High Voltage

As a self-confessed prog-rock fan, I feel I should know more about Rush, but, ‘Tom Sawyer’ and a couple of others aside, I’m basically ignorant of their music. Moreover, I know nothing of their story, of their career, or the forces that shaped them. To me, these facts, combined with a decent knowledge of other prog greats like Yes or The Floyd, make me ideally placed to review this rock-u-mentary (Spinal Tap allusion only half intentional). As long as it’s not as...

From their stage shows through to their studio releases and everything in between, Porcupine Tree are not ones to do things by halves, and this new DVD is no exception. If you were in possession of the deluxe edition of 'Anesthetize', you'd also have a Blu-Ray version of the show (recorded in Tilburg, the Netherlands, over the last two nights of the band's 'Fear of a Blank Planet' tour), a double CD recording of the gig in question, and a 120 page hardback photo book chronicling the last...

An expectant audience packed into Manchester’s Mint Lounge to witness the regional premiere of ODDSAC, the new ‘visual album’ from Animal Collective. It’s an hour-long spectacle which marries together new Animal Collective tracks with eerie and psychedelic visual artistry. It is a piece 4 years in the making and offers fans an opportunity to get lost in the visual, as well as musical, world of the band.

The advice, given by one the producers of the film...

Before it was bought out and converted into a church, the Olympic Auditorium in LA had quite the reputation for being a notorious punk rock venue, playing host to the likes of The Dead Kennedys, PiL, The Vandals, Bad Religion and, of course, crossover thrash legends Suicidal Tendencies. As local boys, and having played the venue back in the day on numerous occasions, it seems only fitting that ST were asked back to play what was to be the last ever show at the venue, which has been captured...

Directed by Nicholas Abrahams and Jeremy Deller

And there was me thinking Depeche Mode were just a poor man’s New Order. This documentary by Turner Prize winner Jeremy Deller (the man behind the recent Procession project in Manchester) and film-maker Nicholas Abrahams looks into the all-encompassing faith and devotion of the international superfans of Dave Gahan and co, a series of sweat-and-tears accounts of bootleg tapes and nail varnish from Communist Russia and East...