rcowling has written the following articles:
Far different to the jovial and festive frolic that was the “You Can’t Fool Us” EP Christmas time release, though equally delicious. Definitely in touch with the sensibilities in music required to create dark and moody blues melodies, the LP fuses together the organic rhythms that come from a good human dr»
Red hot is the correct phrasing here, phonetically blurred due to 1000mph dictation, this record is the most intense thing to come from Australia since Steve Irwin. Just under nine minutes long, yet sporting six tracks, vehement and as con»
Now finally my hometown of Middlesbrough seems to be picking
up as a place for some hip-hop activity. Tonight world DJ champ DJ Cash Money
makes his return to the Middlesbrough Arena (which appears to be re-emerging
as a damn fine m»
5 Tracks? Over 74 minutes of music? That’ll be Godspeed You! Black Emperor then. (Note the stifling name change from Godspeed You Black Emperor! To Godspeed You! Bla… notice the change? Like musical spot the difference isn’t it? Revolution in an exclamation mark). It almost goes without saying: thi»
New Rising Sun are better than the Datsuns. Their songs are better and although Led Zep inspired, it’s clear they’ve moved on a bit since then. ‘Swan Song’ is well worth checking out from this EP, and the whole thing is a foot stomper. If you’re into gravel vocals a la Gomez, the nucle»
Some seriously nice beats, with that trumpet/horn blast out sound, along with some seriously strong rhymes brought into the fold by Blade. Speaking out about the state of working as an MC, and the difference between true rap fans, and commercial fakers. A good, strong, positive message of ‘Time for progress, »
Almost like a younger, hip-hop rooted brother to the older Rapid transit, this time the latest chocolate industries compilation isn’t about driving past the interregnum of what if/but not quite. This time it’s about reasserting issues found on the street, a record that delves into criminology, soci»
Oh baby, you know there’s something to dance to, when these guys come to town….perhaps… They’re desperate to show you how much energy they have, indeed, the first track is called ‘Energy Energy’. No questions what that one’s about then. It’s a great piece of pop for you though, great stupid listening, and really »
Where the hell am I? Is always a good question to ask when Lunaris finish playing around with your mind. Gothic, eerie, and dare it be said, proggish. Good God/Bad God, there’s some seriously great riffs in here, you can tell these guys are well experienced in what they do. Check out Borknagar, 1349 and Spiral Ar»
Horizon is a buzzing, beautiful and downright head-tingling piece of quality new jazz. With a super-deep bass line that drives a soul-felt lyrical blast from Niara Scarlett, a young and talented singer, whose London roots you can almost feel as this record glows neon from the outset and through the sensua»
This is some seriously delicious background music to have on! Staying in with Matt Harding is like talking to someone who’s really down to earth. There’s nothing to prove here on this lo-fi easy beat scattered gem. The super electro-organ streams in ‘231’ let you know that the album is a fuzzy and loveabl»
Okay so I’ve just finished with my Lord of the Rings DVD and the book as well, what now? Well, there’s always Rakoth (meaning, master of darkness; the TRUE mage). I was well up for some black metal anyway, and if it’s Tolkien inspired, what the hell, that’s a bonus! Unfortunately I can’t help but giggle a»
Incredibly subtle and delicate, junkboy creates an amiable and pleasant way to drift off for hours whilst quietly letting your heart know it’s not being neglected. Deliciously lo-fi in it’s conception, ‘The Dynamics of Modern Communication’ softly grows on you as each new arrangement is surreptitiously sm»
YES YES!! Punk rock and full on back to basics, just scratch that garish male vocal, and replace it with the dulcit tones of Penny in AOTD style. Bursting with energy and intelligence, AOTD easily build throughout ‘Animosity’ with twangy and subtle effects, plenty of feedback, fast 4/4 drumming, jus»
Hmm, MTV2’s Rock darlings have released an all to non-original sounding track here, and unfortunately the new wave of old style of leeching from the Deftones rock/metal doesn’t quite wash.
To be honest, I sincerely feel that the guys should understand that life gets better, and that creativity comes not from regurg»
Booooyah!! It’s well fucking hot in here. I’m sweating so much I think I’m going to pass out from dehydration. The Head of Steam is deep underground and ‘steam’ never seemed like such an operative term to describe the place. The place is packed, jam packed, more jammed than jam than a vaccum packed vibrator. More pa»
Somewhere, out in the darkest area of the Ohio night, lies the seediest biker bar, complete with Harley touting Hell’s Angels pulling up to its un-welcoming doors. Inside this dark and sweat coated house of debauchery is a necessarily designed cage. In the chain-linked cage lies an aggressive, moody»
Middlesbrough is finally getting what appears to be a good new rock/alternative night after the tragic[sic] demise of the well known underground club - Blaises. The new night 'Trashed' launches on Friday August 2nd at 10:30pm. There is FREE ENTRY to all those bold enough to turn up in fancy d»
“The work: to make revolution irresistible”
-Toni Cade Bambara
From Monument to Masses are one of the few bands I’ve ever found exciting. For a politically active, or at least outwardly dissident group, they have a lot to say without speaking at all. The release uses clinically based samp»
With this band, it's all about blast beats baby. Apparently, though yet to be fully ratified by the Guinness Organisation for the record book, this album breaks the world speed record for drumming. Well, I'm not sure if that makes this album great or not, but for industro-pummelling blast beatery, no band beats thes»
Off the cuff rubbish about Conor Thomas: Conor Thomas is a humble human being who has already captivated my toes in the last three minutes I’ve been in this room. His technical work is bog standard and I don’t care, because he is making me feel like I want to dance, that I want to have my feet on the floor, no »
All Tomorrow’s Parties is over, The Essential Festival has gone, for this year at least. Glasto, Reading and Leeds are all on the horizon but there must be more coming up before that sure... Well the answer is an emphatic yes from Middlesbrough. What’s more, this festival, unlike all previously ment»
The first thing to strike you about this album would have to be the amazing production skills provided by Mike Hedges; making this otherwise average sounding threesome sound pretty darn good. There are some very blatant Doves overtones in here that you can hear immediately, but hey, genius steals, right? Or mayb»
This gig is a total one off. ‘I’m totally psyched about this’ (as my American friends would say - or is it stoked?). Thirty Seconds Until Armageddon (referred to henceforth as TSUA) are playing and I thought 3 months ago that they were to rest in peace forever, but like all the best living dead,»
In the true Middlesbrough ethic of "if it’s a good venue, it’s got to go", The Purple Onion has gone into liquidation and the council are currently deciding it’s fate. This means that Def Tex will be the last band I’ll ever see there. Not a bad way to go out either! Def Tex are possibly the tight»
Much as it is not for me as a skeezy journo type to delineate what the UK's punk hardcore scene does, or does not need, I can certainly say that there's not a single person (ok a few ancient ancrid people with the same sense of humour as a disfigured newt) who won't smile when told about 'Send more paramedics'.<»
[nopassingphase] will release it's first compilation in just under two months time. Expect a fantastic blend of post rock, folk, punk, indie rock, karmatic splice, jingobashment, bastard pop, hitartic beatmix and a whole load more for the [nopassingphase] lexicon of ideas knows no bounds.... '[no»
It's 8pm, and Alabama 3 are supposed to be on in thirty minutes, we're sat in the lounge talking about the usual inane teenage rubbish and becoming really impatient, because we were supposed to be in an interview an hour ago! Where are they? I wonder with a growing sense of despair as the clock ticks by. 8:30 strikes a»
