Classical
Founded in 1904, the London Symphony Orchestra is one of Britain's leading ensembles. In its long history, it has been led by some of the most distinguished conductors, including Richter, Elgar, Beecham and Abbado. In 1995, Sir Colin Davis was appointed Principal Conductor and his recent Berlioz project with the orchestra was a critically acclaimed. The orchestra also continues to work with the most eminent soloists and conductors with outstanding results. The orchestra's sound has changed significantly in recent years. The brass have a power and richness of tone comparable to the best European orchestras whilst the strings have developed a remarkable depth of sound. Even more impressive are the woodwind; individual and stylish playing ensures that detail is never subsumed by the rest of the orchestra. ...
Music: Interview
Charles Macleod is a beautiful boy. Actually, that's completely untrue. Even OxStu's Seafood-obsessed best friend refers to their guitarist as "the geeky bespectacled one". Which, despite being a fair enough description, completely fails to acknowledge the rather important fact that Charles is the demon guitarist of a truly vital band. 'Splinter', the second single from second album proper When Do We Start Fighting..., is the apex of Seafood's jagged guitar pop, a considered assault dealing in desolate beauty and desperate loss, oblique documentation and thrilling cataclysmic noise. A furiously contagious race through singer David Line's insecurities, it's apparently about his fear of being forgotten. Not bloody likely. Charles points out that the lyrics are very much under Line's control ("I don't know about that. He writes the lyrics, but obviously if it sounds wrong we'll say so"), but denies that the new material is a deliberate move towards a more polished sound than the raging extremes of 2000's Surviving The Quiet. "It had more to do with the production side of things. We were working with a proper producer, someone more experienced [Eli Janney], so we didn't have to have the guitars wailing and screaming all the time. We moved it down a bit. The songs are similar, but I wouldn't say it was more polished."...
Music: Live
Banning your DJs from playing Manics records is never, in OxStu's book, a good thing. However, Efusion is getting just about everything else right. The student branch of Fusion FM, currently broadcasting on internet radio, brings pop, post-rock and even poetry to the airwaves via the best DJs from Oxford and Brookes; unfortunately, tonight Efusion singularly fails to bring Oxford to The Zodiac, problems with publicity resulting in a straggling line of thirty circling the stage. It's a genuine shame (albeit not on the scale of the loss of The Point, about which we are going to bang on until someone decides to care), because Hull's Fonda 500 are ridiculously, hilariously good, cramming Super Furry Animals, organ-drenched harmonising, the Beach Boys, a sarcastic 'Dancing In The Moonlight' lyric and a human beatbox into a three-minute pop song. Frontman Simon Stone, otherwise known as Silent Bob, wields a Fisher-Price tambourine during 'Rollerdisco's mad carousel of whirling guitars and synth, whilst 'Super Chimpanzee' is, incredibly, both shorter and more exciting than SFA's 'Do Or Die'. As Fonda 500 slide into glorious sci-fi feedback, Stone eating his keyboard in the process, it's clear that genius lies with madness. Local band Four Storeys, on the other hand, know nothing of either. Although their Dylanisms and harmonicas claw desperately at the swiftly departing Coldplay bandwagon, they quickly sink into a mire of plodding trad-rock, invoking Oasis at their most leaden with sickening earnestness. Which is where South Wales teenagers Tetra Splendour, described as anonymous grunge residue mere months ago by your correspondent, really should step in. Tetra Splendour describe themselves as "piano-driven psychedelic progressive rock with jazz sensibilities". The sole distinguishable lyric in their first seven minutes is "if I defecate on you". They're not as wanky as they sound. Something, perhaps a support slot with Idlewild (whose fragmented lyricism is apparent on lauded debut single 'Mr Bishi'), has catalysed a miraculous metamorphosis into a thrilling churn of Hammond organ, raging riffs and wildly self-destructing guitars. Beautiful, androgynous frontman Gareth Jones remains a nervous young pup, but Tetra Splendour, "trained to be cynically positive", contrive to be both thrillingly amateurish and convincingly accomplished....
Music: Albums
"People have said to me that the music they hear is like the sound of being alive," he says. "Or it's the sound of the last day of school. Or it's the sound of burning spears being thrown, and those spears only hitting the bullseye." And so it is that one-man party machine Andrew WK releases his debut album with all the press talking about him and all the opinions of music critics completely polarised....
Music: Singles
To be charitable, 'Work to a calm' is a mellow and inoffensive selection of songs about redemption and the passing of troubles and Gemma Hayes' voice is not too bad. It's perfect for those people who yearn for the next Beth Orton album. Like Orton, however, there's no sense of risk in what she does. Early PJ Harvey was always crueller with better songs and the under-rated Cat Power produces a lot more slow-burning tension with her minimalist strummings, particularly last year's sublime cover of 'Wonderwall.' It's all quite pretty but, having said that, I'll probably never listen to it again.