Maybeshewill/Her Name Is Calla Split 12″

It must be Christmas come early. Two Leicester bands, who between them are responsible for two of the most promising releases of 2008, coming together to give us half an hour of instrumental joy Maybeshewill, ‘fresh’ from releasing their debut album Read more

Metallica - Death Magnetic

This record is likely to do well commercially for a few reasons - number one, it’s by Metallica; number two, it’s Metallica going back to what they have, historically, done best; and number three, that’s what many modern metal bands are doing now as well. Read more

Sennen - Where The Light Gets In

Sennen are, apparently, the “Kings of the Nu-Gaze scene” (according to their website, anyway), which gives copious clues as to what one should expect from this, their second LP, following on from 2005’s Widows. Previously big Mogwai fans, the Norfolk four-piece at some point decided their music destiny was to write proper songs, including lyrics and everything, with just the one track of noise, Sennen Enjoy Life (reminiscent of a certain Mogwai Fear Satan, or is that just me?), and some guitar effects the survivors of their first love. Read more

Her Name Is Calla - The Heritage

The debut ‘mini-album’ - over 50 minutes long, but only six tracks - from Her Name is Calla is the Leicester/Leeds based band’s second release on Gizeh Records following their well-received debut single ‘A Moment of Clarity’ towards the end of last year. This effort apparently began life as an EP (hence mini-album), and, in places, this seems to show, with each track better standing alone than integrating into an entire piece of music. Read more

Her Name Is Calla/Glissando @ The Charlotte, Leicester

As if the Charlotte weren’t small enough already, this show from soon-to-no-longer-be-Leicester-based band Her Name is Calla - unofficially launching their new mini-album - is upstairs in a room no larger than a fair-sized living room. Read more

You Slut! - Critical Meat

Now finally released in the UK - a year after hitting Japan, and coming up to two years since they finished in the studio - You Slut!’s debut mini-album has been keenly anticipated for some time now, by this reviewer at least. Read more

Interview: You Slut!

You Slut! are an instrumental quartet from Derby/Nottingham. With their debut album finally having a confirmed UK release date, what better time than to email them a list of questions and hope for the best? Read more

Everyone Must Win - Everyone Must Win

“Everyone Must Win is the 11th commandment” - so say this Cardiff based five-piece. It might be an oddly optimistic name, certainly in the cut-and-thrust world that is the music industry, however, their brand of upbeat indie-pop makes it more than justified. They may not be the most original music-makers out there (something they freely admit), but what they do, they do remarkably well. Read more

Oceansize @ Rescue Rooms, Nottingham

It’s possibly a sad indictment of the ‘alternative’ music scene in this country now that a band making music of such epic grandeur as Oceansize do are only playing Nottingham’s third venue. Read more

Turias - Rasputin

It shouldn’t work. It just shouldn’t. Fortunately, no one told Turisas that. Their cover of Boney M’s classic disco hit, ‘Rasputin’, was released at the end of September, and, once you’ve cleared the thoughts of ‘Eh?’ and actually given it a good listen, you realise quite why they’ve recorded it after a couple of years of including it in their live sets.That the Finnish Viking/power metal six-piece have both violin and accordion in their line-up certainly helps, but the insistent guitar phrase that opens the song, and then repeats throughout, plus the excellent drumming, really drive proceedings. That the original was annoyingly catchy also helps, but this is a metal version of a ’70s disco classic. OK, so as a cover it’s not up there with Johnny Cash’s version of ‘Hurt’, but remind yourself of what it is, and, really, it has no right to be this good. Ra Ra Rasputin indeed.