Empty White Circles - Adventures - First Listen

Today I have a little treat for you all. Oxford-based Indie/Folk collective Empty White Circles have recently made their first single available on-line and this post will be covering it because it's exactly the kind of thing we like. This site is always on the lookout for quality, new, interesting music crafted with emotion, and this fits the bill perfectly. The band only formed a matter of weeks ago and already have this delightful journey of a track out in the open. The acoustic guitar tip-toeing over a ghostly, shimmering sound scape subtly introduce vocalist Kevin Duggan's vocals and forms the foundations for him to deliver a sincere, moving message. Adventures was originally written in 2009 about getting out of town...

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RHCP, GUNS 'N' ROSES AMONGST HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

Guns 'n' Roses, The Beastie Boys and Red Hot Chili Peppers (amongst others) were all inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this weekend, but the build up to the big event did not come without controversy. The high profile inductees were all without a key member for the ceremony, each choosing not to attend for their own reasons. This week G'n'R's infamous frontman Axl Rose wrote an open letter to the hall of fame: "I strongly request that I not be inducted in absentia and please know that no one is authorized nor may anyone be permitted to accept any induction for me." Axl Rose has always been a difficult individual with a rocky relationship with both colleagues and fans, but it would seem he wasn't missed. The first mention of his...

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NEW ARTISTS - Things to come

I was contacted today by a local artist who are this week releasing their debut single. Empty White Circles, who have been involved gigging in the Oxford are and have recently been billed on a BBC-Introducing covered event will have their single covered in a review short...

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THE MARS VOLTA - NOCTOURNIQUET - MY TAKE

The 2012 radio and record industry in general happens to be bumper to bumper with countless songs that convey the same message, in the same manner, with the same style of sound. A lot of us these days are left wondering exactly where the 'creative' part of being an artist actually lies. Maybe it's in the album artwork. So, what do we need? A game changer. Who's going to change the game? The Mars Volta, that's who. The duo of Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez have always been ones to try and do something different. Long gone are the days of At The Drive-In. The post-hardcore outfit that imploded (personnel wise) just before they were to due to explode in terms of popularity. At least so we thought until the group announced...

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The Strokes Begin Work On Album #5

After headlining several summer festivals this year, many hints were dropped by various members of the Strokes that a 5th album is on the agenda. With 5 year break between First Impressions of Earth and Angles, it would appear that the follow up will arrive in a much shorter amount of time. Bassist Nikolai Fraiture tweeted Number 5 is alive! (No disassemble) The Angles sessions were somewhat troubled; the band didn't seem to be recording as a unit but as 5 seperate parts being pieced together. Vocalist Julian Casablancas often recorded his vocals separately and kept his distance from the other members, supposedly to encourage them to bring more to the table. (Casablancas has sole writer's credit on almost every Strokes song before Angles)The 4th album really divided fans, with some...

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Gorillaz to collaborate for new Converse ad

You may or may not remember the converse celebration advert starring Pharell Williams, Santogold and Julian Casablancas. The three artists basically collaborated and came up with a tune fitting of the Converse image for their Centennial .The Times called it "a three-headed Frankenstein monster of coolness". You can find the 2 and a half minute video for the song here. Now we are fast approaching the next instalment of Converse's '3 artists, 1 song' campaign. This time Gorillaz lead the way, with Andre3000 and LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy eventually being announced as the collaborators after much speculation. 'Do Ya Thang' will be released on February 23 internationally. It sounds like a delicious combination, but this could go either way. Every one of them have been, at least once,...

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The Mars Volta - The Malkin Jewel - First Listen

As previously covered, The Mars Volta will release a new album on March 27. They have now unveiled the lead single from the album: The Malkin Jewel. If you're an old fan of the band you'll probably enjoy it. Very, very interesting modern take on rock. Let us know what you think, I'm already getting quite into it on my second listen. I Can't wait for the album release n...

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