KMMReviews

Bernhoft is a grammy nominated R&B artist, someone who came to my attention this year and blew me away with his album Humanoid, an album that almost edged on the side of pop, taking a large step forward and slightly away from a very traditional R&B setting. So when he stopped by Birmingham on his short rendezvous through Blighty.

First up were Lawrence, a 7 (I think) piece jazz-pop band that I only caught towards the en of their set but what I saw made me wish I'd seen it all, a fantastic rendition of Sean Paul lit the room up incredibly, immediately having me hooked in their set. The songs that followed were each as joyful as the next and contained some of the best contemporary jazz infused music I've heard in ages!

Bernhoft swaggered onto the stage with the Fashion Bruises in tow and blew the roof off the O2 Academy as he ran through a set that began with the title track of his latest record, dancing and performing to songs he loved just as much as the crowd screami…

I don't think there has ever been much denial in the fact that Jeff Goldblum is the coolest actor of all time, someone I've always loved to see on the big screen and one of my favourite actors of all time. So when I heard he was making a jazz album I was intrigued and slightly scared, seeing other actors take on music has never worked well (Here's looking at you Bruce Willis) and despite the outright genius of Donald Glover (Childish Gambino) there's not really any good ones that spring to mind, until now...

Jeff Goldblum rarely ever takes centre stage on this album, despite the introduction of various singers and guests throughout, even his piano playing stays well within it's aligned parameters. That's the most refreshing thing about this, Mr Goldblum doesn't take this as a vanity project, instead this is one of the most enticing and personal projects of the year. The live recording and the interactions between the likes of Sarah Silverman and Haley Rein…

Our Girl are probably my favourite band around at the moment, their debut album "Stranger Today" is one of very few to ever receive a 10/10 from us which I think it fully deserves and it's been in constant rotation for me ever since. The dynamics on the album which perfectly utilise lead singer and guitarist, Soph Nathan's soft, harmonic vocals but also give her the opportunity to really stretch herself into a grungier, heavy rock voice which expertly intertwine with the phenomenal tunes like "Level", "Being Around" and "Boring".


The band announced on Twitter the day before the gig that they were doing a free instore show at Paul Smith in The Mailbox so obviously I had to go along to that... which also meant missing one of my lectures but hey, what's more important here? The band set up along some chairs in the shop and played an acoustic set containing songs like "I Really Like It", "Two Life" and "In My He…

Spilt Milk Society are a band I've been watching with eagerness since seeing them obliterate The Sunflower Lounge when supporting Riscas earlier this year. Unfortunately, after that a few more members of the band left and that meant they took a short hiatus to realign themselves and get back to winning ways. This resulted in their comeback single "Turtleneck Boy" - which is admittedly a huge grower, I was a bit iffy on it at first but after 10 listens it really resonated and now it's been stuck in my head for about 3 weeks.
I only caught the second support act before the show which was Flares, unknowingly seeing a band twice in 2 days is not something I've ever done before but with these I'm kind of glad. They're very young but they have the stage presence, the talent and some absolutely belting tunes which may just carry them all the way. They bloody love a clap along as well, I'll give them that!

Then it was time for Spilly Milk. There were a few s…

What after seems a long time in the running, Oxjam Brum 2018 has been gone now. And what a day it was, full of independent music at independent music in the heart of Digbeth, the creative quarter of Birmingham. The quirkiness and intimacy of the venues was what really made the day special though - so let me run you through who I saw and where I saw them!

Dig Brew Co. Dig Brew was my favourite venue of the day, not the best acoustics or set up - not for that reason at all. But because it was in a brewery, literally in the brewery and with some tables set up it was the best vibe in there as I bought one of the Oxjam Pale Ales and sat down to watch Robert Craig Oulten. He was phenomenal, a perfect opener to the day in a great venue, he reminded me very much of Willie J Healy with his laidback singing and stage presence which only added to the allure of listening to him. I'd love to hear more of him and his music and I'd also love to see some more gigs organised at Dig Brew!

Mockin…