BRUTAL YOUTH – Sanguine

Hailing from Toronto (via St. Johns, Newfoundland), Brutal Youth have shared stages with Sick of It All, Descendents and old-school UK shouters Cock Sparrer. This third release – mixed by the legendary Mass Giorgini – captures their aggressive and insanely focused sound on a studio disc without losing too much of the intensity you’d expect from a great live set. With a sound that fuses hardcore roots with a touch of skate punk, then combines that with a distinctly Canadian edge – as per Propagandhi and Ste. Catherines – ‘Sanguine’ is one hell of a punk record.

Continue reading

Deluxe 3CD version of Twelfth Night’s prog classic ‘Fact & Fiction’ coming in 2018

For the past few years, prog legends Twelfth Night have been raiding their archives.  Their cassette only release ‘Smiling At Grief’ has seen a much-loved expanded CD reissue, while their classic live albums ‘Live At The Target’ and ‘Live & Let Live: Live at The Marquee’ were afforded a wealth of bonuses on thoughtfully created deluxe sets.

Continue reading

REAL GONE GOES OUT: My Life Story, Islington Academy, London 22/12/2017

In August 2017, Real Gone attended the Star Shaped Festival in London. Like so many, the re-formed Sleeper were the big draw for us, but the day brought something rather unexpected. A mid-afternoon set from Jake Shillingford’s My Life Story ranked a close second in terms of entertainment. We approached the set with no real expectations and…an hour later, we considered ourselves fans. It wasn’t just the material that won us over; it was Shillingford’s command of the stage and audience. At approximately 3:30PM, from the back of the venue, we watched as a few pockets of people bounced, while others looked on. About forty minutes later, most of the venue was bouncing and waving in unison, so obviously swept along with the band’s infectious levels of enthusiasm. We knew, after that, we just had to see My Life Story again…

*

Continue reading

VARIOUS ARTISTS – Songs, Bond Songs

In 2014, music fan and entrepreneur Andrew Curry masterminded ‘Here Comes The Reign Again’, a double disc set of recordings by cult singer-songwriters and power pop bands covering various UK hits from the 1980s. The results, as you’d expect, were a mixed bag, but the high points were high enough to recommend an addition to any quirky record collection. Three years in the making, the follow up brings back various familiar faces for a near complete run through of themes from James Bond movies. The results are…interesting…but mostly, nowhere near as good as such a project seems on paper. This is a project fraught with problems, not least of all that Bond themes just can’t be reproduced on a meagre budget. Continue reading

Watch ‘Merry Christmas’, the new video from Big Big Train

It’s been a long journey for Big Big Train.  From early gigs and their first proper album ‘Goodbye To The Age of Steam’, the elusive ‘Bard’, work with vocalist Sean Filkins and beyond, their first decade or so was about constant growth and change.  While often recording great material, it seemed the band just couldn’t settle.  With the release of ‘The Underfall Yard’ and the addition of vocalist David Longdon to their ranks, the band’s fortunes changed.

Continue reading