There are a lot of different reasons for going to see some lovely music. You might want to see a band live because they’re perky enough that you can sing along without being ashamed. You might go in the hope…
Category: Reviews
Live | Michael Kiwanuka @ Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
There is a very real sense of expectation as queues snake away from the front of the Brudenell Social Club. Expectation not only that inside will be considerably warmer than the freezing winter temperatures of the car park, but that…
Album | Mary Lorson & The Soubrettes – BurnBabyBurn
Mary Lorson and the Soubrettes’ BurnBabyBurn constitutes a balancing act between its gentle, spacious, and warm sounds and its stark, honest lyrics. This balance is even obliquely referenced in the lyrics of ‘Only One Number Two’. “You walk the roof…
Album | The Twilight Sad – No One Can Ever Know
There has never been a worse time for an ‘80s synth-pop album to come out than now. Even the ‘80s. As Simon Reynolds’ derisive term (and book) “Retromania” gets bandied about more and more, so too does the popularity of…
Album | First Aid Kit – The Lion’s Roar
“There’s nothing new under the sun / All that will happen has already begun” Sometimes you don’t need to say a lot to get a point across. In this simple couplet from the dark, tidal ‘Dance To Another Tune’, First…
Live | Hannah Peel @ Holy Trinity Church, Leeds
With mulled wines in hand, the people of Leeds have packed into the pews of the Holy Trinity Church to hear one of their own deliver the annual Christmas service from the local Gaslight Club. Well, nearly. Hannah introduces herself…
Live | Josh T. Pearson @ The Barbican + a free Christmas download
Josh T. Pearson’s Last of the Country Gentlemen was released this year to widespread acclaim, with this very website describing it as a ‘sparse, delicate and unrelenting trawl through the darker recesses of the soul’. It has found itself in…
Live | Ellen & The Escapades @ The Stereo, York
Ellen and her Escapades are finally assembled on stage and ready to play. The hum of the crowd dies down and she steps up to the microphone, takes a breath and…another song comes on the PA system. With a little…
Live | Summer Camp @ Liverpool Mojo 10th November 2011
FFS wrote precisely one memo-to-self during this show: “Jeremy Warmsley is wearing the best shirt ever”. The review should actually end there: Mr. Summer Camp’s clothing selection alone should be enough to convince you to go see them play live.…
Live | The Antlers @ Koko, 10th November 2011
“We want to thank you guys for being here,” says Peter Silberman as he surveys the enraptured Koko crowd. “We have no idea how we got here, and we don’t know how to get back.” A chilly Thursday night in…