The War On Drugs

After a spectacular 15th anniversary occasion, you might have thought it was going to be hard to top last year's edition of Green Man Festival. However, an astounding new line-up for summer 2018 has just been announced that could prove those initial assertions wrong.

Green Man Festival comes to Wales in August 2018

Leading the roster are The War On Drugs and Fleet Foxes. The former have just received the Best Rock Album Grammy for their 2017 album 'A Deeper Understanding', while the latter returned after six long years with 'Crack-Up' last June. They previously played the festival in 2009.

Continue reading: The War On Drugs And Fleet Foxes Lead 2018 Green Man Festival Line-Up

Forecastle Festival has finally completed its 2015 line-up and announced the full day-by-day schedule for the coming event, which is set to hit Louisville, Kentucky yet again in July. Plus, you'll very soon be able to purchase single day tickets for each day.

Joining the stellar line-up headlined by the already announced Sam Smith, locals My Morning Jacket and Widespread Panic are The War On Drugs, ZZ Ward, Robert DeLong and Mariachi el Bronx among a handful of others. With such talent expected every day between July 17th and 19th, 2015 is shaping up to be an important year for Forecastle.

Continue reading: Forecastle Completes 2015 Line-Up With The War On Drugs And Mariachi El Bronx

I'm still unsure what this decade will be seen as in years to come with regard to music, 2014 despite offering up some seriously great records has done little to cement a trend that will define the musical landscape in the public consciousness. Yes, artists continued to experiment with how to release their material, but there doesn't seem to be an alternative model that has been entirely successful. Thom Yorke's second solo album Life's Modern Boxes employed an innovative BitTorrent release three months ago, but for the most part failed to make a real impact. It's an ok record, nothing more, but suffers mainly because it doesn't feel like it's pushing the sonic envelope in the same way as the Atoms For Peace record did. Meanwhile U2 decided to drop an album out of nowhere to everybody with an Apple account. Self-aggrandising or an altruistic gesture to fans? Whatever your view the column inches it generated won't have hurt the band, even if Songs Of Innocence wasn't quite the re-invention that many were hoping for. To my ear it's a record with some redeeming qualities and some good song writing, but the handful of tracks that may be a welcome addition to the quartets body of work are outnumbered by filler.

Elsewhere it's been a strong year for Pop, Lily Allen and Katy B continued to produce interesting albums. However Taylor Swift's 1989 was a particular highlight, although in the same way as recent offerings from TV On The Radio (Seeds) and The Smashing Pumpkins (Monuments To An Elegy), I haven't lived with those records long enough for them to make my top ten of the year. I'd also have liked to have seen mainstream Hip Hop recover from a lull in 2013, but aside from Run The Jewels second record (Run The Jewels 2) and The Roots concept album (.And Then They Shoot Your Cousin), nothing really jumped out at me.

Continue reading: Jim Pusey's Top Albums Of 2014

10) Soft Walls - No Time
Multi-talented musician-cum-producer Dan Reeves divides his time playing in several bands with running a record label. This effort, his second as Soft Walls ranks as his finest collection to date. Although heralded as one of new psychedelia's finest releases, 'No Time' owes as much to Phil Spector and Suicide as it does anything else, and sounds all the more accomplished for it. 

9) Temples - Sun Structures
Having spent the best part of two years touring the songs that would eventually go onto become 'Sun Structures', it was perhaps somewhat inevitable that the album would be every bit as good as we'd hoped. What happens next will be key to Temples long-term future, but for now 'Sun Structures' is a fitting document of the band's inaugural stages.

8) Cheatahs - Cheatahs  
This cosmopolitan four-piece might display their influences quite brazenly. However, this debut bears all the hallmarks of a classic. Referencing the likes of My Bloody Valentine, Swervedriver and Teenage Fanclub at regular intervals yet retaining a distinctive edge all the same, 'Cheatahs' is the sound of a band discovering an identity and using it to their advantage.

Continue reading: Dom Gourlay's Top Albums Of 2014

Shield your eyes as Austin's most vibrant music festival marks its seventh year from May 2nd-4th 2014. With The Zombies, The Horrors and Temples on this unique bill, are we looking at Austin Psych Fest's best year yet?

Founded in 2008, the Austin Psych Fest started off as a tiny event; a one day blast of sensational independent bands at The Red Barn venue. It took just one year for it to expand into three whole days of psychedelic magic and will this year take place at the Carson Creek Ranch playing host to some of the most well respected bands of the genre in the business. We've had six years so far of this inimitable energy and with old lucky number seven comes a line-up that is arguably the festival's most interesting yet.

Continue reading: Does Austin Psych Fest 2014 Have The Best Line-Up Yet?