The video consists of footage found from the 1920s of differing dancers all moving in synch with the track, showing a brilliant piece of production and directorial skills. Take nothing away from Idle however, with a dark riff opening it up, before a solid piece of drumming accompanies the luscious vocals throughout the remaining three minutes.

With Peggy Sue’s third album Choir Of Echoes set to see the light of day in early 2014, next year is shaping up to be a big one for the three of them, originally from Brighton. As well as a launch party gig to celebrate the release of the record, Peggy Sue have a full UK tour lined up for April of next year, where you will be able to experience Choir Of Echoes in it’s purest form. According to the group, the album is “about singing, about losing your voice and finding it again”. You will be able to see for yourself just what it sounds like to lose your voice and find it again, when Choir Of Echoes is released on January 27th of next year. In the meantime, get yourselves acquainted with Idle below, and then inspect their tour dates and find which one is most fitting to you, and get tickets today.

January

Monday 27th – St Pancras Church, London (Album launch party)

April

Monday 7th – Green Door Store, Brighton

Tuesday 8th – The Tin, Coventry

Wednesday 9th – Soup Kitchen, Manchester

Thursday 10th – Broadcast, Glasgow

Friday 11th – Leaf, Liverpool

Saturday 12th – The Harley, Sheffield

Monday 14th – The Old Bookshop, Bristol

Tuesday 15th – Oslo, London

Don’t Mind is their debut single, and starts off atmospheric with a dream like keyboard jingle setting the tone for the next five minutes, taking you on a journey throughout musical boundaries, touching down on a bit of indie, along with alternative rock. It is the post-rock sound that hits hardest, with the soaring gang vocals and distant electric guitar sending the listener into a trance, and letting the music take control.

Mountain Bird are led by the brainchild of the operation, Adam Ohman, who takes up producing duties, as well as provides vocals, writes the songs and arranges it all. Backed up by a stellar studio line up and a differing one for their onstage antics, while the line up may not be consistent, the quality always will be. With a sound that resembles the ambition of Sigur Ros mixed in with the self inspection of Mogwai, keep your eyes and ears out for Mountain Bird, a band that will be going places. Check out Don’t Mind below to see for yourself.

The news was revealed by the London quartet on their Facebook page, with the group revealing that the organisers had “let them down”. The statement in full is below.

“Devastated to report that Blur won’t be performing at BDO in 2014. It’s a shock that it has come to this.
Only 8 weeks to go, the band feels that with the constantly shifting goalposts and challenging conditions of the organisers, they can’t let it drag on any longer and want to make this announcement, to be clear to Blur fans that they won’t be there. We’ve done our very best to work with the organisers and considered every option to make it happen, but they’ve let us down and let everyone else down too.”

The festival, which is set to tour the country between January and February of next year, is still going ahead with other headliners Pearl Jam and Arcade Fire set to go ahead with their performances. AJ Maddah, one of the investors in the festival spoke to fans on Twitter yesterday, saying “Am trying to find out [what’s happened] myself. Far as I know BDO gave into every demand within the possibility of curfews & public safety. Everyone at BDO is absolutely devastated and confused by this turn of events. All we can do is to replace them and bring you the best show possible.” A replacement headliner is already in the works, with Maddah saying, “We’re working on that now. We have a list of targets and are making contact with them all, everyone at BDO will be working through the night to find replacement.” An announcement is set to be made in the coming days.

Having burst onto the punk scene with their non-stop live shows and energetic performances, Wounds continue to make 2013 their year, with Binge set to round off the year in style. When frontman Aidan Coogan lets rip on the chorus it perks your ears up, leaving them with an undeniable desire to scream along to the grotesqueness barked out of his mouth. If you think you can handle them live, check out the tour dates below, with fellow loud bastards Baby Godzilla. You won’t walk out with your ribs in place, but it’ll be so worth it.

Saturday 23rd – Oxford, The Wheatsheaf
Sunday 24th – London, Barfly
Monday 25th – Manchester, Sounds Control 3
Tuesday 26th – Liverpool, Shipping Forecast
Wednesday 27th – Bristol, Exchange Basement
Thursday 28 – Southampton, Hobbit
Friday 29th – Bath, Moles

The single in question will be Down Boy, which he recorded with Bobbie Gordon, an electronic soul singer from London. The track will be restricted to limited copies, going on sale at the Bacardi pop up shop in London in December. Proceeds will go towards the Nordoff Robbins charity, which deals with people suffering from autism, dementia, mental health problems and other similar diseases and illnesses via music therapy. Their aim is to create a world where the power of music is available to all those in need of it.

