Reviews

These boys perpetuated an adequate amount of internet chat room gossip after their inexplicable-albeit short-lived-hiatus a few years ago. The drummer packed up and left for Berlin, and two other members hit Denver for whatever reason. They missed one another enormously though, and a few tear-stained letters went back and forth. Now the Bloodlet legacy has come back to embalm any “nice“ bands they get booked now with as they tour the planet relentlessly. Promoters, you have received your official Continue Reading

Reviews

Changing direction without losing the core of your audience is perhaps the most difficult thing to do in music (The Beatles and David Bowie notwithstanding).  Another feat, which is tricky at best, is to turn out a techno/house record that will somehow be unique; even the Chemical Brothers last attempt was somewhat comprised of past efforts and previous formulas.   Daniel Ash attempts to do both on his third solo self-titled album. Being the one time Bauhaus guitarist, as well as Continue Reading

Reviews

You’ll know Dot Allison, whether you think you know it or not, as the perfectly sweet angelic foil to Death In Vegas’ dour military-esque drive on ‘99’s epic soiled diamond of a tune, ‘Dirge’. Before that, in hazy early 90s acid-house days she gave vocals to scene pioneers One Dove. Her debut solo album, out in ’99 on Heavenly, kind of got lost in the slipstream and the Death In Vegas collaboration may have done criminally less for her than Continue Reading

Reviews

Dover born brothers Paul and Ross Godfrey make up the hub of this two boy, one girl outfit. First coming under media spotlight way back in 1995 with the single, Trigger Hippie, from their China released album, Who Can You Trust? Cautiously dubbed trip-hop by some, they were inevitably associated with the then zen like torchbearers of downtempo, Portishead. Slow pulsating beats, yes – existential, noir inflected cinema beatsters, no. And this really only goes to prove it. Moving away Continue Reading

Reviews

As it happens, DJ/producer Fusion spent some four years writing for black music mag Echoes learning all the ins and outs of the trade without breaking so much as a sweat, never mind his or anyone else’s ass. Fallacy on the otherhand still works as a bouncer. And it’s at this point that we find them, straddling the ever increasing divide between London music and UK garage. Not that this is UK garage, you understand – just that it has Continue Reading

Reviews

Far from being the self-indulgent clutter of oddsamples from ancient vinyl, bizarre conversations, and the occasional cool beat, this 1997 album is a break from the more serious side of Paul Huston (if you could consider Te Gravediggaz, or, really, anything else he’s done to be overtly somber). I think “Psychoanalysis“ was intended more as a release-valve of sorts for him, a way to entertain some of his funkier fantasies. There’s a very light-hearted feel throughout the seventeen tracks here, Continue Reading

Hem Interview — Rabbit Songs
Features

Violins, mandolins and deep flowing intakes of clear fresh air. Hem return to their roots and add something new to an ongoing American narrative. Forget the new Lambchop album. The future’s where you left it. The song, ’Lazy Eye’ draws attention to the hem of the dress of an old, possibly lost love: “There’s a lazy eye that looks at you and sees you the same as before“ As a defining image of the album’s intent both musically and intellectually Continue Reading

The Libertines Live at The Social, Nottingham, UK 22/05/02
Live

Without bending to the far right, Crud indulges in a little patriotic fever of its’ own unremarkable making. Will Jenkins marched down to the Social in Nottingham for four men in search of a revival: The Libertines – British and reet proud of it.11/06/2002 Nationalism is never a kind thing, being patriotic will always lead you astray and make you so proud of your own country and identity that you will ignore almost anything else. With the current fascination for Continue Reading

The Soundtrack of Our Lives @ The Soundhaus, Northampton, May 2002
Live

With the face of an evangelical preacher on over-drive, is Ebbot Lundberg just another prog-head revisited? New gal on the block, Natasha House reports on another Swedish export.17/05/2002 The Soundtrack of Our Lives (SOOL) are in full, blistering, dramatic, iconic swing. Norse god cum-hippy rock Bungle look-a-like Ebbot Lundberg is singing like a man posessed by the spirit of every music legend to have graced planet Earth. Faces upturned to this musical revelation, the Northampton Soundhaus punters have their hopes Continue Reading

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club @ Kentish Town Forum, London, 11.05.02
Live

Who cares whether or not they sound like Dr and The Medics? Certainly not James Berry. He’s not having any of it. Like a ‘glam’ to the slaughter, Crud attends the Rebel’s recent gig in ye olde Kentish Town in London.13/05/2002 Two static white lights shine eloquently across the Forum’s theatrical cavern, catching a glitter-ball, crossing, throwing a soft protective sheath across the stage and casting tiny glowing sprites across the vast ceiling. Behind the luminous curtain, in the relative Continue Reading