
"Woah, when did that happen?!" Such is my response to how quickly the downstairs section of the Academy fills up for British Sea Power first Irish show in 2 years; it's a reaction I've had many times before. For small shows like this, it's easy to get down the front if you arrive early, and that's exactly what I do. A 230-capacity venue isn't too difficult to fill, certainly not for a band who played the main room last time they were here, but the volume of people who flood in whilst Tallaght-based support Leaders [...]

Kjell B Persson Know what the worst thing about not going to SXSW this Spring was? Not missing SXSW, but not having my previously annual late-Winter vacation. In fact, save for a weekend jaunt to New York last November, the last time I got out of the 416 was Labour Day - that's well over eight months ago, and right mental. And while I'd like to say that the European theme of this post is a hint as to where I'm getting away to, it unfortunately is not. I still hope to make it across the Atlantic later [...]
I spent many a bittersweet summer down beside the multi-faceted seasides of Swansea and though I may now look back longingly over those estival months of yore, when not glued to substandard music television they were by and large spent foraging for rare treasures down Derricks Music – just about the most ramshackle independent record store imaginable. With sand between the toes and Saint Etienne on the Discman, I'd wish for any form of even faintly compelling band to come out of South Wales' second city though it's only with the emergence of The Adelines that the sepia-stained dream [...]

British Sea Power are weird. Perhaps that’s a bit blunt, but after spending a good 20 minutes trying to come up with a clever, articulate lead in to this review (and a couple variations on a comparison of Machineries of Joy to the extreme weather Chicago saw this week), I think that’s the best way to put it. The fifth (or sixth, or even seventh depending on how you count them) full-length release from one of the UK’s odder festival bands spans 10 somewhat disjointed tracks of classic, if not slightly more gentle, British Sea Power [...]
British Sea Power still play like the Jim Thome of indie rock. They strikeout often, but they're always swinging for the bleachers. Jim Thome built a potential Hall of Fame career swinging for the fences every time he stepped up to the plate. At 42, he's hit 612 homeruns-the seventh most in history-and, even as a free agent, he's still not looking to stop. But to hit homers you actually have to connect with the ball, something easier said than done for Thome. With 2534 strikeouts, he's second only to Reggie Jackson for the dubious honor of...

Matt Spalding At the risk of being overly literal, it probably goes without saying that a band called Editors would hardly be averse to making changes. But the Birmingham band's decision to push synthesizers to the fore on their third album, 20092s In This Light And On This Evening , might have been a little more stylistic revision than they or their fans bargained for. It didn't fare nearly as well, commercially-speaking, as either of its predecessors - fans apparently preferred them when they were aping Joy Division rather than New [...]
Am 1. April veröffentlichten BRITISH SEA POWER ihr lang erwartetes fünftes Album „Machineries Of Joy“ – oder das siebte, wenn man die beiden Soundtracks dazuzählt. Und wenn man Sänger und Gitarrist Yan Scott Wilkinson trauen darf, wird ein breites Spektrum von Themen angesprochen: „Wir wünschen uns, dass das Album warm und stärkend wirkt. Darum sprechen [...] [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Am 1. April veröffentlichten BRITISH SEA POWER ihr lang erwartetes fünftes Album „Machineries Of Joy“ – oder das siebte, wenn man die beiden Soundtracks dazuzählt. Und wenn man Sänger und Gitarrist Yan Scott Wilkinson trauen darf, wird ein breites Spektrum von Themen angesprochen: „Wir wünschen uns, dass das Album warm und stärkend wirkt. Darum sprechen [...] [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Who are you and where are you from? Martin Noble from British Sea Power . Born in Bury, Lancashire, grew a bit bigger in Leeds, Yorkshire. Who are your favorite artists from home? Arthur Brown went to my school in Leeds, and also attended the same Uni as me. He had a song about Fire. We have four songs with Water in the title. Elbow are the only band i know from Bury. My family are from Castleford, the home on sculptor [...]
Apr 30, 1:43pm
DIY
It immediately becomes apparent this is no normal gig as British Sea Power take to the stage to rapturous applause and plonk themselves down on stools, backs to the audience. Then, on the monitors the band slump themselves in front of, and the large projector screen above them, swirls of shimmering ocean appear before a piano chord rings out. Exactly where the notes come from is hard to tell since the musicians are mostly hidden from view from the audience. ‘From The Sea To The Land Beyond’ is a film exploring our affinity to British shores, from [...]
This week sees the release of a new album by The Veils, who have a special place in our hearts as one of those bands that we absolutely, wholeheartedly believed at one point would be massive . Everyone has a band like this — a band they tipped for greatness, a band that they can't quite believe the world never cottoned onto. And sadly, the best part of a decade later, The Veils remain a band whose charms are appreciated by a select group of fans but have largely evaded the rest of the world. So [...]

