Call Upon The Author

RoseRed & The Butterflies is the alter ego of singer/songwriter Lydia Nicolaides. Describing herself as “Mary Poppins on Acid”, RoseRed is a prolific songwriter and her mix of catchy tunes and quirky lyrics have marked her out among her po faced peers. You’ll find RoseRed regularly cropping up at London gig venues and she’s just released her debut album Just A Glimmer, so we thought it was the ideal time to catch up for a chat.

The Rebs have a few things to be proud of. The band won Virgin’s 2008 Road To V Festival competition giving them the opportunity to open in front of thousands, on the same stage as indie giants, Kaiser Chiefs and The Zutons. And with that under their belts, the pressure surely was on to create an immense debut album.

Hairy American AM brings us ‘Future Sons & Daughters’, a fuschia pink CD encased in a sleeve covered in foliage, him strutting about in a suit, and Banana Splits style writing. Hello, you might think – we’ve got a live one here!

After years in lo-fi obscurity, Matthew Houke, a.k.a. Phosphorescent, increased his profile with a fairly dramatic shift from plaintive folk to produce a fuller sounding Willie Nelson covers album, endorsed by the country icon himself. Immersing himself in the great man’s music has clearly made an impression…

They’ve been compared to both Godspeed! You Black Emperor and Arcade Fire, but neither is really an accurate way to understand the music of The Strange Death Of Liberal England. What is easy to understand is that this album of frenetic, alt.rock sea shanties is that rare breed – a collection of songs that both hit you immediately and also grow with each listen!

It’s finally here! The debut album from the frankly awesome London based eight-piece Revere has finally landed, and it’s a contender for my album of the year. Actually, scratch that: album of forever…

It may be the most iconic landmark along Albert Rd, but The Kings theatre has never hosted astage at Southsea Fest before!

The Blackout, never ones to shy away from gang like activity, are launching a new operation – named RIOT SQUAD.

Sound of Guns, as I read in an interview on this very site, are one of the most hard-working and dedicated bands to come out of Britain in the last few years. It shows on their debut album ‘What Came From Fire’…

“Celluloid”, as you can probably presume from the title, is a loose concept album about the universe of motion pictures and cinematography…