Alternative music articles http://soundblab.com/ http://soundblab.com/images/soundblab.png http://soundblab.com/ editor@soundblab.com (Rich Morris) Copyright 2012 Soundblab Ltd support@soundblab.com (Nick Honer) http://soundblab.com/content/content/view/id/4641 Sun, 13 May 2012 02:06:00 GMT April - always a mixed month. One minute it's warm and sunny, the next it's pissing it down and you're bitterly regretting your choice of shorts and t-shirt. It was a mixed month in music too, but in a good way. Across the board, from experimental hip hop to good... http://soundblab.com/content/content/view/id/4641 http://soundblab.com/content/content/view/id/4607 Fri, 20 Apr 2012 11:51:00 GMT Hooray! Hooray! Tomorrow is Record Store Day, the annual celebration of independent record shops, and, as usual, a whole host of bands and artists will lend their support, many releasing exclusive, limited-edition records. Soundblab urges you to have a look and find out if there's something happening near you, but... http://soundblab.com/content/content/view/id/4607 http://soundblab.com/content/content/view/id/4601 Wed, 18 Apr 2012 01:03:00 GMT It's that time again. Here are the people, the sounds, the bands and the threads you've loved, hated, watched and danced to over the last year. You've got taste, people. Best Album The Horrors - Skying It felt like we were due some king of big, defining statement from The Horrors and they... http://soundblab.com/content/content/view/id/4601 http://soundblab.com/content/content/view/id/4598 Fri, 13 Apr 2012 10:37:00 GMT After the flashy excesses of the 80s, grunge became a revolt against all the decade represented. Disenchantment grew for the society people were living in, similarly felt by hardcore punks before them. Grunge musicians satirised glam metal bands with dark humour, Motley Crue and Kiss being obvious choices. Angst, alienation... http://soundblab.com/content/content/view/id/4598 http://soundblab.com/content/content/view/id/4596 Sun, 08 Apr 2012 01:11:00 GMT New leaves might have been sprouting from the trees, but in the music world March was the month rock's veterans come back to show us how it's done: grizzled rockers Bruce Springsteen and Paul Weller as well as younger idols Jack White, Damon Albarn (Rocket Juice & the Moon) and... http://soundblab.com/content/content/view/id/4596 http://soundblab.com/content/content/view/id/4588 Tue, 03 Apr 2012 16:01:00 GMT A band most are unlikely to have heard of, Redjetson were a group from Essex with a big heart and a huge sound. Emerging around the same time as 'big noise' guitar botherers Bloc Party, Editors and ILikeTrains (the latter of whom they often toured with), they produced two superb,... http://soundblab.com/content/content/view/id/4588 http://soundblab.com/content/content/view/id/4586 Fri, 30 Mar 2012 04:50:00 GMT Before Krautrock, so received wisdom tells us, Germany was something of a musical wasteland. There were the internationally respected and influential electronic experiments of Stockhausen, of course, but in terms of a home-grown music scene to rival the revolutionary sounds coming out of Britain and America? Forget it. After all,... http://soundblab.com/content/content/view/id/4586 http://soundblab.com/content/content/view/id/4585 Wed, 28 Mar 2012 06:21:00 GMT "Fuck her mind so they can fuck her silly!" Penis Envy - one the fiercest punk records ever made, released when most had written the genre off as dead. A ferocious, laceratingly intelligent, resolutely feminist din which sets the template for riot grrrl a good decade early. It's also possibly the... http://soundblab.com/content/content/view/id/4585 http://soundblab.com/content/content/view/id/4574 Fri, 23 Mar 2012 10:25:00 GMT By most accounts, the first flash of punk burned intensely and brightly but faded surprisingly quickly. In a way, the first wave of UK punks were almost too good at getting the attention they craved. Once The Sex Pistols had sworn their way to national infamy on the Today show,... http://soundblab.com/content/content/view/id/4574 http://soundblab.com/content/content/view/id/4545 Fri, 02 Mar 2012 03:35:00 GMT The hesitant breath of Spring is on the air, February has wrapped up and it feels as if this year's music releases are rolling up a gear. An unusually busy January release schedule continued into