Call Upon The Author

With support act Suckers leaving much of the audience scratching their heads, it was wise for Yeasayer to open with the highlight from new album Odd Blood

An overly excited Josh Ritter came bounding onto the stage at Bristol’s St. George’s, and his broad smile and obvious joy became infectious over an animated and eventful set pushing 2 hours, as he played the whole of new album So Runs The World Away, as well as dipping into his back catalogue to please fans…

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…

Approaching your thirties makes it difficult to relate to songs such as Growing Pains and I’m Not Your Toy, with lyrics like “this isn’t another girl meets boy,” but still, La Roux’s self-titled debut album had enough great pop to transcend the generation gap – In For The Kill, for example, a mainstay on commercial [...]

Walking onstage with a half-hearted wave, and a barely audible “Hello,” a solemn-looking McRae opened solo with the simple, yet emotive acoustic lament Alphabet Of Hurricanes (incidentally, a song which doesn’t feature on the new album of the same name), his vocals staggering in a live setting, and instantly hushing a previously unsettled audience. But [...]

Though billed as a tour in support of new album Gods & Guns, Skynyrd are acutely aware of why they are still filling arenas in the UK, and attracting fans young (That Smell – played to an ecstatic response – recently used on the popular vampire soap opera, True Blood) and old – the majority [...]

Alberta Cross first came to this writer’s, and indeed much of the media’s attention in 2008, belated appreciation for the group’s stripped back, acoustic debut after Oasis had taken them under their wing, with many startled by the emotion carried in Petter Ericson Stakee’s distinct, high-pitched warble. Fast forward to 2009, and, despite the acclaim, a new and very different incarnation of Alberta Cross returned. Stakee’s voice still the wondrous focal point, but with a band that roared its support – no longer sadly lamenting but burning rage. Broken Side Of Time was a stylishly delivered desolate Blues-rock debut that left some listeners cold, but captured the anger and frustration of modern times perfectly for others…