Blog: There Goes the Fear

Over three decades in the reckoning, and to the delight of metal aficionados from New Mexico to Beijing, the eponymous genre defining metal band Black Sabbath are back with their original line-up of founding member Geezer Butler, Ozzy Osbourne and Tony Iommi. The result of this reunion and their exposure to producer extraordinaire Rick Rubin (Foo Fighters, Slayer) is ‘13’, their mammoth comeback to the mainstream and a call to arms to metallers worldwide. With Ozzy back on vocals after the tragic death of Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi as the [...]

Who doesn't love free Two Door Cinema Club goodies? I know I do. Here is Amtrac 's (Kentuckian Caleb Cornett) remix of 'Handshake', from the band's sophomore album 'Beacon' released in September 2012. Listen to and snag the track for your own collection below.

• Two Door Cinema Club - Handshake (Amtrac Remix)

There comes a time in every festival-goer’s life when the spectre of having to give up the annual pilgrimage to the grassy land of song, cider, and occasional sunshine looms large, most likely due to the arrival of those little bundles of joy we call children. 2012 was the year your correspondent faced this sorry fate - and conquered it. Determined to share the joys of the unpredictable, oft mud-laden fields of dream with a young chap barely 6 months old, the discovery of the sublime Deer Shed festival [...]

Ex-Beta Band member Steve Mason released his latest album 'Monkey Minds in the Devil’s Time’ in March, and here is the latest video from him, for 'A Lot of Love'. I find this song is perfect for lazy summer days, to let your thoughts drift off into the sunset. "Let it go." Words to live by. Click here to view the embedded video.

Lead singer Daniel Balk of the Postelles recently was filmed playing this spare acoustic version of the band's 'Heavy Hands', from their new album 'And It Shook Me', out now. Watch the performance below. Gold stars to whoever can identify this patch of English countryside. I'm clueless! Click here to view the embedded video.

While I was on holiday in Scotland last month, having finished way too early in the night after the Treetop Flyers gig at Electric Circus , I was bored and flipping through the channels on the telly in my shoebox of a room in Edinburgh and chanced upon BBC Alba, the digital Scottish Gaelic station part owned by the BBC but with most of its content produced in Scotland. Once I got over some of the foreign language that totally went over my head, BBC Radio Scotland's Vic Galloway appeared (looking as jovial as the time I [...]

Coming off a triumphant appearance at Rockness this past week, Fenech-Soler now wants you to have this Sane Beats remix of their single 'Magnetic' for absolutely free. Have a listen in the Soundcloud widget below and if you like it, it's all yours. It's only available until Friday (and I'm not sure when on Friday it will be removed), so if you want it, grab it now!

• Fenech-Soler - Magnetic (Sane Beats Remix)

There's a lot being made about the, err, unusual use of a saxophone in the new Vampire Weekend video for 'Diane Young'. If you have no idea what we're going on about, then you'll just have to watch the video below. Also, is the balaclava-clad man a homage to Pussy Riot? No idea. Read guest reviewer Jordy Fujiwara's impressions of 'Diane Young' and 'Step' here. Click here to view the embedded video.

In the shadow of Daft Punk's return, some people seem to forget there are other dance bands, and specifically bands that have better songs than that noisome 'Get Lucky'. Take, for example, !!! 'One Girl / One Boy', from their current album 'Thr!!!er', which is funky and sexy. And its writers didn't feel the need to hit out at their entire genre. Watch it below. Click here to view the embedded video.

Dream pop band the xx have released a new video for 'Fiction'. It's been shot in black and white - was there ever going to be a question? Watch it below. Click here to view the embedded video.

Header photo by Lennon Gregory When you're a fan of a band - any band - I think there's certain expectations you have when you go see that said band live. Even if you prayed for days on end, there are certain songs that you just know will never show up in a set list. Despite my greatest wish to see 'Stars', 'The Crookes Laundry Murder 19222 and 'I Remember Moonlight' played live by the Crookes , I always have assumed I'll never see them live. The time has [...]

