2 New Releases for me Tonight!!!!

New Black Spiders album is available to pledgers digitally tonight

And new Baby Godzilla for free to all at https://www.facebook.com/Baby.Godzilla.Bastard/app_477662122297015#!/Baby.Godzilla.Bastard/app_477662122297015

Yeah Bitch!!!

Albums coming out worth looking at over the next few months

02/09/2013 Glasvegas - Later...When The TV Turns To Static

 

Some saw their last album as a bit on the dodgy side, this promises to be back to the darker stuff

02/09/2013 Nine Inch Nails - Hesitation Marks

 

It's been so long who knows what to expect, heavier the better for me

09/09/2013 Arctic Monkeys - AM

Continuing the tradition for shite album sleeves, hoping they rock even harder than Suck It And See

09/09/2013 Satyricon - Satyricon

BLACK METALLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!

09/09/2013 The Strypes - Snapshot

Is all the hype worth it, looking forward to seeing with these guys

16/09/2013 Mark Lanegan - Imitations

Mark's covers album, as always likely to be magnificent

16/09/2013 Manic Street Preachers - Rewind The Film

Last album was bloody awful, hoping the reviews are right on this one

16/09/2013 Placebo - Loud Like Love

It's Placebo but that's not saying much these days

16/09/2013 Stray From The Path - Anonymous

Supposed to be brutal as fuck, hope so

23/09/2013 Charly Coombes - No Shelter

Not as upbeat as the New Breed stuff, more along the Elliott Smith lines

23/09/2013 Kings Of Leon - Mechanical Bull

Can one of the formelly best bands ever who destroyed their own career make a comeback????

23/09/2013 Mazzy Star - Seasons Of Your Day

Only 17 years late, but this could be a dreampop masterpiece

23/09/2013 Exit Calm - The Future Isn't What It Used To Be

Last album showed real promise, could this be the one to capitalise on that??

30/09/2013 Korn - The Paradigm Shift

How bad will this album actually be, can't wait to find out

30/09/2013 Scar The Martyr - Scar The Martyr

Joey Jordison's new side project, keeping my mind open

30/09/2013 Soulfly - Savages

Last few albums have been crushingly heavy, betting this will as well

30/09/2013 Dregen - Dregen

Backyard Babies solo album, curious to hear this one

07/10/2013 Wet Nuns - Wet Nuns

This album will likely be heavy as hell and catchy toboot

07/10/2013 A Day To Remember - Common Courtesy

How fucking long has this taken to get released, very very eager for this one

07/10/2013 Cage The Elephant - Melophobia

This could be a new direction for this band, heard it's Bowiesque

07/10/2013 The Fratellis - We Need Medicine

Can they make it 3 class albums in a row?? bloody hope so

14/10/2013 Pearl Jam - Lightning Bolt

Last few albums have been a bit hit and miss, hoping for a hit on this one

21/10/2013 Monster Magnet - Lost Patrol

What i've heard sounds great, but we'll see

28/10/2013 Corrections House - Last City Zero

28/10/2013 Arcade Fire - TBC

04/11/2013 Melvins - Tres Cabrones

 

04/11/2013 MIA - Matangi

Top 50 of 2012: No.21: Plan B - Ill Manors (Some major)

Some people may be surprised that I’m a Plan B fan, let’s face it I don’t feature much ‘street’ music or whatever the kids are calling it these days, I don’t know much about the genre but I know what I like and Ben Drew’s output to date has been brilliant. I don’t care if he’s for real or whether it’s all an act, good music is often about telling stories, stories that suck you in and make you listen to the end and that’s exactly what his music does. So this not so much a new album but a soundtrack to his film of the same name, and like the film the soundtrack is pretty fucking dark, songs about drug dealers, prostitutes, violence and murder interspersed with dialogue from the film. This is also Ben Drew’s most ambitious release so far, with tons of guests and samples, the best easily being John Cooper Clarkes turn on ‘Pity The Plight’ which is amazing even for him. So while the war rages on over how ‘street’ ben Drew actually is, if you’re like me you won’t actually give a shit and just enjoy some really good music.

8.5/10

Buy here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ill-Manors-Plan-B/dp/B007JLJO3W/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1377076661&sr=1-1&keywords=ill+manors
Or get the blu-ray of the film well cheap here innit: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ill-Manors-Blu-ray-Riz-Ahmed/dp/B0087PEMXG/ref=sr_1_2?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1377076931&sr=1-2&keywords=ill+manors

Top 50 of 2012: No.22: Hawk Eyes - Ideas (Fierce Panda)

Including time under their previous moniker Chickenhawk, the band now known as Hawk Eyes have actually been going for a good 8 years, however a lot of people are seeing them as a new band, so whether the name change was a deliberate chance to reinvent themselves or not, based on how far they’ve come since, it was worth it. Previous EP ‘Mindhammers’ hinted at a more riff heavy sound and less reliance on the sludgy style they were known for previously, but this new album sees them come on leaps and bounds, not to say their previous output wasn’t brilliant, they’ve always been one of the best underground bands the UK had to offer. Kicking off with the best song they’ve done so far ‘Witch Hunt’ the album doesn’t let up with huge stoneresque rock, at times technical metal and always with heaps of catchiness, it’s almost impossible to pigeonhole this band because there’s so much going on. While a lot of bands try to do this Hawk Eyes succeed in not being diverse for the sake of being diverse and all the songs flow together, so if you’re looking for heavy but with a touch of melody, then Hawk Eyes could be your new favourite band.

