown
Fiddlers, Bristol (Thur 28 Oct) • On one side, jazz a la Quintette du Hot Club de France, the flamboyantly rapid-fire troupe formed in 1934 around violinist Grappelli and guitarist Reinhardt. On the other, US fiddle…03.11.2010 READ MORE -
Hot D'Jour/Root Elevation Band
Lab, Bristol (Fri 4 Sept) • The majority of tonight's crowd are here to see one thing: the debut outing of Hollie G's new band, Hot d'Jour. Unfortunately, this means that when The Root Elevation Band takes the stage…04.09.2009 READ MORE -
Howe Gelb/Pop Parker
Thunderbolt, Bristol (Fri 3 July) • Eight pm on the dot and apparently Gelb’s not yet in the country. The venue’s filling up but fans seem unfazed. It just wouldn’t be right for a Gelb-ite to become ruffled, and anyway,…03.07.2009 READ MORE -
Howler/Man Made
Louisiana (Mon 23 Jan) Support act Man Made arrives on stage wearing the kind of gold sequin jacket that wouldn’t look amiss on a Butlins bingo caller, itself a perfect contradictory statement to the sombre 45-minute…24.01.2012 READ MORE -
Howling Bells/Joy Formidable/Chew Lips
The Fleece, Bristol (Tue 3 Mar) • Strong women and loud guitars connect all three of tonight’s acts. Opening the bill are Chew Lips, the scarlet-haired singer yelling “I bet you weren’t expecting electro” at the…03.03.2009 READ MORE -
Howlin’ Lord
The Grapes, Bristol (Sat 29 Jan) • Where are the Nynes? A last minute drop-out means that Howlin’ Lord has had to fill their shoes with barely an hour’s notice. The promotional blurb describes The Nynes as “The Queens…02.02.2011 READ MORE -
Hurts/Performance
Trinity, Bristol (Fri 8 Oct) • 7.30pm and Trinity is full. “Excuse me”s detonate around the room like apologetic fireworks, and we sweat politely under the oppressive ‘take us stadium-seriously’ lights that blaze from…13.10.2010 READ MORE -
Hypnotic Brass Ensemble/Baraka
Metropolis, Bristol (Tues 20 Oct) • There’s something vaguely incongruous about stepping in from the driving rain and finding a huge ice-cream machine glowing by the door, the empty dancefloor overshadowed by a mixing…20.10.2009 READ MORE -
Hypnotic Brass Ensemble/Dakhla
(Fiddlers, Bristol, Wed 18 May) • It’s looking like a promising crowd and it builds steadily through Bristol drum’n’brass quartet Dakhla’s opening set. Driven by vibrant baritone sax and stomping drums, the three-part…19.05.2011 READ MORE -
The Handsome Family
The Fleece, Bristol (Mon 21 May) There's a warmth about The Handsome Family, a kind of lackadaisical downhome quality that melds the minutiae of life with the surreal. Husband and wife Brett and Rennie Sparks have…23.05.2012 READ MORE -
The Heavy/The Hats
Thekla, Bristol (Wed 17 Feb) • Initially, The Hats throw down the kind of US cop show-beloved rolling groove it’d feel seemly to throw cardboard boxes in front of. Then trumpet, trombone and sax pick up the refrain from…17.02.2010 READ MORE -
The Hinkley Veltones
The Grapes, Bristol (Sat 5 Mar) • Few are the bands that offer up the soundtrack to their own world, never step beyond its borders, and instead compel you to enter it yourself. Think of Pulp’s career-long imagining of a…09.03.2011 READ MORE -
The Hip-Hop Lounge
The Croft, Bristol (Fri 27 Mar) • I didn’t get the sofa and the standard lamp, at first. Then I remembered this was the Lounge, celebrating a year of promoting Bristol’s hip-hop scene. The stage was busy, what with…27.03.2009 READ MORE -
The Hit Ups/Dusty Heads
Porter Cellar Bar, Bath (Wed 28 Oct) • Bristol’s Dusty Heads, tonight configured as three verbose rappers and a pair of hands manning the laptop, are just building up a nice weighty head of steam with ‘Arabian Nights’,…28.10.2009 READ MORE -
The Hit Ups/The Fuck Buddies/Barrymore’s Pool Party
The Croft, Bristol (Fri 15 Oct) • The scene brigade are mobilised tonight. Bristol’s party-starting young team, The Hit Ups, are celebrating their ‘Unforgivable’/ ‘66Sexy’ EP launch, and a barful of uniformly dressed…20.10.2010 READ MORE -
The Hook 'Em Boys
The Croft, Bristol (Wed 21 Dec, 2011) It’s the longest night and it’s slipping by very nicely, thank-you. The Croft has a pleasing hurly-burly, with something post-something going on noisily in the front room, a DJ’s…22.12.2011 READ MORE -
The Hook’em Boys/Emily Breeze/Rupert Taylor
Fiddlers, Bristol (Sat 22 Aug) • It was all about commitment, I decided, as I left Fiddlers in the small hours of a Bedminster night. This was a benefit gig, after all, for a cause I was happy to support (having been…22.08.2009 READ MORE -
The Horrors/Factory Floor/S.C.U.M.
