The Owl Dancers – Porcelain Plates by Tiff McGinnis aka Grande Dame

Tiff McGinnis first came to my attention as Crazygirl, appearing in the first ever print issue of Amelia's Magazine. Now she's back with a grand new project combining music and art. And to celebrate the launch of Grande Dame she's produced a limited edition range of porcelain plates featuring Dancing Owls. Fab.

Who remembers the very first issue of Amelia’s Magazine? Come on, I know I only printed 1000 of the buggers but there’s got to be a few people out there …

Album review and interview – Mechanical Bride: Living With Ants

Her debut album came out a few weeks back - Living With Ants is a haunting feast for the senses, full of jazz and classical inflections. Please welcome Lauren Doss, aka Mechanical Bride.

Mechanical Bride by Sam Parr.
Her debut album came out a few weeks ago and she’s been busy promoting it since then, but I’ve finally managed to secure an interview with …

Review of album Dig Down Deep and interview with Vandaveer

The third album from Vandaveer sees Washington based Mark Charles Heidinger joined by Rose Guerin for a phenomenal musical experience that is steeped in old world wonder.

Vandaveer by Gemma Sheldrake.
Dig Down Deep opens the latest album from Vandaveer of the same name. It’s a rousing ditty that traces the journey of a merry band of vagabonds …

Review of debut album Last Smoke Before The Snowstorm and interview with Benjamin Francis Leftwich

The debut album of York based singer songwriter Benjamin Francis Leftwich is a romantic delight, perfect for a lazy summer's day...

Benjamin Francis Leftwich by Sam Parr.
He’s got a beautiful lilting voice and a way with words that belies his age: meet romantic new singer songwriter Benjamin Francis Leftwich of York. …

Kyla La Grange – New single Been Better and exclusive interview with Intruders TV

The new single by Kyla La Grange is released on 11th July. Watch the accompanying video here and an exclusive interview with Kyla by Intruders TV. Loads of plans in the pipeline...

You may remember that I interviewed Kyla La Grange in person a few months back. Well, she’s just finished a UK wide tour with Wolf Gang and her next single …

An interview with musician and artist Elizabeth Walling, aka Gazelle Twin

Gazelle Twin is a Brighton based musician who is making waves with her avante garde approach to music. The new album The Entire City is out soon and there's a very special chance to catch her playing the Soundwaves Festival on Sat 16th July.

Gazelle Twin by Sarah Arnett.
I’ve been keeping a firm eye (and ear) on Gazelle Twin since I discovered her enigmatic first single at the tail end of last year. Changelings …

Half Japanese and The Lovely Eggs at Scala, Kings Cross: An illustrated review by Slowly the Eggs

On May 31st Half Japanese played at the London Scala, supported by The Lovely Eggs and Let's Wrestle. Maria Papadimitriou, also known as Slowly the Eggs, went along to gather illustrations for this wonderful illustrated review.

Half Japanese ‘Fire in her Eyes’ by Maria Papadimitriou aka Slowly The Eggs.
One Tuesday evening at the end of last month I found myself going along to the Scala at …

Album Review – Chad Valley: Equatorial Ultravox

The beautiful new Chillwave of Equatorial Ultravox by Chad Valley is out now on Loose Lips records. Chad Valley is Oxford based Hugo Manuel and he'll be playing at this year's Truck Festival.

From the teasing synths of opener Now That I’m Real (How Does It Feel?) to the closing wails of Shapeless it is clear that this new super long length EP …

An interview with Lesley Barnes: Creating the animated video for the Belle and Sebastian single I Didn’t See It Coming

The wonderful illustration work of Lesley Barnes gets animated in a video for Belle and Sebastian - it's a match made in heaven. Let's find out more...

Concept art for the video.
The talented illustrator and animator Lesley Barnes has only gone and done it again: she’s produced the most wonderful video for Belle and Sebastian’s joyous new …

An interview with Stylusboy

Meet new folk wonder Steve Jones, aka Stylusboy. Hailing from Coventry he makes beautifully sweet tunes. His Whole Picture EP is out now.

