As a long-time Plini and Steve Vai fan, this interview threw up an extremely exciting idea. Backstage at legendary London rock venue The Borderline, we got chatting about broken ukeleles, clean section circle pits, and that incredible plan…
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A lot of people think prog is cold and soulless – but Plini’s show on Sunday night was one of the most heartwarming shows I’ve seen in a long time. Some parts of the world are dark and hateful places – but The Borderline was not one of them.
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With a sold-out queue stretching around the corner and down the street, it goes without saying that Sunday night’s lineup was pretty special. Although I had heard of David Maxim Micic and Disperse before, I deliberately didn’t do any research on them before the show, because I wanted to be surprised by what they had to offer. Instead of being surprised Read more…
Some tracks just leave you stunned. This is one of them. Deadly-sexy, funky, deep, and gorgeously bass-heavy, So Good is…well… Read more…
Although my heart is forever torn between London and Brighton, the Skints are pulling me firmly in the direction of the capital with FM. A passionate paean to the Big Smoke, FM is a long-playing set of incredibly fine reggae-related tunes – and a must for audio-adoring culture tourists everywhere.
Although personal highlights are too numerous to list in full here (special mentions go to the sublime vocals on This Town (feat. reggae legends Tippa Irie & Horseman); the 8-bit blips on Come To You; and the hilarious episode of Dancehall Dilemmas that opens Friends & Business), the most important parts of the FM experience are Read more…
Some bands spend their entire careers stuck in the shadows of others. Female-fronted rock bands are constantly compared to Paramore; prog-metal acts are weighed up against Dream Theater and Periphery; and political rock bands get pinned with the “RATM Clone” tag as soon as they hit a proper groove.
Third-group members Djevara have done more than most to Read more…
2014 has been a difficult time for underground live music in the UK. With small venues across the country facing all manner of issues, it was heartening to see the team behind Guildford’s Boileroom make it through an emotionally trying licence review process and move on to host some incredible gigs and community-oriented events. With any luck, 2015 will see a change in fortunes for venues like the Boileroom.
From intimate showings from ska legends to inhumanly tight math-pop sets via beatboxing virtuosity and an audience with the professor of punk, here are TMMP’s top gigs of 2014. Read more…
UPDATE: TMMP has been reborn! This video has the full story:
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On the walk from Waterloo station to Camden, I passed at least three busking beatboxers. The faces were different, but the acts were the same – a combination of robot impressions, oppressively generic beats, and faithful and flawless impressions of a variety of non-percussive instruments. By the time KOKO’s dramatic facade came into view, the novelty of solo beatboxing had more than worn off; London was beginning to feel saturated by Beardyman wannabes. Read more…
The first time I heard about The Hell, I was advised to imagine The Lonely Island – only metal. Well, The Hell might not have Justin Timberlake crooning about how “Every Mother’s Day needs a Mother’s Night”, but they do have a bottomless bag of fat grooves and slightly less than serious lyrics. And they’re called The Hell – which should really be enough for any self-respecting metal fan. Read more…
The Borderline – a cramped basement located around the corner from London’s infamous Crobar – is the perfect venue for a night of unrelenting rock. This time out, it’s safe to say that every band on the bill delivered exactly that. Read more…
Now is a very exciting time for live electronica legends Submotion Orchestra, with their latest long-playing opus Alium (reviewed here) dropping on November 24th and their biggest headline show to date taking place at the Forum in London tomorrow. Submotion Orchestra keyboardist Taz took some time out of his hectic schedule to talk about Alium, his single-item bucket list, and more. Read more…