A nice selection of recordings this month for me to cast my ears over. Until the late submission by Amoral Compass it was looking like a Wiltshire special. Although after reading the review they may wish they hadn’t sent it in….. Congratulations to Buswell for his 2nd Record Of The Month Award. Buswell – An … Continue reading
And now for the review part of my Oxford special. And dear me the standard was high. But, The August List’s album is in a class all of it’s own when it comes to being different and having it’s own voice. Simply Superb. The August List – O Hinterland (LP) Record of the Month This … Continue reading
Only one great album this month, the brilliant debut from Oxfordshires Trophy Wife. Massive shame it is their last as well as their first. Biggest surprise was the enjoyment I had in some of the tracks on the Stooshe album, I am not ashamed to admit. Josh Kumra’s debut was the biggest disappointment, I had … Continue reading
The run of impressive in-store mini-gigs and signings at independent record store Sound Knowledge in Marlborough’s Hughenden Yard continued this week with an incendiary show from Exeter rock n roll punks The Computers. Promoting just released 2nd album “Love Triangles, Hate Squares” they squeezed onto the small stage set up in next-door café-bar Azuza, no … Continue reading
An often recurring theme in my reviews is the blurry lines between genres, and how some of the most interesting music straddles several, creating its own niche within which to develop. Some genres seem to purposefully contain very loose common characteristics, or already be a cross breed of several more traditional and rigid categories, often … Continue reading
Music can be a powerful trigger, generating synaptic responses in the listener that can cause extremes of emotion, opinion, feeling and memory. Some music does this with a real battering ram approach, grabbing the lapels of your brain and shaking a response from it, but sometimes a more subtle tactic can be by far the … Continue reading
A real mix of music this month, from the crunching metal of Bring Me the Horizon to the proggy synth washes of The Flaming Lips. And several stops in between as well. Album of the month for me is Dinosaur Pile-Up’s.It has grown on me like you wouldn’t believe since I reviewed it, and has … Continue reading
We have a real soft spot at The Ocelot for Swindon teen Faye Rogers. And much to our delight she has stealth released three new recordings of her own compositions. Not really an EP release (I have borrowed the above title from one of the songs as I like it and it suits) they are … Continue reading
First published by greenmanmusic.biz I have written before on how difficult it is to put simple labels onto some bands. They just defy categorisation, either through being totally unique and original through isolation from other music or by absorbing so many diverse influences into their music that they develop a schizophrenic sound, which can either … Continue reading
I first encountered Yorkshire band Wet Nuns on the BBC Introducing stage at Reading last year, immediately making a mental note to investigate them more upon my return to civilisation. But a weekend of typical festival fun put paid to most of the mental notes I made, and through a fluke of editorial selection their … Continue reading
The Unwise Monkey 