Yellow6’s new album, the latest in a long line that stretches back to the late ’90s, isn’t a radical change of direction. It’s more another step in a slow exploration of floating, freeform sound that occasionally gets captured onto a recording medium. The fundamental template for this music is based on the careful selection of […]

At a recent Red Hot Chili Peppers show in Oklahoma, support act Mickey Avalon was BOOED. Shocking. This led to the following message from John Frusciante to the world, and the also following response to it from, er, Mickey’s mom.
Is it fair to complain like this? Or is it diva stardom behaviour gone wild?
—
From: John
Sent: […]

So what’s everybody up to this weekend?
There are two exciting gigs in Oxford on Sunday night: one is Damo Suzuki with Youthmovies as sound carriers, with Fuck Buttons in support. The other is Cove. Which should I go to?

New York female trio Au Revoir Simone come from broadly the same musical world as artists like Stereolab and Broadcast - a world of analogue synths, programmed drumbeats and Krautrock-inflected pop music. On The Bird of Music, their second album, they do nothing to distance themselves from this world, with eleven tracks of sweet-natured electronic […]

Like Art Brut’s horny baby brother, Armrug have burst onto the Preston gig scene. This Mancunian band are named after the singer Jamie’s hairy upper limb, and dub themselves indie-punk-disco-sex-rockers.
Now here’s the shocker: the currently unsigned trio have two guitarists and no bassist. You’d never know it; they make up for it with powerful riffs […]

Acid casualties, expelled from school, squatting and constantly dodging trouble: not the best recipe for success, you’d think. Move to a farmhouse in the countryside, form a band and channel that energy into constant gigging and you have a different prospect.
This wayward trio of schoolfriends are now Gary Crowley favourites and recently headlined the Isle […]

Formed in 1998, underrated Connecticut rock/pop outfit Butterflies of Love continue the American singer-songwriter tradition with their hand firmly on the legacy of Pavement and The Silver Jews. Having suffered from difficult second album syndrome, this is their first single in three years.
Double A-side single ‘Orbit Around You’/’In A Blizzard In A Lighthouse’ is released […]

Someone told me last summer that this band were going to be as big as the Arctic Monkeys, just after I’d missed them at Cohesion Festival. Not much to live up to there then! Obviously I have taken an interest in the progress of the Manchester based trio ever since.
The Answering Machine are three ex […]

One of the beauties of this job (well, it’s not a job really) is that you get sent stuff that in now way in hell you’d get your hands on normally. And it’s a joy.
The Japanese hardcore/jazz four piece, Z is a great example. Their 2006 album, ‘Mikabe’ is blessed with a palpable nervous energy, […]

Over the seven or eight years that have passed since Explosions In The Sky released their first album, the notion of post-rock as a genre has been developed, twisted and extended into new areas. On All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone, the band’s sixth long player, it’d be hard to argue that they’re dramatically […]