NickyC has written the following articles:
Curses is fantastic; its songs are tight, brutal, diverse, intelligent, sardonic and imaginative; usually, they’re all of these things at once. It is easily one of the year's best releases, knocking the competition into a cocked hat...»
Two albums in, and the man who Q proclaimed Scunthorpe's "finest export" still seems to be searching for a clear musical identity that he can exclusively call his own...»
'That's The Way (My Love Is)' is respectable enough until it's compared to the Pumpkins’ back catalogue - and then it comes off sounding like album-filler. It's the sort of thing that been done before, and better. By Corgan, funnily enough...»
And so they return, just over four years after Som Wardner pressed pause on My Vitriol's rise when it looked to all and sundry like they were on the cusp of bigger things. Since the initialisation of their hiatus, the musical landscape has changed quite drastically...»
Cardiff three-piece Future Of The Left release their second platter, containing two razor-sharp slabs of punk rock guaranteed to satiate the rabid demands of their steadily growing fanbase, for the moment at least...»
It's hard to know what to think of 'You Are One', the latest single from South's Adventures In The Underground Journey To The Stars album. Taken in parts it's good; as a whole, it sounds more like the musical corollary to a sketch pad containing a couple of half-finished equations rather than a fully formed result...»
Birds! Booze! Coke! And his favourite thing about Jane! This track is like entering a rough boozer in the East End. You may feel tough for five minutes, but you know you'd probably be more at home someplace else. Unless you were plastered to begin with...»
Irish post-rockers' third album is a compelling listen, though nowhere near as instantly gripping as the band's previous effort. This difficult follow-up unrolls its pleasures a piece at a time...»
Spanish five-piece kick out a four-track primer ahead of their full-length release on Naked Man Recordings. If this EP's anything to go by we can expect a pretty huge slice of lush psychedelic pop later this spring...»
The latest single from the self-styled jazz-pop duo seems to aim for jaded panache but ends up feeling somewhat sterile...»
Upbeat number from this Sheffield band is a sugar-coated and competently played affair, but veers towards unbelievable levels of twee. If that floats your boat, look no further...»
You've got to hand it to EMI; this is the last compilation I thought they'd issue, given that the 1980s were a particularly bleak decade for David Bowie. It was a stretch which saw his fame and album sales shoot off the charts, while the quality of his music plummeted...»
Japanese DMC World Final Champ of 2002 releases the first single ahead of a feature full-length coming next month. Spank Rock provide vocals. It's filthy and it'll probably make your car bounce...»
After a five-year hiatus which included one live album, one video game soundtrack and music for a couple of short films, Ninja Tune's jazz-fusion drum and bass wunderkind releases his seventh album...»
The third album from the mega-selling, Grammy-winning, 27-year-old chanteuse Norah Jones sees her music entering a somewhat transitional phase. It's not an earth-shattering change, but it's also not a re-tread. What it is, is a less inviting listen...»
Music as a Darwinian nightmare, smashing fans over the head and the official retirement of Mclusky. Ahead of the Future Of The Left's first single release we take a look inside the strange constituency that is the mind of Andy Falkous...»
The first single released ahead Amon Tobin's new album is a gumbo of organic instruments, turntable magic, street noises, live animals and Lord knows what else. It's also brilliant, just by the by. Strap on your headphones...»
Ex-Ash guitarist releases four-track E.P. ahead of her second full-length, which fails to live up to the strong standard set by her earlier work...»
Robin Proper-Shepherd releases his fourth studio album with his post-God Machine band, Sophia. It opens impressively enough, but ultimately comes up short as a whole...»
For their fifth long-play outing, ...Trail Of Dead have served up an album brimming with ideas and variation, but lacking the focus to bring it all together and the emotive punch that characterised their best work...»
Albums like this aren't supposed to be critically reviewed, are they? They're supposed to be advertised around the festive season, snapped up as an impulse buy at the supermarket checkout and then slapped on in the background while a flat slowly fills to bursting point with party guests... »
This companion piece to the recently released documentary is complimentary for what it is, but is by no means a must-have for fans, nor is it the most effective primer for the uninitiated. So, just who is the target-market anyway...»
Late homework handed in finally, detailing the live exploits of ex-Mclusky / ex-Jarcrew power trio. The music is darker, the guitars have fewer strings, and the drums are loud enough to bring down the Walls Of Jericho. Top stuff, really...»
Tagged as emo, and hovering as indie-rock, ActionReaction have released an album of competently played, tautly produced and ultimately, forgettable music... »
This platter from the Irish three-piece puts them on a list of post-rock greats. For a genre with more than its fair share of navel-gazing, God Is An Astronaut leave no lulls at all, filling every spare inch of their musical landscape. Breathtaking's the word...»
Ten years on from when Pulp were a pop behemoth, Island has released three discs from the band's back catalogue in deluxe format. Different Class is the band's king-maker, and its extras disc is almost fat-free...»
Ten years on from when Pulp were a pop behemoth, Island has released three discs from the band's back catalogue in deluxe format. His 'N Hers is the band's break-out album; an unrepentantly light pop record that happens to be more street savvy half the hip-hop acts out there...»
The latest release from The Vines sees them instructing you to turn off the radio. Since this song will probably be playing on it in the coming months, it's sage advice indeed...»
Ten years on from when Pulp were a pop behemoth, Island has released three discs from the band's back catalogue in deluxe format. This Is Hardcore is the band's epic slow-dive, and extras-wise is probably the strongest of the three...»
The first single from Janet Jackson's new platter is a distinctly PG-13 affair - all tinkly samples and cookie-cutter beats... and a collaborator who accidentally steals the entire show out from under her...»
