Music Magazine

Music & Me: Carrie Mac

Rising soul pop star Carrie Mac gives us the skinny on her favourite tunes, pop idols... and Jedward.

Badly Drawn Boy, Travelling Band and guests, Union Chapel, London

“Hey, I can do this after all,” says a grinning Damon Gough – more popularly known as Badly Drawn Boy – as he basks in the applause of an appreciative Union Chapel crowd towards the end of this feelgood-fuelled charity gig. “F*ck LA.” There’s a roar of laughter from the pews. The evening is a validation for Gough, who had a much-publicised meltdown at the Troubadour Club in Los Angeles last December, threatening to fight an unruly crowd and then publicly quitting the music business (“I’m never playing live again - this has been a disaster,” he said).

Inside Music Magazine

Lykke Li, New Trinity Centre, Bristol (Rated 3/ 5 )

Wednesday, 13 April 2011

The dry ice, ominous synth and reverberating bass that is the prelude to Lykke Li’s stage entrance suggests that she has been taking notes from fellow Swede Fever Ray on ‘How to Spook An Audience’. However, she stops short of the stuffed bear's head approach of her contemporary and instead opts for a less disturbing and more flattering black kimono that gives the impression of Lykke Li as a trainee ninja.

Music & Me: Younger Brother

Friday, 11 March 2011

Younger Brother began life as an electronica side project of psytrance producers Simon Posford (aka Hallucinogen) and Benji Vaughan (Prometheus) but without the full-on bpm of their usual dancefloor fare. Rather than rely on their sample-heavy, synthesized sounds, the band has instead organically evolved into a live show that fuses together their trademark sonic soundscapes with real bass, drums, guitars and the soaring vocals of Ruu Campbell. It’s a collaboration that works well – and although new album Vaccine might at first alienate fans more used to the beats and beeps incarnation of the band on their first album A Flock of Bleeps, the album looks set to gain more fans than those who fall by the wayside. Change is a good thing folks – it never hurt Bob Dylan after all.

Music & Me: Breakage

Wednesday, 23 February 2011

Breakage (James Boyle to his mum) drops the kind of bass heavy D’n’B meets breaks beats that hits you square in the chest. This producer du jour’s tracks have now been voted “Hottest Record in the World” five times in a row by Zane Lowe. He took time out from hitting chests and wooing Lowes to answer a few of our questions...

A Month In Music: February

Friday, 11 February 2011

Spring might not yet have sprung but at least the desolate month of January has finally been laid to rest. Forget about the freezing weather – the post-New Year hangover period is never the best time for bands to get out on the road, and labels aren’t exactly falling over themselves to release their prize gems to a partied-out public. Three cheers for February then.