Stylusboy by Giles Mead.
Sometimes I get contacted by wonderful musicians out of the blue, and so it was with Steve Jones of Coventry. An email, a link to a website: …

Album Review – Marissa Nadler: Marissa Nadler

Marissa Nadler draws me in with her beautiful 5th self titled album, released this week on her own label: Box of Cedar Records via funds raised on Kickstarter. With lots and lots of illustrations.

Marissa Nadler by Avril Kelly.
Marrisa Nadler’s 5th album came out this week. The Massachusetts born singer songwriter has been playing music since she was a teenager, teaching herself guitar, 12 …

Stornoway talk about playing at the 2011 Larmer Tree Festival, 13th-17th July in Dorset

We speak to Stornoway about the UK festival scene in advance of their performance at the Larmer Tree Festival, taking place between 13th-17th July at the Larmer Tree Gardens in Dorset. With lots of illustrations.

Stornoway by Sally Jane Thompson.
I’m really excited that Oxford indie folksters Stornoway will be playing on the bill at Larmer Tree Festival this year. Their lovely debut album Beachcomber’s Windowsill …

Album Review – Emmy the Great: Virtue

Lovely Emmy the Great is back with new album Virtue, and it's a multi-faceted wonder that explores the existential wanderings of her mind against a lush musical backdrop.

Emmy the Great by Soni Speight.
I’ve been a fan of Emma-Lee Moss for oh so long. And she hasn’t failed me yet.

Emmy the Great by Gabrielle Brittney.

Emmy The Great by …

Ladytron at the HMV Forum: Live Review

Ahead of the release of their fifth studio album, the standard bearers of dark electronic pop return to London as part of a short UK tour on Wednesday 8th June 2011.

Ladytron by Claire Kearns.
Has it really been this long? This long since I first caught the subtly seductive beats of Playgirl on Radio 1’s Evening Session? Hearing Helen Marnie’s coy …

Wood Festival 2011 Review: Zeus, Treetop Flyers Eliza Carthy and printing with lino!

Sunday at Wood Festival was another relaxing day filled with great music and lots of messy art with the kids. Plus harmony singing. Perfect.

Wood Festival Samba Band and Tents by Sam Parr.
Sunday at Wood Festival began with a stint of harmony singing led by Katy, the talented teacher of the Bennett family. It’s …

New video for Diamond Mine single Bubble by Elliot Dear

The gorgeous new video to accompany Bubble was created by director and illustrator Elliot Dear. It features a black dog who swims amongst the fish deep below a harbour, and it's absolutely wonderful.

There’s no denying that a good music video is increasingly a necessity to accompany any new single release in our multi media world, so it is no wonder that it …

Primavera Sound 2011 Review: Warpaint, PJ Harvey, Animal Collective and more! (Day 3)

With today's review we come to an end of our mammoth Primavera Sound 2011 review. What amazing stories will our reporter Laura Lotti tell us today? Something involving PJ Harvey, Animal Collective, Fleet Foxes... and a lot of rock 'n roll!

Warpaint by Rebecca Elves
The first band I aim to see today is Warpaint. Breathing salty seabreeze and sipping the first flat beer of the day I make my way …

Primavera Sound 2011 Review: Tennis, Pere Ubu, Deerhunter, Pulp and more! (Day 2)

Welcome to the second part of our Primavera Sound 2011 review. Yesterday our field reporter Laura Lotti took us into her world made of sun, melodies and... beer and told us about Moon Duo, PiL and Suicide among the many bands she fulfilled her senses with. Let's see where she's going to bring us today.

Jarvis Cocker of Pulp by Sam Parr.
After una copa de tinto de verano, I’m ready for another night of music overdose. First on my list is Julian Lynch, the …

Free single download and video from I Break Horses: Hearts

The enigmatic and beautiful video for the delicious shoegaze electronica of Hearts was directed by Alex Southam of OOF Video. Check it out here.

I’ve been falling in love with quite a few new female artists of late. One of whom is Stockholm based duo Maria Lindén and her musical partner Fredrik Balck who …