Steve Rudd page 6.

Steve Rudd has been writing for thisisUll.com for some time and has proved himself to be one of our most talented writers. Steve's contributions are listed below.. Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6, Page 7, Page 8, Page 9, Page 10, Page 11.

People - An Interview With William Landay By Steve Rudd
	William (or Bill, for short) Landay is a hot new American crime writer who has recently published his debut novel - Mission Flats - to widespread critical acclaim. William is currently hard at work on his second novel, which is due to be published next year. Still, amidst his busy writing schedule, William kindly managed to take a little time out to chat exclusively to Steve Rudd Read more...

Single Reviews - Tajinere - Ours Tonight / Welcome (Heart of the Nation) Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	It's all about the music. Nothing else is important, beams Tajinere, an exciting Hip-Hop artist who has recently returned to live in Hull. He used to live in Hull, but in 2004 he took off travelling and spent some time in Australia and Guatemala. Now he's back, and he's focusing all his energy on music, with this double-A side single being his debut release. Ours Tonight is a chilled-out Read more...

Fiction - 'I Do' By Steve Rudd
	Nobody told me marriage would be like this. I thought it would be bliss, day in and day out, but problems soon surfaced, after our hastily arranged elopement in good old Gretna - that bizarre little settlement that straddles the border between England and Scotland as though it can't quite decide where it stands; where it belongs; which side of the metaphorical fence it is Read more...

Album/EP Reviews - The Vibrants (4-track EP) Release Date: March 14th 2006 Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	Quite why this band remains unsigned is one heck of a mystery. Truth is, this London-lounging quintet is more than living up to its name with the blazing-hot brand of garage-trashing rock 'n' roll that is being produced by The Vibrants. This eponymous EP was recorded at Pete Townsend's Oceanic Studios no less, and The Who is just one band that has inspired Read more...

Single Reviews - The Answer - Into The Gutter (Albert) Release Date: 24th April 2006 Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	On the back of an appetite-whetting EP release, and in front of their eagerly awaited 12-track debut album that is set to land in Summer '06, this single is surely destined to help in making this young quartet something of a household name. Already they have enjoyed fabled support slots with titans of hard rock Deep Purple, and the sound of The Answer owes a Read more...

Album Reviews - Ellenby - All You Need To Know (Level Sound) Release Date: 10th April 2006 Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	And all you need to know is that this album is a sheer pleasure to listen to, as this duo delivers stunning song after song. There are ten tracks in all that all mix and mash together beguiling Folk, Pop and Rock elements to intoxicating effect, with Liz Young the singer of the duo, leaving multi-instrumentalist Ben Goddard to create the wondrous and consistently Read more...

Album Reviews - Hi Flyer - Here Comes The Sunshine (Reiker) Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	Having been masterfully engineered by Portishead bassist Jim Barr, this melodic Pop-Rock album comes from a young band from Bristol, with two of the members being brother and sister Henry and Elle Williams, who are backed up by Mike Edwards and Tom Raiff. All of the songs are easy listening mid-paced anthems, and any one of them could quite easily get Read more...

People - An Interview With Peter May By Steve Rudd
	I'd like to introduce you to Peter May, a writer of thriller novels that are genuinely exhilarating affairs from start to finish. Peter is famous for writing his series of China Thrillers - a series that includes his Firemaker novel, along with the racy Snakehead story that is set in Texas. Peter always carries out intensive research into the places in which he sets his stories; he also Read more...

Single Reviews - Rob McCulloch - Planet Of My Own (Gladrag) Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	Following-up his fantastic Thoughts Alone album, this fresh-faced and hugely talented singer-songwriter from Bolton releases his debut single, Planet Of My Own - an awesomely catchy slab of chart-hungry indie-rock for the masses. I can't sleep, confides Rob - This world won't turn with me. His gruffly soulful voice is a Godsend, and is perhaps heard best on b-side Read more...

