Kreidler - Den

Fusing elements of ambient techno, krautrock, post-rock and film music, Kreidler continue the long-running trajectory of forward thinking German musicians. As with fellow countrymen Mouse On Mars, the sheer sonic depth of their music sets them immediately apart from the vast majority of their contemporaries.

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A Place To Bury Strangers – Worship

In a world saturated by pop culture cynicism, the association between rock music and rebellion looking more and more like a bad joke with every decade, it seems to me that the gradual rise in the underground of what I call ‘rock band self harm’ can be seen as perhaps one of today’s most relevant trends...

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Mr Fogg - Eleven

Mr Fogg, Reading’s kookiest pop prodigy, has graced us with a follow-up to his euphoric 2010 debut. Having cleared his pathways somewhat gingerly in round one, it’s gratifying to now hear Mr Fogg re-tramping them with the oomph Moving Parts lacked. This is a man, perhaps, now feeling his weight in the world.

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Crocodiles - Endless Flowers

As someone who, from time to time, has been known to defend the record geeks behind indie rock and the whole ‘new music through archaeology’ formula, I find it frustrating every time I hear another album milked from the same old recipe – Phil Spector, Velvet Underground, Beach Boys, Doors – which brings little in terms of personality to the table.

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Collisions – Believe In This EP

“Fuck this place up!” screams Olly Simmons, and for a second I almost feel the flinging limbs of the sweaty, testosterone-charged melee he’s trying to transport me to. But something’s wrong, and immediately I’m uncomfortably aware of the midday breeze coming through my bedroom window, and my fantasy wafts away like a fart in the wind. What’s snapped me out of it is not only the realization that this isn’t a gig: this isn’t even a rock band.

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Gossip – A joyful noise

Looking through the comments on youtube videos of old Gossip songs is an uncomfortable exposé on how they hit the big-time in 2006. In amongst all the “you go girl”‘s and tiffs over the sex appeal of larger-than-life women, it doesn’t seem like anyone has anything to say about theirmusic. Back then Beth Ditto may indeed have been a conversation starter, rivalling Adele as the epitome of the anti-model, defiantly baring her gargantuan buttocks in the direction of the twig-thin catwalkers of the glossy magazine rack, but once you stripped them of alternative fashion icon status, Gossip always seemed to be a little short of things to say...


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Nada Surf - ‘The Stars Are Indifferent To Astronomy’

Prior to the release of their sixth original album, ‘The Stars Are Indifferent To Astronomy’, Nada Surf announced their intent for a return to a more visceral, practice room aesthetic. For a band whose retreat from skate-punk tinged alternative rock testosterone (and with it commercial growth) came almost immediately after the buzz of their one and only college radio hit back in ‘95...


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