Milburn Release Their First Single In 8 Years "Midnight Control": Listen.

Milburn are a four piece indie/alternative band from Sheffield, they made a name for themselves in the mid 2000's and were at the forefront of the indie scene which saw the rise of bands such as Arctic Monkeys. I wrote an article discussing why "we should all be excited about the possibility of new Milburn material" which you can read here.

The band's new single "Midnight Control" premiered today on Steve Lamacq's BBC Radio 6 show. It is slightly different to most of their other material, and sounds more like something Joe Carnall's (frontman and bassist) other band "The Book Club" would release. This is by no means a bad thing. It is just more of a "pop" song than most of their older work. The general feel of the song is pretty uplifting, though this could just be because it's their first single in almost a decade and it is most definitely a return to form.

Hopefully this new single means an album is on the way, they know now that there are plenty of people out there that would love to hear a third album and they've always been the kind of band that keep the fans in mind.

Much of their tour is now sold out but you can get tickets for a few dates here.

You can listen to the new single here (But I'd also like to recommend that you pay for it if you like it).

Words: Liam Navey.

In Case You Missed It, A New Trailer For An Oasis Documentary Was Released Yesterday: Watch.

The title of the documentary is "Supersonic" and it will be released on October 2nd.

It is set to follow the story of the band's rise and inevitable fall, spanning their turbulent and chaotic 18 year long career. The trailer shows plenty of early shaky footage of the band and will include plenty of interviews, TV appearances and surely some footage from their Knebworth shows. Even though just about everyone knows the story of the band, a full length documentary such as this has never been released. And with some of the same team that worked on 2015's hit documentary "Amy", I'm sure it'll be a worthwhile watch.

The Gallagher brothers were interviewed separately for the film but it has been rumored that they will reunite and attend the upcoming premiere together. It is worth mentioning though that after seeing the trailer, Liam Gallagher tweeted "Just seen the trailer for oasis film and i must say I come across mighty fine super real unlike some people you see at the premiere", so I wouldn't hold my breath.

The film will be showing at most cinemas nationwide and you can book tickets online now.

You can watch the trailer here.

Words: Liam Navey.

The Wytches Release New Track "Hannover Square": Listen.

The single was released earlier today and is the B-side to their previous single "C-side".

The Wytches are a four-piece band who met in Brighton in 2011,  the newest member, a keyboard/organ player only officially became a member a few weeks ago. Over the past few years they have made themselves known both in the UK and abroad thanks to their harsh and intense live performances and the relatively large amount of success they enjoyed off the back of their 2014 debut album "Annabel Dream Reader".

They're set to bring out their follow up album later this month, "All Your Happy Life" will be released on on September 30th. Earlier this summer they released a new single titled "C-side" which is set to appear on the second album, it moved away from the sound they had become known for just the right amount. Musically, it is heavy, grungy and loud, with clear influences of the surf rock and doom rock genres which is fairly standard for the band. But the vocals that accompanied it were contrasting to the music, and would've suited one of the bands slower tracks. This contrast worked very well and it showed that they have moved on from the sounds of their first album whilst maintaining the sound which allowed them to become one of the best new bands in the country.

This new single "Hannover Square" will not feature on the album. It is a melancholy, dreamy song with lyrics you can actually understand, something that isn't a regular feature in The Wytches back catalogue (this is not a bad thing).

Listen to the new single "Hannover Square" here.

I also wrote a review of their headline show at London's Garage last year which you can read here.

The band head out on tour this November in support of their new album. Check out the tour poster below:

Words: Liam Navey.

Why The World Needs Sleaford Mods: Feature.

Sleaford Mods are a minimalist post-punk duo from Nottingham. They've been causing a bit of a stir over the past few years, and I think because of the general situation we currently find ourselves in as a species, we need them now more than ever.

Sleaford Mods are made up of Jason Williamson (vocals) and Andrew Fern (music), who are both in their 40s. The two met at small Nottingham venue The Chameleon back in 2009, Fern was djing at the club and Williamson was playing a live spoken word gig. The two got talking afterwards and subsequently Sleaford Mods were born. They have released unfalteringly humorous, honest and interesting albums at a steady rate since then, with the last three gaining widespread critical acclaim.

The music they produce isn't really like anything else on the market at the minute, this itself is extremely significant as the amount of rising acts that are essentially souped up recycled versions of 2000's indie bands is stifling. Fern's music is dirty and grimy, with loud, thudding drum machine beats and bass lines as well as contrasting cheap sounding keys and very occasionally a snippet of a guitar riff. The music clearly takes a lot of influence from classic hip-hop and rap music as well as sounds from the more current UK grime scene, something which they speak about regularly. All of this lays underneath a barrage of well founded anger, put forward in a very broad East Midlands accent. In the words of the band themselves they are "electronic munt minimalist punk-hop rants for the working class".

