mclarke has written the following articles:
The year 2001 could almost be looked back upon as the year that music went retro. A new wave of British guitar bands have arrived showing glimpses of a possible re-emergence of Britpop Mk II, whilst across the Atlantic bands, namely The Strokes and The White Stripes, have put 70s garage-rock back in fashion with fantas»
This is the debut release from Sony’s recent signings, the Bristol rockers Halo. Not available in the shops but instead given out free to those who subscribe to their website mailing list. Enough to make you cringe in the thought that this is a band who aren’t really up to scratch. Only if you give the record a »
Eventide are barely 12 months old, they hail from the non-rock'n'roll town of Plymouth and recorded this 3 track demo in bassist Tim's student house. It doesn't show. Here are 3 perfectly crafted songs which possess as much emotion, and more, than Travis' back catalogue, and whilst this country isn't in any shor»
On the basis of the excellent debut single ‘Return To Eden’ you were led to believe that Theory Of Everything were all about melancholic, mellow songs. Though they did it with a certain quality many a-bigger band would give a limb for, there was always a slight worry, prior to listening to this record tha»
Since the Glaswegian post-rockers have toured their previous 2 critically acclaimed records ‘Come On Die Young’ and ‘Rock Action’, their live set highlight has been a mysterious, unreleased carnival of noise. Mainly used as the closing track, and lasting anything between 15 to 30 minutes, Mogwai li»
Tonight, arguably the two most promising new British bands to emerge in a long, long time played the second leg of two homecoming gigs. The previous night in Liverpool, home of The Coral, and tonight on The Music’s home turf of Leeds. The Coral are the weekend’s underdogs. With just one, astounding, EP to»
Dance culture, for as long as we can remember, is as much to do with what goes on in the inner cities and the suburbs as it does on the dance floor. The dance floor is responsible for the pure release of the music, but to take dance music to its true origin, you must go back to the streets (no pun intended). The cultur»
Even if you haven’t already heard this Radio 1 play-listed tune from Reading’s much-talked about up and coming youngsters, you should be able to guess from the title that this is not quite the ‘nu-acoustic’ middle of the road song we’ve become all to familiar with. Fast, furious and filthy MC5-esque guitars and unusual»
The world isn't short of melodic guitar bands. In fact they're about as rare as a novelty record at No.1 at this very moment. Coldplay were 'the new Travis', Starsailor are this years Coldplay and no doubt next year we'll see the new Starsailor. Is it just me who thinks this nu-acoustic lark is getting a little bit bor»
Bands often have the very annoying tendency to change musical direction after hitting the right spot, only to produce a less impressive follow-up. Oasis did it after ‘Definitely Maybe’, Radiohead caught it post-‘OK Computer’ and the Stereophonics tragically fell for it after releasing a promising debut. B»
Two of Britains brightest young bands are to co-headline two gigs together, in each other's hometowns on October 20th (Liverpool Picket) and 21st (Leeds Warehouse). The Coral will headline in Liverpool, with The Music playing last in Leeds. Leeds teenagers The Music will play these two gigs, which p»
“If you’ve never been in love with anything” Richard McNamara tells us on the title-track of Embrace’s third record to date. And if you haven’t (been in love with anything, that is) then perhaps you might be best advised to avoid this album, as this is without doubt Embrace’s most heartfelt, sombre set of»
The hottly tipped Detriot duo The White Stripes have signed a three album deal with XL Recordings, home of The Prodigy, Badly Drawn Boy, The Avalanches and Basement Jaxx. In a statement released today, XL confirmed that they have signed the band in what has proved to be one of the biggest bidding wa»
I know you’ve heard the sentence “best new band in the country” so often in the past year or so, and if you’re like me, 9 times out of 10 after a listen to a song or two from the band in question you realise that it’s basically just record company hype of their latest signings. After reading that this band, T»
Child-At-Mind are currently a 3 piece band hailing from the Greater Manchester town of Ashton. However this demo, recorded in September 2000, was recorded as a solo demo by singer/songwriter Sean Waring, before he put together his band of Dave Hewitt (lead guitar) and Rick Vizard (drummer). »
Named after the security hut at the entrance to Virgin Records, the owners of the label, Hut Recordings has enjoyed remarkable success throughout a decade, which proved frighteningly tough for many independent record labels. Despite its ownership by Virgin, Hut remains an independant label as it is dis»
You've heard the reviews already from the Super Furry Animals forthcoming LP 'Rings Around The World' their fifth in total and the follow-up to the biggest selling album sang in Welsh. Or you maybe haven't read the reviews. But you surely must know that this band is physically incapable of making a duff r»
The future of Mancunan band James is in severe doubt in the run up to the release of their single ‘Getting Away With It All (Messed Up), released this week, and their album ‘Pleased To Meet You’, released next week. The band's record deal with Mercury Records is due to expire once the »
Oasis will celebrate their tenth anniversary with a short UK tour of London, Glasgow and Manchester. Oasis made their live debut on August 18 1991 in Manchester Boardwalk, and the tickets for the forthcoming tour will be released on August 18th, 10 years to the day. The band will be playing smaller venues »
It seems James have been forgotten yet again. Two decades ago James were famously hailed as ‘the next big thing’ by the British media. It took them 7 years to reach that expectation when they got the whole country singing along to ‘Sit Down’. A short spell as the top indie band in the country they »
It finally seems that the guitar world are beginning to realise what it actually takes to create a great record (or song for that matter). No Radiohead it doesn’t necessarily mean spending 370-odd days recording one song, no it doesn’t mean you have to invent a new genre or break down all barriers. All it takes it to b»
Spiritualized have finally completed their long-awaited follow-up to 'Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space', promising it to be even more "lush, complex and orchestral" than anything they have previously released. The band have also revealed that it will be titled 'Let It Come Down'and will be out in the UK on»
Being labelled 'The Best Live Act In The World' by countless music critics is all very well for your gig sales and keeping current fans happy, but you have to have the formula to recreate the live magic from the stage into the studio to back it up. That is something Mogwai can do without even breaking swe»
