Back catalogue: Indie/Alternative

Review: Wasia Project are a South Croydon-raised sibling duo - Olivia Hardy (vocals, guitar) and William Gao (keyboards, piano, vocals) - who strike a nice balance in sharing the limelight. This is only their second EP but you can tell they're going to be massive. They've already toured in support of Tom Odell and Laufey and they clearly have the quality to go the distance. 'Somebody Come Through' is as good as anything Sharon Van Etten has released. 'Track 6' brings back memories of listening to Beach House and 'To Get Better' is reminiscent of Matt Maltese. Underneath all the indie references there's a really strong classical training and we hear that on the closing track, with a masterful piano crescendo dimming the lights, but leaving us wanting for more.

Review: It could have all been so different when you think about it. One of the UK's most critically acclaimed, celebrated and mourned bands, Joy Division, were originally toying with the idea of calling themselves Stiff Kittens after first getting together. This then changed to Warsaw, after David Bowie's track, 'Warsawa', and it's under this guise they broke into the common conscious, supporting The Buzzcocks, Penetration and John Cooper Clarke at Electric Circus in 1977. Reviews from that show - by music journalist leg-ends Paul Morley and Ian Wood - would ignite the hype. A debut album was planned for RCA Records, 11 tracks that would go on to be known simply as The RCA Sessions. Here they are now, as originally intended, some of which eventually made it onto Joy Division records, others didn't, but all clearly showing musicians defining their sound and place in the scene.

Review: Originally known as Stuff Kittens, then Warsaw, the legendary U.K. post-punk band Joy Division emerged from Manchester in the late 1970s, their middle moniker chosen in honour of a David Bowie-Brian Eno track, "Warszawa. This album, recorded at the time but never released, includes five bonus demo tracks recorded at Pennine Studios in Manchester on July 18, 1977, featuring Steve Brotherdale on drums. The first 11 tracks were laid down during a recording session in early May 1978, shortly after 'Interzone' and 'Transmission' - later to become Joy Division classics - had been incoporated into their set, the formere emerging from a cover of Northern Soul classic 'Keep On Keepin' On', the band adding original lyrics to create a unique sound. 'Transmission', written during the final rehearsal week, begins with a line from Alistair Crowley's The Book of Thoth, adding to what is already a fascinating collection of early takes of songs that would later gain iconic post-punk status.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Record slightly warped***


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There's absolutely no doubt in our mind Blue Weekend is a record Wolf Alice feel a sense of enormous personal satisfaction from. Of course time will tell if it can bag them another Top 5 position, or even a Mercury Prize nomination, but for all intents and purposes there's a real feeling of catharsis here. And it goes well beyond famously reserved singer Ellie Rowsell telling listeners she doesn't give a fuck if they like her.

The band's latest punches, bangs and has absolutely no time for dishonestly. In many ways, this is where they are fully realising influences that have always been present - grunge, punk, some of that 1990s British indie-garage-with-bite crossover stuff. But it's also a record that sees them realising just where they've got to, and now reaching for a louder and more prominent position on the main stage.

Review: 25 years have now passed since Liverpool legend Pete Wylie and his long-term backing band released Songs of Strength & Heartbreak, which marked the post-punk era combo's return to action after 16 long years. Something of a triumphant return, the set flits between raucous punk energy ('Never Loved as a Child'), Oasis-ish riffs on mid-late period Beatles ('Sing All The Saddest Songs', 'Disneyland Forever'), riff-heavy post-Britpop indie-rock ('I Still Love You', post-punk headiness ('Loverboy') and all manner of orchestrated, reach-for-the-ceiling sing-alongs ('Hey! Mona Lisa'). To mark the album's birthday, Chrysalis has served up this expanded 'deluxe' edition. Unusually, this time round CD1 boasts the album as it was originally demo'd and produced in 1998 - including a slew of songs that were subsequently shelved - with the 'released' version (2000) nestled on CD2.