The Shadow Orchestra Bangs its Drum
Listening to classical cross-over brings me as much pleasure as sitting in my office with the ear piercingly high pitched band saw gradually melting my brain through a single glazed window from the building works over the road. So it was with a certain degree of trepidation after I saw ‘classical music’ as an influence...
Entrepreneurs
Yately – somewhere west of London and near Sandhurst – is the home of Adam Crisp also known as Entrepreneurs. This means Yately could soon be home to one of the greatest producers in the UK. Last year Entrepreneurs gained some recognition with a remix of Marina and the Diamonds - but it seems what’s...
Frame the City not its Museum
Going to Seattle? Don’t go to the music museum. It’s shite. Do eat seafood, rent a boat with fishing rods or take a short drive past evergreen forests for a trip to Microsoft town. Other than the museum I struggle to come up with a reason why you wouldn’t visit Seattle – it’s lovely and also where Nate...
Non Doms
Student debt sucks. I finished attempting to increase my brain capacity over four years ago and am still about as close as world peace to paying it off. To avoid paying it back I may soon take the approach of the members of DOM and remove my surname from the face of the earth. Erik,...
Need a MNDR?
Talented and suave Mark Ronson may be - but subterranean sea deposits can flaunt more charisma than him. Or maybe it was just his way of dealing with another of those irritating as fuck Channel 4 presenters. At least during the most boring interview drawn out on celluloid they managed to play Bang Bang Bang - his latest...
Everybody Hurts
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...
Veto Restore Faith in Danish Music
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....
Broadcasting a Great Escape to Germany
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...
Roses, Kings and Castles – How Very English
“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...
I’m Sorry, Life In Film Know What To Do
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...
Rod + Thomas = Y
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...
Adventurers Eat Vintage Skunks
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...
