CD / Digital Reviews
review: The Maccabees, Given To The Wild
Brighton formed The Maccabees‘ third album, Given To The Wild, begins with a dream-like intro before flowing into Child and Feel to Follow, the latter in particular is an exceptional song. Ayla sounds like the X-Files theme tune and now I’ve associated this it will be impossible for me not to have images of spaceships in my [...]
review: Stir of Echoes demo
It looks like its still early days for Stir of Echoes on the demo front so we cannot really critique them thoroughly. Their vocals are hard to judge with rough recording but seem to have spirit. As ever with newly formed artists there is promise. It’s difficult to carve a niche in the overgrowing mass [...]
review: The Novatones – Begging At The Bunhouse EP
The first song from The Novatones Begging At The Bunhouse EP literally blasted out of my speakers; it has been a while since I heard a band so loud. It brought back memories. Novatones are in essence a youthful band. I could still taste their last gig at The Hobbit back in September 2011 for [...]
review: Montage Populaire EP
Montage Populaire make me jig around the room like a string puppet. Yeah, that’s right. My strings were all tangled by the time the barnstorming ‘Nothing Serious‘ EP was over. Title track ‘Sharpening Knives‘ sets off at a fair pace- just between walking and jogging, I would say, while ‘Separate Frames‘ stops and starts like [...]
review: I Dream In Colour – Strangest Place
Having made a strong impression in the South this summer with sell out gigs in Portsmouth, Southampton and a triumphant set at Blissfields, Essex based I Dream in Colour are finally releasing debut single ‘Strangest Place‘ next month. Starting with a Doves style drum beat and a intricate piano line, the track is clearly a step [...]
Review: Ben Howard – Every Kingdom
With artists such as Jack Johnson and Jason Mraz having flown the flag for American singer/songwriters for a while now, it’s about time that the UK stepped up to the mark and showed off our incredibly talented male singer/songwriters. Enter Ben Howard. A 24 year old west country singer/songwriter who has built a solid supportive [...]
Review: Laura Marling – A Creature I Don’t Know
On a time-line of Laura Marling’s musical journey ‘A Creature I Don’t Know’ is her third album, however it is more than just a third album, it’s a huge marker in her career. Breaking onto the music scene at the age of 16, appearing on Jools Holland and playing slots at Glastonbury at 18, Marling’s [...]
Review: Radioactive Bones
With albums like Cerebral Ballzy and OFF!’s lasting around 15 minutes. It is nice to get an album where you get eight songs, spread over a full hour. Something you can get your teeth into, with only the odd bit of trimming needed. All their songs are instrumental apart from a few yelps and screams [...]
Review: The Good Time Charlies – The New Long Player From…..
With cool 60’s pastiche artwork and bizarre surrealist praise heaped upon the band in the sleeve notes by one Perry Flatt from the Flying Alexanders, this is an essential; purchase on CD rather than download. It should be on Norton, Crypt or Bomp records though, a label of quality and distinction, and not a tiny [...]
review: I Dream In Colour, These Folded Arms EP
Today’s agenda focuses on These Folded Arms, the foot-stomping EP release from I Dream in Colour. The Essex quartet have been making waves throughout the country, sparking a number of testimonials from an array of industry figureheads and may well take the mantle of the leading indie rock band in the UK. So, let’s get [...]
review: Heathward – Decipher
Take a hop, skip and jump into Emmett Brown’s Delorian, reach 88mph and travel back to the Castle Morton free rave in 1992. Then add a vicious dollop of bass upside the head, two-step all night to The Prodigy whilst prancing your way through a Psy-Trance forest and BAM! You have experienced Heathward’s debut album [...]
review: I Remember Tapes – Human Architecture
Well now, here’s a pleasant surprise. Back in the olden days of MintSouth, before our relaunch on the interweb, yours truly reviewed an EP by a band called I Remember Tapes. Since that day, it would appear they’ve discovered the synthesiser. And by the sound of it been listening to a lot of both pre [...]
Review: The Widowmaker – Soundtrack to Reality
When I first encountered The Widowmaker (Ian Easton) I was intrigued – it’s a great name for an artist and music that draws you in from the off. From the opening track, My True Colours, you start to get drawn in, the strange atmospherics and poetry/talking mixing into the main song which has some amazing [...]
EP Review: Woven Bird
Matt Canning, Bill Acharjee and Marc Crocker, formerly of Southampton darlings Dead! Dead! Dead!, are back with a bang with Woven Bird’s debut EP. The three-track effort features well-written songs that perfectly strike the balance of provoking thought without going over the top and making ideas too obvious. This EP strikes me as a little [...]
Review: Thomas Tantrum – Mad By Moonlight
Thomas Tantrum have really bucked the trend by releasing an album I want to listen to as a whole body of work. Decreasing numbers of music lovers are listening to albums right the way through these days- the new teen generation downloads a hand-picked selection of songs or sets their MP3 player to the ‘shuffle’ [...]
Review: All The Shapes- All The Shapes EP
Despite their name, there is no great desire to show off ‘All the Shapes‘ here. But what you do get is some pretty solid folk rock- if there’s one word for this, it’s ‘ pastoral’. Only four tracks long, but there is a definite sense of the outdoors here- even the sleeve art shows a [...]
review: Vessels – Helioscope
Vessels first came to my attention about five years ago and I was more than happy to invite them down from Leeds to play a gig when I put live nights on at the Frog & Frigate. They played a blinding set to about three people! You should have been there. Thankfully for them, they [...]
Album Review: The Program Initiative – Mercury [Phase 1]
Any regular visitors to this website may well be aware that The Program Initiative have blown me away with their awesome live show. So here we are with the release of their debut album Mercury [Phase 1] and of course my first concern was just how well their music would stand up on its own [...]
Review: Heathward – Acidisations
Nostalgia over the past in the UK music scene is at an all time high. With ‘The Cure’ headlining the saturday at Bestival this year and the likes of Gary Numan touring extensively in 2011, it is clear that an 80’s revival is well and truly underway. Equally, new bands such as ‘Hurts’ are also [...]
Review: Our Time Down Here – Last Night EP
Our Time Down Here – Last Light It seems that a new year brings a new sound for the southern hardcore act, Our Time Down Here. With a cleaner sound screaming heavy influences from Alkaline Trio, AFI and The Misfits this may turn the old school fans away, but believe me stay with it. With this [...]