Gareth Evans offers a ÔÇÿuniqueÔÇÖ tour of his home country for the unacquainted. What springs to mind when you think of Wales? A dangerous question to ask, admittedly. For the na├»ve, or the three people who actually acknowledge the Welsh tourist board, perhaps itÔÇÖs a pleasant land of greenery, scenery, and absolutely no meanery. On the other side of the coin, there are those who … Continue reading The Sketch: An Alternative Guide to Wales
Engrosses you in a way that other music just can’t. How could Alt-J follow up a debut album as undeniably genre-bending and breaking as, ‘An Awesome Wave’? It was an album that earned them the somewhat coveted Barclaycard Mercury Prize and catapulted them to the headline slot on Reading and Leed’s cavernous NME/Radio 1 stage last summer. With Alexandra Palace sold out and London’s 02 … Continue reading Review: Alt-J-This Is All Yours
Summer is the most highly anticipated season of the year. There is a huge variety of different fashions to follow from festival to holiday and beachwear. But there comes the end of season when our tans start to fade and our beachy hair just doesnÔÇÖt quite look the same as it did on holiday. Here are our tips on how to keep up a summery … Continue reading Make It Summer All Year Round
Natasha Vaughan tells the story of the importance of key wardrobe pieces Grandmas and old aunties in boucle zip cardigans joke about needing Gok Wan to wave his magic wand over their wardrobe, and five years ago, I might have agreed with them. Oh, poor Gok! Stick your feet up and give it a rest, my love. Once weÔÇÖve seen one colour-pop trench coat weÔÇÖve … Continue reading The Power of the Capsule Wardrobe
Voluptuous, and far less focused on ambient space. The last two years have been a turbulent period for Dry The River. After the release of their debut album, Shallow Bed, they spent an inordinate amount of time touring. Although the band were enjoying well deserved support and success, their gruelling schedule left primary songwriter, Pete Liddle, with precious little time to write their increasingly imminent … Continue reading Review: Dry The River-Alarms In The Heart
It’s quite the achievement to have created something for everyone. Leeds-based scuzz-rage pop-rockers Pulled Apart By Horses have finally released their third studio album ‘Blood’. It’s been a long wait for fans since the glorious ‘Tough Love’ was released over two years ago but it’s been a wait worthwhile. With some stamping this as their best album to date, ‘Blood’ takes us down a more … Continue reading Review: Pulled Apart By Horses-Blood
One thing is for sure, ‘The Day’s War’ is a sign of things to come. 14 tracks strong, ‘The Day’s War’ is a triumph for new boys on the scene Lonely The Brave. Writing for four years and steadily releasing singles through 2013 into the current year, the five piece from Cambridge have been heralded as the next big thing in rock. What their debut … Continue reading Review: Lonely The Brave-The Day’s War
A difficult pill for Lower Than Atlantis fans to swallow. Album number four from Watford rockers Lower Than Atlantis has been shrouded in ideas of ambition and experimentation, pushing the quartet to higher places than they’d previously been. However, ideas are what they shall remain, as the self-titled album, ‘Lower Than Atlantis’, misses the mark on what this band are built on, rock and roll. … Continue reading Review-Lower Than Atlantis-‘Self-Titled’
Images of fire, darkness and entrapment artfully produce subtle undertones of angst. Artists often create self-titled records to illustrate a new phase in their career. Although Ryan Adams has insisted that he christened ÔÇÿRyan AdamsÔÇÖ with an eponymous title because he simply┬ácouldn’t┬ádecide on an alternative, it is evident that ÔÇÿRyan AdamsÔÇÖ is a┬áproduct of renewal. Born in a haze of pot and pinball games in … Continue reading Review: Ryan Adams-Self-Titled
Basement Jaxx are arguably the definitive dance act of the last decade. David Guetta may have been everywhere, but JaxxÔÇÖs exuberance has helped sweep the genre across the globe. EDM has become standard in pop ÔÇô see David Guetta, RedOne, Daft Punk ÔÇô but since their last proper record ÔÇÿScarsÔÇÖ in 2009, Basement Jaxx have been pursuing other musical ventures. An orchestral collaboration with the … Continue reading Review: Basement Jaxx-Junto
