V. O'Hagan

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In Review: Sun June - 'Karen O'

God bless Karen O, the spectral Tinkerbell who can tickle your heartstrings and make you feel as though you’ve ingested a face-full of drugs, often within the scope of a single album. If you’re not concentrating, the new single by Austin five-piece Sun June sounds suspiciously like the actual Karen O is singing about herself under a pseudonym - that’s how perfectly they replicate her wistful, introspective, twinkly sound. The track is taken from upcoming sophomore album Somewhere, and the band
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Jessie J - Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff - 29th October 2011 (Live Review) - Stereoboard

It�s Halloween weekend in Cardiff city centre, and Jessie J is fitting right in. Swathed in dazzling white bandages with her trademark black bob, Jessie is channelling Cleopatra, post mummification. She stands with her feet too far apart and tells us in her gobby Essex accent about a recent trip to Poundland where she blew thirty-eight quid on mint Viscount biscuits, which she charmingly mispronounces as �Viss � counts�. She then tells us an anecdote about a pair of leggings and a bitchy
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Stereoboard Talk To Moscow-Based Singer-Songwriter Dan Sultanov (Interview) - Stereoboard

Moscow-based but Azerbaijani by birth, Dan Sultanov is a singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, visual artist and scriptwriter. Stereoboard decided to catch up with him before he releases his debut single - 'Keep On Running' - on February 25th. Hello Dan! Tell me, when did you first begin making music? I began writing my own music seven years ago. As for playing music, I`ve been doing this since I was four What was it like growing up as an artist/musician in Russia? The heritage of Ru
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Plastique - A Paper Cut From A Paper Kiss (Single Review) - Stereoboard

If you�re a woman and you�re knocking on a bit (late twenties, that�s when things traditionally start going tits-up... or tits-south as the case may be) you understand all about the pressure to look young and stay young, even if it means hacking your body to pieces and injecting poison right into your lovely face. Plastique, an electro-rock trio based in London, describe their latest single as �a song about the ageing process... how woman are frequently told they have a best-before date.
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Stereoboard Talk To Saidah Baba Talibah About Her New Single '(S)Cream' (Interview) - Stereoboard

Stereoboard Talk To Saidah Baba Talibah About Her New Single '(S)Cream' (Interview) Hello Saidah! How�s your day been? Well, right now, I'm hanging out with my friends/bandmates Donna Grantis and Hill Kourkoutis listening to 1930's jazz and blues music.� We've been travelling all day, but have had some crazy fun times along the way. � For those who might not yet be acquainted with you work, take a moment to tell us about your music. Oooh, I like to describe it as Raunchy
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Scarlette Fever - 10 Feet Tall, Cardiff - 16th October 2011 (Live Review) - Stereoboard

Cardiff got a little hot around the collar this week as Scarlette Fever paid the city a visit during her UK tour. Supporting Roachford and promoting her new single 'Elated', Scarlette riveted her audience at Ten Feet Tall with a selection of songs from debut album�'Medication Time'. Starting the evening with sassy, slinky renditions of�'Cheatin� Man' and�'Single White Female', Scarlette moved on to catchier-than-chicken-pox single�'Crash and Burn'�and Radio Two favourite�'Elate
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Cheryl - A Million Lights (Album Review) - Stereoboard

�Please welcome to the stage, Gary Barlow and...Cheryl!� And so the newly surname-less Cheryl pranced onto the Jubilee stage like the most beautiful deer in the entire world, opened her mouth, and then Twitter exploded. The jubilee taught us many things. Standing for five hours on a boat in the rain when you�re three hundred years old will probably result in a short stay in hospital. Grace Jones likes to Hula-Hoop. And Cheryl Cole, Tweedy, whatever � can�t sing. She�s rebran
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Moya - Making Me Fall (Single Review) - Stereoboard

Well, well. This girl's really on the up and up! Moya is gaining some real momentum at the moment, and her latest single is only going to push her further. She's already a youtube hit, and Perez Hilton has declared her 'the female Bruno Mars." Unlike the rest of her gentle, piano-led album 'Lost and Found', 'Making Me Fall' is a polished, bright, commercial slab of pop glory. It's catchy as hell, it makes you want to dance, it belongs on the radio. I'm tempted to compare Moya to Taylor Swif
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The Kills - Camden Roundhouse, London - 3rd June 2011 (Live Review) - Stereoboard

�I was trying to shift a load of Moby tickets last night. They wouldn�t budge.� The ticket-tout sucks furiously on his half-spent Lambert and holds up a fistful of Kills tickets. �But�these�are a different story�they�re ripping me bleeding hands off for �em!� Hundreds of hip young things dawdle on the sun-baked pavements outside the Roundhouse waiting for one of the coolest bands in town to do their thing. Allison Moshart and Jamie Hince (otherwise known as �VV and Hote
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McFly - Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff - Tuesday 22nd March 2011 (Live Review) - Stereoboard

The seven year old boy sat next to me is hugging the chair in front of him, staring at the stage with eyes like saucers. The crowd is a strange mix of excited children, fluffy-haired fledgling indie boys and what seems like several thousand twelve year old girls wearing bunny ears. They turn the dark arena into a carpet of brightly lit mobile phone screens, poised for the moment that McFly finally bound onto the stage like four toddlers in the grip of a sugar rush. Mcfly are hardly audible b
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Olly Murs - Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff - 1st February 2012 (Live Review) - Stereoboard

