Like The Clash, The Lightning Seeds or even Bob Marley, Hard-Fi deliciously embraced both eloquent sadness and hedonistic swagger without undermining either... more
Chart-toppers Hard-Fi are to perform a fundraiser for a charity working in some of the worst areas hit by the recent riots ahead of their nationwide tour... more
Gritpop, anyone? Brother are the latest indie chancers to try to fill the Oasis-shaped hole in the market, and that's the term they've coined to describe their bristling take on Britpop... more
An exclusive preview of their new album reveals that Kings of Leon may be ready to join Coldplay and U2 in the stadium league but they’re not about to sell their souls... more
The Love Music Hate Racism Carnival is set to take over Victoria Park with a host of top acts, including Hard-Fi and Patrick Wolf, on the bill but this event is about more than having a fun day out.... more
Hard-Fi seemed unsuited to the Wembley stage during an uneven and frustrating show, relying on blokeish charm rather than major production values.... more
In this week's off the record, David Smyth talks about The Feeling, discusses his pick of festive gigs to get you in the christmas mood, and finds out what's new on the world wide web.... more
David Smyth predicts big things for Liverpudlian Candie Payne, talks about Kanye's latest hook-up and lets us know all that's new in online music.... more
Arwa Haider looks forward to The Camden Crawl, an annual musical trip around NW1's most famous venues featuring more than 80 of the coolest underground bands around.... more
Maximo Park were the surprise success story of 2005 with their literate, funny, moving guitar music. Paul Connolly reviews their second album, Our Heavenly Pleasures.... more
Old folkies Vashti Bunyan and Bert Jansch, lairy rockers The Twang, plus a metal outfit and a Swedish multi-instrumentalist are David Smyth's preferred treats.... more
Hard-Fi offer free downloads of their touring antics, Newton Faulkner's taster EP is in download stores now and Damon Albarn's latest venture play a free MySpace gig.... more
The first night of the Electric Proms opened with the rock equivalent of Jerusalem - the pomp and circumstance of another British institution, Mr Paul Weller.... more
Muse and Thom Yorke were the big winners at the BT Digital Music Awards. Each collected two trophies at the fifth annual ceremony dedicated to digital music entertainment.... more
Sound check: German industrial metal band Rammstein literally play with fire in their live performances - and now they are about to unleash their singeing spectacle on London. Watch out for your eyebrows
Afternoon:
7°c
