Sounding like a young Billy Mackenzie, the über-talented Christian Silva treats the sparse Manchester crowd to his theatrical mash-up of neo-Queen and Radiohead. The boy’s got balls too – after proclaiming Roy Orbison as “the greatest voice of our time” – he ferociously nails a cover of the Big O’s ‘You Got It’. Impressive stuff.

Tonight’s headline act, White Rabbits, are further proof that the New York indie scene is having a rather good year. Not content with exporting caped-crusaders MGMT and the cerebral Vampire Weekend, the Big Apple now provides us with this Brooklyn-based six-piece. It’s the first night of their UK tour and, initially, the boys seem caught in the headlights of a strangely low turnout. You can imagine their disappointment; cool New York band + cracking debut album + fawning music press = sold out shows. Apparently not.

However, showcasing the best of Fort Nightly they soon find their frenetic energy with a riotous version of ‘The Plot’. Steve Patterson is particular intense, all menacing vocals and violent piano. A Costello-like new song (‘Fox Hunting’) fuses into a chaotic ‘Navy Wives’ in which several band members play Patterson’s keyboards. It all suggests a Harvard-educated The Specials.

They end with a storming ‘Kid On My Shoulders’. The boys then leap off stage and are gone into the night, with no encore and no acknowledgment. Not entirely happy bunnies, then? John Freeman

Sounding like a young Billy Mackenzie, the über-talented Christian Silva treats the sparse Manchester crowd to his theatrical mash-up of neo-Queen and Radiohead. The boy’s got balls too – after proclaiming Roy Orbison as “the greatest voice of our time” – he ferociously nails a cover of the Big O’s ‘You Got It’. Impressive stuff.

Tonight’s headline act, White Rabbits, are further proof that the New York indie scene is having a rather good year. Not content with exporting caped-crusaders MGMT and the cerebral Vampire Weekend, the Big Apple now provides us with this Brooklyn-based six-piece. It’s the first night of their UK tour and, initially, the boys seem caught in the headlights of a strangely low turnout. You can imagine their disappointment; cool New York band + cracking debut album + fawning music press = sold out shows. Apparently not.

However, showcasing the best of Fort Nightly they soon find their frenetic energy with a riotous version of ‘The Plot’. Steve Patterson is particular intense, all menacing vocals and violent piano. A Costello-like new song (‘Fox Hunting’) fuses into a chaotic ‘Navy Wives’ in which several band members play Patterson’s keyboards. It all suggests a Harvard-educated The Specials.

They end with a storming ‘Kid On My Shoulders’. The boys then leap off stage and are gone into the night, with no encore and no acknowledgment. Not entirely happy bunnies, then? John Freeman

Rainy Orteca, who has gained recent prominence as part of Joan As Policewoman, has gone solo in the strictest sense of the word. Dead Air, her debut EP, was entirely written, performed and recorded by herself resulting in a dark musical oddity of late night telephone conversations and lusty electronica. Opening with the ambiguously descriptive beat poetry of ‘Elephant Decision’ she fuses simple rhythms with modest grooves to adequately set a disarming mood. Unfortunately, despite the abstraction of her words, her arrangements can suffer from a tidiness that suggests her ideas have been disappointingly limited. Orteca’s fragile voice brings a sensual tenderness to the single ‘Tin Drum’, and a voyeuristic physicality to the sinister Euro-beat of ‘Electrical Heart’. However, her singing on ‘Widdow’ exhibit weaknesses that distract rather than endear and although there are some alluring moments the songs lack that certain necessary strength to really make an impact. Matt Nesbitt

Rainy Orteca, who has gained recent prominence as part of Joan As Policewoman, has gone solo in the strictest sense of the word. Dead Air, her debut EP, was entirely written, performed and recorded by herself resulting in a dark musical oddity of late night telephone conversations and lusty electronica. Opening with the ambiguously descriptive beat poetry of ‘Elephant Decision’ she fuses simple rhythms with modest grooves to adequately set a disarming mood. Unfortunately, despite the abstraction of her words, her arrangements can suffer from a tidiness that suggests her ideas have been disappointingly limited. Orteca’s fragile voice brings a sensual tenderness to the single ‘Tin Drum’, and a voyeuristic physicality to the sinister Euro-beat of ‘Electrical Heart’. However, her singing on ‘Widdow’ exhibit weaknesses that distract rather than endear and although there are some alluring moments the songs lack that certain necessary strength to really make an impact. Matt Nesbitt