Thekla, Bristol (Wed 5 June) • The age limit at the Thekla has been lowered to 14 for tonight's gig. Consequently, those gathered to hear S.C.U.M., look very young indeed. But then, so do the band. They produce an early…05.06.2009 READ MORE
|
|
THE BIG GIG
-
-
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
READ MORE
Classical Opera
St George’s Bristol (Fri11 May) An opera by an 11-year-old … in Latin. Talk about a hard…
13.05.2012
READ MORE
Dave Stapleton
St George’s, Bristol (Thur May 5) There are eight players on stage – and great ones at…
04.05.2012
READ MORE
Simone Felice
Colston Hall, Bristol (Sat 28 Apr) The Felice Brothers came out of New York State with an…
01.05.2012
READ MORE
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
READ MORE
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
READ MORE
Cher Lloyd
O2 Academy, Bristol (Tue 10 Apr) It's a struggle-to-get-through-the-door sell-out…
24.04.2012
READ MORE
Alabama 3: Acoustic and Unplugged
Trinity, Bristol (Fri 20 Apr) The blues came down to Trinity... and blew it away. Alabama…
23.04.2012
READ MORE
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra/Chorus: ‘Carmina Burana’
Colston Hall Bristol (Thur 19 Apr) Time was when the definition of an intellectual was…
23.04.2012
READ MORE
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
READ MORE
Empty Pools/Schnauser/Glis Glis
Louisiana, Bristol (Wed 18 Apr) The three Glis Glis members repeating crystalline,…
20.04.2012
READ MORE
Ceu/Curumin
St George’s, Bristol (Wed 18 Apr) Electronic bands rarely sound good in St George’s and…
20.04.2012
READ MORE
Meshuggah/Animals as Leaders
O2 Academy, Bristol (Thur 12 Apr) Animals as Leaders are the missing link between The…
16.04.2012
READ MORE
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
READ MORE
The Magnificent Seven
Coronation Tap, Bristol (Sun 1 Apr) OK, it’s the usual suspects, but the discerning…
03.04.2012
READ MORE
Spiro/Cliff Stapleton/Katey Brooks
Fleece, Bristol (Sat 31 Mar) It’s very satisfying when your local heroes get national…
02.04.2012
READ MORE
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
READ MORE
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
READ MORE
Tall Ships
Thekla, Bristol (Wed 21 March) Tall Ships, originally from the harbourside town of…
29.03.2012
READ MORE
UFO/Heavy Metal Kids
O2 Academy, Bristol (Sun 25 Mar) There are two things every rock trivia freak knows about…
27.03.2012
READ MORE
The Cardinall’s Musick
St George’s Bristol (Sat 24 Mar) When not directing The Cardinall’s Musick, the…
27.03.2012
READ MORE
Earth/Mount Eerie/Ô Paon
Arnolfini, Bristol (Sat 3 Mar) Ô Paon opens with a set of slow burners; her clumsily…
21.03.2012
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…
21.03.2012
READ MORE
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
READ MORE
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
READ MORE
Gabrielle Aplin/Hudson-Taylor
Thekla, Bristol (Mon 12 Mar) Still only 19 but nevertheless managing to rack up 1.3m…
14.03.2012
READ MORE
The Tender Trap
Southbank Centre, Bristol (Fri 24 Feb) The Southbank has many guises and tonight it’s…
12.03.2012
READ MORE
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
READ MORE
Field Music/Stealing Sheep
The Fleece, Bristol (Thur 23 Feb) A timid ‘hello’ from Stealing Sheep’s Lucy…
28.02.2012
READ MORE
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
READ MORE
Mouse Deer
The Old Bookshop, Bristol (Thur 16 Feb) Lord knows US coffee shop culture took a long…
20.02.2012
READ MORE
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
READ MORE
James Morton & Friends
