Category: Music

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The Nirvana Nevermind Exhibition opens in London

To celebrate 20 years of the release of Nirvana‘s epic album Nevermind, a major Nirvana exhibition opened last night in Brick Lane that was packed to the gills with people on the opening night.

In Bloom: The Nirvana Nevermind Exhibition opened it’s doors with a live set from dub artist Little Roy who played a set of Nirvana covers in a dub stylee to a bunch of smiley, happy faces who were supping on free rum and gingers.

Special guests, music artists and even footballer Joey Barton turned out to soak up the fantastic photos from various photographers who have documented the band over the years, including the legendary Steve Gullick. These snaps sit alongside various Nirvana memorabilia that fills the large space opposite Rough trade records East store and also has some interactive fun for tech geeks to play with amongst traditional flyers, gig posters and many more amazing memories from the grunge era.

If you are in East London in the next 2 weeks then pop in and see what’s on display. The exhibition runs until Sunday, September 25 and is open from 1pm-7pm daily at The Loading Bay Gallery, Unit 4- 5, Dray Walk, 91 Brick Lane, London, E1 6QL.

On Thursday, September 22, there will be a special playback of Nevermind, followed by a a session with a guest panel. Limited to just 100 people, tickets cost £15. For the rest of the time, it’s free entry.

Local fact: Crossfire’s James Sherry (below) wrote the foreword for the Exhibition that you can read on the right hand side wall as you walk in.

nirvana_exhibition_london

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Music News

The Fucking Hate stream full album

thefuckinghateIf you were at the last Halloween Massacre then you may well have seen The Fucking Hate playing live. They were absolutely raging on the night!

This week, the 3 piece have delivered a 9 track album called Folkways Of Prehistoric Origin for you to listen to that is stuffed with crunching hardcore and is sounding amazing. Stream it from the player below and buy it from their Bandcamp page, donations are all welcome.

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Buzz Chart Music Single Reviews

Trash Talk

awake_trash_talkAwake
True Panther Sounds

After touring the tail end off their last album Eyes and Nines released in may last year, Trash Talk return with a brand new EP that will be released on 11th October on True Panther Sounds. Matador’s sister label is slowly making sure that its roster is laden with hardcore after the singings of Fucked Up and the mighty Ceremony recently. The addition of Trash Talk just makes them stronger and even more appealing.

Have a taste of the lead track Awake lifted from the new EP. Despite there being a skateboarder in the video (which for us, could seem all so fitting) the Sacramento 4-piece have delivered another bone crunching hardcore track that stomps in the face of a plethora of whiny emo bands who call themselves ‘punks’ and churns out menacing riffs to accompany Lee Spielman and Spencer Pollard’s impressive dual vocal duties. Basically, it’s what’s also known as an epic win.

Look out for the 7″ vinyl in a record shop near to you, or order it direct.

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Album Reviews Buzz Chart Music Reviews

Game

R.E.D.
Interscope

After having released numerous successful free mixtapes over the past year [many of which can be found reviewed on this very site], there was a lot of expectation for Game‘s [yeah he’s dropped the The apparently] album proper and, thankfully, he’s managed to pull it off. Whilst many more people are buying the new Weezy album, this is the full length to cop if you have to make a choice – stellar beats, top class guest spots and the Compton rapper on fine form.

After a strong opening with hot kid on the block Kendrick Lamar, the action goes full throttle with Dre and Snoop smashing it out the park on Drug Test, a simple yet utterly chest-throbbingly large bassline on Martians Vs Goblins which sees Tyler, The Creator show his legit skill on the mic over a good beat and even give Game some shit for naming his favourite rappers, a slur that’s been used against him for years [to which he jovially replies “Fuck you Tyler”] and the Zombie Nation sampling Red Nation featuring Weezy.

