Features

The albums you can judge by their covers

Friday, 29 April 2011

As Lady Gaga reveals tacky artwork for her new CD, Simon Hardeman cringes at 10 other violations of taste.

The Airborne Toxic Event - A sublime second wind

Friday, 29 April 2011

LA rockers The Airborne Toxic Event have poured their hearts into their latest album, they tell Althea Legaspi

Electro-swing - Tonight we're going to party like it's 1929

Friday, 29 April 2011

Rahul Verma: It mixes Noughties beats with Twenties jazz, and is the latest craze to hit clubs and festivals.

The Barometer: Balkans; Tribes; Jemma Pixie Hixon; Honour Before Glory; Walk the Moon; Polaris at Noon; Keep Shelly in Athens; Thee Oh Sees; Blood Orange

Friday, 29 April 2011

What's hot on our playlist

Braids: A bona-fide garage band

Friday, 29 April 2011

Braids are four best friends from Canada, who have just released their debut album, Native Speaker. Bursting with lush, multi-layered dream pop, including their sumptuous-sounding single "Lemonade", it has seen the newcomers heralded as "Canada's newest heirs to Arcade Fire's throne" by NME. Now Braids are about to embark on their first UK tour.

Communion spread the word with The Flowerpot Sessions

Friday, 29 April 2011

Label samplers, signposts of an imprint's taste, philosophy and aesthetic, have fallen by the wayside in recent years. Nowadays, punters use Spotify to discover new acts, so hats off to Communion, who have come up with a novel take with The Flowerpot Sessions.

The Diary: James Cauty; Jussi Adler-Olsen; Jean-Claude Gandur; James Howard; Purple Ronnie

Friday, 29 April 2011

Cultural Life: Chipmunk, musician

Friday, 29 April 2011

Music: On my iPod I've got a good variety – Adele, Lil Wayne, Trey Songz, Florence and the Machine, Jay-Z – even myself. Adele has just hurricaned – what I like about her music is there's not too much going on. It's just a beautiful voice. My cultural interests are very much of my parental heritage, which is Caribbean; good music and good food. I like urban music because it's what I grew up on – hip-hop, grime, UK garage, reggae. I've been listening to a lot of Mavado recently. Also Chris Brown's album 'F.A.M.E.'. It's got a lot of good songs on it, including "She Ain't You", "Deuces" and "Look at Me Now".

Rusko: "I want tunes to sound big without having to go ‘RRRRRRRRR’

Tuesday, 26 April 2011

The journey for 26-year-old Chris Mercer, better known to you as Rusko, has been meteoric.

Sam Moir: Rusko: “I want tunes to sound big without having to go ‘RRRRRRRRR’

Tuesday, 26 April 2011

The journey for 26-year-old Chris Mercer, better known to you as Rusko, has been meteoric. In the short space of five years, the Leeds born producer has gone from creating seminal dubstep anthems to d ...