Coming from a punk rock background, I long believed the term ‘background music’ to be the ultimate insult- implying music whose listeners were passive and uninvolved. Yet the more music I listened to, the more I realised that some bands excel at the ki …

It is fine and all making a double disc prog album, but it is also is an insufferable task when the whole thing drags over two hours. Meet ‘The Octopus’ by Manchester outfit Amplifier who have gone all out in the name of self-indulgence and rock. Which …

Tu Fawning are a bit like what would happen if Bob Dylan infiltrated Abba. Except they’re from Oregon, not Sweden, and I’m not entirely sure if any of them are involved with extra-curricular activities with other bandmembers. Regardless of the quartet’ …

Album seven is the kind of territory that eludes the life of most bands. But if they were name-checking youth on their first two records, Mogwai (now into their 16th year) can no longer elicit the word-of-mouth excitement of a capricious debut; the cau …

The opening couple of tracks on Aucan’s debut album are deceptive, I wonder if deliberately so, as they give very little hint as to the sheer raw wondrous brutality of what is to come. ‘Blurred’ is a lovely Portishead-esque lilting number full of beaut …

Based in Nottingham but hailing from all over the bloody place, this eclectic mix of geography is in line with the schizophrenic energy that is central nervous system of ‘SNIB’ from Alright The Captain. ‘SNIB’ is the kind of album that invites the rath …

Despite pompously claiming to make “transcendental” music on their website (really, guys?) self-evident are a band with some impressive tricks up their sleeves. Mixing sparse yet powerful instrumentation with vocals that regularly leap from the melodic …

So here’s the debut album from Brighton based band Anagrams. The blurb for the album describes them as ‘Indie’, which, I’ll be honest, didn’t fill me with excitement. However, it does appear that on closer inspection they are indeed indie, in the true …

For me personally, over the last five years or so, Arbouretum have proved themselves to be just about the best band in the world currently recording music. Obviously, I know these things are highly subjective and there are cleverer bands, certainly; th …