Festival Review: Handmade Festival 2018

Handmade Festival (Leicester, 5-6 May '18) // Words: Saam Das

Leicester's Summer Sundae Festival was a notable selection in the UK festival calendar prior to its formal cancellation in 2013, but thankfully in its wake emerged a new music festival in the area - Handmade. An independent festival with a keen eye for new music, Handmade's also had bands of the stature of We Are Scientists and Frightened Rabbit as headliners, and 2018 offered a similar mix of established and new names.

Listen: Little Comets - Creeping Up Appearances [EP Preview]

Words: Saam Das

Northern three piece are building up to the release of their forthcoming album, 'Hope Is Just A State Of Mind', as well as their forthcoming UK tour by dripfeeding some tracks from a new pre-album EP. We're particularly enjoying the off-kilter nature of 'Creeping Up Appearances' from 'The Sanguine' EP, but you can also listen to lead track 'Ex-Cathedra' below.

Listen: Little Comets - Salt [EP Preview]

Words: Saam Das

It's been a fair while since we last mentioned Little Comets, who impressed us back in 2009 when they burst onto the scene with infectious indie-pop number, 'One Night In October'. Understandably, their sound has evolved since, and new EP title track 'Salt' has an experimental tinge to it, coupled with Robert Coles' distinctive Northern vocals.

Singles: December 2011

Words: Saam Das

December is always characterised by the battle for Christmas #1, although the dominance of the Military Wives Choir put paid to any real interest in the 2011 "battle" against whatever the 'X-Factor' song was. It'd be nice to actually have a Christmas #1 that somewhow relates to Christmas at some point though. Anyway, here are the top ten singles of December 2011.

Split Festival: 2011 Review

Split Festival (17-18 Sept '11, Ashbrooke Sports Club, Sunderland) // Words: Emily Solan

Now in its third year, it shames to me admit that this is my first year at Split. But forgiving me for that, the line-up for this year’s Split was possibly the best ever. Combining not only the best local talent with some brilliant artists from far and wide, they’ve also managed to think of everything including the best local food and activities for the kids too.

Camden Crawl: Saturday 30 April 2011 [Review]

Words: Saam Das

Day 1 of my first ever Camden Crawl didn't start off especially well, when I discovered there would be severe delays on my tube journey in. And then when I actually got to the HMV Forum to pick up my Crawl pass, an overzealous door person made me walk through their unwieldy queue system WHEN I WAS THE ONLY BLOODY PERSON TRYING TO GET IN. After that though, I actually had a rather splendid time. For the most part.

Album Review: Little Comets - 'In Search Of Elusive Little Comets'

Words: Saam Das

Little Comets - 'In Search Of Elusive Little Comets' (UK Release: 31 Jan '11)

This album may never have seen the light of day had Columbia (the record label, rather than the country) fought harder against Little Comets' desperate pleas. The band's difficulties with their former label have been well documented but thankfully, their debut album is now available for all to enjoy, via the Dirty Hit label.

The album kicks off emphatically with the blistering opening salvo of previous singles 'Adultery', 'One Night In October' and 'Joanna'. The singles have led to favourable comparisons with Vampire Weekend, combining afro-pop influences with a mastery of vocal hooks and melodies. The jangly guitar lines, quintessentially British lyrics and singalong choruses are unsurprisingly a winning combination. Most of the time, anyway.

Behind The Scenes: Little Comets

Behind The Scenes is a series of interviews and guest blogs, where artists give us insight about their work in a specific industry. Here, Rob from Little Comets contrasts his band's experiences on Columbia Records, a major label, and their current independent label, Dirty Hit.

Words: Rob Coles

Hello.... I sing in a band called Little Comets, from Newcastle, there are four of us...

But I think we all have very different functions and interests, which helps us be more of a shape. Even though Mickey knows the architectural strength of a triangle, we are a pretty tough quadrilateral - four insulated sides that have taken an emotionally jaunting set of strides through the past three years, and despite the minor ablutions and rigorous examinations, are still pretty intact.

The last twelve months in particular have been a truly tumultuous time, stemming from our relationship with Columbia Records - a meeting of totally unlike minds...

Futuresounds 2009 Part Three

This is the penultimate post of my tips for 2009, which has turned into more of an ongoing saga than I envisaged at first. But I'll be there to the bitter end. Apologies for the delay, I've been having a bit of trouble with the filehosting service I use - it's free though so I can't complain. Let's blame the snow. Anyways, as ever, I'm using the format of one majorly hyped band, one KHI golden oldie and another band that has never graced my blog with their presence.

Mumford And Sons
Fleet Foxes, Noah & The Whale and Laura Marling brought last year's folk "revolution" and this year, Marcus Mumford and his merry men hope to achieve similar recognition. Their epic country sound can be both mellow and intense, a majestic cacophony emboldened by Marcus Mumford's rich vocals. There's banjos, there's a double bass, there's even a grand piano on the radio session I'm about to share yet none of it sounds extravagant. Quite the opposite really, it sounds just right.

MUMFORD AND SONS - ROLL AWAY YOUR STONE (BBC RADIO 1 SESSION)
MUMFORD AND SONS - SIGH NO MORE (BBC RADIO 1 SESSION)
MUMFORD AND SONS - THE CAVE (BBC RADIO 1 SESSION)
MUMFORD AND SONS - WHITE BLANK PAGE (BBC RADIO 1 SESSION)

Fanfarlo
Fanfarlo mix folk and twee (and about a million different instruments) to make wonderfully jangly indie pop. And they're about to support Snow Patrol, which is a bit bizarre. But giving Fanfarlo the opportunity to reach a wider audience is something I tried to do, putting 'Sand And Ice' on [KHI podcast#6], almost a year ago. They recently completed their debut album, produced by Peter Katis (best known for his work with The National and Interpol) and it's more than possible that Fanfarlo's effort will be just as good as the aforementioned bands. It'll certainly be more jolly.

FANFARLO - HAROLD T. WILKINS (DEMO)

Little Comets
Little Comets could well follow the likes of The Wombats in breaching the mainstream with colourful pop tunes. Or maybe a more appropriate comparison could be made to fellow Northerners, Maximo Park and The Futureheads. Either way, Little Comets make their pop with a bit of a Vampire Weekend-esque twist, a ray of sunshine in our embittered English climate. 2009 won't break them but it could make them.

LITTLE COMETS - ONE NIGHT IN OCTOBER

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