Stereophonics (Main Stage, Friday)…
While there are one or two exceptions in their back catalogue (-Local Boy In The Photograph’ and -Dakota’), for the most part, Stereophonics are the most ordinary of British guitar bands. There’s nothing to truly hate about their
Oasis-lite, inoffensive daytime dad-rock, but there’s certainly nothing to get excited about. Not

Best Ofs are curious beasts. Seeking to sum up an artist’s career with one CD can be tricky at the best of times, even moreso when the artist in question is eclectic Belfast DJ/musician David Holmes, a man who crosses genres like other musicians change strings. That said, the 16-track The Dogs Are Parading… does

Describing Night Train as a full album is more than a little ambitious – indeed, Keane could have a case to answer in terms of trade descriptions. Ostensibly an eight-track collection, the opener, -House Lights’, is one minute and 23 seconds of filler, while of the other seven, written and recorded during the Perfect Symmetry …

The Prince Of Persia franchise may have expanded into the realm of Hollywood, with the big budget movie, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, currently in the cinema, but the latest chapter in the un-named Prince’s adventures goes back to basics for an enjoyable action platformer. While 2008′s Prince Of Persia… introduced a wealth of new gaming elements

Long-time Josh Ritter aficionados could be forgiven for thinking that somebody else’s CD got stuck in the sleeve of his fifth album by mistake, such is the quantum leap away from the folksy, confessional singer-songwriter material of his past. OK, the themes are still worthy and wordy, steeped in antiquity, laden with metaphor and as…

Plaid-shirt wearing beardies Band Of Horses have gone all cinematic for their third opus, and in the process, they’ve lost some of the darker edginess that made us love them in the first place.
There’s not a whole lot wrong with Infinite Arms…. From sweeping album opener, -Factory’, it’s clear that they’ve opened their

The Mod of the title isn’t a Quadrophenia-aping Weller wannabe, but rather refers to the ability to modify practically anything, moving or stationary, in this fun kart racing title. Like Sony’s answer to Super Mario Kart, ModNation Racers… puts you in a funky go-kart and sends you off to race around a myriad

Coming on like a Street Fighter-esque blast from the past, BlazBlue Calamity Trigger… is a 2D fighter that scores high on the nostalgia factor but is bound to leave many modern gamers scratching their heads.
Anyone who’s been gaming since before the PlayStation generation will have a soft spot for the old two-dimensional fighter,

Creepy in all the right places, Alan Wake… is a supernatural chiller that combines action and suspense in equal measure for a nightmarish battle with some seriously nasty backwoodsmen in the American northwest.
When best-selling horror writer Alan Wake and his wife Alice go on holiday to the would-be idyllic town of Bright Falls, things

Is it merely a stopgap until FIFA 11 arrives later this year or can this World Cup title stand on its own merits? The answer is definitely the latter. 2010 FIFA World C…up is a cracking footie sim, with intuitive gameplay, classy visuals and decent sound quality (with commentary from Clive Tyldesley and Andy

With her stunning third album, The Nameless, released this Friday (May 7), Cathy Davey talks to State about losing a record deal, growing into her skin as a writer and performer, her ‘vain attempt’ to write a Cole Porter song, and what it feels like to be a ‘pin-up for bed-wetting indie kids’.
The …

Katy Klaw, Rosa Rex and Olly (single name only, surely that’s sexism) created quite a beguiling blues racket in the Academy 2 recently, supporting Local Natives, and that initial promise is more than followed through on their debut album for London’s Wichita Recordings label, fast becoming the home of quality alternative sounds (Bloc Party, Conor…

The recent launch of Dante’s Inferno (God Of War 2.5 in all but name) upped the ante somewhat in the historical action adventure genre, so GOW3… had to be good. Thankfully, it is.
Kratos’ next gen. debut (the recent re-release of the first two episodes on PS3 notwithstanding) looks and sounds amazing, thanks to

There’s an expectant crowd in Dublin’s Academy 2 for Californians’ Local Natives second visit here, with the majority of the capacity crowd drifting in during a fine set by support act, Peggy Sue.
The Californian five-piece take to the stage without much fanfare..