LIVE AT THE ZEN-TRIFUGE LAUNCH NIGHTWhat can I tell you about Turrentine Jones that I haven't already told you?I could try telling you that the Manchester three piece are set to change the way you see that particular cities music, but I've already told you that. I could mention their enigmatic front-man Jude Neville and his eye-squintingly skuzzy blues guitar, but you already know all about it. I could mention the fact that talented sticksman Chris Carcamo used to bang the tubs for cult local... Read Full Story

NEW ACTS MAKING BLIPS ON THE ZENDARTainted as it has been in recent times by the Blunt's, Nuttini's and Rice's of our generation, the singer-song writer genre is traditionally not greatly lauded on these pages. So it's with an unusual amount of pleasure that Winston's Zen would like to draw your esteemed attention to a young Londoner with talent to spare and an arsenal of tender, heartfelt songs that don't induce feelings of physical illness.In Damien Renouf, Zentrifuge (the gig night brought... Read Full Story

LETTING NEW ACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVESThose of you paying attention when listening to Zenlist Vol 5 might have noticed the glistening gem that was Break, the contribution from London newcomers Stagecoach. The five piece indie-popsters recently signed to the achingly cool Alcopop records and featured on the labels innovative compilation-in-a-bottle not so long ago.With a pretty extensive UK tour set for October, and an EP led by the infectious sing-a-long We Got Tazers set for release in the sa... Read Full Story

THE PLAYLIST THAT BRINGS INNER PEACE...It's been a long time since there was a playlist round these parts, I know. But, even if I say so myself, I think Vol 5 has been well worth the wait.Ten Zen-filled tracks from ten hot new bands you might not have come across yet but who all deserve a nice thick slice of your attention pie. Largely as a result of the drive to find acts to be part of our Zen-trifuge gig nights, Volume 5 has a distinctly British vibe going on, the overseas contingent uncomm... Read Full Story

LIVE @ THE OAKFORD, READING - SEP 11TH 2009White Sunday may have been off our stages for a while, but if the queues snaking around the block and the eager punters locked out of this sold out show at the Oakford on Friday night are anything to go by, then Reading’s gig goers have lost no more of their enthusiasm for their local hero’s than Winston’s Zen has. If ever there was a night to cram punters into a venue like so many sardines then this, with an army of big label scout... Read Full Story

LETTING NEW ACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVESFour lads from Brigthon eschewing their cities penchant for glam chopped electro beats, Carter Brown have instead chosen the kind of snarling rock n roll that has been known to cause sporadic outbreaks of air guitar and heads that bang harder than Madame JoJo's headboard.Seemingly capable of achieving the both the cliche'd Wall of Sound ([HaHa] Too Little Too Late) and the hard-to-pull-off acoustic sing-a-long with both ease and flair, Winston's Zen predic... Read Full Story

You might recall London five-piece (yes, five piece despite what the picture tells you) Lion O'Brien from last weeks Moment of Zen. In their own words, "striving to establish their own brand of feel-good music" the band write songs about "love, work, robots vampires and other aspects everyday life".Quite.Winston's Zen was keen to find out more;Tell us how the band got together. We all met by chance at the Llama petting section at Lambeth Country Show in Brixton last summer. We discovered we s... Read Full Story

LETTING NEW ACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVESIf you haven't heard me raving about Turrentine Jones yet, then you've definitely not been listening very carefully. A swollen, organ-laced blues-tinged beauty, the Manchester three piece's self released debut EP is a mainstay on the Zen Avenue stereo for a few months now. In fact, we like them so much we made them the first ever Zen-trifuge headliners back in July... and then we booked them again.While we were at it, we asked them a few questions too....M... Read Full Story

LETTING NEW ACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVESWhen a band name themselves after the police radio code that describes their particular racial demographic, you probably won't be surprised to learn that you won't be discovering their CD's in the Easy Listening section of your local HMV. Just as well, because no one's life is long enough to endure meaningless musak.The IC1s are five West London lads who are most definitely White Europeans, and have a penchant for gritty, honest rock 'n' roll songs, the ki... Read Full Story

RELEASES FROM THE ZEN INBOXFirm Zen favourites The Rifles, Official Secrets Act are both set to play at Merc’s legendary Carnaby Street store in London as part of its LIVE Initiative, an enticing series of free shows that have already seen the likes of and the Zendar 2009 shortlisted New Education entertain the crowds.With The Rifles performing a "classics" set, their intimate gig will kick start the last bank holiday weekend, taking place at 6pm on Friday 28th August. Official Secrets ... Read Full Story