Single Reviews - Archie Bronson Outfit - Dart For My Sweetheart (Domino) Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	This single from the somewhat mysterious ABO entity is deliciously dark and menacing and will surely appeal to any fans of Nick Cave's musings. The guitar melodies are charged with intriguing malice, and yet the b-side in Fire Horse is still exhilarating in its own unique right, buoyed by a striking intensity in the face of such compelling darkness. This Outfit has been Read more...

Album Reviews - Japan - The Very Best of ... (Virgin) Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	As the old saying goes, you can never have too many compilation albums to chart a band's career. So, with this in mind, here's yet another Japan Best of to add to the long list of previous compilations that highlight all the classic tunes that the Brit group pumped out. Fronted by David Sylvian (who went on to have a successful solo career following the band's break-up), Read more...

Single Reviews - Engerica - The Smell (Sanctuary) Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	This madcap trio has to be witnessed, whether via record or in a live situation. Truth is, they are awesome, if a tad eccentric and zany in their frantic rock 'n' roll ways. Fronted by David Gardner, these three guys were going great guns a couple of years ago, but then they seemed to disappear without a trace for a while before re-launching themselves back into the Read more...

Single Reviews - The Voom Blooms - Politics And Cigarettes (Fiction) Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	Here we have some truly beautiful music, from a band that only got together early in 2005, and that is based in Loughborough. This, their debut single, is a classic and builds on the star-gazing sounds that were unleashed via their much-sought-after London Heads demo. A quartet fronted by George Guildford, The Voom Blooms are masters of melody creation, Read more...

Single Reviews - Lovemat - Between The Lines (Disturbia) Release date: April 3rd 2006. Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	A racy anthem to get your rocks off to, the heady music of Lovemat is primarily propelled by mesmerising guitar riffage that thunders into the mix beside delectable harmonies and strong vocals from Paul Kell. They are an old-skool hard rock band and hail from Newcastle, with this being their debut single. If I were you, I'd buy up a few copies of this release, Read more...

People - An Interview With Peter Gadol By Steve Rudd
	Peter Gadol is the exciting author of a number of uniquely exhilarating novels including the deliciously dark, drama-driven thriller The Long Rain. His latest novel is Light at Dusk, and here he spares some time to chat to Steve Rudd exclusively about his life and times, and trials and tribulations as a highly respected and hugely talented writer of the type of stories that Read more...

Album Reviews - Billy Bragg - Billy Bragg Volume 1 (Cooking Vinyl) Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	An essential purchase for hardcore BB fans as well as those people who might have heard just a few of his songs but who dare to delve further into the life and times of Billy Bragg, this release is a box set comprising seven CDs and a couple of DVDs. In and amongst Billy Bragg Volume 1 there are four of Billy's earliest and greatest albums, which are Life's A Riot Read more...

Album Reviews, Music Videos - Torso Horse - Every Dog Has Its Day Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	Calling all Torso Horse fans! Your favourite Goth-Metal maestros have recently reworked their classic Every Dog Has Its Day anthem, and shot a brand new promo video to boot, which - in a word - is stunning. The original version of this track was fantastic as it stood, but Adam and band have felt compelled to rework it a little, and have even added a short-but-sweet keyboard Read more...

Album Reviews, - Richard Ashcroft - Keys To The World (Parlophone) Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	Thank God for the songwriting talents of Richard Ashcroft. He is now some six years into his solo career since the nation's favourite band from Wigan - The Verve, that is - split. Luckily, the material that Richard has released as a solo artist has consistently been just as enticing, and this latest 10-track album of his will have surely to goodness attracted plenty more Read more...

Album Reviews - Faith No More - The Platinum Collection (Warner) Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	A never-to-be-forgotten rock band for so many reasons, Faith No More hailed from California, and for fifteen years they produced some amazing rock music, a fact that is proven by this awesome collection of some of their best material. With fifteen of their own classic tunes being included, along with a live version of their old classic We Care A Lot, and their infamous cover Read more...

