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 …

Primavera Sound 2011 Review: Moon Duo, PiL, The Glenn Branca Ensemble, Suicide and more… (Day 1)

Like every end of May, Primavera Sound officially opens the music festivals season. For its 11th edition it promised to be beyond any expectations, with acts such as PiL, Animal Collective, Pulp etc. And it proved it definitely was! This is how the first day of this music marathon went. Stay tuned, the rest will follow soon!

Photo by Chus Sanchez (Courtesy of Primavera Sound)
Primavera Sound 2011 opened in a delicate climate this year, full of antithetical feelings and tensions. On the one hand, bitterness, for the …

Wood Festival 2011 Review: Sarabeth Tucek, Khaira Arby, Willy Mason, The Epstein and more!

Wood Festival was a wonderful way to kick off the festival season - here's my review of Saturday's bands. And so much more - make sure you take a peek!

Willy Mason at Wood Festival by Sam Parr.
I woke to a parent discussing the merits of dressing up as a crocodile with her child, and when I peeked my head …

Jon Hopkins and King Creosote perform Diamond Mine live at the Union Chapel: Review

This sold out event at the Union Chapel on Wednesday 25th May 2011 was a rare chance to see Jon Hopkins and King Creosote perform Diamond Mine live. Not to be missed.

Jon Hopkins and King Creosote by Jim Design.
It was a while before I twigged who Jon Hopkins‘ was: he provided a lovely soundtrack for a piece of contemporary dance I …

Diamond Mine by Jon Hopkins and King Creosote. An interview with Kenny Anderson.

King Creosote answers my questions about his collaboration with Jon Hopkins with amazing frankness and candour. So worth reading.

King Creosote and Jon Hopkins by Rosemary Cunningham.
In the second part of my attempt to delve into the creation of the amazing collaborative album Diamond Mine, Kenny Anderson (aka King …

Diamond Mine by Jon Hopkins and King Creosote. A review and interview with Jon Hopkins.

Diamond Mine is an absolutely gorgeous album, the result of a collaboration from two very different musical talents. In the first of two blogs find out how the partnership worked from both sides.

Diamond Mine was released in the UK a few months ago and came out in the US only recently, so I hope that some of my readers will already have …

Album Review: James Pants

Krautrock, Kraftwerk and shoegaze. With added extras. It shouldn't work, but it does - when electro auteur James Pants is at the helm.

All artwork courtesy of James Pants
I must confess, I have been a bit over focused on just one genre of music recently; pretty much every track that I have downloaded, …

New single from Emmy the Great: Iris

The beautiful new single from Emmy the Great comes out on the 6th June, to be followed by her new album Virtue soon afterwards. Here's a taster of what to expect with a preview of the video directed by Derek Andrade.

Oh how I love Emmy the Great…. since I fast saw her playing in a little central London dive those many years ago she just keeps on getting better and …

Competition: win a pair of VIP Golden Lanyard all expenses paid tickets to Montreal Festimania this summer!

Montreal Festimania takes place between mid July and mid August 2011, showcasing the very best of the arts across 11 different festivals. Read on to discover how you can win a pair of all expenses paid tickets to Canada.

I love a good festival I do, and I am really excited because I have been asked to attend a brand new month long showcase for the Canadian arts this …

Wood Festival 2011 Review: Goodnight Lenin, Thea Gilmore, Telling the Bees

The first night at Wood Festival in Braziers Park was a relaxed sign of the weekend to come: wonderful folk music set against a beautiful backdrop.

Tents by Lorna Scobie.
Wood Festival is billed as one of the greenest festivals in the UK, a fully sustainable event that takes place in the lovely sun dappled meadows of …

An interview with CocknBullKid on the release of new album Adulthood

It's an anthemic tour de force: Adulthood by CocknBullKid comes out today on Moshi Moshi / Island Records. I had a little catch up with Anita Blay, the lady behind the songs.

CocknBullKid by Laura Warecki.
When Amelia’s Magazine first met CocknBullkid she stood out as a unique singer, flying far from any obvious pigeon hole. I was impressed. Now, a couple of …

Stag and Dagger 2011 review: CocknBullKid, Our Mountain, Marques Toliver, James Yuill

The Stag and Dagger one night festival once more returned to Shoreditch this Thursday 19th May, and as usual it was a great opportunity to discover little known and up and coming talent. Here's what I found, including Ozzie supermodel Abbey Lee Kershaw on keys.

Abbey Lee Kershaw of Our Mountain, playing at the Stag and Dagger 2011.
I started my Stag and Dagger journey at Camp on City Road, a grotty basement venue with minimal …