Takedown Festival 2015 [Special Feature]

Planning a quiet night in this Saturday? Considering lighting some scented candles, taking a bubble bath, and listening to some light jazz?

The hell you are!

If you’re a serious UK rock fan, you’re doing one of two things this weekend. You’re either heading to Southampton for Takedown Festival and getting sweaty in the pit for an immense lineup of epic bands, or

The Surrey Feminista Society [Special Feature]

Although it may seem unusual, indie music venues often host a wide range of alternative, non-musical events. Some are entertainment-focussed (comedy, spoken word and poetry evenings); some promote a variety of artistic pursuits (painting, sculpture, tattooing, etc); and others explore intellectually simulating topics via conversations and debates. Sometimes the above are combined with an educational component, enabling newcomers to a given field to get to grips with something intriguing yet alien to them.

Most of those options seem safe on paper, but intellectual conversations and debates can be a pretty intimidating proposition at the best of times. One would expect participation to require

Rage Against The Machine – ‘Rage Against The Machine’ [Special Feature]

Over 22 years since its release – and more than half a decade since Killing in the Name famously wiped the floor with X Factor pop puppet Joe McElderry – Rage Against The Machine’s ten-track debut remains as fierce and stirring as ever. This album is one of my very first musical loves – and it continues to be a regular soundtrack to my daily goings-on even in the face of the innumerable songs I’ve given time to while running TMMP.

At the start of 2015,

TMMP’s Top Albums Of 2014

The “death of the album” has been declared many times in recent years – but nonetheless, musicians keep making them and are showing no signs of stopping (and thank God for that!). Almost a decade and a half into the twenty-first century, there still exist bands and artists capable of composing immersive, engaging, and fully satisfying collections of songs that stand up to repeated, unshuffled listens. Here are fifteen of them.

TMMP’s EPs & Tracks Of 2014

I have a very strong emotional attachment to many of the releases listed below. Choosing this list was exceptionally tough; I’ve been fortunate to discover some incredible bands and artists over the past year, and it’s safe to say that outside this list lie a great many immense tunes that can be found via a quick browse through TMMP’s archives when you’re done with this lot. However, the following choices are the cream of the crop.

TMMP’s Top Gigs Of 2014

2014 has been a difficult time for underground live music in the UK. With small venues across the country facing all manner of issues, it was heartening to see the team behind Guildford’s Boileroom make it through an emotionally trying licence review process and move on to host some incredible gigs and community-oriented events. With any luck, 2015 will see a change in fortunes for venues like the Boileroom.

From intimate showings from ska legends to inhumanly tight math-pop sets via beatboxing virtuosity and an audience with the professor of punk, here are TMMP’s top gigs of 2014.

Meshuggah – ‘Nothing’ [Special Feature]

As the originators of the metal style known as djent, Meshuggah are one of the most influential heavy bands in existence today. If you’ve ever sat and scratched your head at an ultra-complex riff until you listened to the cymbal pattern and suddenly it all made sense, you were most likely listening to a band paying lip service to Meshuggah – if not a track by the Swedish maestros themselves. Djent bands the world over owe their rhythmic and tonal signatures to Meshuggah, although the origin of the genre-encompassing word itself is the subject of much controversy.

Unsigned? Don’t use that word. [Music Business Advice]

“Unsigned” bands define themselves as failures. They divide Bandland into two camps – the lucky Signed, and the green-eyed Unsigned – and then announce to the world that they live in Loserville. The “unsigned” team is the team that never wins.

A Guide To Sonder [Special Feature]

There will always be a special space reserved in my heart for bands who make me nostalgic for my years at Guildford’s Academy of Contemporary Music. Soul-fuelled vocals, rock solid musicianship, a touch of The Funk, a few cues taken from the pop-rock world, and a few tastefully non-distracting flashy moments are all common key ingredients to look out for if you’re looking to spot an ACM-related band – and Sonder include them all to great effect.

Chronographs Hunt For New Vocalist [Special Feature]

For the past several months, TMMP has watched Bristol-based math rock quintet Chronographs go from strength to strength while pursuing their ‘One Song A Month For A Year’ project. Then disaster struck last week with the departure of vocalist Jon Sinfield – the lyricist and voice behind tunes as varied as the haunting Porcelain and upbeat, summery Flat White.