With Reef’s latest material going in a heavier, rockier and almost AC/DC direction, it seemed appropriate for the first support act to be a rock band dressed in black. Whilst their name doesn’t have black […]
Whilst it’s been over 70 years since George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair) died, his legacy appears to be eternal. We are barely in the first quarter of 2022, and Orwell has already been referenced copious […]
The opening sentence “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” from the Dickens classic A Tale Of Two Cities best summarises Pavement’s atmosphere when they made their fifth and final […]
Following an audio recording of the Manchester City Champions Chant, the stage suddenly went black. The opening track “Fuckin’ in the Bushes” from Oasis’ first album of the twenty-first century: Standing on the Shoulder of […]
One can tell how great a noble cause is judging by the people who get involved with it. So far, in aid of Teenage Cancer Trust, the Royal Albert Hall has seen Don Broco, Deaf […]
After an unwanted three year hiatus, the annual series of gigs at the Royal Albert Hall in aid of Teenage Cancer Trust has finally returned. Don Broco, with support from Deaf Havana, got things going […]
In 2006 Later with Jools, Holland introduced a unique artist most in the UK had never seen before: a young Jewish man from America in his mid-twenties wearing ultra-orthodox clothing who could beatbox, rap and […]
One of the reasons Paul Draper’s latest, second solo effort, Cult Leader Tactics, impressed was its ability to pay homage to both his debut solo efforts and Mansun material whilst also venturing into new territory. […]
In 2019, XS Noize was invited to see some of the most specular live music the Royal Albert Hall had to offer that year in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust. They provide specialist care […]
Known as the up and coming London band included in MTV Push’s Ones To Watch 2020 shortlist after supporting the Foals 2019 Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost World Tour in Russia and Ukraine. Sea […]
Despite band members joining and re-joining in recent years, this four-piece folk-bluegrass band has made it through to see their tenth year, release new EPs, and most importantly, return to the UK to perform a […]
The Coral’s self-titled debut LP contains the top 20 hit single “Dreaming of You”, which was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize turns twenty in August. Ahead of this significant milestone, the Skelly brothers and […]
The last three London shows of The Libertines’ latest tour in December 2021 were unfortunately cancelled owing to Carl Barât testing positive for COVID 19. This was upsetting for both the band and fans, as […]
A band becomes a heritage act when its classic albums are honoured with anniversary reissues. Metronomy has released two tenth anniversary LP issues: their sophomore Nights Out in 2018 and their biggest selling to date: […]
The rise of Palace cannot be attributed to record sales. Their latest LP Shoals entered just outside the top 50, 29 places higher than their 2019 sophomore effort Life After. Palace’s success is down to […]
DJANGO, Hand on Fire, kills two birds with one stone by having a separate mini-biography and a graphic novel. Other comic biographies by nbm have had biographies in between the chapters of the graphic novels, […]
Artists including Radiohead, Kula Shaker, The Charlatans and Fontaines D.C. have played gigs in this intimate venue to promote new material. The ex-Mansun frontman is no exception and has played at Rough Trade East since […]
What makes this double LP interesting is that it’s much more than an early EP compilation; it’s also a pre-history of Beirut and the story as to how Beirut frontman Zachary Condon’s musicology evolved. It […]
Paul Draper returns with his second solo LP, Cult Leader Tactics which includes a fictitious self-help manual that he wrote whilst recording the LP. This satirical LP, his first since Six, details how one reaches […]
The year is 1997, the setting is France in the small French village of Cressy-la-Valoise, and a young lady seeks out an elderly gentleman living in what she describes as a “museum-like mansion”. What does […]