Regular visitors to the site will know of my admiration for the songwriting of Danny George Wilson. The album is great, they rock live and are all round pretty good guys to meet. I spent some time with Danny recently to get an insight into the man behind the music. Having left all my research notes at home I was somewhat more nervous than usual pre-interview. Sound check was running late (don't they always) so it gave me more time to reflect. I need not of worried as Danny was great to interview - relaxed and interested in our questions. Mark: ...
As Keath likes to say: "I’ve been into music longer than there have been MP3s, which has left me with hundreds of compact discs gathering dust on a closet shelf. The time has come to clean them out – but which ones are worth keeping and which are best left to the Donation box? Let’s take ‘em one by one." Now, I'll say right up front that I'm a bit more attached to physical discs and albums as art than Keathster is. But I'm fully willing to admit when a record hasn't aged very well. Actually, I'm likely to hold on ...
After a phenomenal sell-out showcase at the O2 Academy, Brixton on New Years Eve, Get Loaded returns to London’s club scene on Easter Thursday 1st April via another huge event at The Coronet Theatre in Elephant & Castle. Reuniting to coincide with the release of Shaun Ryder’s greatest hits album this summer and seven years after Get Loaded successfully reformed the Happy Mondays, we are delighted to present the comeback of Black Grape! Coming to Get Loaded this Easter for their first live show since 1997, the return of Black Grape is sure to be an extraordinary and exhilarating experience full ...
Last night I had such a great evening in the company of both Danny and Fionn. I have been questioning where my musical preferences lie over the last year as I become more and more endeared to Americana and Folk. Well folks, this is the new me and I like the journey it is taking me on! First up was Danny & The Champs, and oh what sweet music they make! Streets Of Our Time was my album of the month for January. Live they really bring these beautiful, soul-searching songs to life. From the first strains of "Henry The Van" ...
BIYL was privileged to be a guest of the wonderfully talented Alessi's Ark on her first visit to Norwich. I was feeling a little nervous as I had never been to a full-fledged evening of folk music before. Sure, I've seen such luminaries as Mumford & Sons and Laura Marling but always in a gig setting. Arriving at the Birdcage in Norwich, I got a great vibe from the venue. It's kinda like having a gig in your living room with friends. Think the photo above from a previous event sums up the vibe of the place. A few years ago I ...
I have to admit up front that I stole this idea from a couple of other blogs. There are very few original ideas out there, and I don’t have any of them. I just thought this might be an interesting metric to gauge interest in the bands we yak about.
February’s Most Downloaded MP3s:
1)The Temper Trap [...]
I’ll admit, I think my favorite part of this song is when the ladies come in singing ‘banging and banging on’. It’s one of those songs that could easily be irritating due to the repetition, but after about 3 listens I was definitely having this. It’s not quite as good as ‘Parrot’, but that was [...]
Last night I had such a great evening in the company of both Danny and Fionn. I have been questioning where my musical preferences lie over the last year as I become more and more endeared to Americana and Folk. Well folks, this is the new me and I like the journey it is taking [...]
My favourite up-and-coming band The Joy Formidable have just released some exciting news in the form of a lead single from the debut album!
The single is available on iTunes now. Entitled “Popinjay”, it will also be released as a very limited edition 7″ vinyl from April 5th. I have included the usual links below. There is [...]
I last caught up with White Rose Movement back in November, when they started streaming new single ‘Helsinki’ on their Myspace. At the time it was just a demo, but since then has been given the old spit and polish. It’s the same basic structure, just turned up a bit. I’m told we should be [...]
This year I am going to have a change of festival coverage having spent the last three years covering Latitude in depth. Having had a good look through whats on offer, I have come to the conclusion that the excellent Cameden Crawl kind of meets all my criteria. First and foremost a lot of the [...]
Sometimes you just get a good vibe when interviewing people and the conversation flows. Such was the case with Alessi when I caught up with her in Norwich.
Mark: First of all what a pleasure it is to finally meet you, I ran a Q&A with you way back in late 2007 I believe on Rocksellout. [...]
