The Testwood Chronicles

Here is where my breadcrumbs lay, so those that follow may find their way.

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Flashback Friday: Trophy Scars - 'Alphabet. Alphabets.'

Flashback Friday: Trophy Scars – ‘Alphabet. Alphabets.’

Good music keeps you entertained for a moment but inspirational music stays with you for a lifetime. If you consider yourself a music fanatic then I’m positive that you’ll be able to point to the records and bands who materially changed and shaped your musical palette. This series has already included several such acts, but Trophy Scars are one of two bands/artists that have had a profound,…

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Featured Band: Eidola Eidola are back this year with a brand new album and it's somehow even managed to top the incredible 'Degeneraterra'.

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Featured Bands: Must See Acts at 2000 Trees 2017 On July 6th I'm off to the simply fantastic 2000 Trees festival in Cheltenham and to prepare for the trip, I've put together a list of acts I'm excited to see over at…

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Playlist: June 2017

We’re half way through the year and if the second half is anywhere near as good as the first, we’re in for a treat. Here’s a collection of my favourite tracks from June, I hope you find something to enjoy in here. Remember to have a look through my Album and EP Leaderboards to see which records I’ve ranked the highest so far in 2017.

If you’ve heard something in June that you think I’ve missed,…

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Flashback Friday: Proceed - 'Curious Electric'

Flashback Friday: Proceed – ‘Curious Electric’

There aren’t many records that I’d be prepared to say this about, but ‘Curious Electric’ is flawless. From the production, to the musicianship, the songwriting and the insanely good vocals, there’s not a single note of this 7-track mini-album that’s not perfect. No matter how many times I play this record, there’s not even an inkling of it getting old and the quality is so high that it’s quite…

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Album Review: Donnie Willow – ‘Exhibition’ Donnie Willow are back with another four tracks of boisterous and noisy alt-rock songs that are packed full of melody.

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Flashback Friday: Lady Radiator - 'Bounce Energy Hear Me Out'

Flashback Friday: Lady Radiator – ‘Bounce Energy Hear Me Out’

When we were putting the list together for Flashback Friday some albums were obvious thanks to being some of the best music we’d ever heard, and others jumped out because they were amongst the most unique records we’d heard at the time. In the case of ‘Bounce Energy Hear Me Out’ I don’t think I’ve heard a record like it since either.

Lady Radiator are a difficult band to label; the closest I can…

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Album Review: Eidola – ‘To Speak, To Listen’ Eidola's ‘Degeneraterra’ could be filed under 'top albums that no-one's ever heard of' - it was a proggy, post-hardcore masterpiece that put this band in the elite section of my record collection, home to only the most exciting of bands.

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Album Review: SikTh - 'The Future in Whose Eyes?'

Album Review: SikTh – ‘The Future in Whose Eyes?’

Almost 15 years ago SikTh changed the way I think about music. Their technical complexity and songwriting vision altered my perception for what was possible with a set of traditional instruments and I’ve been hooked ever since. We’ve had to wait a decade for their third full-length to see the light of day, but it’s been well worth the wait. Stylistically, this one sits somewhere between the two…

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Gig Review: The Great Escape 2017 @ Brighton This year was my third successive visit to The Great Escape and each time, I come back loving it even more.

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Album Review: Create to Inspire – ‘Sickness’ 'Sickness' is a solid debut album that does little wrong, but also doesn't do too much to excite either. 

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Playlist: May 2017

Somehow we’re almost half way through the year already and while 2017 has seen a lot of hostility the world over, at least it’s given us some good music as well. Here’s another collection of songs to check out. Enjoy!

  1) Eidola – ‘Tetelestai’

Eidola’s ability to write such frantic, yet accessible tracks that sit coherently against…

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Flashback Friday: SikTh - 'The Trees are Dead and Dried Out, Wait for Something Wild'

Flashback Friday: SikTh – ‘The Trees are Dead and Dried Out, Wait for Something Wild’

When started the Flashback Friday series, we made a list of the albums that we wanted to cover and put them in a spreadsheet and each week I use a random number generator to decide what’s next. Call it fate or just a weird co-incidence but this week it chose SikTh – on the day that their third full-length album gets its long-awaited release.

You can read my thoughts on ‘The Future in Whose Eyes?’

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Flashback Friday: Of Machines - 'As If Everything Was Held In Place'

Flashback Friday: Of Machines – ‘As If Everything Was Held In Place’

If you calculated the ratio of a band’s impact compared to length of time as a band, Of Machines would come out somewhere near the top. Their debut (and only) record ‘As If Everything Was Held In Place’ seemingly came out of nowhere and dropped this band rightfully in the middle of a hype-storm, thanks to its ambient instrumentals, clever arrangements and phenomenal vocals. Soon after though it…

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Album Review: September Stories – ‘This House Was Never Home’ This one's for fans of Hotel Books, or any emotionally charged music that contains spoken-word and ambient instrumentals.

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Album Review: A Lot Like Birds – ‘DIVISI’ A Lot Like Birds released one of my favourite albums of all time with 'No Place', so it was always going to be a tall order to top it.

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Gig Review: StrangeForms 2017 @ Wharf Chambers, Leeds

Gig Review: StrangeForms 2017 @ Wharf Chambers, Leeds

StrangeForms is an annual celebration of all things mathy, complicated and technical, plus a few random acts thrown in for good measure. It’s a great place to connect with some of your favourite math-rock bands as well as discover some brand new ones that you never knew existed.

This year’s line-up was as impressive as ever and the guys at Bad Owl Presents always do a superb job of organising a…

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