Synths and glam may have been part of my diet as an 80s child but I never totally fell in love with 80s music. It’s only now – and after the main revival of 80s chic has passed that am I coming to appreciate what the decade of decadence produced. Recently I went to Lovebox [...]

I love a great beat – doesn’t necessarily have to be quick – just quirky, interesting and ideally with a big bass. So open my Holeytonal Loves a Big Beat playlist on Spotify and get thumping. Dan Black – I Love Life Daedelus – Make It So (feat. Michael Johnson) La Roux – Tigerlily Peaches [...]

Denmark is home to the worst band on the planet – Alphabeat. Maybe thats why it took me longer than usual to open Veto‘s album Crushing Digits. Damn Alphabeat. The Copenhagen 5-piece, Veto, create electronic rock driven by massive hooks, synths, bleeps and pounding beats. With Troels Abrahamsen‘s soaring vocals lushly complimenting the textured landscapes. [...]

I get far too many emails. Most of them junk or stupid games. I love deleting them. However this one came along today. I just couldn’t help myself. 1. Do the Random Wikipedia Search – The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band. 2. Go to Random Quotations – The [...]

Ok. Maybe premature. A month into 2009 and I might have already found my song of the year. Peter Bjorn and John is made up of 3 Swedes called, Peter, Bjorn and er, John. I bought their previous album, Writer’s Block (iTunes) after stumbling on the track featured in this post. It’s a lot more [...]

I hated choosing this list. Feel sorry for the albums that missed out. They’ll just have to do better next time: 10. Foals – Antidotes Expect the Unexpected with Foals. This is what New Rave wanted to be. Foals on MySpace 9. TV on the Radio – Dear Science Some dared proclaim Dear Science as [...]

Basel, Switzerland – a town of culture, the pharmaceutical industry and permanent frowns. No one smiles in the birthplace of LSD. Basel was pretty, but my holiday was like a trip to a mental asylum. Clinical, regulated and dull. We needed to escape. To Germany. Freiberg, a beautiful town with great food and smiles, was worth the [...]

Cold and dark is all London is during winter, but the lights will never go out at holeytonal. Especially when an arty fan of James and the Jewellery Store from Copenhagen makes a music video of Lights Go Dim. Only Danes, as the inventors of Dogma 95, can get away with camcorder films – Festen is one [...]

Interesting music articles, posts and sites in one place, for you to devour: Song By Toad – Email to Columbia (& Sony BMG) - Music bloggers who have worked hard to promote a band have had their posts taken down by the labels who got them to post them in the first place. Not a way [...]

“I play drums in Babyshambles but don’t let that put you off.” Good thing it didn’t, because whilst I adore Marmite, I’m not a fan of Babyshambles.  Adam Ficek, performing under the monicker Roses Kings Castles, is a DJing songwriting multi-instrumentalist whose talents would leave any baby in a shambles.  Adam says Bletchley, Milton Keynes, where [...]

Major labels should know sounds that sell – with rosters full of great artists or at least great assets. So why was I so surprised at a gig featuring two singers signed to Universal and Warner? Because the two unsigned acts also playing put the big boys to shame. I don’t care if artists are [...]

Apparently I’m of “Generation Y”. This means I’m a geeky yuppie born after 1979. Yeah – can’t complain with that. It also means I lived through the 80s, but being brought up in Hong Kong I missed out on all the psychedelic British kids TV. Rod Thomas clearly got a fair dose as his video [...]