John Hall

Song of the Day: Crushed Beaks – Sun Dogs

Scuzzy pop punk drenched in genuine church hall echo.
Sun Dogs by Crushed Beaks

By John Hall | Arts - News, notes and quotes on the Arts world -, Music | Friday, 7 October 2011 at 2:55 pm

Song of the Day: Trash Talk – Burn Alive

Led by the likes of Danish teens Ice Age, 80s and 90s-style hardcore punk appears to be having a major resurgence at the moment. The revival isn’t limited to Europe however, with bands such as Sacramento’s Trash Talk releasing as stream brutal tracks such as the one featured here. ‘Burn Alive’ clocks in at less [...]

By John Hall | Arts - News, notes and quotes on the Arts world -, Music | Thursday, 6 October 2011 at 11:36 am

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Song of the Day: Esben and the Witch – Hexagons II (The Flight)

The lead single from a new concept EP based upon the six sides of a hexagon, ‘Hexagon II (The Flight)’ is built around rich electronic instrumentation and a chiming Wu Lyf-esque guitar. The song retains the same gothic theatrics that featured prominently on debut album ‘Violet Cries’ but instead of using The xx-style keys to [...]

By John Hall | Arts - News, notes and quotes on the Arts world -, Music | Wednesday, 5 October 2011 at 11:07 am

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Song of the Day: Netherlands, Sleeping

Netherlands make the kind of warm psychedelica that recalls a less-eccentric, Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd. 60s instrument tones abound and the melody borrows from The Beatles’ ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’, but there’s also something Mott the Hoople-esque rumbling away in there somewhere.
Netherlands – Sleeping by Netherlands

By John Hall | Arts - News, notes and quotes on the Arts world -, Music | Tuesday, 4 October 2011 at 5:38 pm

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Song of the Day: Metronomy – Everything Goes My Way

Featuring Veronica Falls vocalist Roxanne Clifford, ‘Everything Goes My Way’ is a stripped down, old-fashioned indie pop track in the vein of Belle & Sebastian or a less fuzzy Summer Camp. This third single from their Mercury Prize-nominated album ‘The English Riviera’ is dominated by a melodic bass line that is at once laid-back and [...]

By John Hall | Arts - News, notes and quotes on the Arts world -, Music | Monday, 3 October 2011 at 5:49 pm

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Lou Reed & Metallica: More sweet jesus than Sweet Jane

Sickboy’s ‘unifying theory of life’ realised in five and a half minutes of metal-by-numbers guitar and pseudo-beatnik lyricism. The ‘had-it-lost-it’ circumstance of the artists concerned is, of course, nothing new; Lou Reed’s decline formed a case-study in Trainspotting way back in 1996, while Metallica fans gave up hope of a new ‘Master of Puppets’ around [...]

By John Hall | Arts - News, notes and quotes on the Arts world -, Music | Monday, 3 October 2011 at 2:57 pm

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Song of the Day: Mozart Parties – Black Cloud

Finger-clicks, sweetly-sung melodies and a vaguely syncopated rhythm may seem out of place in a song about living under a cloud of depression, but Mozart Parties (AKA James Bennett) clearly approaches the whole ‘nervous breakdown thing’ with an element of black humour. The song’s heavy, occasionally overdriven bassline suggests an Afrobeat influence (albeit one that [...]

By John Hall | Arts - News, notes and quotes on the Arts world -, Music | Friday, 30 September 2011 at 12:29 pm

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Festival season: Why not try a smaller stage?

With music festivals now a major part of the summer calendar, the acts booked are on an increasingly international scale. With household names like Rihanna and Beyonce gracing UK main stages this year you can’t really blame those festival goers who, instead of scouring the smaller tents and stages for new artists, simply take root [...]

By John Hall | Arts - News, notes and quotes on the Arts world -, Music | Monday, 4 July 2011 at 1:15 pm

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Barometer: This week’s playlist

This week’s Barometer playlist features Metronomy, Younger Brother, Young the Giant, Ben Westbeach, Rewards, Jukebox Collective, Det Vackra Livet and Kid Cudi.

By John Hall | Music | Friday, 8 April 2011 at 11:51 am

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Barometer: Kurt Cobain

17 years ago today Kurt Cobain took his own life in a suicide that shook not just the music world, but pop culture in general.

By John Hall | Arts - News, notes and quotes on the Arts world - | Tuesday, 5 April 2011 at 6:09 pm

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