Single Reviews - The Waking Eyes - But I Already Have It (Coalition) Release date: March 20th 2006. Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	Probably the finest rock 'n' roll band to have busted out of Winnipeg, Canada, in recent years, the four guys that comprise The Waking Eyes clearly sound to have been born for this type of life in the limelight. This is the quartet's eagerly-awaited second single, and the follow-up to their awesome Watch Your Money debut. But I Already Have It comes packed Read more...

Fiction - Kat Out of the Bag Chapter Fourteen By Steve Rudd
	Yogesh, my abandoned guide on all things Nepalese, had said that the small yak-herding settlement of Langsisa was worth seeing if seeing meant believing, being as it is so isolated and yet further east of Kyangjin. Yogesh and I had discussed where I might like to trek on my trip before we embarked from Kathmandu, and he'd proposed the Langtang trek as being an ideal one Read more...

Album Reviews - Rising Sun - Dirty Daisy EP Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	An indie-gilded rock 'n' roll quartet with a difference, Rising Sun here present eight extraordinary tracks that prove to be sound testament to the band members' collective talents. The title track in Dirty Daisy is up first and is bolstered by guitarist Dan's heavyweight and swaggering riff. Nathan's raw, soul-inflamed vocals work a treat, while the music is both Read more...

Single Reviews - Yellowcard - Lights and Sounds (Parlophone) Release date: March 6th 2006. Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	They're back! And they're sounding better than ever! These punk-loving Emo-rockers return with a new single and a new album (both entitled Lights And Sounds), ready and willing to follow-up the astounding success that was the band's globally popular Ocean Avenue album that has sold well in excess of two million copies worldwide. The lads have been Read more...

Album Reviews - The Soledad Brothers - The Hardest Walk (Polydor) Release Date: March 6th 2006. Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	Potentially the perfect support band for any future Rolling Stones tour, these three lads that make up The Soledad Brothers are such a talented trio that they seem to be leaving most Blues-based rock 'n' roll bands in their wake right now, especially on the back of this astonishing twelve-track album that runs for almost an hour. Opening cut Truth Or Consequences is a riff-raring Read more...

Single Reviews - The Marshals - Make Her Cry (Vertigo) Release date: March 6th 2006. Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	What's in the stars is never meant to be, so croons Marshals band-leader Michael John. That might be the case, just like this song might literally Make Her Cry - whoever she might be, for this is an extraordinarily moving tune that is proving to be a wise choice for the band's debut single release, given the widespread acclaim that it's receiving. The Marshals is an Irish trio, Read more...

Fiction - Kat Out of the Bag Chapter Thirteen By Steve Rudd
	I remembered the ring simply because it wasn't the type of ring that a man would usually choose to include in his pro-macho jewellery box. The rare stone at its heart shone like a bewildering beacon demanding attention in the pits of hell, while its subtly alluring design was elaborately detailed yet delicate. To all intents and purposes it looked like a lady's bridal ring, and thus the plot thickened. Read more...

Album Reviews - B-Movie - The Platinum Collection (Warner) Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	Cast your hazy minds back to the glory days of the Eighties, and the Synth-Pop Brit bands that were scaling the charts, and does the band name B-Movie ring any bells? It might do for a few people, but this band isn't as much of a household name as it deserves to be, given the quality of the music. This 15-track retrospective is comprised of ten of the band's best tunes Read more...

Album Reviews - Dialog - Feel EP (Deuce Management) Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	This band is interesting from the off, with all four of its members hailing from a different European country. Frontman Plamen is from Spain, and is clearly a terrifically talented singer, while lead guitarist Adam Petty is English through and through. Dialog ply a rare brand of rock music. The strong and catchy riffs do hark back to that Classic Rock era of the Read more...

Reviews, Books - The Loop by Nicholas Evans Reviewed by Steve Rudd
	This is the second breathtaking novel from Nicholas, the first having being the international best-selling weepy, The Horse Whisperer which shot the English-based writer to fame. The Loop has nothing to do with horses whatsoever, and instead focuses on the trials of a wild pack of wolves that is terrorising a farming community in Montana. A 29-year old wolf expert called Helen is Read more...