The Prom, Bristol (Fri 17 Feb) Lately, alto sax player James Morton’s career’s demanded…
19.02.2012
READ MORE
Rich Robinson
Fleece, Bristol (Wed 15 Feb) With the Black Crowes on apparently indefinite hiatus, the…
17.02.2012
READ MORE
Shinedown/Halestorm
O2 Academy, Bristol (Sun 12 Feb) It demonstrates considerable confidence to take a band…
13.02.2012
READ MORE
Roots Manuva
Anson Room, Bristol (Fri 3 Feb) Having seen Roots Manuva take to the stage in riding…
06.02.2012
READ MORE
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
READ MORE
Nigel Kennedy/Orchestra of Life
Colston Hall, Bristol (Wed 18 Jan) Telephone-hold to elevator music, ‘The Four Seasons’…
25.01.2012
READ MORE
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
READ MORE
Howler/Man Made
Louisiana (Mon 23 Jan) Support act Man Made arrives on stage wearing the kind of gold…
24.01.2012
READ MORE
Sir Henry at Rawlinson End
St George’s, Bristol (Thur 19 Jan) ‘Sir Henry’ distilled and squandered the late Viv…
22.01.2012
READ MORE
Arabella Sprot Quartet
Bebop Club, Bristol (Fri 6 Jan) Given the styereotype of the lazy, time-wasting student,…
09.01.2012
READ MORE
Denny Ilett plays Led Zeppelin
Coronation Tap, Bristol (Thur 5 Jan) There’s an inevitable sense of laddishness about…
06.01.2012
READ MORE
The Peters
Coronation Tap, Bristol (Tue 3 Jan) Here’s a mind-boggling little collective of young…
04.01.2012
READ MORE
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
READ MORE
Mike Willox Quartet
Bebop Club, Bristol (Fri 16 Dec) Mike Willox has long been master of the element of…
20.12.2011
READ MORE
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
READ MORE
Oxford Philomusica/Schiff
St George’s Bristol (Thur 8 Dec) Intriguing to see Andras Schiff in front of an orchestra…
19.12.2011
READ MORE
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
READ MORE
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
READ MORE
Get The Blessing
(Thur 15 Dec, Canteen, Bristol) They’ve clearly been missed. Get The Blessing’s 2011…
16.12.2011
READ MORE
Little Dragon/White Hinterland
Thekla, Bristol (Fri 2 Dec) Despite the name, ‘White Hinterland’ is not a right-wing…
14.12.2011
READ MORE
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
READ MORE
The Magic Band
Thekla, Bristol (Sun 4 Dec) When rock visionary Captain Beefheart passed away in December…
07.12.2011
READ MORE
Bleeding Heart Narrative
The Cube, Bristol (Sat 26 Nov) Watching Bleeding Heart Narrative at The Cube, it's…
07.12.2011
READ MORE
Uriah Heep
O2 Academy, Bristol (Mon 5 Dec) When a band has been around as long as Uriah Heep, it's…
06.12.2011
READ MORE
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
READ MORE
Wire/Talk Normal
Thekla, Bristol (Tue 29 Nov) At the merch stand, sales of the Wire shopping bag appear…
02.12.2011
READ MORE
Zappa Plays Zappa
Colston Hall, Bristol (Wed 30 Nov) This is weird. There's a biggish band on stage – two…
01.12.2011
READ MORE
In:Motion – RBMA & Futureboogie
Motion, Bristol (Sat 26 Nov) Tonight sees two of Bristol’s biggest dance music beacons,…
01.12.2011
READ MORE
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
READ MORE
John Cooper Clarke
The Fleece, Bristol (Sun 27 Nov) Like a wizened stick-insect love child of 60s-era Bob…
29.11.2011
READ MORE
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
READ MORE
Claudia Aurora
The Folk House, Brisrtol (Fri 26 Nov) It’s packed down in the Folk House’s hall basement…
28.11.2011
READ MORE
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
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…
23.11.2011
READ MORE
WNO: Don Giovanni
Bristol Hippodrome (Tue 8 Nov) Hearing Leporello’s ‘black book’ aria (in which he lists…
