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music
Review: Phoenix – Bankrupt!
The French “classic-pop revivalists” fifth album Bankrupt! pushes further into throwback pop. It turns up the synths, turns down the Strokesy guitars and morphs into an 80′s copycat of Stuart Price’s (Les Rythmns Digitales) 80′s tribute Dark Dancer. Really? Four years in the making, and all they come up with to follow Grammy award-winning, 2009 … Continue reading
Review: Phoenix Foundation – Fandango
The unusual fifth album from psychedelic indie-folk-prog-rock New Zealanders consists of a double album of 2 cd’s or vinyl; two short volumes that add up to that rare thing these days; a Concept Album. Fandango surrounds you with it’s dreamy, ambient quality, a rich layered sound, swinging between Pat Metheny harmonies and Ray Davies witty … Continue reading
Review: Junip – Junip
You know how music goes around in waves, as record labels and radio stations jump on a sound and play a bunch of me-too bands? I think we’re in one of those waves now. I thought I’d made a mistake with Junip – Line of Fire began like a Two Door Cinema Club track. Vaguely … Continue reading
What’s the opposite of a one-hit wonder? [Guest Post]
Guest Post from training provider Educare, originally at: What’s the opposite of a one-hit wonder? Who remembers Partners in Kryme’s 1990 single ‘Turtle Power’? What about Phyllis Nelson’s ‘Move Closer’ or Doop’s eponymous 1994 release ‘Doop’? No, us neither. That’s because Phyllis, Doop and Partners in Kryme are all one-hit wonders from the 80’s and … Continue reading
Review: Dido – Girl Who Got Away
The Queen of Beige is back. In beige. The album launch delayed by motherhood came good in 2013; not that it made a lot of difference. For the most part it’s a continuation of Life for Rent and White Flag, with Ms Dido droning wan (and wan and wan) and listless through another collection of … Continue reading
Review: David Bowie – The Next Day 2013
Bowie’s surprise comback album is a Kenwood blender-mix of ingredients from his last forty years’ back catalogue. Excluding The Laughing Gnome. When Bowie got over his mid-life crisis (Tin Ear Machine), got married, moved to NYC, floated shares in himself on the stock market and went silent for ten years, we all thought that was … Continue reading
Humour: Professor Elemental – I’m British
Hello there! Welcome to the world of Professor Elemental. Sit down and I’ll brew you a nice hip hop number, stir in some comedy, then serve it with scones and a nice warm cuddle. This is Professor Elemental, a unique and award winning hip-hop, or ‘chap-hop’ artist recommended by Dan Lynch on Rathole Radio. ‘Chap-hop’ … Continue reading
Review: Two Door Cinema Club – Beacon (2012)
In the second half of 2012, UK band Two Door Cinema Club was everywhere. I spent the January sales listening to Sun in every retail outlet in the country (okay, I’m a Sale junkie). They seemed to be on every TV music show playing live, with a good performance on BBC2′s Jules Holland. More than … Continue reading
Review: Pink Roman Holiday Reloaded – Nicki Minaj
Nicki Minaj’s persona is a hotch-potch version of Gaga’s arty image. The schizophrenic, clash-coloured randomness of her wardrobe and hair styles is musically recreated in her latest album Pink: Roman Holiday. The album’s strikingly discordant range of songs makes you feel as if you’re listening to a chronological personality shift. The opening song, Roman Holiday, … Continue reading
How-to: Change Sound Juicer and Rhythmbox Audio Preferences
Another fill-in required to address the audio output presets in Ubuntu. If you use Sound Juicer (aka CD Extractor) or Rhythmbox music player to output audio in various formats, you may be wondering where the options have gone. In Edit – Preferences, the Settings button is either greyed out or missing completely. So there is … Continue reading
Review: How to Destroy Angels – An Omen EP
Veteran of hard rock masters Nine Inch Nails, Trent Reznor side-steps from writing movie and game sound tracks to resume work with partner Mariqueen Maandig and long time collaborator Atticus Ross, with new member Rob Sheridan as How to Destroy Angels. After long hiatus, the angel destroyers have produced an atmospherically charged and highly individual … Continue reading
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