V Festival preview

The V Festival has gradually become a favourite and high-profile fixture in the summer festival calendar.  With over eighty bands spread over two sites, this year’s V looks set to be the best ever.  Here, we take a closer look at the weekend ahead. V Festival line-up As befitting a festival of V’s stature, this […]

Get Lucky artwork

Top 50 songs of 2013 so far (25-1)

Having explored the bottom 25 of the year so far, here are my quarter-century of the best songs in 2013 this year. Do you agree or disagree with my selection? Post your thoughts below. 25. Loveable Rogues – ‘What A Night‘ Released: April A catchy slice of summery pop from the BGT runners-up. With a […]

Van Der Graaff

This week’s new single releases – 5 May

This week’s new single releases – 5 May Phil Lickley takes us through the pick of this week’s new singles. Armin Van Buuren feat. Trevor Guthrie – ‘This Is What It Feels Like’ [rating:2/5] The second single from his latest album is an average affair. Guthrie’s smooth vocals over the top make the record, but […]

Watch: The Courteeners – ‘Van Der Graaff’ video

Manchester rockers The Courteeners have today premiered the video for new single ‘Van Der Graaff’ – one of the highlights from recent album Anna. The video is a pretty standard live performance of the song cut together from different gigs – and features lots of rock star poses from Liam Fray and co. Check it […]

Let It Rain single

Phil’s Top 100 Music Singles of 2013: #40 – #21

With the majority of my countdown already covered, let’s get a bit nearer to my top twenty with numbers #40 through to #21. 40. Clean Bandit – ‘Mozart’s House’ (Released: March, No. 17) Possibly one of the least accessible tracks of the year, Clean Bandit’s ‘Mozart’s House’ was, however, an eye opener, mixing in electronic […]

The Courteeners Anna album

The Courteeners – ‘Anna’ album review

The Courteeners – Anna {rating} Buy: ANNA With their songs about rowdy nights out and morning after recriminations, The Courteeners have always seemed more comfortable and successful as a live band. Their two album releases so far, 2008’s St Jude and 2010’s Falcon, have been used mostly as live fodder – justifying more lucrative big […]

The Courteeners announce third album ‘Anna’

Manchester indie-rockers The Courteeners have today released details of their upcoming third album, the follow-up to their 2010 album Falcon. Called Anna, the album will be released on 4 February and was recorded at Manchester’s Hertz Studios with Hurts producer Joe Cross. Speaking of the new album. Courteeners frontman Liam Fray suggested it signals a […]