8.5/10

Buy here: http://www.fiercepanda.co.uk/shop.php?release=429
Or here: http://hawkeyesmusic.bandcamp.com/merch

The Icarus Line UK Tour

Okay so the poster above is for last years but new dates announced for UK

October
 29th - Hoxton Bar & Kitchen, London
 30th - Craufurd Arms, Milton Keynes

November
 2nd - The Hope, Brighton
 3rd - Deaf Institute, Manchester
 4th - Exchange, Bristol
 5th - Belgrave Music Hall, Leeds

They've already released what may be the album of the year so make sure you check them out

Top 50 of 2012: No.23: BLAME - Gracious Malady (Dark Days)

There’s definitely a 90’s revival thing going on lately, be it bands reforming or bands taking influence, and let’s face it, the 90’s was an awesome decade for music so this can only be a good thing. Blame could easily be leaders of the pack for 90’s influence, and that’s not to say they sound like any particular band from that era, they just carry a vibe of bands like Lemonheads, Sebadoh or Sugar, even the album cover screams 1993. All of this would amount to nothing if they were just plain copyists, but Blame also has a hint of modern sound to them as well ‘Best I Could Be’ carries an angular vocal attack reminiscent of The Cribs, ‘Outsiders’ ‘Floods’ and ‘After Hours’ have huge anthemic choruses that will have you singing along on the first listen. Blame are a band that have appeared as if from nowhere fully formed and armed with massive songs and one of the best debut albums of the year, This album is really good, but something tells me there’s better to come. So support them as much as you can as they’re doing things on their own so far, and talent as good as this couldn’t and shouldn’t be ignored, so dig out your old flannel shirts and ripped jeans and get back to the 90’s.

8.5/10

Buy here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gracious-Malady/dp/B00A5BULCQ/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376565780&sr=301-1

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/blamemusic

Girls Against Boys New EP 'The Ghost List'

More and more amazing bands are reforming these days, the best lately have been Redd Kross, Ultrasound, Six By Seven, and I even hear Truly may finally return with something new soon. To add to that list now we have one of the 90’s best bands Girls Against Boys who are back with a new EP ‘The Ghost List’ on Epitonic records due 24th September.

Tracklisting is:

1. It’s A Diamond Life
2. Fade Out
3. 60 Is Greater Than 15
4. Let’s Get Killed
5. Kick

Giddy as a fucking kipper for this one!!

Pre-order here: http://epitonic.bandcamp.com/album/the-ghost-list-ep

Viva Viva - Dead In Yr Tracks EP (Fort Point Recordings)

It’s funny how I find new music sometimes, recently I’ve finally picked up a physical copy of the Officer May ‘Smoking In A Minor’ album, so after getting that I started looking into they’re vocalist Chris Warren’s other new band again Viva Viva, turns out they have literally just released a new EP, so being me I couldn’t resist. Now I’ve already got the full length 2010 self-titled album which was a great pop-rock album, but I’ve not managed yet to grab a copy of the mini-album ‘What’s The Kim Deal?’ (this will be rectified shortly) so there’s a big gap between what I’ve heard and new EP ‘Dead In Yr Tracks’. Like I said previously the last album was great, the new EP is literally amazing, brilliant pop-rock hooks, slight elements of funk, this is one of those bands that a hell of a lot more people should know about, in fact a lot more people should be aware of Chris Warren’s music in general, all four tracks on this EP take the band to a whole new level than before, and for those missing the rage that Officer May had in abundance, just need to check out closing track ‘Halfway To Hell’. So Viva Viva, not so much a new band, but definitely a band to check out, also recommended and linked below is Chris’ solo records on bandcamp, unfortunately the ‘American Vulture’ album seems to be missing in action, so the 100 people who got a handmade copy are lucky bastards indeed.

9.5/10

Buy here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dead-in-Yr-Tracks-Explicit/dp/B00EFASQ7U/ref=sr_shvl_album_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1376474073&sr=301-3
Chris Warren solo: http://chriswarren.bandcamp.com/
Website: http://www.thisisvivaviva.com/
Bandcamp: http://vivaviva.bandcamp.com/
Shop: http://www.thisisvivaviva.com/p/merch.html

Top 50 of 2012: No.24: Black Moth - The Killing Jar (New Heavy Sounds)

I’m sure I had a download of Black Moth’s first 7” ‘The Articulate Dead’ and remember not being that impressed with it, listening to their first full album, either I was completely wrong (it occasionally happens) or they’ve improved tenfold since, not sure which but either way, this album wipes the floor with my memories. Considering the album kicks off with the storming aforementioned track my confusion increases because the huge Sabbathesque riffs and Harriet Bevan’s menacing vocals do not ring a bell from what I’ve heard before, but when an album kicks off with a song this good who cares? What you have is essentially Black Sabbath fronted by one of the best female vocalists the country has to offer, which wouldn’t account to squat if the songs weren’t also so fucking good, sometimes I feel like I’m biased towards local bands, but Black Moth are so good it can’t just be me.

