Articles by James Hendicott
Author of 173 posts.
Five years in writing has seen James ramble and ruminate on the eclectic music that graces his stereo, which still blasts the punk rock he grew up on, alongside a more recent love of anything from indie-shoegaze to folk; electro to soul. James' interview resume features the likes of Manic Street Preachers, Bloc Party, Ash, Tinie Tempah and Basement Jaxx, and he averages over a hundred gigs a year. When he's not musically engaged, James also writes on travel, having made contributions to Lonely Planet and Museyon's Music and Travel guidebook. His favourite place on earth? Glastonbury.
Website:http://www.state.ie
Pigeon Detectives ‘Yorkshire’ sound was already getting a touch dated when they first exploded onto the scene in 2007, with simplistically catchy UK-Platinum-selling debut Wait For Me. Follow up Emergency still managed gold status, but was widely critically derided. Up Guards And At ‘Em…, which comes nearly three years after their last album,
And So I Watch You From Afar are not a band that enjoys convention. Since their self-titled debut album demonstrated to the rest of Ireland what the Belfast scene already knew – namely that they had an outstandingly raw and inventive band on their hands – things have been nothing but one long, wild ride.…
Dubliner electro three-piece Sleep Thieves debut EP It Was Only A Satellite…, released back in 2009, was a tantalising glimpse at what the electronic maestros might have to offer. Simple yet subtle, it told the charming tale of a band that managed to touchingly fuse highly personalised tales of staring at satellites from summer
Recent winners of the Australian Music Prize and bloggers’ darlings Cloud Control are on something of a clichéd, meteoric rise these days. Having toured with the likes of Vampire Weekend and Aussie-scene stars The Temper Trap, debut album Bliss Release… – a euphoric, dreamy piece of catchy summer pop – has been making more than
The Vaccines have barely existed a year. Already at the heart of a backlash from the likes of The Quietus following their (admittedly suspiciously fast) rise to the forefront of the UK rock scene that – in some corners – already proclaims the band as it’s saviours, there’s undoubtedly a whole lot of buzz surrounding…
This time last year, 2010 Choice Music Prize winners Two Door Cinema Club were a little-known but critically acclaimed three piece whose biggest Dublin appearance was a slot supporting The Maccabees at the 1000-odd capacity Academy. Tonight, twelve months later, sees the Northerners convert their status into massive ticket sales with the first of consecutive…
Sleigh Bells serendipitous getting together back in 2008 is already the stuff of indie legend. A chance meeting in a restaurant led to waiter Derek being hooked up – in the musical sense – with session singer Alexis via her enthusiastic, young-at-heart mother. The quick-fire demos and debut album buzz that’s developed since has propelled…
Little Comets are not your typical indie-rock band. Cult heroes in their hometown of Newcastle, they eschew the rock and roll lifestyle in favour of late night baths in Travelodge hotel rooms (for which they have an almost pathological hatred) and a deep-seated longing for the comforts of home. Aside from the music, tours are…
Somewhere along the line where indie rock meets hip hop, Bollywood infiltrates Brighton and samples become morphed to the point of unrecognisable, you’ll stumble across The Go! Team. Third album Rolling Blackouts… takes their ever-quirky formula, plays off the diverse influences of a band who claim their only shared musical love is the music they
Owensie’s been hanging around the Dublin music scene in his various guises for so long that he’s practically part of the furniture. In all that time, though, Aliens… is the first time we’ve seen him out on his own, and in it the guitarist abandons his rock roots and explores an intelligent brand of toned-down,
Simply by the way it was made, The Fall marked a moment in modern music history before anyone but the label had even heard the first note. Produced by Albarn during the course of the US leg of Gorillaz recent tour, The Fall… is the first album by a genuinely mammoth name to be produced
Despite having surfaced briefly two or three years ago as part of Concerto For Constantine, JJ72 front man Mark Greaney seems, largely, to have been tucked under a rock since his childhood band’s sad demise. The split in 2006 came four years after their second album I To Sky…, with fingers of blame largely
Oh Duffy, what were you thinking? Where did it all go wrong? We remember first unwrapping Rockferry…, and finding something this decade hadn’t seen yet: a 21st century twist on a mid-20th century style, and one with sincere originality. You were soulful, and crammed your music with genuinely dazzling vocals. You soared, explored and
There aren’t many bands that will induce and entire, packed concert audience to stride through the ice and sleet from all across the city, and leave barely a space to be found. Interpol, though, pull it off three nights in a row. Two thirds even come early enough to see ‘one to watch’ support act…