22.11.2011
READ MORE
St. Vincent
The Fleece, Bristol (Fri 11 Nov) There’s always been a tension about St. Vincent’s live…
22.11.2011
READ MORE
Benn Clatworthy Quintet
Bebop Club, Bristol (Fri 18 Nov) It’s a quintessentially Bebop gig, this, as club mainman…
21.11.2011
READ MORE
Gillian Welch
Hippodrome, Bristol (Tue 15 Nov) “I learnt this from Doc Watson,” she says, before…
17.11.2011
READ MORE
The Melvins
The Thekla, Bristol (Fri 4 Nov) Just when you thought The Melvins couldn't get any more…
11.11.2011
READ MORE
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
READ MORE
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
READ MORE
WHY? Acoustic Grand Piano Tour
Colston Hall 2, Bristol (Sun 23 Oct) There is usually something jarringly civilised about…
01.11.2011
READ MORE
Anna Calvi
Trinity Centre, Bristol (Mon 31 Oct) Anna Calvi released her self-titled debut album at…
01.11.2011
READ MORE
Alice Cooper
(Colston Hall, Bristol, Wed 26 Oct) Considering that this was billed as Alice's Halloween…
27.10.2011
READ MORE
The Union/Fighting Wolves
Fleece, Bristol (Sun 23 Oct) The huge cheer that greets Fighting Wolves' announcement of…
27.10.2011
READ MORE
Oxjam Takeover
Various venues, Bristol (Sat 22 Oct) It may well be an overcast Saturday afternoon, but…
27.10.2011
READ MORE
Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes
O2 Academy, Bristol, Sept 25 2011 New Jersey r’n’b stalwarts Southside Johnny & The…
27.10.2011
READ MORE
Laura Marling
Bristol Cathedral (Tue 25 Oct) Spotlit columns vaulting to the heavens, a stage backed by…
27.10.2011
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…
25.10.2011
READ MORE
The Duval Project
The Bell, Bath (Mon 10 Oct) “There are some people that, when they tell you they have a…
21.10.2011
READ MORE
The Pierces/Marcus Foster
Anson Rooms, Bristol (Thur 20 Oct) Hadn’t heard Marcus Foster’s ‘Nameless Path’, but knew…
21.10.2011
READ MORE
CD Reviews
Kid Carpet
‘Kid Carpet & The Noisy Animals’ (LP, self-released) // Few things are more intoxicating…
20.04.2012
READ MORE
Million Way
‘Your Circuitry’ (EP, self-released) // Dream Continuum release the ‘Reworkz’ EP and,…
20.04.2012
READ MORE
Paul Garry
‘With Love Comes Rescue’ (EP, BMS Records) // Offensively inoffensive and supremely…
18.04.2012
READ MORE
Dave Stapleton
‘Flight’ (LP, Edition Records) // Dave Stapleton's Cardiff-based Edition Records is fast…
17.04.2012
READ MORE
Hello Lazarus
‘Hello Lazarus’ (EP, Scylla Records) If there's a theme for this EP, it's that it implies…
26.03.2012
READ MORE
Lady Nade & The Silhouettes
‘All I Am’ (EP, unsigned) Lady Nade’s deep-hued voice adds archaic credibility to…
22.03.2012
READ MORE
Caroline Martin
‘For All That I Do Not Know’ (LP, Smalldog) Second album ‘proper’, and still like being…
22.03.2012
READ MORE
Island Audio
'The Drift' (Single/Sink & Stove) It's early days for glam-y, knife-edged post-punkers…
15.02.2012
READ MORE
Rock In Your Pocket
‘Gutterdub’ (LP, Artscare Records) There are Riot Grrrl-invoking essays to be written…
15.02.2012
READ MORE
Get The Blessing
‘OCDC’ (LP, Naim Jazz) Bish bash bosh, here they come, but there’s a sparkling new…
14.02.2012
READ MORE
Experimental Pop Band
'Little Things' (Single, Wear It Well) Since 2007 EPB have written, recorded and scrapped…
13.02.2012
READ MORE
Phantom Limb
‘The Pines’ (Album, Naim Edge) The title could’ve been swiped from a new-build…
19.01.2012
READ MORE
Josh Arcoleo
‘Beginnings’ (Album, Edition Records) It takes practice and inspiration to become a…
19.01.2012
READ MORE
The Hysterical Injury
‘Dead Wolf Situation’ (LP, Crystal Fuzz) Yes, Hysterical Injury brandish nothing more…
