Festival Review: Camden Crawl 2014 [Day Two]

Camden Crawl (20-21 June '14, London) // Words: Glen Byford

Festivals mean different things to different people, to me, a festival should be filled with a certain amount of discovery, and perhaps I have lost touch with the current music scene but with very few names on the bill resonating strongly with me, and with some 100 or so bands and artists appearing across 22 venues on Saturday alone, I have got plenty of discovering to do.

Futuresounds: Looking Ahead With Glen Byford

Words: Glen Byford

Whilst the BBC and the like flout a number of hype bands as the next big thing for 2014, I'll be a little shrewder with my estimations and instead turn my attention to a couple of artists and labels that I hope will garner the attention they deserve over the next 12 months and beyond.

Year In Review: Glen Byford's Ten Tracks For 2013 [Playlist]

Words: Glen Byford

Whilst it would have been nigh-impossible to give my definitive top tracks of 2013, I gave it a little thought and threw together a list that reflects some of my listening habits and memories over the past twelve months. Listen to the tracks together in a YouTube playlist below.

EP Review: King Kartel - Not Done Fighting

King Kartel - 'Not Done Fighting' (UK Release: 14 Oct '13) // Words: Glen Byford

King Kartel are here to drench these drizzly days in a wave of nostalgia for early nineties Brit-pop, when any bunch of lads with the right amount of swagger could pick up guitars and pick up a record deal with ease. And surely the baggy revivalism of Kasabian, Reverend And The Makers and The Pigeon Detectives must have been at the forefront of King Kartel's minds as they set their sights on studio sessions and perfecting the cutting-edge sound of lad-rock.

Album Review: De Staat - I_Con

De Staat - 'I_Con' (UK Release: 16 Sept '13) // Words: Glen Byford

De Staat are here to disrupt your day and shake up any expectations you may have of exactly what to expect from a Dutch alternative rock act, if you had any expectations at all. Because, without being too vague or unspecific, the one thing that De Staat certainly are is genuinely alternative.

Surfacing: DeeDee Loves Me [New Act]

Words: Glen Byford

From the moment the music forcefully pulses from the speakers, to paraphrase Taylor Swift, it looks like we are in for trouble with this one. The synth-pop is more pop than it is synth and the feisty female attitude is well placed in a music industry that now can't get enough of strong independent women, and so DeeDee Loves Me steps forward, looking like Paloma Faith and sounding like a cross between Charli XCX and Lady Gaga.

Comment: #BetterBatmanThanAffleck

Words: Glen Byford // Photo: imgur.com

We geeks sure do like to get riled up. News is delivered to us via the Internet, and then we vent via the Internet, making sure everyone that may be privy to our streams or comments will certainly know exactly what is on our minds. Ben Affleck as Batman in the forthcoming 'Man Of Steel 2' has proved no different.

Review: Hitsville UK [Issue 1]

'Hitsville UK' Issue 1 // Words: Glen Byford

The visual importance of music is highly debatable. Certainly, iconic album covers are interwoven into our collective consciousness, and many artists and acts have played with the ideas of recognisable identities or innovative videos. But can this be linked back the other way? Can the visual aspect alone convey the magic of music? Hitsville UK are setting out to prove that it can.