CLASSIC ALBUM REVIEW: Harvest Records - 15th Sept 1975 - 12" only (Digitally remastered CD currently available through EMI) Winston's Zen recently teamed up with the lovely folks at the fantastic US based music blog The Ripple Effect , with the intention of bringing you a series of classic album reviews. And where better to start than with Pink Floyds conceptual follow up to Dark Side of The Moon? This review was written by the Ripples own Racer X [...]
GIG REVIEW: October 7th 2008 - Kings College, London The vast quantities of complicated rigging adorning the normally sparse stage at London's Kings College were the first sign that Friendly Fires final gig of an expansive UK tour was going to be something a bit special. The G-Forces at work as the St Albans boy tore headlong into joyously upbeat opener Photobooth were the second. But the sight of rubber-hipped frontman Ed MacFarlane jumping into the crowd [...]
SINGLE REVIEW: Join Us Records – 29th Sept 2008 – CD, 7" & Download A review of Kicking and Screaming , the second single taken from Funeral For a Friend s fourth album Memory and Humanity. This article was written by Winston's Zen for Altsounds , the original posting can be found here . For Funeral for a Friend s early fans yearning for a return to their screaming post hardcore roots the title of the Welsh Rockers next single may [...]
Zen News: Kaisers talk the world through their third album Yorkshire stadium fillers Kaiser Chiefs are about to unleash their third studio album Off With Their Heads on the Great British public. After the phenomenal commercial success of their previous albums and a summer that included headline slots at virtually every major European venue and festival, Ricky Wilson and chums have enlisted the help of man-of-the-minute producer Mark Ronson for the follow up to 2007's Employment . Released in the [...]
Skint/Yellow Van Records – 15th September 2008 – CD, LP & Download This album review was written by Winston's Zen for AltSounds.com and was o riginally published here . Over the last five years or so the UK music scene has been awash with spiky-riffed, sharp-quipping Northern indie-pop outfits. Since Alex Turner first transferred Mike Skinner's bar-propping observational witticisms to a guitar loving (read; wider) audience, a hundred scruffy haired frontmen from bands like Milburn , [...]
Virgin – 1st September 2008 – CD, 7" & Download A review originally written for AltSounds.com Born at Goldsmiths Univeristy in 2006, things have moved pretty fast for Royworld . Weeks after forming, the bands hardworking ethos began securing them regular appearances at all the right Camden venues, and very soon their quirky little moniker became a music industry buzzword. Brakes is the fourth single to be officially taken from June's debut LP Man in [...]
Featuring Cee-Lo – Atlantic – 15th Sept 2008, CD, 7" & Download Another review assigned to me by those lovely folks at AltSounds.com . You can find the or iginal article posted here . --------------------- It's fair to say that Estelle 's career has exploded somewhat after being picked up by Atlantic following the acclaim that surrounded her self released debut album The 18th Day . Estelle picked up the MOBO for [...]
Will Day and Age prove to be a change of direction for Mr Brightside? Everyone's favourite Freddie Mercury impersonator Brandon Flowers and his merry bunch of Vegas rockers have announced the release of their third and probably least anticipated studio album to date. The buzz around the boys who made it so SO big in 2004 with debut album Hot Fuss and anthemic singles like Mr Brightside and Somebody Told Me , was barely maintained by 2006's Sam's Town , (which was saved by [...]
In which Autumn sets in, Landmarks are passed, and the Zendar is proved right. With the nights drawing in and the leaves turning brown, it's time to face one of life's harsh realities. Yes folks, only a madman would spend his weekend in a muddy field, bathing in cider and living off hotdogs in this weather, I'm afraid the festival season is over for another year. But wait, don't put that coat on just yet, leave your thermals in the drawer, stop shaving [...]
The Beats – Sept 15th Download only / Sept 29th 2008 CD & 7" This review is part of an ongoing collaboration with online music community AltSounds . My thanks to them for providing the review material. You can find the original article here . ------------------ In truth, expectations for this release have not been the highest. It's seems a long time now since Original Pirate Material redefined an entire genre, and it's hard to shake the [...]
Big Brother Recordings – 29th September 2008 – CD, 7" & Download The normally placid Noel Gallagher has spent a hefty part of the summer months openly bad-mouthing some of the biggest names in the music biz. There's already been a bust up Stateside (sort of), whispers of a change of direction and premature talk of kid brother Liam leaving the country for good. Now there's a growing call-to-arms taking over the nations airwaves and every magazine on the newsagents [...]
Fire One Records – October 6th 2008 – CD, 7" & Download This review first appeared on AltSounds , as part of an ongoing collaboration. My thanks to them for providing the review material so far in advance of it's release date. -------------------- Traditionally an eponymously titled EP will be among a fledgling bands first releases. Not so for post-grunge rockers, Enjoy Destroy . Well received and widely acclaimed debut, Little Dreams may have drawn gushing [...]
Tennesee rockers premiere new LP with online music network Ambitious music network Last.fm have climbed a further rung up the ladder of online musical supremacy with an exclusive that'll have internet savvy music fans the world over, scrobbling their way into the community's impressive database. New users are being pulled in by the bucket load with a free preview of perhaps the most eagerly awaited album of 2008……no, not Dig Out Your Soul , the other one. Only By The Night , [...]
Skint/Yellow Van Records - September 8th 2008 - CD, 7" & Download This review is the first in a hopefully long lasting collaboration with online music community AltSounds . The original posting can be found here . The review..... On the one hand, I can understand why Little Man Tate have chosen Hey Little Sweetie as the follow up to What Your Boyfriend Said , the first single to be taken from that eternally tricky second album. [...]
Because he asked me to…… My mate Dave (we've all got one, right?) has been bugging me for weeks now to make him another mix CD. I say another, as I do him one every few months, when he gets bored of the last one. He's a gardener by trade, and a damn good one at that. In fact, round these parts he's know as THE gardener. A bit like Doctor Who without the time travelling or the hot assistant….. and a VW camper instead of a TARDIS. [...]
Nothing Worth Having Comes Easy loaded to NME media player Ambitious Sheffield four-piece, and graduates of the Arctic Monkeys school of web-promotion, Little Man Tate may have parted ways with record label V2 since their 2006 debut album About What You Know , but they've certainly not lost any of their appetite for online promotion. [...]
On stage incident disrupts Canadian Oasis show Canada. A nation famed the world over for it's people's peaceful outlook and tolerant attitude. Yet, somehow Oasis still can't play there without apparently angering one of the normally placid locals. During the bands Toronto V festival performance last night one particularly resourceful 'fan' somehow clambered on stage during Morning Glory , and managed to shove an unsuspecting Noel to the ground before attempting to turn his attentions on front-man Liam. This being the digital [...]
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