It will be the first single of it’s kind, being the first song available to purchase having been made by a 3D printer. 3D printers hit headlines last year, when a firearms company announced it’s intentions to design a working plastic gun that could be downloaded and reproduced by anybody with a 3D printer. The announcement of a 3D single will combat the negativity and concern that was bought about by the firearm replica, although it is not expected that it will become a widespread thing, and singles and albums will continue to be mainly made physically, digitally and via vinyl. Vinyl has seen a revival lately, with approximately 700,000 sales made this year, it’s highest since 2001.

Fresh from having released their debut album Yours To Defend at the back end of October, ACODA are now ready to get in the van and embrace the cold winter as they travel up and down the UK, showing you what their record sounds like, only up close and personal. Having played shows with the likes of Funeral For A Friend, Don Broco and Arcane Roots and performed at prestigious festivals such as Sonisphere and Download, ACODA are a band that deserve your attention, so stand up straight  and flail around like a fish out of water to their brutal blend of hardcore and alternative rock that will leave you gasping for air at the end of each track. To get a taster of what’s in store, check out their recent video for The Ludovico Technique below before reaching for your wallet and booking them tickets. If that’s not enough to twist your arm, support comes from rising French punk rockers Vera Cruz. Sounding like a pissed off Cancer Bats, they will be setting the standards high for ACODA each night, but one the midland rockers will be able to reach. Check out the dates below, see which one is easiest for you to get to, and book those tickets!

November

Wednesday 20th – Big Noise Studio, Northampton

Thursday 21st – North Wales Inn, Rhyl

Friday 22nd – Audio, Glasgow

Saturday 23rd – Tunnel 2, Aberdeen

Sunday 24th – Beat Generator, Dundee

Monday 25th – Escobar, Leeds

Wednesday 27th – The Flapper, Birmingham

Thursday 28th – Joiners, Southampton

Friday 29th – Ministers Bar, Stoke

Saturday 30th – Hairy Dog, Derby

December

Sunday 1st – Static, Swansea

Monday 2nd – Upstairs at The Garage, London

Tuesday 3rd – Boiler Room, Guildford

Wednesday 4th – Bogiez, Cardiff

Thursday 5th – White Rabbit, Plymouth

Hunter and the Bear on stage. Photography Francesca Paolozzi

It would be a pretty difficult task to meet a more down to earth group of guys than Hunter and the Bear. In their own words, they play the kind of music they want to listen to, and are three best friends who just want to play as many gigs as possible, due to their love of being on the road. Their sound, is according to Will “a folky mix of rock and country with an emphasis on rock”. It’s a unique sound, one that you might not necessarily hear too much in the UK these days, particularly since the disappearance of a particular band who I shan’t name. But as a threesome they all share different tastes which brings about their sound. “Will is a massive Elton John fan, Josh is a massive fan of Arctic Monkeys, we all listen to rock n roll, folk and country and that mix is what brings us our sound”, states Jimmy. There is no particular influence when it comes to writing, with the boys showing each other the different sounds they have been listening to and then taking it from there. “The way it usually works is someone will show the rest of the band a group they’ve been listening to, and then the others will either be like no or yes and then if it’s a yes we go through a period of everyone listening to the band”, according to Josh. “Its funny though coz when we listen back to our songs we can tell who we’ve been listening to at that time, but in terms of sitting down and thinking who do we want to write like, is not really a thing that we do”, Jimmy adds firmly.

Photography Francesca Paolozzi

Although the three of them are now based in London, it is a far cry from where they spent their upbringing, with Josh hailing from Yorkshire and Jimmy and Will both Scotsmen. Moving down south to the capital city could prove daunting for any young group of lads, but is a choice they are starting to see the rewards of now. “For me where I’m from is so far out in the middle of nowhere, in the mountains by the sea and things like that and its such a different lifestyle and its the simple life up there, people love what they do up there, there’s a big fishing community and things like that”, Will reveals solemnly. “I got used to the city when I was at uni (in Newcastle), Jimmy doesn’t live in a city either even though he sounds like he’s from Glasgow. It does take getting used to, London is massive. But it’s wicked though”. London is often said to be the place to be if you are in a band and want to make it, and is a view shared by the group, with Josh saying “The thing has been quite obvious from the start, people have been saying to us if you want to do this then you’ve got to be in London. There’s no point being somewhere else”.

