Tom Meighan, for those of you who may not know, is the explicit and unreserved frontman of UK alternative/ indie rock outfit Kasabian – a band that, for those of us who know well, like to say a thing or two about the state of our society. Meighan’s latest diatribe has come in the form of an attack on the most powerful outspoken voice of the modern world – the internet. According to the singer,…
Pearse McGloughlin is a Sligo-born songwriter and musician, who served his time in a series of bands before deciding to fly it solo – taking in many locations along the way. Spells in Dublin, London, Canada and France have no doubt shaped his broad musical talents and acute observational lyrics, and with “Busy Whisper”, he has produced a perceptive and powerful debut that is sure to take him to many more far-flung destinations. This troubadour…
Just before you could say “whatever happened to that Fionn Regan guy?” out he pops from the woodwork, with a talk of a new album – The Shadow Of An Empire – and a selection of performances across the UK to showcase his fresh material. After his critically acclaimed debut, “The End of History”, was released way back in 2006 and nominated for both the Mercury Music Prize and the Choice Award, the Irishman (from…
It’s been so far so good for Thom Yorke’s latest project, with two shows in Los Angeles that have earned rave reviews with critics and fans alike. Although with such impressive backup, it was hardly going to be any different. The idea that Flea’s funky bass stylings would slip neatly under Yorke’s darker sound and esoteric vocal style is not a thought that would have come to many, but the singer’s solo material seems to…
After all of Nick Cave’s success performing with The Bad Seeds, creating spellbinding soundtracks with Warren Ellis and composing screenplays, the Australian cult icon has now turned to the written word, and is being tipped to deliver yet another artistic triumph. Cave’s new novel, ‘The Death of Bunny Munro’, is a menacingly graphic account of a depraved and sex-crazed door-to-door salesman, who also happens to reside in the author’s current home of Brighton, England. Fans…
It can be hard to know what to make of the latest solo sideline project from Julian Casablancas of the Strokes. In what must be viewed as a bold move by some, the gravel-throated frontman has opted for a futuristic apocalyptic vision as the platform for his solo adventure. Recorded in New York, Nebraska and Los Angeles, “Phrazes for the Young” was recorded over an 8-month period, with production provided by Jason Lader and Bright…
A €15 entrance fee reminds me of the extortionate charge you’d pay to watch your mate’s brother bash out his unique brand of death metal improv in the local badly lit, badly attended, ‘rock’ venue (and in the time it took me to say that, you would have already spent it again at the bar). But lo and behold, it is now the new recession-friendly ticket price for a series of European dates with some…
Provocative artwork? Surely not. That’s not blood on the cover of the new Manic Street Preachers album, just a boy with one side of his face more red than the other. Or to put it in more artistic terms a la frontman James Dean Bradfield, “a much more modern version of Lucian Freud-esque brushstrokes”. But either way you look at it, this work of album-cover artistry for the Journal for Plague Lovers has been banned…
Photo by Kai-Otto Melau A rare and recent media engagement from Wolfmother frontman Andrew Stockdale has brought news of a second album. With their eyes set on a September release, the recently reformed Australian outfit has reportedly been laying down tracks in a L.A. studio, with three new members to replace Chris Moss and Myles Heskett. And a bit of respect must be given to the singer. For so long the lone wolf , he…
Those masters of the shoe gaze, My Bloody Valentine, plan to inflict another dose of high-octane, high-volume progressive sounds at a secret LA show – said to be a warm-up for their Coachella appearance at the weekend. They will perform at the El Rey Theatre, located on the city’s Miracle Mile, on April 16th. For anyone who hasn’t heard it already, Kevin Shield’s guitar-laden wall-upon-wall of sound shook the plaster off many music venue ceilings…
Conor O' Brien