Sound men at music venues have to listen to so much shit that alongside my sympathy for them I always wonder how aural torture affects their tastes. I’d say they either: Detune their standards until Jedward sound like Marvin Gaye reincarnate. Can pick a cherry from a turdy fog but are so useless at admin [...]
One of my best friends called me whilst I was on a date to tell me Dead Confederate were playing a gig, that night in London. He knew I couldn’t go. He knew how much I love them. He also knew how pissed I would get for missing them on my doorstep. He laughed mockingly when [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Is anyone else becoming addicted to Born Survivor with Bear Grylls? He eats caterpillars and cuts the heads off skunks. Double hard. I’ll never be that adventurous, but I’m always up for New Adventures. Especially ones destined to fill arenas around the world. The four men of New Adventures began playing together at university, but [...]
“Why don’t you post about female artists?” my friend asks. Well I have actually, when I rung about the glorious Bell. Gender, two genders or no gender – I don’t care so long as their music rings true. So, the fact that holeytonal features more male artists, or bands with male leads, is not the reason for posting [...]
Part III? Deserved? Yes. I just saw Esser live for the first time. Fantastic. It was a Transgressive Records event, and no one was a patch on Ben Esser with his band (although Liam Finn came close). Also found out the new video for the super tune and new single Headlock was on YouTube, so [...]
August 2007 was a long time ago, but I still have vivid memories watching Revere at the now defunct Spitz. Severely impressed, I departed expecting Revere to make it big in 2008. But, despite being lauded by the Guardian as ‘one of the best bands you’ve never heard of’, they’re still largely unknown. Despite featuring [...]
Fear flashes across my face when the often tiresome pair of singer with acoustic guitar walk to the stage. At Insideout in Kingston, I couldn’t have been more scared when the singer introduced himself saying he’s ill and might collapse half way through his set. How I trembled. Then he played. He sang. The world [...]
Anyone got a ticket to Brooklyn? I need to go. I can’t take it anymore. I have to find out how so much good music can come from one place. Here is yet another great group from the Big Apple. I peeped Peephole through Bell’s MySpace. Glad I did. Their main man is called Kent [...]
My name is Rylan and I’ve been a homeopath for the past 24 years. Great. But how many songs are there about homeopathy? As far as I can tell, only one. It’s by Bell. Olga Bell, born in Russia, raised in Alaska and now living in Brooklyn, has vocal and musical qualities that instantly remind [...]
