-Raz- has written the following articles:
Surely they’re past it. Album three was boring as hell and once a band goes boring any attempt to become as refreshingly vital as they used to be will surely seem contrived and false. Surely. They key to your refurbishment is not to aim to sound how you used to sound, but to totally reinvent. If you find the»
So I’m here to see Electrelane. I do this often. I go see a band. I don’t really know what to expect from it. I don’t know whether I’m going to like it. But I’m always meant to expect something. It’s what I do. It almost feels like an obligation sometimes. They told me it would be good. So I»
Imagine you are watching a metal band from Cornwall. In Manchester. Would you too be slightly perturbed by his American ghetto accent while addressing the crowd? An interesting phenomenon. An all too common occurrence perhaps. Are bands just not inspired by their homeland any more? Why does ‘The »
Mediocrity is of pain to me. That is why I dislike this album. Uniformity is often a pain I fear. I feared it from the first notes that blasted out of my stereo. I strive for something that sounds even vaguely different. I strive to find that special something. It only comes round every year,»
Bugger. The bastards did nay tell me the first band was on at 7 o’clock. Bugger. Missed Douglas. Bugger missed 10 minutes of Audiovent as well. Bugger. Ah well, Audiovent are just Incubus cash-in/rip-offs, aren’t they? They are to be shunned at every opportunity, surely. Their big bros are doin»
I’m ill. Really bloody ill. I need my chicken soup. Why should you care? I walk in half way through a raging rock set. I have no idea who they are. I have no idea what they want. I think they want…something, someone, anything. No. They clearly are trying to get at whatever it is. They clearly k»
You know how you hear a band and it mixes up all your favourite bands and sounds spectacular? Yeah. That’s what happened when I saw thisGIRL in a field in Essex. I blagged this here CD and y’know what, it did nay let me down. Oh no sir. You look at them and you can say, “Hey, you’re that boy from thisGIR»
De-Frag MCR #1 - Manchester’s Gig guide It’s been a couple of weeks now since that pilot issue [click it to read it] of D-FragMCR In The City. That was exclusively on Drowned In Sound.com and you lot must’ve enjoyed it enou»
Manchester post-rocking grungers Oceansize are going on tour soon with 20 dates across the country in October promoting their new EP. As previously reported The 'Size are releasing their debut record for Beggars Banquet, 'Relapse' »
Y’know how grunge stopped happening a while ago but then there were some bullcrap copycat bands popping up (re: Creed, Bush, Silverchair) that went massive? Yeah? Well now we just got two more of those dastardly copycat bands in the UK and they’re going to go absolutely massive if there is to be only on»
Greetings my fellow DiS-aholics. The good news is that my daddy is now a DiS-aholic. The better news is that, aided by Derbyshire sex kitten, Kate Price, I have devised a new feature to keep you crazy guys happy cos you’ll have somet»
D-Frag MCR: In The City 2002
I n t r o
It’s time for the annual In The City music showcase extravaganza being held again in England’s real #2 city: Manchester. Want some help? You’re in the process of getting some. There are a couple dead busy days and a couple of empty day»
Hark back to a time when London radio really was alternative; when the Spirit of Independence wasn’t just a corporate slogan used to patronise those who still give a shit. An independent alternative radio station – it was something people stood up and called out for. That was way back when, thoug»
Aren’t you tired of garage rock yet? Isn’t scuzz punk grating your ears yet? Or do Hives still sound fresh and exciting to you? Still? Remember the Pixies? That was fresh. S.Rock Levinson remember the Pixies. Oh god yes, they do. And now so do I. I’m not implying that they were ever forgotten but eve»
Best album in the world.»
CrossfireNight celebrates it's 1st Birthday with a Party at London Camden's Dingwalls on Wednesday September 25 with the mighty Hell is for Heroes headlining.
HifH will be supported by power-punk demons K-Line and another band, yet to be confirmed. There will be between-set DJing courtesy of:
R»
Our mission: to go to Reading/Leeds and to see as many bands as possible and then for each member of staff to write one to three sentences per band. If lots of people saw one band, you get lots of opinions. Hopefully we'll cover everything. Here goes with the »
THE BOUTIQUE STAGE
FRIDAY 23rd AUGUST at THE READING FESTIVAL
SATURDAY 24th AUGUST at THE LEEDS FESTIVAL
APHEX TWIN:
Phat beats - »
It is September now. We should be in some sort of post-Reading lull. A period of convalescence from undue excesses perhaps. But no, this is apparently not an option. You get Reading warm-ups to prime your weary work-trodden minds for the extravagance that awaits you over the weekend and then once you »
Where Do We Go From Here? A grand question. One which was almost certainly asked after the fantastic ‘Title of Record’ had finished doing the rounds. Well this record is where they went. To say they have matured is totally apt, but do not think that Filter are doing an Idlewild on us and are being tot»
Thoria, Coventry's finest rock mongrels, have been invited to headline the annual In The City music convention in Manchester this September. After the initial pressing of their self-financed debut album, 'Love Sick', sold out, o»
Yeah, yeah yeah, Reading Festival. What’s the big deal, huh? Get filthy. Get tired. Get battered. Sing. Watch some bands. Great. It bloody well is, alright!?! Did you love it? Were you even there? I was.
N.B. To be read aloud in a Geordie accent
‘Thu»
Yeah, I’m fresh from one of those weekends of faecal incarceration and not washing any part of you with anything more substantial than water. Oh my, I love to do it. Having experienced certain things and seen others that you should probably never be exposed to, I have compiled a slender guide to how life in the middl»
Sadistically low-slung and brutally instant: 1995 was the year we got a shot of ‘Adrenaline’. This was Deftones at their straightest. There were no frills and there was no pissing around with acoustic guitars or samples and effects: metal - frank and forthright. Involved was a bitter air of candour and»
You start making music as a curative measure for your depression while in your teens. You are now around that magic 30 mark and you are still doing it. Do you ever get the feeling that something ain’t quite right here? Life's not fair...grow up...»
Kiwi bread & butter garage-rockers The D4 are set to release an exclusive single, 'Get Loose' on September 9th through Infectious Records. Apparently they loved it at Glasto and know selling venues out is a strong possibility after the success of their March jaunt across the UK. This has led to a Peel Ses»
LA punk minstrels The Icarus Line are to return to the UK this summer with their buddies The Dillinger Escape Plan in tow Having played a one-off support to Rival Schools at the Astoria, Iccy Line have been announced to be playing bot»
Jane's Addiction are to play the Kentish Town Forum, London, on Monday August 19 in a 100% corporate showdown in conjunction with Mean Fiddler and Kerrang. Wicked. Seeing as they were in the UK for the hip 'n' trendy Carling Weekend Festivals, they thought they'd treat us Southern folk to another da»
I hate to write about how trite nu-metal is and how all Da Kidz are little bastards but sadly it’s all too true. My god, I almost forgot I was listening to this. It is quite upsetting that public uproar can be triggered by something as lame as this. Some Welsh teenager rapping over scratched hip-hop»
The Manic Street Preachers are set to headline the NME stage at V2002 following the unfortunate withdrawal of Travis. Since Travis drummer, Neil Primrose, fractured a vertebrae in his neck, there had been much speculation »
