Although attractiveness is subjective, ArcTanGent happens to be situated in an official Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty – and if you visit it and look around, you’d probably agree with the government’s judgment for once. As for the music you can expect to experience at the UK’s most respected prog, math, and post-everything festival, it may serve a very specific niche, but the fans who love the styles in question tend to Read more…
When a festival’s lineup includes an insane number of inevitably epic sets, it’s hard to know where to start – and ArcTanGent 2018 is packed with intriguing prospects. Hopefully, this list will help prog-math-post-whatever fans overcome option paralysis, and start you off on the path to the perfect ATG experience… Read more…
2000 Trees 2018 was easily one of the best festivals I’ve ever been to. Year after year, the Trees team have consistently worked to build and improve on everything they’ve achieved – and by this point, 2000 Trees has a practically unrivalled reputation amongst fans of British underground music.
This past weekend, one of the UK music scene’s greatest institutions exceeded all expectations Read more…
Arcane Roots know how to throw a musical curveball. Evolving swiftly from Left Fire’s Biffy-meets-Muse approach to Blood & Chemistry’s dynamic diversity and Melancholia Hymns’ cinematic expansiveness, these guys never fail to shock and awe. With sets at 2000 Trees and ArcTanGent approaching fast, I talked to bassist Adam Burton about Arcane Roots’ plans for both festivals, the importance of spare socks, and Read more…
2018 is shaping up to be a great year for alternative rock, and Black Peaks are representing its more technical and mathy end with some classy festival appearances and the imminent October 5 release of their sophomore album All That Divides. These guys (including today’s interview subject, drummer Liam Kearley) are one of my favourite bands of all time, and I’m not alone in that opinion – which is why… Read more…
With festival season fast approaching, 2000 Trees (12-14 July) and ArcTanGent (16-18 August) are set to host some of the best alternative acts in the world right now. From At The Drive In, Twin Atlantic, and Enter Shikari to And So I Watch You From Afar, Glassjaw, and Shellac – to mention the headliners alone – both lineups are guaranteed to satisfy any reasonable rock fan.
Meanwhile in Shoreditch, I got chatting to James Scarlett, co-founder of and booker for both 2000 Trees and ArcTanGent Read more…
Giraffes? Giraffes! have, hands down, the best band name of all time.
Those two words also help highlight the fact that this duo are far from ordinary. With a name like Giraffes? Giraffes! you’re hardly going to expect Read more…
Although some critics automatically dismiss anything that sounds too earnest and, whisper it, emo, Tiny Moving Parts have contributed to said genre’s continued evolution by mutating catchy tunes into spacetime-warping multidimensional pretzel shapes. Technically accomplished and happy to lead listeners through oddly metered sections aplenty, these guys walk the finest of fine lines between near-virtuosic overwhelm and passionate, singalong-inducing song delivery. 2016’s Celebrate was Read more…
Last night, Koko hosted one of the shows of the year.
In recent years, Press To MECO (85%) have earned much respect thanks to their ability to pen complex yet accessible rock songs. They’re one of the best bands to do so since Reuben – and they made the most of this opening slot, throwing new beatdown-boasting song A Quick Fix among established tunes such as Manipulate and Affinity. Press To MECO are a joy to listen to, a band with a voice of their own, and ones to watch in 2018 Read more…
In order to create, you sometimes have to destroy. Ripping everything up and starting again can be cathartic, reinvigorating, exciting, terrifying, relieving, overwhelming, and/or everything above all at once. Forcing yourself to confront the truly blank page takes a hell of a lot of heart, and Arcane Roots certainly have that.
Through their first album Left Fire, Arcane Roots became synonymous with air-guitar-inducing acrobatics and the kind of time changes that would make the world’s physicists weep with despair Read more…