In conjunction with his small up-coming UK tour, we thought we'd give Brother Ali a quick review, so you all know what to expect from the critically acclaimed Rhymesayers rapper.

For those unaware of Brother Ali (giant, albino, born-again Muslim, divorced dad) you need to check him out, with his undeniable likeness to J Dilla and his gentle, poetic hip hop, he will get under your skin immediately and you'll wonder where the rest of the album is. And if you don't have it, you should get it, it's refreshingly worth it.

The small tour will be taking in Bristol, London, Brighton, Liverpool, Dublin and Nottingham. And if you can manage to get yourself to one gig, I guarantee you will be impressed, feel free to let me know otherwise.

March:
16th - Croft, Bristol
17th - Cargo, London
18th - Freebutt, Brighton
19th - Korova, Liverpool
20th - Craw Daddy, Dublin
21st - Bodega, Nottingham

Admittedly we only have the teaser of 'Us', but it's an accurate one. If you're not keen on that, maybe the big man is not for you.

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It's not often you can have your judgment shattered in a matter of seconds (12 to be exact), but this New Loud track, from their new EP 'Can't Stop Not Knowing', managed it. Pretty much as soon as the vocals come in it's ruined. Don't get me wrong, the vocals are fine, the music is fine, but together they just don't mix. At all.

It sounds like a producer heard The Faint, decided that that was what all the kids were into right now (10 years ago) and thought he'd have a bash at that. Only, this group aren't The Faint and it sounds like they don't want to be. The rest of the tracks on the EP sort of slip down the drain, Don't Dance being the only one with a chance of popularity.

Unfortunately it sounds so badly produced that its hard to want to listen to the other tracks, it all merges together into a beige "electro-pop" tedium. Maybe its a bad example of their work, maybe (probably) a bad producer, maybe they're just really, really average, maybe it's just not my thing.

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They've been likened to a Jeff Buckley/Editors-esque crossover which I can't really hear, but then I'm going on this one track which instantly reminds me of Mansun. It's a dark alt-rock with some powerful and engaging vocals by Alastair Blackwood.

Glass Figures needs to be played loud, it keeps a great pace and merges heavy and gentle exceptionally well together. It's 90's indie-rock is if anything a total winning point for me. I have also heard good things about their live performance, which if their album sound is anything to go by should be intense.

A well produced, moody orchestral number that will have you gently nodding your head (slow-mo headbanging) and thinking about Mansun.. I mean, Motion Picture Soundtrack.

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