Maximize is a high octane, bizarre journey that assertively straddles the lanes between electro, techno, new wave and punk.

It’s hard to think of a better opening for an album than “I have studied cruel bastards and I know a thing or two.” But that’s how this antifolk long-player sets out its stall.

As the pocket-sized powerhouse entered stage-right, the anxious crowd was awash with relief.

This is a good album. It has engaging melodies, excellent production values, and no fillers. Why, then, is it so unexciting?

Twenty years since their demise, and The Smiths still ignite enough obsessive fandomania to warrant this: the story of Beaky, Mick and Titch... 

The enigmatic Rufus Wainwright put on a fantastical cabaret style show to remember at the Eden Project on Tuesday (10 July).

As a representative of the "rap intelligentsia" (his own words), Busdriver does a fair job of reminding us that hip hop is not dead.
 

Looking refreshingly nondescript in a plain t-shirt and kecks, and armed only with a mic, 25-year-old Darren Foreman showed the iTunes Festival crowd exactly why he’s the current UK beatboxing champion.