I wouldn't go that far, but its fair to say that there hasn't been a great, era-defining British band for quite a while.

Radiohead are probably the last....Coldplay looked promising for about 5 minutes and then became another bland, character-less band....Arctic Monkeys try their best, but are still, lyrically, stuck in Sheffield, which isn't good if you want to become global.

And if you like ska related material, there are literally dozens upon dozens of new bands doing different things with the upbeat sound.

Top bands at the moment are probably Random Hand, Dirty Revolution, Sonic Bioom Six and The Skints, all of who are doing different things with the basic sound. I could list twenty or thirty others that are worth a listen too...

Shinedown were excellent last night at Leeds O2 ...

The 3 songs selected from the forthcoming album Amaryllis ('Enemies', 'Adrenaline' and current single 'Bully') showed a heavier edge, being more 'Devour' than '45' or their cover of Skynyrd's 'Simple Man'.

Support came from Liberty Lies (who admittedly I hadn't heard of before) and Halestorm whose current material also seemed heavier than much of their self-titled debut album.

All in all a very good night.

All over the new Brontide track 'Coloured Tounges'. Wednesday night should be sweet!

They are playing at Fibbers, York on 20th April.

I've had the pleasure of seeing them twice. They aren't doing anything new, and are completely open about it-it's basically Little Richard a lot faster and a lot louder. The energy at a gig is just wonderful, and you can tell each member knows what he's doing, knows the great bands and great players who have come before and take bits from each one.

I'm not for one minute suggesting they will be the next big thing, because at the end of the day they are playing a very niche market and as I said, what they are doing is not original .....but it's nice for once to see a band made up of older members (I think Jim/Rupert must be in their late 30's/early 40's??) who can actually play making a name for themselves.

Brand New tonight. Major excites.

Well. Brand New were nothing short of excellent. Plenty of tracks from Deja, Devil and Your Favourite Weapon.

Highlights included watching Jesse's face as the whole crowd sang the opening verse to Okay I Believe You.

They are a band better suited to the smaller area, close in with the fans. I've seen them several times in a variety of rooms. When the crowd are packed in, the passion for their music really comes across.

I think this may be the place to ask the following question .
I am trying to find a song . I have done the you-tube and google hunts to no avail . Hope you lot can help .
It is a song I used to hear as a kid ( around 30+ years ago ) and goes kinda like this ...

Oh Maggie Maggie Mae, they have taken her away and she'll never walk down Lime street anymore. Well that judge he guilty found her, for robbin' a homeward--bounder, you dirty robbin' no good Maggie Mae.

There are several covers of the song on that tube thing , but the one I am searching for sounds more like the Dubliners . The groups I was most likely expecting it to be ( from the albums I remember seeing scattered around the old record player all those years ago) were the Corries , Dubliners , Spinners , and suchlike .
Can anyone help ?

Exile Parade album purchased on iTunes this week - very impressed on first listen!!

London-based Porcelain Raft are well worth a listen for those into shoegaze & dream pop a la Beach House. Had the pleasure of seeing them support M83 in Bristol last month. Their new album [iStrange Weekend[/i (also out last month) is gorgeous (& currently pictured in my avatar).

The Smiths on Rockpalast tonight on Sky Arts 1. There's been some decent stuff on this channel recently.

Sky Arts is very good....A few too many repeats, but the general quality of stuff on there is decent.

Always nice to see a channel that actually caters for people with a more serious taste in music and the arts....Along with BBC4, probably the best channels around for music.

A channel I never bothered with until this year. I thought it was another channel you had to pay extra for. So far live gigs by PIL , Pistols , Siouxsie Smiths , Radiohead and a couple of Heavy Metal docs

EVH during pre-tour rehearsal, still love how he plays Catherdral (3:52)... www.vhnd.com/2012/02/11/video-ed ... -la-forum/

EVH during pre-tour rehearsal, still love how he plays Catherdral (3:52)... www.vhnd.com/2012/02/11/video-ed ... -la-forum/

Anyone else heard Missing Andy?

Rather good IMHO

Sonisphere lineup announced at 8 tonight and Reading and Leeds is 3 weeks today. Be interesting to see who sonisphere have after all the buzz about the download lineup.

Joe Pug tomorrow night. Uber excites. Going to take my EP for him to sign. Then lock it in plastic never to be touched!

Joe Pug was truly amazing. Proof that all you need to soud beefy is the right guitar, and something to stomp.

His set list was the same as his recent live release. But you know what, it was amazing. As was the venue, the castle hotel in Manchester. I wanna play there so bad.

And, to top it off, I got my mits on one of five hundred vinyl presses of Nation of Heat with his scribble on. I am now going to bed to cuddle it to sleep!

Quote ="Ski"Joe Pug was truly amazing. Proof that all you need to soud beefy is the right guitar, and something to stomp. His set list was the same as his recent live release. But you know what, it was amazing. As was the venue, the castle hotel in Manchester. I wanna play there so bad. And, to top it off, I got my mits on one of five hundred vinyl presses of Nation of Heat with his scribble on. I am now going to bed to cuddle it to sleep!'" Going to see him Thursday night at the Borderline on Charing Cross Road. Third time I will have seen him live, his solo shows are pretty darned good. He has free tracks to download at www.joepugmusic.com/2012/01/sampler/

Quote ="Ski"Joe Pug was truly amazing. Proof that all you need to soud beefy is the right guitar, and something to stomp. His set list was the same as his recent live release. But you know what, it was amazing. As was the venue, the castle hotel in Manchester. I wanna play there so bad. And, to top it off, I got my mits on one of five hundred vinyl presses of Nation of Heat with his scribble on. I am now going to bed to cuddle it to sleep!'" Going to see him Thursday night at the Borderline on Charing Cross Road. Third time I will have seen him live, his solo shows are pretty darned good. He has free tracks to download at www.joepugmusic.com/2012/01/sampler/

Cursive touring in June.

Skints new album out this week. Rock meets ska.

Imperial Leisure 'sometime soon'. Hiphop meets rock meets punk meets reggae.

Happy days...

Saw Rammstein at the O2 Arena last night, wow!

Did you have to take out life insurance before hand?

Nah! I booked seats with a good view and nowhere near the danger zone

Please feel free to flog me.

I quite like the new Ting Tings long player.