I think it is fair to say that they are one of the only bands (not really sure if "band" is the best word) in the country that actually bother to say anything of substance. Most of the lyrics within their tracks are inspired by Williamson's heavy anti-austerity views and opinions. Whether you agree with his opinions or not, just the fact that they're willing to make a statement is something to admire. Many current bands and artists seem to be afraid of voicing their opinions on important matters in case they offend someone. This attitude does tend to forge very strong opinions on the duo, people seem to either dislike them intensely or think they're the best thing to happen to UK music since the Sex Pistols (the latter may be a little extreme but I actually heard that outside of one of their shows), this in itself is important. What's the point in producing music if it doesn't cause a discussion?

I suppose some people could have a valid argument when they say Sleaford Mods go about certain things the wrong way. Maybe they do sometimes pick one fight too many online and maybe they do say harsh things about up and coming indie bands on occasion. But to be fair, Blossoms are fucking awful.

It isn't only their recorded music that makes them so significant, everything about the duo's live show is compelling. Their stage setup is something that I find extremely refreshing, it is minimalist to the extreme, Fern's laptop sits on a solitary table (or barrel) and a single microphone stands on the stage. No backdrop, no confetti, just a laptop and two middle aged men. This is the case no matter the venue they're playing. I've seen them perform to a few hundred people at Leeds' Brudenell Social Club and I've witnessed them take to the stage of London's o2 area as support for The Libertines. Both times it was exactly the same, but it was more satisfying (and strange) to see them on one of the biggest stages in the country.

They have a total of eight full length albums. The latest album, 2015's "Key Markets" was their most successful yet, gaining them their first ever top ten release and a 7.5 rating from Pitchfork (it was also included on my top five albums of the decade so far list, which you can read here). Their 2014 album "Divide and Exit" is currently my favoutire album of theirs, this is likely to change as each of their albums has many unique and redeeming features. But with tracks such as "Tied Up In Notts" and "Tweet Tweet Tweet", it turned me into a fan of the band about 30 seconds into the album. Despite this, if you haven't had the pleasure of listening to them yet I would recommend giving their 2014 singles collection album "Chubbed Up+" a listen. The group also feature in an underground anti-establishment documentary titled "Invisible Britain", you can watch a snippet here.

If for whatever reason you just can't bring yourself to listen to them, I think it is only fair to acknowledge and understand their importance both musically and socially. Along with The Fat White Family and a small group of other artists, they're actually real, they cannot be replicated and they say what they believe.

Their latest UK tour is their biggest yet, it sees them make the step up from club and pub venues to locations such as Rock City in Nottingham (which they announced a second date for recently due to the large demand for tickets) and London's Roundhouse. You can see the full tour poster below:

Words: Liam Navey.

Ringo Starr's Copy Of "The White Album" Sells For Over £750,000.

The legendary drummer's copy of The Beatles' 1968 album sold for more than twice the previous world record.

As more people than ever are starting to collect vinyl, previous world records concerning the sale of of vinyl records are almost constantly being smashed. Last year a new world record for the most expensive album of all time was awarded to a unknown buyer for paying a cool £790,000 for The White Album.

The previous record was for the sale of Elvis Presley's first single "My Happiness", which sold for £30,000 and was held by none other than Jack White (you can read my article about his upcoming release here).

The most expensive album to ever be sold is technically Wu Tang's "Once Upon a Time In Shaolin", which was purchased by Martin Shrkeli for £2 million back in 2015. But because it was the only copy of the album to be sold Guinness dismissed the claim (albums have to be sold commercially to gain the award).

Ringo chose to sell his own copy of The White Album, issue number 0000001 I might add, in order to donate money to the Lotus Foundation, a charity with whose goal is to advance social welfare in many aspects, including cancer research and substance abuse programs.

You can listen to "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", taken from The White Album here.

Words: Liam Navey.

Jack White Shares Track Form Upcoming "Acoustic Recordings" Collection: Listen.

Jack White has unveiled a previously unreleased version of a Raconteurs track titled "Carolina Drama", set to feature on his upcoming solo acoustic album.

It was announced in August that Jack White is set to release a huge double LP later this month. The album will apparently include acoustic versions of tracks by all of his previous bands and side projects. This includes songs by: The White Stripes, The Raconteurs, The Dead Weather and of course his solo work, the album will simply be titled "Jack White Acoustic Recordings 1998-2016".

He has already released a track from the upcoming album, a song by The White Stripes: "City Lights", which you can listen to here.

This latest release "Carolina Drama" originally featured on The Raconteurs' 2008 album "Consolers Of The Lonely".

He will be performing his first ever solo show on "The Tonight Show Will Jimmy Fallon", on September 9th, the day his new album is set to be released. Therefore ending his live show hiatus which he announced last year.