No matter how impressive a year 2013 has been, Hunter and the Bear are looking for more next year. When asked about their plans for next year, Jimmy immediately responds “A new EP for sure and a big festival season”. Josh back this up, saying “The masses are the target right now and we just want to be at one every weekend and be on the road, we love being on the road”. Going from strength to strength seems to run in the blood in the group, and they never seem to be left resting on their laurels. Your aims change all the time, when we started our aim was to play once every couple of weeks then it was once a week, then we wanna play here, want to play a festival, when you reach these things you can’t believe it at the time, but you want to move on so quickly to the next thing, so hopefully we’ll keep moving that way”, states Will, reassuring the fact that they won’t be happy sat on their backsides allowing their instruments to gather dust. Josh wraps things up by saying “We’re pretty hungry for more as well, we’ve got a lot of ambition. We’ve got to that point now where the cogs are moving and we want more, so I don’t think the trains gonna stop”.

Photography Francesca Paolozzi

As the three of them step out onto the stage at 02 Academy 2 at Islington, they are welcomed with not just warm applause, but volcanic eruption hot applause. As they effortlessly glide through their set with tracks from their recent EP Dusty Road amongst others, their fans adoring eyes never venture far from the stage. Not happy with the length of their set, they come back on for an encore, and you can tell by the bewildering looks etched across their faces that they did not expect this kind of reception. As lead single from Dusty Road Forrest On The Hill gets it’s second play of the night, you start to feel that something special is brewing up here.

Having spent the year attempting to get her name out in the open and show her music to as many people as possible, Commagere has revealed the next single to be taken from Human, released earlier this year, Big Star. It takes you on a mystical journey beginning with the kind of synths you’d more commonly find in the land of yesteryear before her dreamy voice takes over, sending listeners into a trance controlled by her effortless vocals, which often fade away into euphoria before coming straight back with a slightly haunting presence. Her smooth voice glides over the top of a steady drum beat, giving the track the rhythm required to let Commagere’s vocals soar above and raise the roof wherever it is played.

With plenty of big name support slots under her belt, including the likes of Foo Fighters, Bat For Lashes and more, it’s safe to say she has the backing of some of the most renowned artists all over the music world. Commagere will have some big gigs to play in 2014 and the way this year went, it can only hold bright things. You can check out Big Star below, and it is available to buy and download on November 24th. Human is available on iTunes now.

Earlier this year Avenged Sevenfold achieved their first UK number on album with Hail To The King, which was also the first record made without the use of drumming from their late drummer, Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan, who passed away in December of 2009. Their headline slot will also be their first at the Donington festival with new full time drummer Arin Ilejay, who was confirmed as their new member in May this year. It will be their first appearance at the festival since their 2011 appearance, where they played second headline to recently reformed alt metallers System of a Down.

Linkin Park are set to play the festival for the first time since they headlined main stage in 2011, joining a select group of artists to have headlined the festival four times, having previously had headline slots in addition to the 2011 set in 2004 and 2007. They have recently released a remix album Recharged with plans to release a new album during 2014. As a special treat for fans they will be playing their much loved debut album Hybrid Theory in full, something which is sure to please those who have stuck by them during their careers.

Closing the festival on the Sunday will be The Bad Boys from Boston themselves, legendary hard rockers Aerosmith. Despite the fact that they are all into their 60s now, Steven Tyler and co are showing no sign of slowing down having released their fifteenth studio album Music From Another Dimension! in November of last year. It marks the return to Download for the group as well, having previously closed the festival in 2010.

Acting as direct support to Avenged Sevenfold on the Friday will be shock rocker Rob Zombie, set to return to the festival having headlined the second stage in 2011, while pop rockers Fallout Boy will be the second headliner on the Saturday behind Linkin Park. Supporting Aerosmith on the Sunday will be fellow hard rockers Alter Bridge, who continue to go from strength to strength and will surely headline in years to come. With many more names to be announced in the coming months, it’s not a bad start to the biggest rock festival in the UK. Weekend tickets are still available starting from £185 for a weekend ticket, and more information can be found at the official Download festival here. http://www.downloadfestival.co.uk/

Spotify has come under huge scrutiny in the last few months, with artists including Thom Yorke, Biffy Clyro and more publicly announcing their disdain for the service. Spotify allows users to listen to a wide variety of music for free, unless they wish to pay a small price per month and get an advert free service. Since being launched in 2008, it has gone on to have more than 24 million active users, a number which is ever growing.

Speaking to Channel 4 News, Philippakis stated “”I’d rather somebody stole the record on vinyl than bought it or streamed it on Spotify. Because I think you should listen to music on vinyl, and I think basically anything’s better than that (Spotify).” He went on to criticise the “insulting pittance” that artists receive for their music, saying “It’s like going to a restaurant when the chef and all the waiting staff have worked their asses off, and you leave coppers as a tip, and you don’t even pay the bill. That’s basically what Spotify’s like, I think.” This is another blow to Spotify, after Radiohead and Atoms For Peace frontman Yorke said that it was “the last desperate fart for a dying service”.