19.01.2012
READ MORE
Silent Tides
‘Silent Tides’ (EP, self-released) This is Silent Tides’ debut EP and, as such, serves as…
19.01.2012
READ MORE
The Liftmen
‘Troubled Teens’ (Single, Twisted Nerve) It’s disappointing that the first pressing of…
19.01.2012
READ MORE
Francois & The Atlas Mountains
'E Volo Love’ (LP, Domino) Whilst the minutiae of the human condition might not present…
19.01.2012
READ MORE
Mouse Deer
‘The Mouse Deer EP’ (EP, self-released) Girl-group harmonies forged from a single vocal…
14.12.2011
READ MORE
Radio Banska
‘The Balkan Courtesan’ (LP, Get Real Records) Who knew John Zorn was composing 13-time…
14.12.2011
READ MORE
Sarah Menage
‘In A Mood’ (LP, Independent) Just ‘a’ mood? There’s a range on offer in Sarah Menage’s…
14.12.2011
READ MORE
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
READ MORE
Bleeding Heart Narrative
‘Bison’ (EP, Brainlove Records) As opening gambits go, 'Shoals' has to be one of the…
07.11.2011
READ MORE
The Hit Ups
‘Unforgivable'/'66 Sexy’ (Free download, self-released) The Hit Ups: ‘parties, death,…
21.10.2011
READ MORE
Follow The Sun
'The Evening Light’ (EP/self-released) Pushed just beyond ambient loveliness by gentle…
21.10.2011
READ MORE
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
READ MORE
The Bad Joke That Ended Well
‘The Meteors Are Coming’ (LP, Little Paradise Records) Zips in on an express banjo…
30.09.2011
READ MORE
Smile, LOOKALIVE!
'Ringside Seats’ (EP, self-released) Smile, LOOKALIVE! (or SLA, for those with…
30.09.2011
READ MORE
Centrefolds
'Fresh Air’/’Jennifer’ (Single, self-released) Fiercely mixed to fizz with high end,…
30.09.2011
READ MORE
Call The Doctor
‘Riots.’ (EP, Fear of Fiction) Patti Aberhart’s living the dream: black bob, lip gloss…
30.09.2011
READ MORE
Chatterbox & Samuel Otis
‘Hard Graft’ (Killamari Records) Hip-hop is always at its most convincing when you can…
30.09.2011
READ MORE
Curse You Damn Kids
‘Sorta Like An Epiphany’ (EP, Screamlite Records) There’s much to admire in this youthful…
27.08.2011
READ MORE
Echo Park Orchestra
'Hymns of the Black Flag’ (LP, self-released) Echo Park Orchestra mainman Peter…
27.08.2011
READ MORE
Rossanne Hamilton
'Attic Tapes/Live At The Thunderbolt 09’ (Double EP, self-released) Classically trained…
27.08.2011
READ MORE
Baobinga & Co
‘Joint Ventures’ (LP, Build Recordings) DJ, producer and blogger Sam ‘Baobinga’ Simpson…
27.08.2011
READ MORE
The Weary Band
‘Office Doodles’ (LP, self-released) At last! We’ve waited almost a decade – and a couple…
29.07.2011
READ MORE
Planting_Claymore
‘Re-Gen’ (EP, self-released) Not, as the name suggests, a Clifton estate agent but a…
29.07.2011
READ MORE
Electric Contradiction
‘Gold Mind EP’ (EP, self-released) This Bath-based five piece describe themselves as an…
29.07.2011
READ MORE
The Minke Whales
‘Turncoat’ (LP, Tandem) The Minke Whales – possibly named in honour of that doomed…
29.07.2011
READ MORE
The Divided Circle
‘The Divided Circle’ (LP, Lonely City Records) • Why isn’t everyone talking about The…
30.06.2011
READ MORE
Edenheight
‘Peaceboy’/‘Trouble’ (Single, Breakin’ Bread Records) • One of Bristol’s…
30.06.2011
READ MORE
Hi Fiction Science
'Hi Fiction Science' (LP, self-released) •A lass with a high, folksy voice ponders aloud…
30.06.2011
READ MORE
Zero Pilot
‘XY’ (EP, self-released) If ‘Ice Road Truckers’ were a record, it’d be this ballsy,…
27.05.2011
READ MORE
James Hollingsworth
‘Two And Two’ (EP, self-released) Awful cheesecloth rock channelling mawkish Chris De…
27.05.2011
READ MORE
Oxygen Thief
‘Destroy It Yourself’ (LP, Broken Tail Records) Bristol’s Barry Dolan, in-your-face raw…
