The festive season brings the inevitable resurgence of contemporary Christmas singles filling out the radio playlists. Everybody loves The Pogues and Kirsty Maccol’s “Fairytale Of New York”, but GQ’s Christmas playlist for 2014 has a slightly different flavour. Instead of including every X Factor winner of the past ten years, here’s a selection of some … Continue reading
Rap’s early 1990s exodus from its home turf of the south Bronx, where hip-hop was founded in the mid-1970s, to the West Coast and its summertime G-funk sounds, pioneered by Dr. Dre and his associated acolytes, might have marked a significant sea change for the evolving genre and its culture. And while it’s true that albums by N.W.A and … Continue reading
“Rockstar gives the composer full creative freedom to make pure timeless music,” divulges Woody Jackson, one of the composers involved in producing the stem-based score for the video game giants’ latest record-breaking masterpiece, Grand Theft Auto V. From the start of arcade history, music has been a crucial concept. And Rockstar’s relationship with soundtracks has been crucial … Continue reading
Just 14 months have passed since the release of Crocodiles’ third LP, ‘Endless Flowers’, but with album number four, the San Diego-spawned duo of Brandon Welchez and Charles Rowell seems to have grasped the sound they’ve been searching for since day one. A delicious cocktail of nostalgic rock ‘n’ roll exuberance, blended with punk attitude, new … Continue reading
Here’s a review of Born Blonde’s debut album that I wrote for “The Tastemakers’” section of Music Week’s 7/12/12 issue. Article reads: ” The West London Band have been making waves since the release of their debut, space-rcok single, Solar, which opens the band’s debut album. The LP includes a handful of previously released singles, … Continue reading
“I’m not trying to be an ass hole, I am an ass hole” declares Brent Hinds as we approached him for an impromptu whiteboard interview, between beers, at this year’s Leeds Festival. So after getting Mastodon’s lead axe wielding maniac to scribble some things on our infamous whiteboards we learnt a lot about Hinds’ personality … Continue reading
Here’s an interview that I did with Liam Cormier of Caner Bats/Axe Wound and Loz Taylor from While She Sleeps, which made it’s way onto Metal Hammer. Here’s a link to the piece http://www.metalhammer.co.uk/news/the-while-she-sleeps-vs-axewound-photo-interview-smackdown-wait-what/ Continue reading
Jonathan Hatchman 