Haunting bass lines and punchy lyrics come together with mesmerising effect. The dark blend of R&B and pop that characterises BanksÔÇÖs sound is an example of a new breed of solo artist. The LA born singer, Jillian Banks began to cause a stir amongst critics last year having already worked with the likes of Totally Extinct Dinosaurs on tracks such as ÔÇÿWarm WaterÔÇÖ. The mix … Continue reading Review: BANKS-Goddess
Festival No.6: Generally unpretentious and impossible not to enjoy It’s easy to be swayed by the fact that Festival No.6 keeps winning awards, its views of the estuary and the fairy-tale nature of its setting: the mock Italian village of Portmeirion. However, it could be argued that 2014 did not sport as mouth-watering a line-up as last year, despite plenty to interest even the most … Continue reading Festival Review: Festival No.6
Andy Love on gay dating in the 21st century “Hey, how are you doing?” “I’m good, how are you?” “I’m good. What are you up to?” “Chilling. What are you up to?” “Bored…” This might seem like a regular start up conversation for people with dating/hook up apps. But are they good, are they bad, where do we stand? Do you remember a time when … Continue reading Grinding You Down
QuenchÔÇÖs Film and TV editor Charlie Andrews gives us a brief insight into LGBT+ issues in the comic world. Back in the beginning of April, GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) held their 25th Annual GLAAD Media Awards, which sets out to honour a host of various films, albums, books, comics and other media from 2013 for their ÔÇ£fair, accurate and inclusive representations of … Continue reading Some people are superheroes. Get over it!
A brief analysis at the rules and regulations of the life saving process of giving blood. Currently UK guidelines prohibit the donation of blood from men who have sex with men within a 12 month period, regardless of whether condoms are used or not, or whether two men are in a monogamous relationship. The argument provided by the Give Blood website elucidates the fact that … Continue reading Well I would give blood, if I could
Culture editors Jasmine Freeman and Elouise Hobbs bring you ten of CardiffÔÇÖs cultural treasures you wish you knew about. Go unearth them! I want to do something different Ever fancied watching an opera? Well, the Welsh National Opera offers 50 ┬ú5 tickets in the top three price bands for Under 30s for every performance. What’s more, for some performances there are free Pre-Performance Talks that … Continue reading Hidden Gems for the Curious Student
Exploring relationship issues at university with someone totally unqualified to do so. I┬áwill make absolutely no pretenses about my credentials as any sort of relationship expert, guru, czar or any other position of relative authority you care to choose. IÔÇÖm also aware that there are many people infinitely more capable of explaining the various vagaries and complexities surrounding romance, a fact that will remain true … Continue reading Love Games
An anonymous trans* student talks about his experiences with allies. Transitioning to male within an all-female environment made the last few years of school very hard. More so, when I was encountered by people who could not understand me and felt it was their place to try and stop me. Heeding advice from LGBT+ people I began to get very defensive, and hid away from … Continue reading The Story of Our Allies
QuenchÔÇÖs LGBT+ editor Emrhys Pickup discusses Facebook’s recent addition of over 50 gender identities and a new pronoun option to user’s basic info. Facebook requires five things from you when you sign up – your name, email address, a password, your birthday and your gender; with gender being presented to you as a tick box option between male and female. Most non-binary trans* folk do … Continue reading 50 shades of gender
The best new and upcoming artists to look out for this month… Anna of the North The sounds of Anna of the North have been slowly filtering to further adrift shores for some time now. Promising a special brand of electro dream pop, itÔÇÖs hard not to fall head over heels for the Norwegian singer-songwriter and her ethereal vocal stylings. Debut single ÔÇÿSwayÔÇÖ was released … Continue reading new/newydd – September
