Haight-Ashbury – Haight Ashbury 2 : The Ashburys - May 2012 May 6th, 2012

Haight-Ashbury’s name suggests acid-drenched guitar jams, but the Scottish trio’s second album swamps Galswegian indie rock indolence and studied pop classicism in ludicrously lush, reverb heavy, Mamas And Papas Sunshine state harmonies. Sophomore, the album’s single, contains all trio’s signature moves. Fuzzed Jesus and Mary Chain guitars throb way down deep in the record’s Marianas…

Stewart Lee – Carpet Remnant World – Brighton ★★★★★ - May 2012 The Latest Seven - By Victoria Nangle - May 3rd, 2012

Stewart Lee’s style of comedy – using repetition, sarcasm, irony and a drawn out self analysis – has been much emulated by the latest set of new comic acts trying to break through on the circuit, much to his chagrin. He has famously mocked Michael McIntyre and his ilk, and spoken out about the ‘stealing’…

Stewart Lee – Carpet Remnant World (Tour – Salford) ★★★★ - April 2012 What'sOnStage - By Dave Cunningham - April 30th, 2012

Television has been good to Stewart Lee – attracting a whole new group of fans and their friends. But he is not happy-bemoaning that technology is not yet sophisticated enough to weed out those who fail to appreciate his sustained narrative routines. After all, these days’ audiences are accustomed to comedians who serve up jokes…

Stewart Lee @thelowry - April 2012 Chimp Magazine - April 30th, 2012

On hearing that Stewart Lee’s latest show Carpet Remnant World was to be staged in the larger Lyric Theatre (the 1.730 seater) at the Lowry you couldn’t help but wonder how this was going to go down with a comedian who usually eschews the trappings of success. Since he started performing stand up again in…

Various Artists – I’m A Romany Rai, Songs By Southern English Gypsy Traditional Singers - April 2012 April 29th, 2012

Whenever Topic trawls its archive for new Voice Of The People compilations, the aural artifacts they dredge seem ever more distant, ever more valuable. Taped in the ‘50s and ‘60s, these unaccompanied gypsy singers, their distinctive sound the musical manifestation of a lifestyle that today appears unsustainable, are moving, vivid and often quietly disconcerting. Seven…

Ivor Kallin – A Wee Dug Stole A Haddy Bone, Pibroch Viola Improvisations - April 2012 April 29th, 2012

Emptying his East London bedroom to decorate, the viola player Ivor Kallin noticed its exceptional acoustics, and he’s rush-released the recorded evidence as a free download from Linear Obsessional. Kallin, a transplanted Glaswegian, claims to be playing viola in the Pibroch tradition of extended bagpipe compositions. Thus, these three lengthy and oddly timeless pieces recall…