Album Reviews - The LVRs - Death Has Become Her (Undergroove) Release date: March 13th 2006 Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	This dazzling spoken-word album is a side project for two of the members of LA rockers My Ruin, with the singer in Tairrie B doing the talking and musician Mick Murphy providing the background noise, mainly in the form of atmospheric soundscapes that are genuinely dark and deadly. Listeners of a nervous disposition might want to give this a miss, especially should you Read more...

People - An Interview With Meg Gardiner By Steve Rudd
	Meg Gardiner is an incredible Thriller writer, brought up in the US but currently residing in the UK. Her debut novel called China Lake provided the perfect showcase for her amazing talents, and since its publication there has been no stopping her when it comes to writing novels, with Mission Canyon, Jericho Point and Crosscut being other well-known books of hers that been Read more...

Single Reviews - The Somatics - Elemental (Engine Room) Release date: 27th February 2006. Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	After the sad demise of cult heroes Ultrasound, ace guitarist Richard Green wasted no time in forming the Leeds-based trio The Somatics. Thus, we have Richard on lead vocals and guitar, backed up by bassist Stephanie and drummer Bruce. This single was also recorded and produced by Richard, to further prove just how talented he is both in front of and Read more...

Reviews, Books - Notes From a Small Island By Bill Bryson Reviewed by Steve Rudd
	Good old Bill is a natural comedian and never holds back when it comes to being honest. He's one of the world's best-loved and most famous travel writers, and this volume of 'notes' is exclusively concerned with a number of weeks that Bill spent investing in the art of travelling around Britain back in the mid 90's. His travel writing talents first came to prominence when he released Read more...

Reviews, Books - Flashback By Jenny Siler Reviewed by Steve Rudd
	The past is a puzzle for everyone, a tattered collection of memory and desire. Even those people we most long to understand remain no more than a sum of those static moments we've chosen to hold them in. This is a must-read novel for any discerning fan of high-octane, Steve Hamilton-esque thrillers, as the drama-drenched action flits the length and breadth of the Read more...

Album Reviews - Yeah, It's Supposed To Sound Like That Vol 2 (17 Track Compilation Album - Colchester Recordings) Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	The second compilation release on the label that's run by the singing and songwriting force behind the ace band The Party, James Sherry has once again collated seventeen hugely exciting and varied tracks from some of the best underground and unsigned bands/ artists not only from around the UK, but from around the world. Having said that, most of the tracks Read more...

Album Reviews - Babar Luck - Care In The Community (Rebel Music) Release Date: March 13th 2006 By Steve Rudd
	Rewind a few years back into the early 90's, and a hugely original band called King Prawn was taking the underground music scene by the storm, especially on the back of superb albums such as Surrender To The Blender. Fast-forward back to the present day - 2006 - and the former King Prawn (RIP) bassist/ backing vocalist in the Read more...

Album Reviews - Keeping It Peel (Thisisull Compilation Album) By Steve Rudd
	A fitting tribute to the legend that was DJ John Peel, this 12-track CD commemorates Peel Day from October 13th 2005. The good people behind the high-profile website www.thisisull.com put on a concert in memory of the man, and the bands that feature on this CD appeared at such a gig. In total there are six bands on this release, each with two Read more...

Album Reviews - Kelley Stoltz, Below The Branches (Subpop) Release date: February 6th 2006. By Steve Rudd
	This man is amazing; a true star-in-the-making. Kelley is San Francisco-based, and a home recording artist to boot, following-up his 2001 album Antique Glow with this astounding 13-track album that stuns the senses with its down-to-earth and humbling sensitivity that streaks through every song right from the curtain-raising Wave Goodbye: a tune that's both Read more...

Reviews, Books - Flashback By Jenny Siler Reviewed by Steve Rudd
	The past is a puzzle for everyone, a tattered collection of memory and desire. Even those people we most long to understand remain no more than a sum of those static moments we've chosen to hold them in. This is a must-read novel for any discerning fan of high-octane, Steve Hamilton-esque thrillers, as the drama-drenched action flits the length and breadth of the Read more...