I’m a huge fan of Belle and Sebastian. And as a huge fan of Belle and Sebastian, I feel like I have to come clean and admit that I have been cheating on them with another Glaswegian indie-pop group who also thrive on their quaintness (quaintosity?); a band more twee than Zooey Deschanel walking a clowder of cats around the garden of her thatched cottage. It all started in 2010 when I was eagerly awaiting Stuart Murdoch and co.’s eighth album, ‘Write About Love’. Whilst impatiently trying to find something to fill the gap whilst I [...]

As I alluded to yesterday, Oxford's ambitionless office disco purveyors Trophy Wife are calling it quits after a 5-day final tour next week. I'm really not pleased about this at all, but I have to say that they're being extremely nice about their ending: they're offering up their completed self-titled debut album on Bandcamp and you can name your price and download the entire album. If you'd prefer, you can stream the album track by track in the widget below. It's a great achievement, I'm just so sad that's [...]

While I was disappointed that I couldn't see nor hear Teleman very well at this year's Great Escape , I'm pleased to announce they've got a new video for their new single 'Steam Train Girl'. The song itself has a heavy guitar at the start, but then Tommy Sanders' distinctive voice goes staccato to match the guitars and the dance beat, while a synth whines in the background. They'd never be confused for, oh, that other band they used to be part of (you know which one I'm talking about...) [...]

Header photo by Lennon Gregory The incredibly gracious boys from Morecambe, Lancashire the Heartbreaks sat down with me for a chat and also performed a track in session for us and our friends at Sound Influx, and that's coming up soon on TGTF. In the meantime, enjoy this video of the band performing 'I Didn't Think It Would Hurt to Think of You', which they used to close out their set at the Scala last month. They played alongside other Panda acts the Crookes and [...]

Evolution Emerging is very much the North East’s version of something like Liverpool Sound City : a showcase of the very best up-and-coming artists from Tyneside, Wearside, Cumbria and Yorkshire, sprinkled with a few more familiar names who treat it as a homecoming celebration, having made that all-important move towards the mainstream over the preceding 12 months. Arranged and facilitated by that shining beacon of regional artist development, Generator, Evo Emerging is possibly the most important evening in the North East musical calendar, held at several boutique venues scattered about the Ouseburn Valley, Newcastle’s creative [...]

Hot on the heels of their recent world tour, Ben Folds Five have released ‘Live’, a compilation of live recordings from a selection of those shows. The band have been touring since last summer in support of their most recent studio album, ‘The Sound of the Life of the Mind’. From that album, the new live record includes performances of ‘Erase Me’, ‘Sky High’, ‘Do It Anyway’, and ‘Draw A Crowd’. The new songs sit comfortably among a mix of favorites from Ben Folds’ back catalogue, with and without the rest [...]

The phrase the ‘Nicest Man in Rock’ is bandied around quite liberally these days; Dave Grohl seems to have held onto the title the longest, but I am here to petition you that this accolade, that all makers of mosh pine for (not actually true) belongs to another individual, a certain Andrew Groves ( @AndrewRoots ) of Arcane Roots. Now, Andrew is but one-third of the beast that are Arcane Roots, with Adam Burton ( @RootsBurton ) and Daryl Atkins ( @gunsandwolves ) completing the line-up on bass and drums respectively. [...]

Youngblood Hawke have announced a trio of English dates (1 in London, one in Manchester) for July 2013. Tickets are on sale. Cheryl just reviewed their debut album 'Wake Up'; read her review here. Friday 5th July 2013 – London Koko @ Club NME Saturday 6th July 2013 – Manchester Soup Kitchen Tuesday 9th July 2013 – London Hoxton Bar and Kitchen

I was devastated, absolutely devastated to hear that atmospheric alt-pop band Trophy Wife , who I've never had the chance to see live, will be disbanding later this summer. Or technically I guess they have already disbanded, since they've already announced their plans that they will be no more. They've told fans that there will be life after the current incarnation, it's just unclear what exact form the band and the music will take in the future. If you live in the UK, however, there is one saving grace: the Oxford [...]