OK, this might be a hard sell but bear with us. This is a double CD (2 albums, one previously unreleased in Europe) of ‘primitive’ American country/blues. Now, before you think Garth Brooks and boot-wearing line dancers, think again. This is authentic Appalachian hills, sitting-around-a-campfire blues. There are no lyrics, no vocals. Perhaps the odd harmonica, even a washboard courtesy of Sean Bowles, but these aren’t really songs. They’re instrumental, but played by “one of this century’s finest guitar players,” according to Wire magazine. The lap-steel, slide guitar and finger-picking are amazing; they beckon you in with their mesmerising intricacies like the perfect soundtrack to any Western. If you want to hear traditional country music played well, then look no further. Andrew Williamson

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

DOWNLOAD: ‘WALKIN’ BLUES’, ‘SPIRITS IN THE HOUSE’.
FOR FANS OF: COWBOYS, ‘OH BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?’.

OK, this might be a hard sell but bear with us. This is a double CD (2 albums, one previously unreleased in Europe) of ‘primitive’ American country/blues. Now, before you think Garth Brooks and boot-wearing line dancers, think again. This is authentic Appalachian hills, sitting-around-a-campfire blues. There are no lyrics, no vocals. Perhaps the odd harmonica, even a washboard courtesy of Sean Bowles, but these aren’t really songs. They’re instrumental, but played by “one of this century’s finest guitar players,” according to Wire magazine. The lap-steel, slide guitar and finger-picking are amazing; they beckon you in with their mesmerising intricacies like the perfect soundtrack to any Western. If you want to hear traditional country music played well, then look no further. Andrew Williamson

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

DOWNLOAD: ‘WALKIN’ BLUES’, ‘SPIRITS IN THE HOUSE’.
FOR FANS OF: COWBOYS, ‘OH BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?’.

Coca-Cola Blastbeat reaches its climax this Saturday (April 26) as seven young bands play The Limelight in Belfast. The bands will be battling it out to follow in the footsteps of Belfast pop-punkers Steer Clear (left) by becoming 2008 champions and winning a deal with Blastbeat Records.

It would not be in any way an understatement to consider Björk a musical expeditionary. Her varied 15-year solo career has seen her gorging herself on myriad musical cultures in order to construct perpetually evolving tracks. Unsurprisingly, it can have mixed results. Lyrically, ‘Wanderlust’ consolidates this journey into a hopeful pragmatic yearning, seemingly trying to get to the bottom of her own sound. Singing “peel off the layers until you get to the core”, it is a shame she has not done the same with the arrangements. A striking song with magisterial horns and affecting vocals, the industrial bass and clicking beat seem superfluous, as if there is not enough faith in the quality of the song itself. The knob-twiddling should have been left to the abundant and particularly reliable remixes - Matthew Herbert’s appealing to a nu-rave love of pulsing synths and Ratatat providing a distinctive and playful take which only gets too fidgety when needlessly twisting the vocals. Perhaps it would be too stripped-down with only horns and vocal, but sometimes a less-is-more approach is the way to go. Matt Nesbitt

It would not be in any way an understatement to consider Björk a musical expeditionary. Her varied 15-year solo career has seen her gorging herself on myriad musical cultures in order to construct perpetually evolving tracks. Unsurprisingly, it can have mixed results. Lyrically, ‘Wanderlust’ consolidates this journey into a hopeful pragmatic yearning, seemingly trying to get to the bottom of her own sound. Singing “peel off the layers until you get to the core”, it is a shame she has not done the same with the arrangements. A striking song with magisterial horns and affecting vocals, the industrial bass and clicking beat seem superfluous, as if there is not enough faith in the quality of the song itself. The knob-twiddling should have been left to the abundant and particularly reliable remixes - Matthew Herbert’s appealing to a nu-rave love of pulsing synths and Ratatat providing a distinctive and playful take which only gets too fidgety when needlessly twisting the vocals. Perhaps it would be too stripped-down with only horns and vocal, but sometimes a less-is-more approach is the way to go. Matt Nesbitt

Ahead of ‘Thou Shalt Always Kill’ heroes dan le sac Vs Scroobius Pip’s Irish tour in May, the beardy rapper indulged us with a little reminiscence…

Fresh from finishing their newest orchestral opus, ‘The Seldom Seen Kid’, Elbow frontman Guy Garvey opens up about the magic and loss that inspired it…