The Northwestern – Captain’s Rest, Glasgow

Blame Punxatawney Phil if you like, but Groundhog Day has overtaken deja vú as the phrase you use when you’ve seen it all before. It happens a lot in music, it being the carnivorous cyclical beast that it is. Everybody has influences. Everybody has heroes. Everything is derivative of something, pretty much. What is odd [...]

The Cribs featuring Johnny Marr, Glasgow ABC

Cheese on a burger. Fish partnered by chips. Ernie Wise stood next to Eric Morecambe. Basically, some things make so much sense when you see them that you wonder why no-one has tried it before. thus it is with Wakefield’s finest all-brother trio being joined on stage by the walking legend that is Johnny Marr. [...]

Ladytron – ABC, Glasgow

ELM’s resident curmudgeon Vespertine checks out the hotly-tipped electro act; I approached this gig with an open mind. I knew a few Ladytron songs but had no in-depth knowledge of the band or the set they were likely to play. But the company was good, and I was able to have a few pints and [...]

Festival Season Spotters Guide

It’s Glastonbury this week folks. And even though the nights are drawing in and the credit crunch is biting, it is sure to be a wonderful experience as usual. The line-up may be tosh, the Eavises may be more up their own arse than Leslie Grantham’s finger but there is the special magic and air [...]

Do You Remember When……

Let’s go all Húsker Dú here; Suede were important. Reading was cooler than Glastonbury. A cartoon rabbit playing 50′s tunes was more popular than Jesus. Mark Goodier did the Evening Session. Independent record labels really were. Patsy Kensit insatiably chased rock star cock. Shakin’ Stevens was on TV more than the Prime Minister. People bought [...]

Why do indie bands feel the need to start ‘feuds’?

Coventry’s Jam-clone hobbits the Enemy are apparently locked in a feud with stunningly average Manchester Oasis-copyists the Courteeners. It is unlikely, I’ll grant you, that we’ll need to send Henry Kissinger in to mediate on this dispute, but by God its tiresome. You cannot open the NME these days without seeing some band slagging some [...]

The Cribs Hanging with Legends and Demonstrating Good Taste

I have a soft spot for British indie rockers The Cribs. They are a lot of fun live, and in frontman Ryan Jarman they have a laconic 21st Century boy with a line in dry one-liners. While I don’t think they have made a truly great record yet, there have been a few moments to [...]

Welcome to ELM

You know, there’s a lot of it about. Music, I mean. And frankly, you don’t have time to listen to it all. But you want to listen to some. So how do you know the wheat from the chaff, the Udon from the Pot Noodle, the (Lazer) Guided Melodies from the Girls Aloud?* Well, you [...]