The middle section doesn’t dip either, the Motown-esque hook on Good Girls Gone Bad being following quickly by the sometimes stripped Ricky, which begins with gunshots and crying before Game lays it down plain and simple “My nostalgia is 100% Compton, zero per cent snitch”. Tracks with Ricky Ross and Young Jeezy follow with Game bringing his A-Game throughout. Whilst some critics claim he doesn’t have his own sound, the rapper showcases a flow which simply can’t be dismissed on R.E.D., something that perhaps lacked in terms of consistency over a record before this release.

The only slight on the album is that he has three R&B tracks in a row on the record. I’m a fan of R&B, so that in itself isn’t the problem, but it would have served the overall flow of the album a little better had they been fanned out. Indeed, when the third of the trio is the ultra-catchy Chris Brown led Pot Of Gold, it makes the first two [with Lloyd and Mario respectively] seem totally obselete.

But that’s only a small criticism and with Premo bringing his trademark sound to Born In The Trap towards the end of the record, it ends on a high. It’s a long album, over an hour and with 21 tracks, but within these 70 odd minutes, Game has made his best album yet. If you don’t grab this, you’re most certainly missing out.

Abjekt.

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Album Reviews Buzz Chart Music Reviews

Hildamay

We Loved, We Lost EP
A Wolf At Your Door Records

For A Wolf At Your Door Records’ latest export, Hildamay, the second half of 2011 has so far been one of the most crucial periods of the band’s career; from receiving commercial radio attention from none other than Radio One’s Zane Lowe to going on a hugely anticipated tour with hotly tipped label mates Mallory Knox, Hildamay are certainly making big strides towards greatness. With this in mind, much is to be expected of We Loved, We Lost and while it’s not exactly make or break, it certainly will be a release that carries a lot of weight on their path to success.

It doesn’t take long for the band to display exactly why they describe their sound as Punk ‘n’ Roll (the opening bass line of EP opener Parachutes, to be exact) and why they’ve generated so much hype in the relatively short time since being signed, from start to finish every single chorus on the EP seems capable of inciting a mass sing-along and every verse seems to build up to these perfectly. It truly is a credit to the band’s songwriting ability that everything about the structures of the songs on We Loved, We Lost feels perfectly natural without falling into a lull of predictability, something which many bands seem to fall victim to recently.

The band certainly wear their influences on their collective sleeve, with elements of Hot Water Music especially creeping it’s way into the band’s sound quite often, though this isn’t to say that the band don’t have their own identity, with the title track in particular showing a unique blend of intricacy and pure balls to the wall aggression that is often difficult to blend cohesively yet the band seem very comfortable in their ability to bring the two together effectively.

Picking a specific highlight from the bunch would be a nigh on impossible task but the aforementioned title track and the brilliantly paced Delicate are definitely two of the most memorable tracks on the record, although there isn’t a dull moment to be found on the EP. With most fans having already heard This House Became Our Home on their recent split EP with Mallory Knox there was plenty to be optimistic of and thankfully the band have duly delivered.

All in all, Hildamay have crafted an impeccably structured and sonically beautiful EP which could easily be looked back on in coming years as the record that determined what was to come. On this evidence, the band have certainly lived up to (maybe even surpassed, depending on who you ask) expectations and have built a solid foundation for a career that will hopefully lead them onto bigger and better things; with a support slot for Crossfire favourites letlive. coming up in the next few weeks they could well be on their way sooner than expected. Definitely ones to watch.

Ryan de Freitas

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Music News

Dangerous! set new video live

Dangerous! have unleashed their new video.

