My entry for STV’s Write Factor competition thing.
—–
Am I the Scottish Richard Littlejohn – Nick Griffin’s favourite columnist and the man who described the deaths of “disgusting, drug-addled street whores,” or those five women with names, families and their own personal stories of trauma and addiction that saw them compelled into working as prostitutes in Ipswich before being murdered by Steve Wright in 2006, as “no great loss?” (more…)
Frightened Rabbit
Swim Until You Can‘t See Land
Just back from a co-headlining tour of the US with fellow Fat Cat’s, Twilight Sad and We Were Promised Jetpacks, Frightened Rabbit return to our radios with a song touched by the sun of their travels. S
cott Hutchison holds back his often powering vocals, letting an almost Beach Boys guitar style mix with their more typical tumpping percussion and an interesting string arrangements that hints of where this mighty act can go. And that would be ’very far indeed’.
Their most understated work yet, but it just makes the pay-off so much more worth it.
7.9/10
Des Bishop
Assembly Rooms
Spending his teenage years in Ireland after growing up in New York has not only given Bishop a mongrel accent, but a complex mix of Queens confidence and Blarney charm all wrapped in a self-effacing confusion. It’s a confusion that invades the intimate moments of his life, as his fears become genuine, creating a show of empathy, if not quite originality.
5.0/10
With banjo, squeezebox and a folk mindset in tow, The Stormy Seas are an Edinburgh five-piece exploring the traditions of Scottish music. Keeping it acoustic but loud, they’d be equally welcome at Wickerman or T in the Park, and equally likely to make the crowd go home humming. Still plying their trade around the pubs and bars of Scotland though, it shouldn’t be long before they catch the attention of a media in love with a folk resurgence. We spoke to drummer, Graeme. (more…)
Noah and the Whale offered up their take on the indie pop anthem earlier this year, with ‘5 Years Time’ giving Mighty Boosh fans a few new dance moves to show off at their underage discos. The band’s contrived image though, with tweed, trilbies and waistcoats galore, made it all just too hard to stomach.
It’s good news then that Stars and Sons have created something as equally joyous in its three minute pop ways, yet without any smug pretention to mire its good intentions.
Citing both The Flaming Lips and Amiga classic, Monkey Island, as equal influences, it’s no surprise this single revels in its fun attitude, not once getting above its hand-claps and ‘ooh-oohs’. Mike Lord won’t be wearing sunglasses indoors anytime soon.
8.5/10
Release Date: 17 Nov
Imelda May – Love Tattoo
Winner of best newcomer at the Irish Music Awards and with adoring words already from Jeff Beck and Jools Holland, you’d be forgiven for expecting big things from Imelda May’s debut album. And things do get off to an explosive start on the appropriately named ‘Johnny Got a Boom Boom’ – an upbeat jazz romp that knows the merits of a toe-tapping bassline. May’s vocals too become enlivened on an energetic chorus that offers up a ‘boom boom’ to match Johnny’s. (more…)
Tiny Spark - Alaska EP
Well somebody’s been listening to Mansun. Certainly, these three songs from the south-coast five piece would have fitted comfortably on the brilliant Attack of the Grey Lantern, with sprawling yet well-structured guitars that threaten to veer into prog dirges, yet stay on the right side of listenable. George Lenton’s vocals too remind of Paul Draper, with treble tones and controlled angst in each of this EP’s three songs. Lenton even shows some ambition of Cousteau crooning in opener Alaska’s sadly short-lived coda.
Go On almost becomes One Republic, but sticks to credibility with smart lyrics and a biting guitar in the chorus. But it’s Never Met That Girl that stands out as Tiny Spark’s bona fide hit. Lenton excels, and the synth strings make this almost as good as Wide Open Space. Tiny Sparks to shining stars? We shall see. It bodes well though.
7.5/10
by David Quin, age 21 and 1/2
Anybody with even half an ear to the ground in the musty backwater of pop-culture and geekery that is fanboy-land, will no doubt be aware of the feverish anticipation which is being generated by every droplet of information which appears in relation to the movie version of Alan Moore and Davie Gibbons’ seminal graphic novel Watchmen. To the uninitiated this excitement may seem odd – comic book adaptations are ten a penny these days, from the already well established (Batman, Spiderman and so forth) to the obscure (Ghost Rider anyone?), but Watchmen really is different; an incredibly emotionally and politically complex work, which refuses to paint its world in terms of crude morality, but rather keeps a studied distance from the world it portrays, never shirking from the consequences of its characters’ belief systems, adored, rightly, by those who’ve read it, and regarded in some quarters as one of the peaks of late twentieth century literature. (more…)
That’s right. Great joy has come to Bury as Guy Garvey and his band of brilliant doom/joy merchants have been awarded the Mercury Prize. So well done them.
I’m not a big fan of the usage of ‘literally’ in many contexts, but Garvey was probaly correct in announcing the honour as “quite literally the best thing that’s ever happened to us.” It’s been a long time coming, but their finally starting to get the recognition they deserve. Whereas Coldplay and Snow Patrol have succeeded in taking over the world with similarly grand but ultimately soulless epics, Elbow have ground away in the background producing 4 of the 100 best albums of this millennium, proving themselves as ultimately the most consistent, enjoyable and credible British band of this decade.
I’m going to leave it there as I have to go meet some Americans off a plane. Read more here on this quite informative BBC article. And buy all their records as well. Elbow are amazing.
Powered by WordPress.com
