Music

By Esin Huseyin (esin_huseyin) Marika Hackman has previously been dubbed the queen of electro folk, but this album blows her out of that category completely. She opens her long-anticipated debut album with the lyrics “Oh, I am bold,” and she’s not far off; this album is packed with 12 tracks bursting with eerie ambience. The opening track ‘Drown’ lulls us with rhythmic, shimmering guitar riffs and ghostly vocals. The song explodes into a dark merging of plucky guitars and sinister...

By Will Bateman (WillBateman6611) Electric Ballroom - 12/02/15 After over 10-years The Cribs have become a staple of the UK live gig circuit, an institution. A consistent level of sweaty, raucous performances, specifically wherever they can in small, intimate venues. Any fan worth their salt will have likely witnessed their brand of anarchic Wakefield punk a good handful of times, with a high chance of crowd surfing, mosh-related cuts and bruises and the occasional chance of a stage invasion. The...

By William Bateman (@WillBateman6611) You’ll be hard pressed to find any article or review of Pond without a mention or comparison to sister-band Tame Impala closely following. With shared members Nick Aldbrook, Julian Barbagallo and Jay Watson, “the other” Australian psyche-rock band are one often discredited, or simply overlooked to say the least, as a collective side-project born out of Kevin Parkers international success vehicle. But Pond’s phenomenally prolific output is largely, and criminally, unknown, ‘Space…’ being their sixth album, and...

By Alex Jones (@Alex_Jonze) Sir Bob Geldof. He’s a bit of a character to say the least. The creator of Band Aid, Band Aid 20 and now Band Aid 30 has raised millions for charity but has also raised the blood pressure of TV executives the world over on several occasions. He’s a Knight of England like no other. Even the outrageous outbursts from Kanye West pale in comparison to some of Sir Bob’s more lambasted laments. In celebration of...

By David Morin I am often asked why I continue to busk when I have access to so many opportunities to play in venues and I understand why people are perplexed. Most people may think it's a low-brow form of entertainment, and in all honesty they are partially correct, but mostly I think, incorrect. I quit my job in 2010 to play music full-time. If it wasn’t for the cold hard streets, I wouldn’t have the fans, the amazing team,...

By Declan Roberts (@DeclanMR) Peace Happy People Columbia 09/02/2015 Where do you begin with Peace? A band out of Birmingham with no fear and no idea of their ‘future success’. It’s a mystery question. Firstly, the fact that the resurgence of indie-pop is a secure mantelpiece for them to play for. Secondly, Harry Koisser is a superb songwriter. He knows every little detail for a perfect pop tune that turns into a gig anthem when played live. It’s enhanced with...

By Dan Gleabals Cut and Paste VJ renegade Eclectic Method has put together this mental mash-up he calls Meta Hip Hop - and it's going viral - have a watch and let us know how many Hip Hop classics you spot! There's over a hundred clips painstakingly put together. We lost count a long way before 100 though! Eclectic Method (aka Jonny Wilson) started off as a digital outlaw splicing together music, TV and film, influenced by Brian Eno, Underworld, cut...

For those looking for a taste of outsider art the unthemed festival VAULT is a standout in the London musical calendar. From January 28th to March 8th expect everything from subversive stand-up comedy, leftfield musical acts from around the world and, in one case a roadkill taxidermy cabaret show. It is here we find Scottish duo Pumajaw preparing to unveil their song-cycle, the deliciously dark Song Noir, to a London audience for the first time. This collection of Noir classics,...

By Daniel Mackenzie (@EkcaLiena) Cafe Oto, 23/01/15 Walking through the early Friday night mess-about-to-happen of Dalston, I'm listening to a French black metal (ish) band so at odds with Room40's curatorial style it's almost amusing. This band deal in truly hellish atmospheres that sit awkwardly above brutal drum and guitar noise attacks. They really aren't so different. If you swap out hell for heaven and pull the aggression out so that it jettisons transients, things seem to overlap. It may...