Frode & Marcus I get why people have such affection for Shout Out Louds' 2005 debut Howl Howl Gaff Gaff ; the way it tapped into the scrappy, garage-rock sound in vogue at the time but rather than the insouciant attitude that typically came with the aesthetic, it offered a wide-eyed and sincere charm and stood apart from the pack for it. That said, it was only with 20072s Our Ill Wills , which polished up their pop and expanded it to widescreen dimensions, that I [...]

This year's Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival will take place in a variety of Belfast venues next month; and over eleven days, the 14th CQAF will stage music, comedy, spoken word and visual arts. We're going to focus on the festival's musical elements, and with the bill boasting old favourties such as Dexys and Adam Ant as well as a truly eclectic mix young and unknown talent, there should be something for anyone who finds themselves at the festival. There's even a guy covering Nick Cave if you fancy it. Thursday, 2nd May [...]

This year's Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival will take place in a variety of Belfast venues next month; and over eleven days, the 14th CQAF will stage music, comedy, spoken word and visual arts. We're going to focus on the festival's musical elements, and with the bill boasting old favourties such as Dexys and Adam Ant as well as a truly eclectic mix young and unknown talent, there should be something for anyone who finds themselves at the festival. There's even a guy covering Nick Cave if you fancy it. Thursday, 2nd May [...]

Photos by Howard Melnyczuk
"I ask, 'cause I'm not sure: do anybody make real shit anymore?" It's a conundrum up to which the contemporary recording artist must have to face on a nigh on daily basis and, to surmise, although there may be plenty continuing to make the real shit to which dear Kanye here refers, originality is all but a thing of the past by and large. You know, to state the ineluctable obvious, and whatnot... Though imitation can, and indeed often is the sincerest form of flattery, and this an aphorism Ontario troupe [...]
It is said that British Sea Power is much more better in live than on albums. Nevertheless in this album they did a proper job recording their idiosyncrasy and free spirit. Taking the name from a Ray Bradbury short stories ... Continued

The mighty British Sea Power have returned with sixth studio album Machineries of Joy , a decade after game-changing debut The Decline of British Sea Power . The 405 were on hand to catch their London show as part of their UK tour, where the esoteric countryside-loving rock outfit performed twice in one evening, creating a sandwich with Toy as the motorik filling. British Sea Power Part I [...]

Giocare a tennis contro un muro può essere un ottimo allenamento, anche piuttosto divertente. Alla lunga giocare a tennis contro un muro può risultare ripetitivo e fine a se stesso. Alcune band dallo stile immediatamente irriconoscibile sin dal primo disco sembrano suonare sempre per lo stesso muro, imbrigliate nel tempo in uno stile che si ripete con pochissime variazioni. Il divertimento e l’eccitazione iniziale prendono, album dopo album, le stimmate della ripetitività e del dejà vu. Sensazioni, queste, abbastanza forti dopo diversi ascolti di “Machineries Of Joy” dei British Sea Power , nuova fatica della band di Brighton che [...]

Supported by Brown Brogues & British Sea Power As a new trend British Sea Power are playing support to their support band and come on a mere twenty minutes after doors open for a short five track set. The Rescue Rooms is already rammed so everyone has clearly got to know about this. [...]