jlawrence has written the following articles:
The original excitement of attending gigs may have left my inner soul sometime ago, but tonight brought just that little twinge of interest that bore away from the mundanity of recent encounters. Oxford's Black Nielson lacerated the sparse venue with the songs Grandaddy must have forgotten to write. The v»
Soft Parade are pretty much everything that is bad about the NME and its hype at the present time. With so much emphasis being put onto these young sprogsters as something really unique, the burden was likely to be too much, but one would hope that the press had at least heard something before heaping this prai»
While it's always amusing to remind yourself that Ed Harcourt used to be bassist in bratpop, Symposium-lite band Snug, it really does the man an unjust disservice to mention. Mr Harcourt has thankfully removed himself from such propstrousness and can currently be found creating some rather beautiful compo»
Spiritualized have announced a full UK Tour to coincide with the release of forthcoming album 'Let It Come Down' The tour calls at: Glasgow Barrowlands - 30/09/2001 Manchester University - 01/10/2001 Liverpool University Liverpool - 03/10/2001 Sheffield Octagon - 05/10/2»
A.R.E Weapons are the latest trendy New York dolls to infortrate our headspace with their articulate brand of sleeze and slur. Not bad either... Describing the sound of A.R.E Weapons isn't easy...a eclectic mix of sci-fi beats and spewed menacing vocals remind me of a more agressive, dirtier and da»
This, Soft Parade's second release, sees them move away from the more experimental side of things and concentrate on a much more radio friendly sound Tis a shame, for this was exactly what I congratulated them on for the debut single. This aside, 'Empty At The End' is a wonderfully melodic tune, wi»
Venturing from the depths of Essex through to Scotland was something that i'd previously never considered. The journey was at least eight hours long, and what was I to expect of the Scottish people? The stereotypical hatred of the English was particularly interesting, if not perhaps a touch worrying, but still, onl»
Knowing absoloutly nothing about Valve other than the much coverted (yeah, right) phrase of 'next big thing', i assumed they'd be a nice guitar based band, maybe something a little different? But no, Valve are nothing but Coldplay wannabes, even the vocalist's dulcate tones nod directly at a sceond rate Ch»
Having never set foot inside Southend's Chimmery's, I was a bit dubious as to what to expect. I had a fair idea that the majority of the crowd would be made up of a mediocre local support band's friends and family, and a remaining few interested punters would stay for Manchester's (Exeter's!?) Haven. As i»
Truck Records have announced a barrage of new bands set to play this year's Truck Festival in Oxford. The event which takes place at Hill Farm, South Oxfordshire on July 21st-22nd will cost £20 with tickets available from the online shop at www.truckrecords.com Bands confirmed so far: »
Here is a band who I doubt many have heard of, but in all truthfulness, it seems harsh on Homescience that you don't. In a nutshell, Homescience are doing the alt-country thang, with strong emphasis on psychadelic keyboards and US stylee vocals. Nothing particularly out of the ordinary, but certainly not »
Having spent the majority of the day in Farnham, getting my eardrums tortured by the emo/mathrock carnage that is Escanna, Econoline and Hirameka Hi-Fi, the trip back to town to catch twee Scots Camera Obscura was wholly welcomed The evening, promoted by the irrepresible Strange Fruit, largely consisted of»
Haven have announced a tour of the UK to coincide with their new single 'Beautiful Thing', due out on July 2nd. The Exeter lads (based in Manchester) co-headline most of the tour with Gloss, and conclude with appearances at the Reading/Leeds Festival. With Smiths' legend Johnny Marr produc»
Starsailor's new single will be called 'Alcoholic' The follow up to 'Good Souls' will be released on the 20th August, the day after their V2001 appearances. The track, previously included on an NME cover CD is a regular live favourite. Starsailor's debut album, now complete, is rumoure»
Belle and Sebastian return with their latest three track offering, hell bent on irritating those who already despise their existance. 'Jonathan David' is B&S' standard blissful fey pop. Piano led, and gorgeously simple harmonies, allows this track to stand out as an effectively upbeat tune. T»
Alfie have announced two warm up gigs in anticipation of their up coming festival performances. The Twisted Nerve Mancunians check in at the Liverpool Lomax on 6th July before their appearance at T in the Park, and The Charlotte in Leicester hosts the V2001 warm up on 17th July.»
Brighton's Soft Parade are the latest young tykes to arrive on this supposedly new 'underground' scene, doing something different without the definitive aim of radio airplay. Upon hearing the first 3.30mins of A side Silent To The Dark you'd strongly beg to differ. For all we are given is a wonderf»
Oxford's Medal have never been looked upon particularly fondly in the music press. Their debut album, the brooding Drop Your Weapon was slated despite delivering some truly epic work in the shape of 'Up Here For Hours' and 'Possibility. Having been dropped by Polydor, the band seeked to se»
The Music have added further dates to their first ever tour. The Leeds youngsters now call at: July 2001 12th Manchester Roadhouse 13th Hull Adelphi 14th Liverpool Lomax 17th Sheffield Casbah 18th Middlesbrough Cornerhouse 19th Edinburgh Venue 20th A»
Kings Of Convenience, Norway's finest exports land in the UK for a short tour this month. They hit our shores at the following venues: London Union Chapel - 21st June Manchester Life Cafe - 25th June Leeds City Varieties - 26th June Tickets are on sale now from»
Stuart David is best known for his participation in twee outfits Belle and Sebastian and Looper, but The Peacock Manifesto, the Glaswegian's second novel, further outlines his name as a talented writer. The Peacock Manifesto follows the story of irate and contrived Scot, Peacock Johnson, and his Ame»
Acoustic meanderings are starting to become a wee bit tedious in my opinion. Just about every young Charlie is ditching his/her electric beast for a more subdued, slighter instrument. If one must venture down this avenue, one must also have the voice to accompany it. Thankfully, tonight's performers have been blesse»
Starsailor have announced a mini UK tour in promotion of an as yet, undecided new single.
The epic acoustic maestros set sail to:
Manchester MDH - August 15th
London Astoria - August 16th
Tickets are currently available at www.gigsan»
