Martha Paton – ‘Panoramic’ [Review]
After this weekend’s metal-focussed extravaganza, I decided to look for something a little more summery. Fortunately I didn’t have to search for long, thanks to a certain TMMP favourite. Read more…
Spotlight Cannibal / El Born / Calista Kazuko / Claudia Arnold / Cardboard Carousel [Live Review – The Boileroom, Guildford, 26/6/14]
A week after The Boileroom first announced its status as a newly threatened independent live music venue, it’s great to see the team there aren’t letting the stress and pressure get in the way of still more amazing shows. Tonight ran as smoothly as ever, and any raw and agitated nerves were most likely soothed (if temporarily) by the following acts: Read more…
Rose Coloured Records – ‘Doorstep – Volume 1’ [Review]
Here at TMMP, grassroots music is a big deal. I’ve never understood why people will happily watch rubbish, stuck-in-a-rut TV talent shows that promote an illusory path to instant fame (and drop almost every winner once the last pennies have been squeezed from their exhaustive promotional activities) when hundreds of far more fascinating stories can be found just down the road, at a local music venue like The Boileroom in Guildford. It’s incredible to think that so many great, even world-class talents can go ignored, despite being within such easy reach year in, year out. Why wait for the next week’s TV-scheduled slot when you could just poke your head out of the front door and experience something first-hand? Read more…
London Grammar – ‘Hey Now EP’ [Review]
Ok. Wow. Attempting to describe just how incredible Hey Now is presents this writer with an uncomfortable reality. Words can only go so far. ‘Beautiful’, ‘lush’, ‘epic’ – all fit and work perfectly, but are still somehow inadequate. Read more…
Morning Bound – ‘Morning Bound’ [Review]
I’m really happy to see that prog-pop is slowly becoming A Thing. Dirty Loops, Eyal Amir, Project RnL, Maxi Curnow, Signals, and many others have a real knack for melding beautiful songwriting with unorthodox arrangements and stellar musicianship to create a fresh and exciting new sound crammed with so much potential for variation that it makes the stuck-solid formulae still relied on for pop chart success seem exhausted and thickly cobwebbed by comparison. Read more…
Signals – ‘Sleep Talk’ [Review]
TMMP readers know all too well how much we love Signals. I’ve raved over their Facial Furniture EP (a release that set me off on a fiction-writing spree now slowly giving way to a debut novel), told readers to watch them this year, practically ordered the recorded music industry to get involved with Signals ASAP, and contributed to the Kickstarter campaign that led to the creation of this track and its official video.
I’m not even remotely surprised that this tune and the accompanying visual extravaganza surpassed my expectations. No doubt, behind the scenes Signals must be working themselves to death – but on record and video the overall effect is one of grace, effortlessness, and consummate mastery. Sleep Talk is, quite frankly, a stunning tune that proves catchy songs don’t always have to conform to a rigid, immutable, and done-to-death formula in order to get the job done. Signals wave the math-rock flag with pride while inviting the wider world to wear its colours too – and their approach is clearly paying off. Read more…
Bare Jams / Indigo Children / Backwoods Creek / Taygan Paxton [Live Review – The Boileroom, Guildford, 11/6/14]
When you get to a small venue and see security standing outside, you know it’s going to be a busy night. It’s a neon-jacketed signal that tells you this show has already sold a significant number of tickets before it’s even opened its doors. Latecomers are likely to find themselves missing out. However, it’s also quite common for pre-booked punters to take their time preening and perfecting their looks before heading down to the venue – meaning that the opening acts may still end up playing to a fraction of the crowd drawn by the headliners.
It’s a common assumption that opening acts are opening simply because they’re not very good – but this evening’s headliners were also its organisers, and it’s very safe to say that Bare Jams have fantastic taste! Every act on this bill was high quality. So much for common assumptions, then…
If you took your time getting to this show, prepare to commence kicking yourself. The acts you missed were: Read more…
Bare Jams – ‘Rigglet EP’ [Review]
As I write this, I’m sitting outside in the sun. Birds are sitting on branches in the shade, there are no clouds in sight, and the temperature is just right. This EP is in my ears, and right now it feels like nothing else on Earth could soundtrack these moments better. Read more…
Natives – ‘Indoor War’ [Review]
One of the fun things about keeping an open mind is that things can always change. This is especially important when it comes to life as a music fan; many listeners have a tendency to adopt strict rules and set-in-stone fundamentalist attitudes toward “The stuff I like” and “All the rest of it”. It’s no surprise, then, that so many people claim to be bored when it comes to music; but this just doesn’t have to be so.
At TMMP, we make a point of not doing things the locked-in-stone way. So even if an act doesn’t make a great first impression on us, we’re happy to look deeper and give them a second chance. Read more…
Natives / A.J. Ellis / Distal Keys / Faux [Live Review – The Boileroom, Guildford, 31/5/14]
Regular readers will know how much I love the Boileroom. TMMP’s list of live reviews offers many, many examples of how gigs should be – and most of the standout shows in there took place at the Boileroom. So this review is very rare, because I’ll say this upfront: This gig was ok. Read more…