�Olly Olly Olly, Oi, Oi, Oi!� And there you have it - the union of X Factor runner up Olly Murs and the capital city of Wales, summed up in a lairy chant. It�s a freezing evening in Cardiff and Olly is set to perform the first night of his tour at the Motorpoint Arena. The place is buzzing with obsessional teenage girls with their home-made banners and plastic glasses of coke, waiting excitedly for a dose of radio-friendly reggae-pop. Before the show starts, music videos are play
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Darren Hayes - Talk Talk Talk (Single Review) - Stereoboard

What do Bob Hoskins, Darren Hayes and The Samaritans all have in common? Well, they all seem to have this crazy notion that talking to your loved ones is a good idea. Considering Darren�s four year silence, this seems a bit rich, but he�s finally regained his power of the verbals with new single �Talk Talk Talk� taken from upcoming album �Secret Codes and Battleships�. Upon hearing the name �Darren Hayes�, my first instinct is to imagine an aesthetically flawless Ken Dol
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Anja McCloskey - And Her Head/Impeccable (Single Review) - Stereoboard

Following on from her work with The Irrepressibles, Moneytree and Haunted Stereo, Southampton singer/accordionist Anja McCloskey has decided to go solo, and releases her new single And Her Head/Impeccable on the 5th September. And Her Head was inspired by a tragic event in the life of Anja�s grandfather, the man who sparked her interest in the accordion when she was just five years old. The song itself is an dramatic, romantic, earthy, moody blend of drums, vocals, accordions, violins and
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The Libertines - There Are No Innocent Bystanders (Film Review) - Stereoboard

The Libertines - There Are No Innocent Bystanders (Film Review) There was much anticipation surrounding the upcoming Libertines film �There Are No Innocent Bystanders� which premiered at the opening gala of the East End film festival. For members of a certain generation, The Libertines were the dirty-faced champions of national pride, and so the fact that this film premiered in the week of the royal wedding, as London stood draped beneath a thousand Union Jacks, seemed sweetly ironic.
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Victoria Hume - Numbers (Single Review) - Stereoboard

Oh God do I love this song. Although it reminds me (in a good way!) of the �Call Of The Yeti� song from the Mighty Boosh, I�m assuming that London-based singer/songwriter Victoria Hume is going for something a bit more profound. She describes �Numbers� as a song about "getting trapped in a loop of repetitive actions, out of an irrational belief that will prevent or undo disasters, and then about the occasional moments of clarity that come when you give up control." If that sounds a
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The Cramatics - Like Gold (Single Review) - Stereoboard

According to The Cramatics, �stars that shine the brightest are the stars that slowly die�. I have no idea if this is true or not - I�m not Stephen Hawking - but I do know that lots of interesting things are formed in the centre of dying stars, things like... gold. Incidentally, 'Like Gold' is the name of the Cramatics new track (did you see what I did there? I�m here all week), and it�s worth a listen if you get the chance. 'Like Gold' is not a song about gold at all, it's about
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Seb Stone - Stand (Single Review) - Stereoboard

Ealing-based Seb Stone has his finger in every pie. He engineers and produces all of his music, plays the drums, guitar, bass and piano, as well as penning his own songs and singing. His EP, 'Ordinary You' is out now, 'Stand' is the first single. 'Stand' is a fantastically anthemic debut; Seb describes it as a song about "self belief, with strength of spirit at its core", and I must admit, this central philosophy shines through in Seb�s wise, level vocals. The songs lyrics sound like a man
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Moya - I'm Losing More Than I'll Ever Have (Single Review) - Stereoboard

Moya - I'm Losing More Than I'll Ever Have (Single Review) If you�re getting tired of Adele�s near constant airplay and you�re looking for a new soulful female songstress, then Brighton based singer Moya might be worth a look with her interpretation of Primal Scream�s �I�m Losing More Than I�ll Ever Have.� In what Moya describes as a �cool twist of fate� the track was recorded by Pat Collier, who mixed the Primal Scream original, and the song itself is a soulful, sens
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Yes Sir Boss - Desperation State (Album Review) - Stereoboard

�So, we were driving to some gig in the arse end of nowhere. We were hopelessly lost and I tried to call the promoter but ended up calling Joss Stone by mistake...� Here�s a list of mistakes. Marrying Tom Cruise Reading, or even thinking about reading, �Fifty Shades of Gray� The Millennium Dome. They�re mistakes. Calling your childhood friend Joss Stone - by mistake - is not a mistake. Because without it, we wouldn�t have the absolute joy that is 'Desperatio
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Joel Sarakula - Bohemian (single review) - Stereoboard

Sienna Miller sort of dressed like one in 2007. The Dandy Warhols wanted to be one, like you. They�ve even got their very own rhapsody. Now Australian singer-songwriter Joel Sarakula has written a song about bohemians, and a fine little song it is too. Twenty-seven year old Joel fronted his first band aged seventeen and has released three solo albums in Australia, but now he�s releasing new material with the intention of stripping everything bare and promising �no pretence�. Ope
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