27.05.2011
READ MORE
Maps and Legends
‘Maps and Legends’ (EP, self-released) Perhaps appropriately given their name, M&L…
27.05.2011
READ MORE
Hello Lazarus
‘All Alliteration’ (LP, self-released) • It whizzes. It buzzes. Noisy and precise guitar…
29.04.2011
READ MORE
The Short Stories
‘Small Mercies’ (LP, The International Lo-Fi Underground) • A lo-fi thrum of songs…
29.04.2011
READ MORE
Cemlyn Jones
‘All These Dreams’ (LP, Kargo Records) • Clevedon-based singer-songwriter and former…
29.04.2011
READ MORE
The Carny Villains
The Carny Villains (EP, Unsigned) • The seven-piece band from the heart of Bristol’s…
29.04.2011
READ MORE
Narco Lounge Combo
‘Music for Ice Rinks’ (LP, self-released) • “She got freckles and a blow-job nose, kitten…
20.04.2011
READ MORE
The Cheaterslicks
Rev Up, Burn Out’ (LP, Western Star) • Here’s a blistering debut mixing up rockabilly,…
20.04.2011
READ MORE
Heg Doughty
‘Little Red’ (EP, self-released) • Ah, the sadly defunct Dartington College in the green…
20.04.2011
READ MORE
Centrefolds
'Is Anyone There?’ (EP, self-released) • All hail Centrefolds for their unashamed pursuit…
13.04.2011
READ MORE
Okus Dolphin
‘Spiritual’ (LP, self-released) • With its Glastonbury candle shop sleeve, ham-fisted…
13.04.2011
READ MORE
Rachael Dadd ‘
'Elephee’ (EP, Broken Sound Music) • Rachael Dadd is a songwriter in thrall to nature,…
13.04.2011
READ MORE
Elliot Hall
‘Adults Are Stupid’ (LP, self-released) • The title is just one affable feature of this…
06.04.2011
READ MORE
James Brewster
‘As a Hovering Insect Mass Breaks Your Fall’ (LP, Make Mine Music) • Now living in Malmö,…
06.04.2011
READ MORE
The Naturals
‘Gifthorse’/‘He Has An 80ft Tarantula’ (double A-side single, self-released) • The thing…
06.04.2011
READ MORE
Principal Participant
‘Principles’ (Download LP, self-released) • “Minotaur Shock is my regular outlet for…
30.03.2011
READ MORE
Emily Teague
‘Emily Teague’ (LP, self-released) • Bristol’s folkies have some bad habits – ‘spiritual’…
30.03.2011
READ MORE
Pat Nicholson
‘Roll With It’ (LP, Pan Records) • Australian Pat Nicholson’s debut arrives with some…
30.03.2011
READ MORE
The Egret Seacrow
‘Imaginatively, A Silk Wasp’ (LP, self-released) • A slight, delicate release – our copy…
23.03.2011
READ MORE
Tony Harris
‘Choices’ (LP, self-released) • There is something of the madrigal about these simple,…
23.03.2011
READ MORE
Color Of The Sun
‘Solong Suckers’ (LP, self-released) • Multi-instrumentalist Aron Ward is a Californian…
16.03.2011
READ MORE
Honour Your Pain
'Between Blood and Pride' (EP) • Metal's such a crowded marketplace these days that you…
16.03.2011
READ MORE
The Get-Outs
‘Exit’ (LP, Kitchen Rock Records) • The Get-Outs, currently celebrating their tenth year…
09.03.2011
READ MORE
The Zen Hussies
‘Troubled Feet’ (LP, Musique DaDA) • If you’ve ever stumbled across a Zen Hussies gig the…
09.03.2011
READ MORE
Badgertrap
‘Agony of Choice’ (EP/download, Kangaroo Kourt Records) • Product of Hal Camplin/Barry…
02.03.2011
READ MORE
Central Spillz
'Space Travel' (LP, Durkle Disco) • In the increasingly boundary-bereft territory between…
23.02.2011
READ MORE
TwoManTing
‘Legacy’ (LP, self-released) • Formed from Afro-dance outfit Le Cod Afrique, duo…
23.02.2011
READ MORE
David Britton
'The Oldland Commoner Album’ (LP, self-released) • David Britton is a gent from Bristol’s…
23.02.2011
READ MORE
Caricatures
‘Fire In The Womb’ (Single, Anticreation Productions) • Down-tuned strings, irregular…
16.02.2011
READ MORE
Secret Shine
‘The Beginning and the End’ (LP, self-released) • Hard to believe these passionless…
16.02.2011
READ MORE
EXTERNAL LINKS
