Sunday 21/05/06 @ Brixton Academy, London
‘Richard Ashcroft onstage 9.15’ reads the chalk outside the Brixton boozer next door to where one of the most ego-obsessed men in British rock will be sampling his devastatingly mediocre solo career (with a fair smattering of Verve tunes too we hope, cos that’s why anyone’s here tonight). But opt [...]
Richard Ashcroft
Stereolab & Field Music
Stereolab & Field Music @ Koko, London, 11/05/06
Ask anyone who knows anything about music in this country about ‘scenes’ and the Northeast will no doubt get a mention. But Field Music probably won’t. The indie-pop troubadours are something of disregarded indie-pop darlings, but loved in particular by those from their native Northeast. Maxїmo Park took [...]
Kula Shaker
Kula Shaker @ The Scala, London, 17/05/06
The whispers in the music Press had been going around for some time but with Mills seemingly keen to get new band Jeeva out onto the road, surely the former East meets West indie alternos were consigned to be left in the last decade of Chris Evans-endorsed appearances on [...]
The Walkmen
The Walkmen, The Scala, London, Thurs 4th May 2006
Looking like they’d stumbled out of the office, with an air of open-shirt laissez-faire dishevelment, New York via Jonathon Fire*Eater five piece The Walkmen instantly transform their manifesto with opener ‘Little House Of Savages’. Excellent; this isn’t going to be just about that one song then. Guitarist [...]
The Needles
The Needles, G Lounge, London, Thurs 27th April 2006
Considering The Needles’ vociferous punk-pop sound is (according to Dave Dixon, guitar, vox) a “mix between a very good Wednesday night and a Sunday dinner” and (according to Johnny Wolfe, drums, vox), “like waking up and finding your parents in their Sunday best but then only to [...]
The Mules
The Mules, Brixton Windmill, London, Sunday April 23rd 2006
“It will bring you the funk!” enthuses Ed Seed (corkscrew curls, loud shirt), slamming his fist on the table almost as hard as he was hammering the skins only moments before. And he’s not talking about his Middlesborough FC garb. Relighting his Golden Virginia, the multi-instrumented lead [...]
Placebo
Placebo, Alexandra Palace, London, April 11th 2006
A decade ago, when the stale leftovers of britpop were being repackaged by men in suits as the lifeblood of ‘Cool Britannia’, Placebo, always at odds with the media scene du jour, were giving bedroom depressives a soundtrack to bleed to. But tonight Molko, Olsdal and Hewitt are [...]
We Are Scientists
We Are Scientists, Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London, Thursday 13th April 2006
Were it not for the opulent Victorian interior (and ok, the stage is a bit of a giveaway..) you’d be forgiven for thinking you were in one of the most unsurpassed contributions to British popular cultural output: the chain pub. With more labels on [...]
Film School
Film School, Fri 31st March, Noise Pop 2006, Slim’s, San Francisco
“Last time we played here there were only twelve of you!” ‘Here’ is Slim’s, on Eleventh St. It’s a far cry from the Fillmore but tonight Film School are playing the Bay city’s annual live music festival Noise Pop, boasting an ‘06 line-up [...]
Vincent Vincent & The Villains
Vincent Vincent & The Villains, Frog at the Mean Fiddler, London, Sat 25th March 2006
Vincent Vincent and the Villains tell us they hail from south east London but given their 1950s rhythm guitar-led swagger, we’d just as likely stumble across them in a smokey Tennessee bar, glass of bourbon in hand.
The quartet stroll on at [...]