It has been revealed that the upcoming album will feature new versions of fan favourite tracks such as "Hotel Yorba", "Blunderbuss" and "Sugar Never Tasted So Good" as well as plenty of other album tracks and B-sides.

You can listen to the new track here.

Words: Liam Navey.

Milburn Update: Can We Expect New Material Next Week?

Earlier this summer I posted an article about why we should all be excited about the possibility of new Milburn material (which you can read here), it now looks like a new track or two could be just around the corner.

Earlier this week frontman and bassist Joe Carnall was set to return home from an Italian holiday, but before he left the country he tweeted "...Some big stuff happening next week". This is all that was needed to kick up a bit of a discussion, as fans of the band already knew that they've been in the studio thanks to a picture they shared on Twitter.

Fellow musician and friend of the band, Bill Ryder Jones also spoke about the prospect of new Milburn material in an interview with Exposed Magazine. He was speaking about a small Sheffield festival called Sensoria, which he will be playing in October this year. When asked about his current work with Milburn in the studio he said: "It’s been great. I love them guys. They’re such miserable bastards, which is nice. The two tunes we did, their fans are going to really like them. We had a lot of conversations about artists who come out and sound like they’re 18. You’ve got to sound like men. I’m very excited for them".

The band have already been featured in several music publications this past week due to them being announced as support on the latest Courteeners tour. They'll be playing with the Manchester band on two dates, including an already sold out show at Leeds' First Direct arena,

Milburn are also on the road later this month on a tour of their own, you can see the tour poster below:

Words: Liam Navey.

The Stanford Prison Experiment: Film Review.

In 1971, a group of students at Stanford University volunteered for an experiment in which they were divided up into prisoners and guards in a mock jail. Things quickly turned sour, events descended into infamous acts of sadism and submission, and director Kyle Patrick Alvarez presents the almost unbelievable events perfectly, with the help of his extremely talented cast.

In August 1971, Stanford psychology professor Philip Zimbardo transformed a small underground corridor and some empty offices into a "jail" . His intention was to conduct an experiment which would monitor the effects of unearned authority, depersonalisation and how institutionalisation can effect people who could be considered "normal". Whether the students would fill the role of prisoner or guard was determined with a coin flip, and just six days into the planned two week experiment, it was cancelled due to the alarming way in which the students (mainly the guards) filled their roles.

The events that took place have long been used as a case study to educate psychology students the world over, and have already inspired at least two other films; German film "Das Experiment" and 2010's "The Experiment," starring Adrien Brody and Forest Whitaker. Although neither of these films follow the real life events as closely as Alvarez's vision, it gained largely very positive reviews as well as two Sundance film festival awards.

The cast includes well-known young actor Ezra Miller, who I have to say played his relatively short part the least convincingly. Michael Angarano and Nicholas Braun, stars of 2011's "Red State", (an incredibly claustrophobic, fast paced and intense film which I would also like to highly recommend) also star in the film. It is Angarano's performance as a John Wayne inspired brutal correctional officer which I enjoyed the most, and is the main aspect of the film that I am sure will stick with me. Billy Crudup plays the role of Zimbardo very well, showing the professor's inner turmoil due to the nature of the experiment and the toll it is taking on the characters but also his unwillingness to stop it from progressing due to the fascinating results.

Before the film hits the ten minute mark it has outlined the ideology behind the experiment and introduced the audience to all of the key characters. And for anyone who was familiar with the events that took place during the experiment, no matter how vague the familiarity is, the plot of the film is not going to be too surprising.

Initially, the idea of being a guard and having power over other people is amusing for the characters and the audience alike, seeing the smirks on their faces as they give their peers instructions is understandable and entertaining. But the tension begins to build almost immediately, as the mild amusement becomes something the guards want to enhance, causing things to get out of hand relatively quickly. Alvarez does a faultless job of demonstrating that although the characters know that what is happening is not "real" when things begin to deteriorate it doesn't make their emotions and feelings any less genuine.

As an audience member you start to forget that these characters are not in a real prison and that they can leave at any moment they choose. The fact that they are deprived of any sort of time or date measurement and are kept in a basement with no windows only adds to the distressful vibe of the film.

The use of close ups and long shots in contrast makes the film seem extremely claustrophobic, showing the emotional expressions on the characters faces as well as the confined hallway and windowless rooms they're contained in. This is accompanied by a very strategic use of score, convincing set pieces and acting, as well as exceptional cinematography, particularly in the few scenes that are set outside the confines of the basement. When this is all combined, Alvarez communicates his character's journey from giggling, relatively disinterested teenagers to almost entirely psychologically broken people in a very intriguing and entertaining manner.

You can watch the trailer for the film here.

If you'd like to read more about the real events that are depicted in the film, visit: http://www.prisonexp.org/

Words: Liam Navey.