Articles about the Indie

Best Album of 2008 so far.. (November!) Buy it, enjoy it love it. The only Kings of Leon track I've really enjoyed before was Red Morning Light. This Album has changed all that and I often listen to it on the way to work. I love it.
Buy Van Occupanther by Midlake at the same time for a change of pace and divine aural pleasure. Enjoy!

I'm going to keep this brief. There was something quite joyful about The Killers performance at 2005's Glastonbury. Togged up in a white tuxedo jacket with a hint of eyeliner and poised behind his glittery keyboard like some kind of glamorous preacher Brandon Flowers cut quite a figure and stirred up the crowds with rousing renditions of hits from Hot Fuss. Sam's Town was a little more po-faced, the Springsteen sound and moustaches making him look like a slightly less glamorous preacher. So it should be good news that their new album sees a return of the synth pop.

But it's all gone a bit 80's. Fine when it's inoffensively Roxy Music like opening track 'Losing Touch'. Worrying when it's Wham (amongst others) on 'Joy Ride', which even contains a sax solo. And it's just plain baffling when the backing vocals on 'This Is Your Life' remind you of the 'a-wimba-way' from Tight Fit's 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight'. It sounds in places ('I Can't Stay') like Brandon's finger slipped on the keyboard and changed the setting of a song suddenly to marimba or steel drums or perhaps they wanted to showcase the full range of settings available on the latest Bontempi. 'Goodnight, Travel Well' eschews the 80's in favour of trying to sound like Radiohead which is better but probably best left to the boys themselves.

Lyrically there's plenty to worry about too. He may be referencing Hunter S Thompson but 'Are we human, or are we dancer?' still sounds like he's singing from a lyric sheet with a typo. 'A Dustland Fairtytale' couldn't be more cliched with Cinderella and the Devil amongst 'castles in the sky' and 'moon river'. Elsewhere there's lots of grand sounding statements to fit the grand sounding songs which are sure to please festival crowds once more and radio listeners alike. Unfortunately it all sounds a little hollow to me. However if you've enjoyed the latest from Kings of Leon and Keane (ooh, bit of a K thing developing here) then jump on board and enjoy the (joy)ride.

I've always liked Snow Patrol but something has always held me back from loving them.

This is a good album - and there are some great moments if you dig deep. Engines 1:55 - sudden transformation into a beautiful melody. Does it for me driving to work in the morning.

'You know I love you like an ancient history brought to life' - nice line.

MD

Yes I do indeed love it! Although I have only listened to the first two tracks as the cd is in the car and only had a long enough journey to listen o the 1st two tracks but already I love them! Another great hit Radio 1 and of course I do bow down the the live lounge and its greatness!

Legend!

Christmas is only weeks away, Why purchase something you can get for Next ta Nada?

Simply take a looksee : gi|ft.....u\n|i=v|erse d.o|.t c|o d.|o.t u|k (remve |.)

reg-ister and s|ign onto the love = film no commitments D|V|D R|ental promo

Many items to choose from; iPods, iPhones, Macbooks, iMacs, Mac Minis and loads more...

They send your iPod Touch to you Gratis of charge!
Have a Gratis Christmas :)
Enjoy!

