During the course of his adventures Xan Phillips meets a variety of people who have something artistic on offer. Below are some recommendations for your collection be it film, book or music.
Eamon Nancarrow’s side-splitting autobiography ‘Holywood Star: The life and times of a rock and roll misadventurer’ is the first book to be published by Showcase UK, the entity set up by Xan Phillips to promote and highlight new talent. The Irish News called Eamon’s book “Laugh Out Loud Funny” echoing the public’s reviews on Amazon.co.uk. It has to be the book of 2010. Born in 1965, Eamon grew up on a council estate in Holywood, County Down and fell in love with 70’s and then 80’s rock music. His first goal was to form a band and then conquer the nearby Belfast. Following that London and soon after the rest of the world. You’ll find some of the greatest stories and characters in ‘Holywood Star’ and moments you won’t belive happend. Buy from Amazon, WH Smith, Play, Barnes & Noble
‘Recuerdos – Guitar Classics’ by Richard Durrant (Longman Records) In the Classic FM magazine reviewer John Brunning declared: “I had to pause midway through writing this to retrieve my socks, which had been knocked off by Richard Durrant’s extraordinary virtuosity.” Meanwhile Acoustic Magazine said the album: “…deserves the utmost respect” and highlights the fact that this album is also the début for Richard’s new and innovative guitar. Buy from Longman Records
‘White Butterflies’ by Terry Emm (Longman Records) This début release is getting fantastic reviews. In Maverick magazine JS says: “the best debut album from a singer songwriter that I have heard in a long time”. Recently Mojo magazine strode in giving the collection of excellent songs four stars while lavishing praise: “Outstanding début from a teenage troubadour.” They also point out that the initial release is limited to 1000 copies. Buy from Longman Records
‘On/Off/Safety/Danger’ by Birdpen (Les Oreilles Bleues)
Long awaited debut album from this South Coast trio whose mixture of ‘man & machine’ music sets the pulses racing across Europe. Which explains why most reviews and prise for the album are in French: “À découvrir d’urgence !” (www.openmag.fr) or “la musique de Birdpen semble clairement prédestinée à être écoutée avant tout par les amateurs d’expérimentations et d’explorations aériennes” (www.soundofviolence.net) It is one of the best UK albums around. Buy CD from Amazon (France) or
‘The law of the playground’ by The Boy Least Likely To (Too Young To Die) Delayed follow-up to the well loved debut ‘the best party ever’ Rough Trade describe the album as “another delightful slice of quintessential British pop music ”. Al Fox at the BBC says: “If sunshine could be converted into MP3 format, The Law of the Playground is a pretty close approximation as to how it would sound. ” Buy from Rough Trade or Amazon
