Discovering great new artists is one of the most exciting things about music for me. If you don’t champion the stuff you love, you can’t complain when you only hear the shit you hate on the radio.
There is an endless and thrilling sea of music out there, but it can be bewilderingly vast and not without peril. You have to kiss a lot of frogs before you meet an artist formerly known as Prince. In this monthly column for Louder Than War I will be highlighting some of the most interesting releases I have heard by new and unsigned artists, wading through the audio slush pile so you don’t have to.
Want to know what I loved last year? Or fancy digging through the cobwebs to find out what I was listening to in 2010? Visit this handy archive page for links to my my end of the year roundups, seasonal playlists and other related listicles.
ALBUMS OF THE YEAR – 2022
THE NEW SMU - BEST OF 2022
FESTIVE PLAYLIST 2022
Well, that's it all over for another year and as Noel Coward said, I went to a marvellous party. Let's do it all again next year!
Read More »Eat the rich? I think we all know the opposite is more likely to come to fruition any time soon.
Read More »Sadler has the visual aesthetic of a being beamed directly to us from another planet, but also the musical chops to go with it.
Read More »I can never be mad at a retelling of Marilyn Monroe’s life that starts with a jab at the recent Netflix show ‘Blonde’..
Read More »The cigarettes are fake, but the fire is real.
Read More »A surreal, witty, raw and captivating exploration of female competitiveness.
Read More »Chasing down the best Theatre, Music and Comedy that you might not already have heard of. This page will be updated throughout the festival.
Read More »“Dear listener, HMLTD front person Mister Henry Spychalski is exhibiting extremely volatile behaviour..”
Read on LTW »A riotous non-stop comedy blood bath filled with vomit, zombie children and and exploding corpses..
Read on LTW »We discuss musical direction, aesthetic sensibilities and how they would rate other great Leslies in pop culture.
Read on LTW »'Best of the fest' theatre reviews.
Read More »A slightly sideways look at the Edinburgh fringe through the art of the flyer. From mysterious button badges to anatomical origami and everything in between.
Read on International Paneling »There seem to be an unusually high number of shows that fall loosely under the bracket of ‘country’ at this year’s fringe, but this is likely to be the only one with such a gleefully twisted approach to manslaughter.
Read More »If the elevator pitch of ‘Doctor Faustus but starring a potato’ isn’t enough to get you in the door then the promise of surreal puppetry, sing-along karaoke and more spud based puns than you ever knew existed should be.
Read More »A raucous, riotous mixture of action, comedy and Norse mythology – you won’t find anything else like it at this year’s Fringe.
Read More »A cavalcade of raw sexuality and dark glamour shot through with wry humour, gorgeous cabaret costumes and ingenious staging.
Read More »A long-awaited and well-crafted trip around planet Chromatica.
Read More »From the insistent surge of the opening track, a fast-paced, punky blast of energy, this is an album that knows where it came from and who it wants to be.
Read on LTW »This was never going to be a work of highbrow cinematic genius, but for something that could easily have been genuinely terrible, Studio 666 is actually a pretty great night out.
Read More »Bat Man delivers a perfect one-two punch of punk aggro and pop culture pastiche. Watch the video premier now!
Read on LTW »Episode 1 of the Sky re-boot reviewed.
Read on LTW »Striking just the right balance between a welcoming, family friendly atmosphere and an unapologetically daring lineup it proved to be the perfect way to enjoy some fantastic, and occasionally challenging, artists over a blissfully sunny, late-summer Scottish weekend.
Read on LTW »If one trip to the planet Chromatica wasn’t enough for you then you are in luck, because Dawn Of Chromatica is beaming its way into our lives on September 3rd.
Read on LTW »Festivals are a thing again! Read my preview for next week's Jupiter Rising on Louder Than War now to get you in the mood. I can't wait!
Read on LTW »Miley covering Shampoo for Gucci feels both completely surreal and totally perfect..
Read More »Our human experience of the senses is surprisingly limited when compared to the more curious corners of the natural world, but possibly not as limited as we think.
Read on LTW »The #FreeBritney movement goes mainstream, read my thought on it here
Read More »Former Babysitters’ frontman Kristian North is back with his second solo release, Passion Play, an eclectic and quirky sophisti-pop delight.
Read on LTW »Transmissions on the midnight radio from Johnny Day, sole employee of The Dept. Of Phantom Limbs, a somewhat shadowy agency responsible for the broadcast of ‘cursed sounds, haunted recordings and anomalous audio’.
Read on LTW »Gintsugi releases her eponymous debut EP, a beautifully crafted set of songs with an unsettling but elegant sound.
Read on LTW »HMLTD announce that they are moving into the crypto sphere. Read my thoughts on this and techno art in general.
Read More »Has there ever been a more perfect trip through the infinity mirrors of pop alter-ego than the love letter to Hannah Montana penned by Miley Cyrus this week?
Read More »Tonight’s presentation will contain twists, turns, low drama, high comedy and at times…music.
Read on LTW »I caught up with frontman Charlie James and drummer Louis Duarte to discuss on-set near-death experiences, upcoming style choices and bringing the sexy back to rock & roll.
Read on LTW »Everything you never needed to know about the Village People but will be glad I told you anyway.
Read More »Taking place in those strange, hazy, pre-internet times when travelling unprepared was a more perilous proposition there is a pleasingly shambolic quality that will be familiar to anyone who ever had a really great idea they didn’t quite think through.
Read on LTW »The enfant terrible of the Australian music scene and father of the screaming cowboy meme is back.
Read on LTW »Continuing on from where Solitude & I left off, Dying on the Vine tackles the inescapable avatars of modern digital life.
Read on LTW »A fierce, feline mix of psychedelic, punk, shoegaze and kraut-rock fitting of its title
Read on LTW »A last minute entry to my top singles of the year.
Read on LTW »An inventive collection of songs with a neat and intriguing concept..
Read on LTW »It should be no surprise that pop’s own Rebel Queen might eventually go rawk but Plastic Hearts is in many ways a surprisingly grown-up affair.
Read More »Read my review of the track and interview with Mark where we discuss the recording of his upcoming album, international film soundtrack projects and the collision of music and art.
Read on LTW »