Stereophonics are one of those cynical and unenlightened band's that leave you flabbergasted that they've achieved ANY success at all.
They have nothing about them.
They're from Wales for one thing, and there not much you can point to in that woefully tiny country's honour's list during the last 50 years - in fact it's been a disaster. Lousy football team, dreary anthem, beautiful but dying language and in the face of all this, appalling rot dished up by futile nuggets like Tom Jones, the unbelievably talent-less Cerys Matthews, drab Funeral for a Friend, embarrassing Goldie Looking Chain and finally, at the top of the tree, overcast, bland, disinterested Stereophonics.
You know you're in trouble when 'A Decade in the Sun' is the best they can come up with by way of a greatest hits compilation, and, as sure as day follows night, it's completely worthless on every front. Banal, sub-Rod Stewart MOR, car music, (or at least, the nodding dog in the back window) cover versions, slow, untimely grinding; 'Have a Nice Day', 'Handbags and Gladrags', 'Mama Told Me Not To Come' (with Tom Jones, a genuine contender for the Worst Single Ever Released.) - petty, listless background tomfoolery. Synthetic, demoralizing and grey.
Their biggest problem is, that there's no talent anywhere in the group. Basic song writing skills are sadly AWOL, no hooks to snag you, no witty or clever lyrics to engage you. They seem to get by using the well suspect, and monstrously overused deceit of the obscene 'Rock Anthem' - the last bombed-out refuge of pop 'musicians' who transparently have nothing at all to say. Mosh-pit diving, fist clenching standards - but even here, the last refuge of the truly non-descript, they dismayingly fail.
They're not even truly awful, (that'd be a blessing - it would make writing about them much easier) they're not really worth words, emotions, any depth of thought or argument. They're just sort of there, plant-pots to a man, peripatetically moseying around, solidly locked into all the music genre clichés feared most.
Yes, black leather vests and shades, clinging to the insignificant torsos and bonces of clueless, safe, Welsh rock-being's. With a conformist non-style that makes a nest of tables look dynamic and a sound that's almost cylindrical and definitely over-secure, Stereophonics are getting away with a heinous amount of cultural crime. They are the Norris Cole's of modern pop, the Vauxhall Vectra's of rock. They make the similarly perfidious Super Furry Animals (and I think I'm beginning to twig why they all have naff names..) sound like Oscar Wilde.
Ten years of these par-boiled leeks then - ten years of the orthodox and the ordinary.

Having listened to the Album at least four times to see if the Album would grow on me I have to say this is a very poor collection of tracks.

It fealt as if the Kaiser Chiefs had taken all the tracks they had previously rejected for Albums and thrown them together.

Incredibly disappointing I will not be buying any future albums.

This is atrocious. Was really looking forward to this but it's been a struggle to play it right through. It has a really grating, ear shredding sound that I just cannot stand. Gave me a headache after about five songs and just annoyed me. The songs just totally lack any structure and it's so obnoxiously mixed and mastered that the end result is a characterless noise that is unpleasant to the ear. Possibly THE most disappointing release of the year (Keane not far behind).
And here's a message to record labels - STOP HAVING CDs MASTERED AT LUDICROUS LEVELS - DYNAMIC COMPRESSION IS KILLING MUSIC!!

Once in a while a band springs into popular consciousness fully formed and dripping with talent. The Script are one such. Great voice, excellent drumming; songwriting, playing and arranging all of high quality. Other commentators have drawn parallels with John Mayer, Coldplay, Paolo Nutini and Sting, and they are not too wide of the mark. Interestingly, those comparisons are intended to highlight an unease over originality, but a common thread is also that these artists are so adept at what they do, many people find them annoying.

I was unmoved by debut single "We Cry" - they evidently listen to a lot more hip hop/R n B or whatever you'd call it than I do. The album leads off with that song, but then there follows a straight run of 5 hook-laden pop songs that certainly justify the price of admission, from Before the Worst to Rusty Halo (something in the voice in that one reminds me of nothing more than `80's Aussies Men at Work!). The Man Who Can't Be Moved is the song that changed my mind - "self-pitying toss", another reviewer called it, a label encompassing some 80% of pop music. Lyrically, it doesn't bear too close an inspection - the guy is more likely to get a restraining order than a reconciliation. But, it's touching in its way, and as catchy as hell. Weakest track is "If You See Kay" - just an excuse for a naughty acronym.

It all may pall eventually, but for now, it's glued to the cd player.

Sorry to say I had never even heard of Elbow until I caught them on TV at this years Glastonbury.

Liked what I heard and bought the album (before they won the Mercury prize I hasten to add)

Was completely blown away by it. Have since invested in their back catalogue which have been equally impressive. All are highly recommended

It has certainly restored my interest in music .