Call Upon The Author

Walking into the SUSU I was surrounded by quirky attempts at Halloween costumes worn by over excited teenagers who partly made me want to linger at the back of the bar let alone the venue. With the first support act “The Joy Formidable” playing was interesting however it was an excuse to hit the bar, [...]

You remember the South Park movie? The central theme was pretty much summed up in one silly little song – Blame Canada – and I think Stone and Parker may have a point. Musically at least Canadians have a lot to answer for (and I’m not talking about them leasing Celine Dion on the world). [...]

When the first of the two support acts, Franko, came on, the outlook for this gig looked grim. The lead singer uttered and persistently reiterated poppy hooks that had just the slightest hint of potential yet never really went anywhere. They masqueraded as a rock band and promised a heavier song, yet it sounded just [...]

MATTHEW CLARKE – Lost Souls & Outsiders Our very own Mr Clarke has gone an released an EP of covers spanning a range from Tom Waits down to local lad The Boy I Used To Be. Not for Matthew the glossy and polished route when recording, as I expected, he has embraced a lo-fi recording [...]

Re-released after ten years, it really feels like opening a time capsule to an entire host of 90’s bands. My initial reaction was to say to myself, ‘oh yeah, that sounds like Space, ok that’s Bennet, oh some Pulp’. But from this, I realised that each song is a potential hit and that’s a rare [...]

So, NME have released their annual roundup of the years music. Much like the Kerrang release we reviewed previously, this is a bit of a mish-mash. There’s plenty here to like, especially from the outer fringes of NME’s coverage. There are also bigger names that seem to be here simply to give a smudge of [...]

After starting their tour in Wrexham last Wednesday (October 4 2009) Elliot Minor found themselves in Portsmouth playing at the Wedgewood Rooms. A venue that lead singer Alex Davies actually quite likes. After a thorough sound check and a few moments of joking about with Franko and Me Vs Hero, through which the new phrase [...]

This Austrian duo, relying solely on keys and drums, have created something wonderful and essential. Best and easiest described as techno, post emo/rock metalcore (you try narrowing it down), it’s fresh. Where post-rock has lost its way, this has picked up some of its ethics and added violence to its sense of heightened tension. But [...]

With the singer/songwriter scene fraught with talent, commercial and otherwise, in abundance, some artists may feel their need to tweak what they do to get noticed. Other just stick to what they do and do it well. Becks fourth album see’s him grow in stature musically and lyrically. A beautiful, melancholic ode to all life’s [...]

The queue still stretches far outside when Ghost of a Thousand take the stage. Strangely the room full from sell-out gig, the last of the tour. Nevertheless they really want to incite carnage. Tom Lacy, the lead singer, leaps over the barrier and disappears into the crowd and a huge mosh pit forms. Given the [...]