The concept of “genre fiction” or the “genre movie” is never one that’s stretched into the musical realm. Music is dealt with in terms of genres, but the idea of a band belonging to “genre music”, a set of recognisable,…
Album: The Crookes – Chasing After Ghosts
The first point of note here is that this is not, by any measure, a folk album. The second is that it is extremely enjoyable. Formed in Sheffield in 2008 and signed to Fierce Panda – who, put simply, very…
Album: Erland & The Carnival – Nightingale
Having enjoyed success as a rank-and-file member of The Verve, Gorillaz and The Good, The Bad and The Queen, Simon Tong is surely one of the biggest-selling guitarists you’d struggle to pick out of a line-up. His latest collaboration with…
Editor’s picks… Jens Lekman, The Wedding Band, Richard Hawley, The Extra Lens
Some kind soul (/pirate) has put the Mumford & Sons limited edition EP that they recorded as The Wedding Band up on YouTube. It features the Mumford boys wuth Nick Etwell, Callum Lindsay, Jesse Quin, Adam Stockdale and David Williamson.…
Album: William Fitzsimmons – Gold In The Shadow
Before listening to the album, I’d heard word that Gold in the Shadow is the most optimistic of William Fitzsimmons’ releases so far. Everything is relative of course, and bearing that in mind I’m inclined to agree. The title immediately…
Live: Decemberists @ Hammersmith Apollo, 15/03/11
If you often feel that time passes too slowly and you’d like, more than anything, to hurry yourself towards death, you need to see The Decemberists live on as regular a basis as finance and geography permit. They have the…