inthenews.co.uk: Music review - Sweethead (Sweethead)

The guitarist from Queens of the Stone Age has gotten together with a few other guys to launch a new project: Sweethead. They've been practising for a while now but nothing major until July when they released an EP, though their full release isn't out until now, two years after forming.

Worth the wait? Check it out here.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - Fear of a Wack Planet (Brainlove Records)

In this release, I was assigned to cover the work of the eclectic Brainlove Records, which supports a number of underground musicians across the UK and beyond. Having already sampled the likes of Kippi Kaninus, I decided to give a few more artists from their catalogue a try.

Read my review for the label here.

inthenews.co.uk: Is NFL losing appeal?

In a piece which was pretty much my bread and butter - writing about something I love - I talk about the highs and lows of this year's NFL regular season game at Wembley. It was an event of mixed emotions for me, so I proposed a comment piece about it. What's more, I got my first (relatively) professional photo published alongside it after I decided to put my developing camera skills to the test.

To read the article, click here. You can find a version of that photo, alongside many others also in a higher resolution, here on my blog.

Leeds Guide: A Skate To Victory

A while ago, I got together with the guys at The Works Skate Park to cover an event going on there and get a feel for what it was all about. It turned out to be a massive success and in order to give something back to the community, I decided to cover it for Leeds Guide, the definitive magazine for the area.

It should be in print soon, though until then, here it is in all of its online glory, sans line breaks. It's a truncated version of the original, which I ended up publishing on The Latest for double coverage.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - How To Do Battle (Senser)

Senser have been going for absolutely ages and have soldiered on to make a new record. Does it match their decent pedigree over the last few years?

Click here to read more.

gamezine.co.uk: Game review - Halo 3: ODST

I was assigned to cover this game with fellow reviewer Chris Capel, who got the first look-in due to his longer experience with the job. I get the second opinion to Capel's excellent summary, though we agree and differ on a few things.

Click here to read the review and remember - scroll down. Mine is the second!

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - All My Mistakes (Teitur)

Teitur's surprisingly well-known for a few songs, though you'll probably not associate them with his name. People get the chance to listen again with this collection.

Is it any good? Click here to find out.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - Songs About People I Know (Stricken City)

Sometimes someone you've never heard of before comes along and truly surprises you. Stricken City were like that with me.

Click here to read why.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - Tongue Tangled Hair (Bleeding Heart Narrative)

I took on a review of Bleeding Heart Narrative, who are listed with Tartaruga, a developing label. Are Tartaruga onto a winner? Is the release any good?

There's only one way to find out: click here...

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - I Am Chipmunk (Chipmunk)

Grime isn't exactly my strong point, though it'd be silly to turn something down on that basis when it comes to reviewing. This piece is about Mobo-winning Chipmunk, though is that ringing endorsement as correct as we assume?

Read the review to find out.

inthenews.co.uk: Tough at the top? Try the bottom

Darlington FC are facing a bit of a crisis so I thought I'd go along and show my support... for Macclesfield Town, their rivals on the day. It's pretty hard to ignore the serious issues the club are up against though, so I thought I'd knock together this next piece about how the team are struggling.

Have a read of my latest sport article by clicking here.

gamezine.co.uk: Game review - DiRT 2

It's safe to say that this game massively surprised me. It also led me to write over 2,000 words on it in my original draft, yet the powers that be (rightly) got me to cut it down.

So here it is: a comprehensive review of the new game in the Colin McRae series.

gamezine.co.uk: Has Turn 10 learnt anything from GT? (Forza Motorsport 3 preview)

In my first go at doing a preview of a game based on the demo, I was handed the opportunity to look at Forza Motorsport 3, the Xbox 360's equivalent of Gran Turismo. But does it match up?

Read more about it by clicking here.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - Happens Secretly (Kippi Kaninus)

I was approached by Brainlove Records to review this effort shortly after I released the Pentatonik write-up last month, where I reckon they identified that I was well into my experimental electronica. Not one to disappoint but happy to point out that it could be a good or bad article about Kippi Kaninus - their latest offering - I reviewed the album.

Good or bad? Click here.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - Tulipomania (Boy Crisis)

Pitchfork called them the "absolute worst band in the world right now" long before they released this album. So then, will Boy Crisis defy their critics?

Err, read the review here.

inthenews.co.uk: Gig review - The Furious Five with Kurtis Blow

I'm a huge fan of hip-hop, so to hear that Kurtis Blow and the Furious Five were heading to Leeds was an emotional discovery. Within ten minutes I'd bought tickets to my first gig in about eight months.

Thing is, was it worth it?

Check out my first gig review for inthenews.co.uk right here.