Calling The Black Queen’s debut album Fever Daydream a masterpiece is not an act of taint-tonguing, banus-licking sycophancy. It’s merely a statement of plain and simple fact. It’s been more than two years since key tracks The End Where We Start, Ice To Never, Secret Scream, and That Death Cannot Touch saw the light of day, and those converted by Read more…
On last January’s All These Countless Nights, Deaf Havana hit an all-time high. Countless musicians dream of the Holy Grail, the achievement of simultaneous commercial and artistic success – and these guys achieved it in style. All These Countless Nights was sick, and hit the UK Albums Chart in fifth place.
Everything was looking up, and everyone wanted Read more…
Five years is a long time in rock ‘n’ roll – and that goes quintuple for former talent show contestants, who are normally expected to vanish into obscurity within twelve months of emerging into the public eye. But then again, Chris Daughtry is a star with proven staying power – and Cage To Rattle is a strong showing for a Read more…
Following a traumatic event involving loss, those left grieving and trying to pick up the pieces often find themselves experiencing a set of healing stages first described by psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally acceptance do not necessarily arrive in that order; grief is a chaotic and confusing process, not a linear path. As all rock fans know full well, following Chester Bennington’s death by suicide last year, his Linkin Park bandmate Mike Shinoda – along with the rest of the band and their friends, family, colleagues, and fans – was immediately thrown into Read more…
Kimbra is a pop artist – emphasis on artist – and Primal Heart is one of the best albums you will hear in 2018 Read more…
Although 30 Seconds To Mars have some undeniably epic tracks in their back catalogue, their career to date has always been based on following whichever trends happened to be culturally dominant at the time. From early 2000s alt-metal to emo, then alt-rock, and now electronic pop, derivative music with just enough idiosyncrasy to stand out from the pack has always been a 30 Seconds To Mars calling card. Don’t get me wrong – I like this band, but Read more…
Right now, you’re looking at a screen, and I’m writing these words on a computer – but we’re both being connected by technology. Jamiroquai’s new album Automaton is all about human connection in a digital world.
Jamiroquai have always been my go-to happy band. If I’m feeling crap, I just put them on – and within ten seconds or so, things are better. Shake It On is the kind of song where, if you’re listening to it while walking down the street, you’ll end up walking like a badass. There are so many layers to it, from pounding piano to immense clavs, sublime strings, Rob Harris’s super-tight guitar, and the Rhythm Section Of Doom Read more…
UPDATE: TMMP has been reborn! This video has the full story:
Click here to subscribe for free on YouTube!
As the music industry slows down, its alternative end hibernating while the pop-enamoured mainstream hungrily ogles Christmas shoppers, the time has come to look back on a seriously strong year for organised soundwaves. For me, it’s been heavy, intense, and a hell of a lot of fun thanks to the releases listed below.
With so many exceptional contenders in the running for the top spot, the thought of ranking them in order of quality is plainly ridiculous. So instead, I’ve picked out three releases that had memorable impacts on me when I first heard them, and assembled the others in alphabetical order.
The Pretty Reckless’s Who You Selling For – along with previous effort Going To Hell – is conclusive proof (if it were honestly needed in 2016) that women belong in rock music, and are fully capable of kicking ass. The sexists of the music world are like Wile E. Coyote; they’ve run off the edge of the cliff, nothing surrounds them but empty air, they’ve looked down, and they’re panicking. Sonic Boom Six’s The F-Bomb picks up where that image leaves off – it’s cheeky, chirpy, happy and hard-hitting (sometimes simultaneously), addressing a wealth of gender-related issues and providing a great ska-fuelled party soundtrack as only Sonic Boom Six can.
Musically, Dissociation is The F-Bomb’s polar opposite. The Dillinger Escape Plan’s swan song is crammed with brutal and ultra-experimental mathcore – but it’s also Dillinger’s most delicate and diverse album. The Dillinger Escape Plan are living proof that you can achieve great things without compromise, by sticking to your guns and just going for it.
Beyond that point, you’re free to dive into an epic range of albums including solidly grooving rock sets, monolithic slabs of military-grade metal, and progressive masterpieces. Since I’ve not reviewed many EPs this year, I’ve also included a pair of extended-playing mind-blowers in the form of Dorje’s Centred And One and Toska’s Ode To The Author. Dorje specialise in utterly idiosyncratic rock tunes with added progressive spice, while to me, Toska (made up of Dorje’s backline, namely guitarist Rabea Massaad, drummer Ben Minal, and bassist Dave Hollingworth) represent the future of instrumental metal.
Both Dorje and Toska are bands on the rise – and they fully deserve to hit the same peaks enjoyed by the biggest names on this list.
There’s little more to say; for me, this list represents the top albums of 2016. Enjoy the full reviews linked below, follow TMMP on Twitter, subscribe to my brand new YouTube channel, and stay tuned for more world-class music next year!
1) The Pretty Reckless – Who You Selling For
1) Sonic Boom Six – The F-Bomb
1) The Dillinger Escape Plan – Dissociation
—–
2) Read more…
UPDATE: TMMP has been reborn! This video has the full story:
Click here to subscribe for free on YouTube!
Playing the Borderline is a rite of passage for every musician who steps onto its legendary stage. Located moments away from Denmark Street, London’s own Tin Pan Alley, the Borderline is the perfect location for the world’s songwriters to showcase their latest efforts. Located below ground, it’s a place where songs can rise into the heavens, or sink without trace even deeper into the earth.
Hailing from Nashville, another of the world’s most important musical locations, Josh Farro naturally knows a thing or two about Read more…
Josh Farro knows there’s nothing like a fresh start.
From touring heavily from his mid-teens onward with Paramore to an acrimonious split, eventual civil resolution, and assorted post-Paramore projects all receding in his career’s rear-view mirror, Josh Farro has had a lot to move on from. Still, move on he has – and in the very near future, his next move is sure to have British fans hyped as Farro supports his debut solo album Walkways with a UK tour kicking off at The Waterfront Studio in Norwich and ending at legendary London venue The Borderline…
You’re due to tour the UK starting this Thursday (November 17) – aside from excitement, how’re you feeling right now?
I’m feeling quite a bit of stress. I forgot how much work it is to Read more…