Feb, with notable names such as Tindersticks, Sleigh Bells, The Ting Tings and The Twilight... http://soundblab.com/content/content/view/id/4545 http://soundblab.com/content/content/view/id/4526 Fri, 24 Feb 2012 17:48:00 GMT From the same period as the happy-clappy, black-slapping and swaggering, cheerful smugness of Britpop was an album by a Scottish band riding a different wave. Telstar Ponies produced a stark contrast with their 1995 debut-masterpiece In the Space of a Few Minutes. From members who had previously been part of... http://soundblab.com/content/content/view/id/4526 http://soundblab.com/content/content/view/id/4525 Wed, 22 Feb 2012 01:07:00 GMT Well, I guess it's that time of year again. The music mags, sites and blogs have blessed us with their best of the year lists (including us, of course) and The Brits have swung round once more to celebrate everything shallow and glossy about pop music while acting like it's... http://soundblab.com/content/content/view/id/4525 http://soundblab.com/content/content/view/id/4507 Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:41:00 GMT Who says January is grim, grey and desolate? Well, anyone who's taken a look out the bloody window, I guess. But not so in the world of music, as we've seen an unusually busy month here at Fortress Soundblab, our hooded, chipped minions virtually run ragged trying to meet their... http://soundblab.com/content/content/view/id/4507 http://soundblab.com/content/content/view/id/4358 Fri, 23 Dec 2011 12:16:00 GMT The great Britpop debate. This article is one half and argues that Britpop wasn't really that good. Have your say and check out the other article here. 'I am working on a new song called 'American Guitars': part sarcastic riposte to British bands who cannot find their own voice, forever worshipping... http://soundblab.com/content/content/view/id/4358 http://soundblab.com/content/content/view/id/4289 Fri, 23 Dec 2011 12:12:00 GMT The great Britpop debate. This article is one half and argues that Britpop was actually very good. Have your say and check out the other article here. Aside from The Beatles and a decent line in prog rock, Britain didn't have a great deal going for it on the world music... http://soundblab.com/content/content/view/id/4289 http://soundblab.com/content/content/view/id/4360 Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:45:00 GMT With the end of each year comes the inevitable glut of top-ten lists. Every magazine from Mojo to NME will be declaring their love for the latest acts to 'hit the charts'. NME, keen to appear on the ball yet aware that fashion is a fickle thing, usually chooses to... http://soundblab.com/content/content/view/id/4360 http://soundblab.com/content/content/view/id/4355 Mon, 05 Dec 2011 07:37:00 GMT The cover version gets a bit of a bum deal in today's pop culture, despite the fact that up until The Beatles, recording versions of other artists' songs was normal practice. Singers and performers from Elvis to Nina Simone were judged largely by their ability to breathe new life into... http://soundblab.com/content/content/view/id/4355 http://soundblab.com/content/content/view/id/4239 Fri, 21 Oct 2011 08:42:00 GMT Although I live pretty much in Manchester, I'm not from Manchester, but even I know the effect The Stone Roses had on the Madchester scene back in the very late 80s and early 90s. With one classic debut under their belt (and a divisive follow up which got itself a... http://soundblab.com/content/content/view/id/4239 http://soundblab.com/content/content/view/id/4169 Fri, 23 Sep 2011 07:06:00 GMT A couple of months back, I wrote about how 70s Brazil was a hotbed of musical genius - which it was, FACT. I talked about the freakiness of the Pernambuco psych-folk scene, the gender-bending outrageousness of glam rockers Secos e Molhados and the state-baiting sensuality of tropicália star Gal Costa,... http://soundblab.com/content/content/view/id/4169 http://soundblab.com/content/content/view/id/4172 Thu, 22 Sep 2011 08:26:00 GMT One of the most imaginative bands of our time have decided to call it a day. With a wealth of songs at their disposal which showcase the band at their peak, by picking one track from each of their 15 albums through the years we aim to arrive at their... http://soundblab.com/content/content/view/id/4172