Marissa Nadler - The Saga Of Mayflower May (Beautiful Happiness) By Steve Rudd

This album certainly won't be to all tastes, and it's very unlikely that we'll hear any of Marissa's music in the charts anytime soon. Still, that is no reflection whatsoever on the quality or the originality of the music. It's simply that Marissa's music unfortunately isn't the type to really permeate into the mainstream, with one of the primary reasons being because it is so different and unique. Eleven tracks are spread over thirty-five minutes of playing time, and right from the off with Turquoise, the effect is enchanting as her fragile finger-picked guitar strains work their magic.

Her Famous Song almost seamlessly follows on from the opening track. With the exception of the slightly more upbeat and melodic Yellow Lights, listening to this album in its entirety is rather like listening to just the one song of hers on repeat play. There is little to distinguish one from the other, when almost all of them are similarly paced and are graced with the exact same strain of finger-picked tenderness.

A previous release of hers came entitled Ballads of Living and Dying which did effectively reflect Marissa's fascination with death, as rousing elements of Americana, Gothic-Folk and Country music coalesce through the tracks Photographs, Calico and Highway Song that feature on this latest release. Nadler really does possess an extraordinary voice, sounding as though she's a hell-bound angel singing both 'to' and 'from' the soul. Appropriately, she's even prone to play gigs in places of religious worship, given her date in Leeds' Holy Trinity Church.

Accordingly, I pray that as many people as possible hear her music sooner rather than later. 7/10

Music, Album Reviews - A Certain Type of Person - The Great Bishop Robbery EP II By Michelle Dee
	I didn't go out today; instead I reached for the attractively packaged seven- track EP from Sheffield band A Certain Type of Person. They are a folk tinged five-piece with an eye for detail and unusual instrumentation including organs and vibraphones. At times the gentle acoustic sound is reminiscent of our own folk advocates Cowfish albeit with a more gravel laden Levellers style lead vocal. Read more...

Album Reviews - Foreign Sun Demo By Steve Rudd
	I first came to know of this Hull-based band back in 2000 when I was lucky enough to catch one of their gigs at the Hull Adelphi venue. Back then, I was stunned. Here and now, I'm gob smacked. Pretty soon after I saw the band, Foreign Sun seemed to disappear, but between then and now the band front man Rich Goldspink has been knuckling Read more...

Album Reviews - Love As Laughter - Laughter's Fifth (Sub-Pop) By Steve Rudd
	This Alternative American rock band is the brainchild of Sam Jayne, who has been releasing LAL-affiliated work since 1996, with this astonishingly brilliant 11-track LP being the band's fifth album. Laughter's Fifth was recorded in Sam's friend's basement over the course of five months in Delaware (that area in the USA that Wayne and Garth blatantly Read more...

Album Reviews - Steve Reed - I Have To Go By Nick Quantrill
	I Have To Go is the debut full-length release from Hull based singer-songwriter, Steve Reed. His debut release, And So On And So Forth was a promising, yet ultimately one-dimensional record that nevertheless showcased the potential of his considered approach to guitar pop. This new release sees significant steps Read more...

Album Reviews - David Wrench - The Atomic World of Tomorrow By Steve Rudd
	This ten-song-strong masterpiece of an LP is in a league of its own, as this David Wrench character proves to be something of an Alt-Pop-loving genius in his own right. Boldly opening with World War 4, this upbeat tune is literally out of this world and heaving with the chorus-based pop elements of Erasure and Duran Duran in their musical prime. Read more...

Album Reviews - Emma Rugg - Oceans / Depart EP By Steve Rudd
	Since Hull singer-songwriter Emma released her fabulous debut album Isolated Impression, her song writing style has changed somewhat, with this five-track EP being the perfect showcase for two brand new songs (in Oceans and Depart), along with appearances from her older tunes When I Looked At You and Prelude To The End Read more...

Singles Reviews - Chart Review 18th July 2005 with DJ Chris Plant
	Sorry I haven't done any chart reviews in a while. I've been busy with my American girlfriend. Well, we have a new Number One single this week. Just for a change it isn't a new release that has been hyped to the hills or a record bought in bulk by a small hardcore of fans that will struggle to appeal to a wider Read more...

Single Reviews - Morning Runner - Gone Up In Flames (Parlophone) By Steve Rudd
	Morning Runner are fast-becoming one of the nation's most exciting rock bands, and here they follow-up their fabulous Drawing Shapes EP with yet another masterpiece of a tune that is in truth an epic anthem. Their second single Gone Up In Flames is an upbeat and fast-paced pop-rock cut of staggering and mesmerising proportions, and their sublime and emotion-toiling sound might remind some folk of Terris. Read more...

Single Reviews - The Blue Van - Revelation of Love (TVT) By Steve Rudd
	It isn't every day that a quality rock band sails across the North Sea with such bold and ambitious intentions as Denmark outfit The Blue Van. This is their debut single which is taken from their Art Of Rolling album, with this tune being unflinchingly propelled by a rock hard angular guitar riff that attacks the senses like a sledgehammer to the groin. Read more...

Album Reviews - Ipanema - Me Me Me (Boss Tuneage Records) By Nick Quantrill
	Me Me Me is the debut mini-album from Hampshire based punk-rockers, Ipanema. Without falling wholly into the punk or rock camp, Ipanema are hammering out guitar heavy tunes that rock with the best of them, whilst still retaining an infectiously fresh melodic approach. The welding together of big guitar riffs with harmonies and up-lifting choruses maybe isn't that surprising Read more...

Single Reviews - Idlewild - El Capitan (EMI) By Steve Rudd
	Idlewild have been strutting their rock wares now for the best part of ten years, and yet their music is still constantly surprising and genuinely thrilling. This single release comes from the quintet's latest, and arguably greatest, album in Warnings/ Promises, and is even more of a sad, sad song than their Love Steals us From Loneliness anthem that has Read more...

Music, Bands - Tidy Mind Band Biog
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Album Reviews - Screaming Tarts Compilation Album By Steve Rudd
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Album Reviews - Jeff Caudill - Here's What You Should Do (Fortunate Son Records) By Nick Quantrill
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Album Reviews - The Vultures - Rebel Yelp By Caroline Murphy Photos - 23rd April 05 at The Adelphi By Michelle Dee
	Listening to this 6+ track EP conjured up images of black drain pipes and pudding basin haircuts, the retro 60's feel seeped from every groove. The distinctive guitar riffs and rhythm in most of the tracks could have come straight from the dark and smoky atmosphere of The Cavern, and I'm sure The Vultures dream that their success will equal that of the most famous band to come Read more...

Single Reviews - Be There (Freezer Recordings) By Steve Rudd
	This single is heart-warming indie-pop music of the highest order, from a fresh quartet that is fronted by the naturally talented singer and guitarist Leon Black. The band's chirpy Be There anthem is a perfect summer-suited tune for the masses to smile along to, being an electro-edged gem - and hugely commercial to boot. B-side Prozac Generation is just as poppy, while the Dirty Blue Gene Read more...