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 [...]
Theres nothing like playing an impromptu gig. Especially after only one rehearsal. Last week I was drafted in by Alba Nova to add some cello love. I heard of Alba Nova as they formed at Durham University (formerly the University of Durham which sounds much better) where I studied, but didn’t get the chance to [...]
The internet has smashed our attention spans to pieces. We spend less time focusing on one band and instead skim from one MySpace page to the next. I picked up that habit, but still make sure to buy as many albums as Mr Mastercard can afford. They’re the only way for me to get under [...]
