September 2013 has seen two debut albums released from bands on opposite sides of the Atlantic, that perhaps have more in common than might first be thought. Both are industrial-influenced bands, that have come from outside the “scene”, or at least that’s the way it appears (and, not to mention, both albums are self-titled, oddly […]
My first time DJing with Terminates Here. Only my sets shown here, full setlist here.
Christ, this year is going quick. As we head into September (and autumn), there is a huge glut of new music hurtling our way, this month I’m looking at some stuff already released, and some of the good stuff coming our way.
The years haven’t been especially kind to bands that came to popular attention from the nineties industrial rock boom in many ways, with few bands surviving the late-90s as the bubble burst – either they fell victim to alcohol and drugs, the mass of record label consolidations at the end of the decade, volatile inter-band […]
It has been noted recently that there have been a dearth of “club” shows in the industrial scene, at least in the UK, of late, with pretty grim predictions for 2014, too. But in the meantime, there have been the odd show to restore faith somewhat that strong bills can occur, with support acts as […]
Of the industrial scene’s great survivors (FLA, Skinny Puppy, Front 242, KMFDM), all four have now been active for over 25 years, and aside from 242 (who seem happy with revisiting their past with admittedly amazing live shows, which is no problem for me – I’ve seen them five times in the last five years […]
For the tenth time – I started writing a seemingly ever-expanding review of the annual festival in 2003 – here goes with my coverage of Infest rundown for 2013. As usual this is mainly covering each of the bands in turn from my point-of-view, with a few other opinions as we go, and I’m well […]
As Infest 2013 looms this weekend – and with the announcement that there won’t be an Infest in 2014, either – I’ve decided that it is time to look back at the twelve Infests I’ve attended previously (I’ve been to every one since 2000, and of course there wasn’t one in 2009).
It's always interesting when a new artist jumps out to popular attention. Séamus Bradd's The .Invalid has been the latest project to do this just recently, with a fair amount of ecstatic comment online from "the scene" once the album – apparently two years in the works – finally saw the light of day in […]
The height of summer, in this kinda dead period between all the festivals, is always a strange time to go to gigs. For a start, it is broad daylight still before you even get to the venue, and often all-too-many venues get rather hot and sweaty early on, meaning that perhaps, gig attendance in this […]
A new section where I look back at albums in my past. They may be great albums, they may be albums that haven't stood the test of time. But these are albums I bought and loved at one point, and maybe haven't listened to much in the meantime. More importantly, this is a way of […]
I was thinking about marking ten years of blogging with something special this week, but then I realised that I had a big list of great new songs to mention, so the usual pattern prevails for now. So I’ll return to that subject a bit later in the month.
I will, I promise, be covering another new band at some point in my reviews, rather than another returning. Although in Senser’s case, it is more a case of continuing to plug away, with a fifth album over a near-twenty year period, even if there have been downtimes and lineup changes along the way.
2013 has been a mightily odd year for music. While we’ve seen, for better or worse, no end of bands returning after long breaks, reforming or just keeping on going – with a seeming lack of new bands in certain areas – it has been quite astounding just how good many of those returns have […]
The height of summer, in this kinda dead period between all the festivals, is always a strange time to go to gigs. For a start, it is broad daylight still before you even get to the venue, and often all-too-many venues get rather hot and sweaty early on, meaning that perhaps, gig attendance in this […]
In a time where inequality is rising faster than in a long while, austerity is all the rage (despite the warnings that this is only making things worse), and the various results of the Euro crisis, to mention but a few things, I’d perhaps expect a rise in political comment from music or even comedy, […]
Last year, a new artist from Sheffield appeared, apparently out of nowhere. Said artist was Randolph & Mortimer, and I featured their first single The Markets in Tuesday Ten: 162. Then in fortuitous timing, I received new single Debt Is King the other week, in time for Tuesday Ten: 180, and I took the opportunity […]
Amazing how time flies – the beginning of next month marks ten years since I started blogging, so the corresponding post next month may be slightly different to usual. In the meantime, here are ten songs you should hear from the past month – with, for the first time in a while, a heavily industrial […]
Despite vowing to myself a long time ago I would try and avoid the retro "album live show" phenomenon that has seemingly ruled the live circuit for a good few years now, I've succumbed on occasions. One turned out to be one of the greatest gigs of my life (Spiritualized), another was a nice blast […]
I’ve looked at this kind of thing before, but from a different viewpoint (/024/Changing Direction), where bands changed direction decisively for what they would likely protest is “artistic reasons”. I’m taking a different tack this week, and it is inspired by a few things (like many of these posts, they are frequently in the works […]
