I first heard about Shanty Town a couple of weeks ago when I was trawling through the schedule for In The City. I was lucky enough to catch them on the closing night of ITC at the SJM Showcase (thanks Will) and I have to say they were nothing short of brilliant, especially since one of the songs had only been finished that day.
Hailing from Salford, this musically ambitious quintet only have a handful of songs (that I know about) but armed with those they’re definately something to write home …

French alt. rock sensations, Phoenix, have been one of the most talked about bands of 2009. Their brilliant fourth studio album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix has already seen the release of two outstanding singles: 1901 and personal favourite of mine, Lisztomania. I’ve heard very good things about the band’s live show, although recently I’ve heard murmurings of the ongoing ill health of lead singer Thomas Mars which has caused a couple of below par performances this year, thankfully tonight wasn’t one of these, quite the opposite in fact.
Tonight’s support came …

Frank Turner, dear readers, is amazing. I saw him at the same venue back in January of this year, and the vibe has certainly changed in over the course of a few months. The musician I saw perform at the beginning of 2009 was a humble, beautiful and creative man whose brilliant music was significantly under-appreciated.
Friday evening saw that same humble, beautiful and creative man recognised; by a sold-out room full of people, to be specific. On top of the fact it was a sell-out crowd, I feel I …

This week, I’ve been to three gigs that are worthy of mention, and rather than bombard you with three separate posts (how would you have coped?!), I thought I’d give you a run down of the amazing music I’ve been flitting between this week…

Monday was The Xcerts in support of Idlewild at Norwich’s Waterfront. Picture more than decent Scottish rock with a blast of meaning behind it; that’s a summary of Xcerts.  They were absolutely marvellous lads; punchy and rock-filled tunes with lots of character and angst involved. The boys …

Yes Giantess are extremely American. Not in that insulting ‘those-wankers-elected-George-Bush’ sort of way, but rather in that ‘there’s-something-far-greater-there-than-the-nationality-is-credited-for’ sense. Their thirty minute set to open the NME Radar tour on Monday evening was far shorter than I’d have liked, and it’s clear to me from just that period of time in their presence that they’ll be headlining their next UK tour.
Their songs benefit from that natural catchiness that gets a crowd moving at a venue like The Waterfront, and the best part about this band is that they look completely …

Fanfarlo are a band that none of your friends will have heard of, and you can take joy in telling them they’re idiots for just that reason. Over the past two years, folk music in Britain has overflowed, adapted and given birth to revised genres of the folk-slash-indie-slash-pop persuasion. The ever-expanding scene of this sort began in London and the latest hybrids of this wonderful musical happening are Fanfarlo. These guys are not to be missed.
Having just released their brilliant debut album ‘Reservoir’ (reviewed here), it’s no surprise at all …