Category Archives: Music

Counting Crows, Underwater Sunshine (Or What I Did On Our Summer Vacation). Album Review.

Originally published by L.S. Media. April 9th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ****

Perhaps they were after the longest album title of the year, thankfully the new offering from Counting Crows, Underwater Sunshine (Or What I Did On Our Summer Vacation) doesn’t detract from the incredible sound that comes out of the speakers at you. It doesn’t so much as crash out at you at a speed that’s unfathomable, it more meanders, slowly, carefully, sits down at your table, eats a few meals with you and before you know it, you wonder how it managed to hang around and become essential listening.

Counting Crows, Underwater Sunshine (Or What I Did On Our Summer Vacation). Album Review. full post

(363 words, 1 image, estimated 1:27 mins reading time)

Accept, Stalingrad. Album Review.

Originally published by L.S. Media. April 10th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ****

Arguably one of the best Heavy Metal bands to come out of Germany, Accept have released one of their finest albums in years and even though to the person who dips in and out of the genre and whose knowledge stops at the moment where “it becomes too loud” it has to be said they are missing out on an album of incredible intensity and sublime electric guitars coupled with lyrics that dig beneath the heart of any metal fans psyche and the reason why the music speaks to more and more fans.

Accept, Stalingrad. Album Review. full post

(390 words, 1 image, estimated 1:34 mins reading time)

The Floe, Simple Pleasures. E.P. Review.

Photo by James Thorpe

Originally published by L.S. Media. April 15th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ****

For those that may have worried about the future of the band The Floe when the foursome went their separate ways, don’t worry, the two remaining members of the harmonious group, Sarah Springett and Liz Townsend, have regrouped, re-energised and gone back into the studio to record a stunning and sensual new E.P. The aptly named Simple Pleasures captures the two talented women at their very best and at their most dedicated.

The Floe, Simple Pleasures. E.P. Review. full post

(325 words, 1 image, estimated 1:18 mins reading time)

Feeder, Generation Freakshow. Album Review.

Originally published by L.S. Media. April 23rd 2012.

L.S. Media Rating *****

The lyrics to the title track of the album Generation Freakshow sums up the new release by Feeder perfectly. Listen very carefully and it becomes more than a chant of denial from a lost generation and those that have led the way like a pied piper playing tunes that betray them and will lead them not to a salvation but to a despondency that is palpable throughout this incredible album.

Feeder, Generation Freakshow. Album Review. full post

(373 words, 1 image, estimated 1:30 mins reading time)

Train, California 37. Album Review.

Originally published by L.S. Media. April 25th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating **

Train have finally released their sixth studio album, California 37, and in small parts it was well worth the three year wait that fans of this American folk rock band have had to endure.

The parts that work well, have a delightful and attention seeking quality that rarely gets played, or even a second thought this side of the Atlantic but in the United States of America can seem two a penny and for that it is a shame. For what can seem sometimes fresh and a tad exciting in Heswall or Coventry is already inducing boredom in Texas or Philadelphia.

Train, California 37. Album Review. full post

(401 words, 1 image, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)

All We Are, We Hunt. E.P. Review.

Originally published by L.S. Media. April 30th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating *****

All We Are…are simply phenomenal and this comes across in the new E.P. We Hunt which was launched at the unlikely setting of St. Brides Church in Liverpool. Accompanied by an extremely good video for the song Trainspotting which delves into the world of 1940’s Film Noir, We Hunt is an E.P. that deserves nothing but the highest praise.

All We Are, We Hunt. E.P. Review. full post

(405 words, 1 image, estimated 1:37 mins reading time)

Jack White, Blunderbuss. Album Review.

Originally published by L.S.Media. May 2nd 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ****

Jack White has long since departed The White Stripes, has dabbled with various artists, other bands including The Raconteurs, The Dead Weather, Bob Dylan, Norah Jones; and for all that is known, Uncle Tom Cobley and his eclectic band of English nursery rhymes.

Jack White, Blunderbuss. Album Review. full post

(403 words, 1 image, estimated 1:37 mins reading time)

Stephen Langstaff, Colours. Album Review.

Stephen Langstaff. Photograph by Ian D. Hall

Originally by L.S. Media.  May 3rd 2012.L.S. Media Rating *****

Stephen Langstaff has come a long way in such a short space of time, it’s a wonder that he has found the time to stand still and reflect on his life so far, let alone go into the studio and come out with a stunning album that does justice to his prestigious talent but also features one of the finest Roy Orbison covers ever recorded.

Stephen Langstaff, Colours. Album Review. full post

(402 words, 1 image, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)

The Hollies, Radio Fun. Album Review.

L.S. Media Rating ****

Among the many things to thank the B.B.C. for, somewhere near the very top should be that unlike the amount of early pioneering television programmes that were wiped to save money and space, at least the corporation managed to have the foresight to know where they could lay their hands on the early recordings of some of the more influential pop groups of the sixties.

The Hollies, Radio Fun. Album Review. full post

(461 words, 1 image, estimated 1:51 mins reading time)

Damon Albarn, Dr Dee. Album Review.

Originally blished by L.S. Media. May 8th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ***

Damon Albarn is one of those musicians that made his name in the 90’s and managed with some skill and incredible fortitude to remain vital and interesting in whatever project he had his eye on next.

From the heady days of Blur and the unforgettable public spats with Oasis and the Gallagher brothers and the Brit Pop culture explosion to the remarkable fusion of the ground breaking rock animation and slightly disturbing nature of Gorillaz to his debut album Dr Dee, it seems that the man who gave the nation songs such as Country House, Tracy Jacks, Dirty Harry and Clint Eastwood has now set his eyes on a higher, more lofty enterprise.

Damon Albarn, Dr Dee. Album Review. full post

(457 words, 1 image, estimated 1:50 mins reading time)