The video is for the track ‘Movers N Shakers‘, which is out on September 12th and is taken from the debut album ‘Teenage Rampage’, released through Epitaph on the 19th of September. The band are also hitting the road on many UK dates, listed below:

09/09 Aberdeen – Lemon Tree*
10/09 Glasgow – QMU*
11/09 Inverness – Ironworks*
12/09 Newcastle – Northumbria University*
14/09 Manchester – Academy 2*
15/09 Birmingham – HMV Institute*
16/09 London – HMV Forum*
20/09 London – Notting Hill Arts Club – Album Release
21/09 Guildford – Boilerooms**
22/09 Bath – Moles**
23/09 Turnbridge Wells – Forum **
24/09 Swansea – Sin City**
25/09 Crewe – The Box**
26/09 Wrexham – Central Station
28/09 Hull – Fruit**
29/09 High Wycombe – SU***
30/09 Southampton – Unit**
01/10 Kingston – Fighting Cocks**

* Support to Young Guns
** Co-headline with James Cleaver Quintet
*** Support to Japanese Voyeurs

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Crossfire Events Music Events Music News Skateboarding News

Crossfire Halloween Massacre 2011 date announced

We have some good news for you regarding Halloween today. Last year’s Crossfire Halloween Massacre event didn’t happen due to a back injury, but this year we are back with an absolute banger to celebrate 10 years of Crossfire.

Expect 3 rooms full of party chaos including very special guests held at a venue in South London! A limited 100 cheaper £8 earlybird tickets have now sold out. Standard advance tickets can be found here but be quick as these are selling fast. Click here for the facebook page for all info. Please put the date of Friday October 28th in your dairy and we will see you there.

Crossfire Halloween Massacre

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Music News

Rhymesayers launches new mix competition

Rhymesayers and Carhartt have teamed up to launch a mix competition.

The competition, which coincides with the Rhymesayers European Tour gives fans a chance to create their own 15 minute mix of Rhymesayers material which they then upload here.

The winner will get a flashdrive full of music, albums by all the artists, a limited edition tour t-shirt, a Carhartt x UDG DJ bag, the chance to create an hour long mix for Carhartt’s radio and even personalised drops from the artists. The competition closes on September 27th.

The tour, which has a line-up of Atmosphere, Brother Ali, Evidence, Blueprint and Grieves & Budo hits the Electric Ballroom in London on November 7th.

Whilst you’re getting some inspiration, check out the new Evidence video for the track You, taken from his upcoming album Cats & Dogs.

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Music Events Music News

Deathgrips UK live dates & Known For It video

Deathgrips are heading to the UK this month and you should not miss this as this project has been one of the most anticipated for a while. Check the dates and the new video for Known For It. Contender for new artist of the year here in the end of year polls for sure.

Sept 25 London(ATP presents)@XOYO
Sept 27-Manchester@ Islington Mill
Sept 28-Leeds(VICE presents) @Nation of Shopkeepers
Sept 29-Glasgow@ Captain’s Rest

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Album Reviews Buzz Chart Music Reviews

Retox

Ugly Animals
Ipecac

Retox-Ugly-Animals_album_sleeveClimbing out of those skin tight nylon body suits and into yet another punk vehicle, The Locust’s Justin Pearson and Gabe Serbain have been making waves in the hardcore scene with their new band; Retox. Joined by Michael Crain and Thor Dickey on guitar and bass respectively, Retox are a more straight-forward band than we’re perhaps used to from Pearson, but if anything it only goes to make this his most focussed and exciting venture in years.

With a self titled EP already under their belts, Ugly Animals is the band’s debut full length, although calling it that is arguably manipulating the facts. What we have here are a blistering eleven songs in thirteen minutes, tearing through your system with all the energy and swagger of their live show. It’s always a difficult task to capture this kind of riotous enthusiasm on record, but this brisk collection will have you reaching for the play button as soon its run through its modest duration.

The LP has something of Head Wound City feel to it, with Serbian behind the kit again delivering a controlled if still exhilarating performance. While the hooks may be somewhat difficult to pick out at first, with repeated listens this at first record really starts to take its pointed shape. Clocking in at under 15 minutes you’d be a fool not to check out Ugly Animals, which, for our money, is one of the essential hardcore releases of 2011.

Sleekly Lion.