Album: Parliament of Owls – Crow

As the achingly beautiful strings of the intro to Parliament of Owls’ debut Crow swelled beneath the singing of birds and a David Attenborough-like voice began to speak, I was stunned into awed silence. Any looming dread about having to review a two-disc album disappeared in one magnificent surge of music and, as commanded by the voiceover, all I could do was “wait and listen for the first songs to begin”.

FFS Interview: Butcher Boy

Butcher Boy have had quite a year. Their second album React or Die received rave reviews across the board with the Times rock critic Pete Paphides declaring “Butcher Boy have set a standard against which every other release this year must surely be judged”. The band are set to fulfil a long-held ambition this month by performing a live film score to Cocozza film Chick’s Day at Glasgow Film Theatre. Songwriter and frontman John Blain Hunt kindly agreed to answer our questions…