8.5/10

Buy here:

Just Arrived

Officer May - Smoking In A Minor

described on rateyourmusic as "Flat-out-fucking-rad noise punk." couldn't have said it better myself

Top 50 of 2012: No.25: Jake Bugg - Jake Bugg (Major label)

I don’t give a fuck, I like Jake Bugg, the backlash seems to have already started on this guy, but sit and listen to his debut album and remember that all that backlash stuff is bullshit created by writers of mags like NME. What you have here is 14 little pop nuggets, and by pop I mean what they called pop music back in the 60’s not the awful stuff that mascarades as it today. Almost every track could be a single, and in fact half of the album has been, obviously everyone knows the comparisons to folk heroes like Donovan and Dylan, some tracks even have an early Beatles feel. Brilliant melodies and poignant lyrics are a plenty on this album and tracks like ‘Lightning Bolt’, ‘Trouble Town’, and ‘Two Fingers’ are standouts among standouts, so ignore the hype and just listen to an awesome album.

8.5/10

buy here:

Top 50 of 2012: No.26: Soundgarden - King Animal (Major label)

Along with Alice In Chains, Soundgarden are the second big grunge band to reform, personally I’m still waiting to see if Truly or even at some point a Screaming Trees album might come but for now we’ve got the big hitters. Kicking off with an obvious statement of intent ‘Been Away Too Long’ which might sound a little trite but is a beast of a song, Soundgarden know what their fans want and give it to them in buckets, sometimes a little too much but at a few songs less than the last two albums it shows that they’ve at least tried a little creative control, which means that this is actually one of the most consistent Soundgarden albums released yet. Obviously it’s not up there with ‘Badmotorfinger’ but some things are just never going to be beaten, what you do get here is a storming rock album from one of the best bands of the 90’s.

8.5/10

buy here

Just Ordered:

Awesome album!!!!!

Top 50 of 2012: No.27: Spiritualized - Sweet Heart Sweet Light (Double Six)

The problem with creating a masterpiece is that you’ll always struggle to follow it up with anything quite as good, this is the 4th album Spiritualized have released since ‘Ladies And Gentlemen…’ but finally they’ve come as close as you can to matching that albums brilliance, that’s not to say the albums between the two have been awful, they just haven’t been up to the same incredibly high standards. This might he harsh to say but Jason Pierce only has himself to blame for putting out one of the Top 10 albums of the entire 90’s probably in the Top 5 if I had the time to order them. Kicking things off, after a little intro is the storming ‘Hey Jane’ which just might be Jason Pierce’s best song ever, unbelievably catchy and laid back rocker of a tune, and from this point on there isn’t a dud track. There’s the usual choir backgrounds, mixed with gospel chanting, but for whatever reason it all flows so much better on ‘Sweet Heart Sweet Light’, so for those missing the magic that flowed through the first 3 albums, it’s back in aplomb.

8.5/10

buy here:

Top 50 of 2012: No.28: Mark Lanegan Band - Blues Funeral (4AD)

Mark Lanegan seems to have been on overdrive these last few years, releasing solo albums, collaborations, guest appearances and whatever else he fancies doing, and with talent like his, he can do whatever the hell he wants. Mark has one of the most distinctive voices anyone anywhere will ever hear, however if you like your music upbeat, you may as well stop reading now, Mr. Lanegan pretty much specialises in misery and with an album title like ‘Blues Funeral’ and lyrics like "If tears were liquor, I'd have drunk myself sick" you shouldn’t expect anything else. However the new album is under the Mark Lanegan Band moniker which means at times it’s a bit more rocking than his acoustic solo stuff, featuring the usual guests such as Greg Dulli and Josh Homme, this is dark unsettling stuff, possibly his darkest work since Screaming Trees ‘Dust’ album. So grab a bottle of whiskey a packet of smokes turn the lights down low and enjoy Mark’s misery it’s really the only way.

8.5/10

buy here:

Top 50 of 2012: No.29: Stone Sour - House Of Gold & Bones: Part 1 (Roadrunner)

Stone Sour can sometimes be a hit and miss band, especially for fans of Slipknot as Corey Taylor’s vocals in his official day job are amazing, however when Stone Sour hit, they hit the mark perfectly. Luckily the new album is a huge improvement on the last album which seemed a little lacklustre to be honest, maybe it’s the fact that they’re trying to create something big that they’ve thrown their all into it, plus the 90’s rock influences shine through in particular Alice In Chains seem more of an influence than ever. Throughout ‘House Of Gold & Bones’ part 1 the band barely take a wrong footing, and storming tracks like ‘RU486’ bring to mind the passion and aggression of older tunes like ‘30/30-158’ while here and there you get the smattering of soft rock that manages to avoid the cheese factor. Overall this is return to form for Stone Sour, and something tells me they’ve got even better in them, but for now, this is up there with the best they’ve done.

8.5/10

buy here