Did you? Get tix to see the xx, I mean. It’s a measure of the perennially black-clad London trio’s massive success that tickets apparently sold out in just half an hour – something of a rarity in ZH. After the mind-boggling success of their debut album late in 2009 (every radio station and every TV channel in … Continue reading »
British quartet Django Django have got experimental pop cred in spades – their self-titled debut album released earlier this year was nominated for a Mercury Prize (along with fellow Next Big Thing, Alt-J), and their visually spectacular live show is renowned for its eclecticism and sense of fun – just check out the trippy, psychedelic … Continue reading »
With names like Faris Rotter (Faris Badwan), Coffin Joe (Joe Spurgeon), Spider Webb (Rhys Webb) and Joshua Von Grimm (Joshua Hayward), spindly-legged, black-clad band The Horrors seemed to want to draw attention to their goth garage punk roots. Their 2007 debut album Strange House was a camp, goth-punk rock explosion, while 2009′s Mercury Prize-nominated Primary … Continue reading »
Wild Beasts released their third album, Smother, in June 2011, two years after 2009′s Mercury Prize-nominated Two Dancers. A seductive, delicate and quietly romantic piece of perfectly polished art-pop, Smother says as much in its moments of sparse instrumentation and tender pauses as when singer Hayden Thorpe is quavering away in his provocative falsetto. Smother … Continue reading »
It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas….because a) Anna Calvi is back in town again, and b) I’ve got a bumper crop of free tix to give away. Woohoo! Yes, that would be me in the red jingly hat. It’s been hard to miss Anna Calvi this past year. She’s ignited both critical and … Continue reading »
Well, here’s one I’ve been waiting for for a long time – British Sea Power. They’ve had to cancel their Zurich show twice for various reasons, but now the Brighton-based six-piece are finally (*fingers crossed*) about to grace us with their presence. The Mercury Prize-nominated group (for 2008′s Do You Like Rock Music?) released their … Continue reading »
Prolific but overlooked English singer-songwriter Tom McRae has been quietly overachieving for the last decade, building on his Mercury Prize-nominated eponymous debut album in 2000 with a further four albums (including the acclaimed Just Like Blood) of sensitive and soulful material that has amassed a devoted following. After moving back to London from Brooklyn, McRae … Continue reading »
French Swiss folksters Make It Pink have built a loyal following over the course of their career, releasing their debut album Youth in 2005, Birth in 2008, and now their third album Dirth in April of this year. A couple of weeks ago they played a jam-packed Montreux Jazz Café, and I got a sense … Continue reading »
