Type and hit ENTER

Commonly used tags...

Brighton Festival Brighton Fringe Brighton Pride British Sea Power Cinecity Lewes Psychedelic Festival Locally Sourced Lost & Found Love Supreme Festival Mutations Festival Nick Cave Poets Vs MCs Politics Rag'n'Bone Man Record Store Day Save Our Venues Six Of The Best Source Virgins Streets Of Brighton Street Source Tattoos The Great Escape Tru Thoughts Unsung Heroes
  • Home
  • News
  • Previews
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Food
  • Tickets
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Advertise
  • Home
  • News
  • Previews
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Food
  • Tickets
  • Contact
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Advertise
Reviews

Music Reviews: Feb 2010

Jan 19, 2010
-
Posted by Nick Coquet

COMIC: BEN BAILEY Zombies In Brighton
A non-linear narrative that places an army of zombies wandering about in Brighton, staggering and moaning the way that zombies are wont to do, munching on limbs and generally cluttering the place up with orgiastic violence and killing. You take responsibility for your actions as you decide the path you take, all the while managing to thumb a sarcastic nose at poi, vegans, goths and gimps, until you discover if you’ve survived. Nicely written and illustrated, this is well worth a look.

ALBUM: HAMILTON YARNS Rising (Hark!)
Noodles, bleeps, muttered vocals and stark arrangements are the tools of Hamilton Yarns’ somewhat peculiar trade. There is a policy of pre-rock about the production -early electric instruments accompany these mini fables of otherworldliness; balloon rides, hilltop fires and abductions, in the slightly sinister manner of Oliver Postgate with a seriously spiked drink. It’s wilfully difficult and narrow in its potential appeal, but we like that about music a lot of the time. Oddly beautiful if only in quite short doses.

ALBUM: LOST IDOL Brave The Elements (Cookshop)
Head honcho of the Cookshop label, James Dean steps out from behind the office desk to deliver his second long player under the Lost Idol moniker following his 2006 debut. A loose filing under ‘electronica’ is probably warranted, but this in truth covers more avenues than such a cursory pigeonholing. Folk harmony vocals crop up, as do ethereal Eno-isms and rambling Lemon Jelly workouts with the odd vintage Gary Numan synth moment, all making up an accomplished and appealing listen.

SINGLE: MONSTERS BUILD MEAN ROBOTS Psalm57 (Nice Weather For Airstrikes)?
As a thoughtful gift from MBMR to you, you can pick this up for free at the label’s website, and we thoroughly recommend you do. In a progression from the more electronic sound of their first album, this sets out an altogether more organic stall for the sophomore release – echoes of Arcade Fire are a welcome surprise – as the band make more of a faithful translation of their onstage sound to record. The most irresponsible song this month, with its danger-baiting, albeit polite, refrain, “I suggest that you burn down your homes.”

ALBUM: PALM SPRINGS The Hope That Kills You (Random Acts Of Vinyl)
Songwriters DC Cane and J Russo have come some way since their 2007 debut album – still present is the instrumentation’s sprawling melancholy and the attention to production detail, but the most obvious and immediate progression is the quality of the songs themselves. Billed as a documentation of the aftermath of heartbreaking loss the album nonetheless avoids being mired in gloom, rather it’s a light at the end of the tunnel that makes you dry your eyes, blow your nose and greet the world with renewed optimism.

ALBUM: SECOND TIME LUCKY Drink, Sleep, Repeat (Rann)
It’s always difficult to review new ska records that come into the office, so familiar and enamoured are we of the 1979 template as well as the Trojan founding fathers. The south coast seems to attract more than its fair share of ska contenders, and STL here deliver a tight and bouncy take on it, brass and bass-led with a fiery female vocal. The only low point is a risible lyric on Emo vs Ska – an apparent throwback or homage to 1964’s kickings on the beach, although we quite liked the last line, “…and pull your fucking trousers up.”

SINGLE: TC Mental Problems (DV8)
Another promising release from the good people at DV8, a collective offering students a studio outlet for their grime and breaks. TC Johnston is this month’s offering, the solid title track on a similar theme to Dizzee’s Bonkers, and it’s backed up by some accomplished mixes ranging from drum’n’bass to 2 step and dub step, all from fellow DV8ers. We’ve said it before, but we love what these people do for burgeoning Brighton talent, and usually the results vastly belie the inexperience of the playerz.

Jan 19, 2010
Email
Nick Coquet
Nick Coquet is the former Deputy Editor of SOURCE. He also DJs on the radio, designs websites and stands about in the nude for life drawing classes. He's shaken hands with Meat Loaf and bumped into Keith Richards, just so he could say he's touched him.
← PREVIOUS POST
Culture: February 2010
NEXT POST →
Demo Reviews: Feb 2010
Mailing List

Recent Posts
  • The Lovely Eggs Interview
    Oct 15, 2025

    The Lovely Eggs tell us about their 20th anniversary, the new album and tour with Polite Bureax and some comedy legends supporting.

  • Ocean Film Festival Review 2025
    Oct 11, 2025

    A selection of beautifully shot short films covering diverse ocean lovers' passion for interacting with the sea.

  • Fractured Album Launch, Saturday 20th December
    Oct 10, 2025

    Fractured celebrate the release of their new album supported by Amelia And The Housewives.

  • 2:22 A Ghost Story Review
    Oct 7, 2025

    An evening of two couples having dinner together has never before been so gripping and enthralling, filled with tension, with the ultimate question: is their new house haunted or not?

  • Richard Hawley Review
    Oct 5, 2025

    As Coles Corner turns 20, Richard Hawley dazzled and delighted an up-for-it Worthing crowd with a 2 hour-plus set.

  • Brighton Psych Fest 2025 Review
    Sep 26, 2025

    The second Brighton Psych Fest was a beauty as we got down with Getdown Services as the evening sunlight glowed through the Concorde Stained Glass.

  • David Devant & His Spirit Wife, Friday 12th December
    Sep 23, 2025

    One of Brighton's greatest live bands returns for a pre-Xmas homecoming party.

  • Nick Cave To Play Exclusive Brighton Show Next Summer
    Sep 15, 2025

    Nick Cave returns to Brighton next Summer for an exclusive show with The Bad Seeds in Preston Park.

Website developed in Brighton by Infobo
Copyright © Brighton Source 2009-2023
Music Reviews: Feb 2010 - Brighton Source