rescuing musical virtue in distress.
If you were to consider music in terms of writing, as perhaps sonic pen strokes on a musical page, then Norrisette’s 2020 is the equivalent of stunning calligraphy but also written in a somewhat off-beat and otherworldly hand. Some people just make music to merely communicate or lift spirits, Norrisette seems more concerned with enthralling... Continue Reading →
Blending beat with beauty, Magic Wands manage to make music which is driven by a tightly-wound, energetic engine room yet simultaneously the stuff of blissed out, sonic dreamscaping, and that is a hard thing to pull off. But pull it off they do and Blue Cherry is all the proof that you need. Dream dance... Continue Reading →
It’s safe to say that Stay Lunar have found their groove, and it is a good groove. Make that a great groove. Whilst so many of their peers are looking back to that much maligned decade…the 80’s…and finding inspiration in the twee-indie and synth-driven landfill pop which seems only to define it in hindsight or... Continue Reading →
Imagine if Ennio Morricone had taken a different approach to Leone’s iconic Spaghetti Western soundtracks and decided to invent dream-pop whilst scoring them. You can’t imagine such a scenario? Well, give The Roogs debut album a spin and you’ll get some idea what that might have sounded like. Courtney Davies and Steve Gerdes are perhaps better... Continue Reading →
There is nothing like kicking off an album with some beguiling and engaging sounds, the sort of musical exoticism which grabs the listener right from the first languorous and luxurious vocal, the first skittering and skewed beat. That’s how you get peoples attention and Bakhchalarda does just that and does it perfectly. A blend of... Continue Reading →
If ever there was a piece of music which deserves to be prominently placed in the next Sci-Fi blockbuster movie, then this is it. With it’s obvious Vangelisian, Blade Runner-esque fluidity and a video which revels in mystery, beauty and science fact, this short dream state slice of ambient cinematics goes beyond just being about... Continue Reading →
Given that the last time I had Daniel Angelus under my pen it was to write about an album called Act I, it wasn’t entirely unexpected that I should now find myself with a new album titled Act II in front of me. What wasn’t expected was how much he had moved things on since... Continue Reading →
If you are going to choose to cover a song, especially one by a band known for having such a signature sound, you really need to be bringing something interesting to project. Otherwise what is the point? The Pull of Autumn really understands this and this cover of The Bee Gees' Holiday has so many unique... Continue Reading →
Maybe it’s some sort of self-fulfilling prophecy. A band who, consciously or otherwise , find themselves going down a certain creative route eventually find themselves working with someone who was, in part at least, one of the architects of just such a sound in the first place. Perhaps it is just co-incidence. Perhaps million to... Continue Reading →
As tough as break-ups are, as lost and untethered as they make us feel, as emotionally confusing as they might be, even in such turmoil you can find the positive. And if you are as smart as Ámaris Wen then you can turn that positivity into an album of songs. Without getting too preachy or offering... Continue Reading →
Sometimes, songs tell their story through the medium of lyrical communication, laying out the narrative in no uncertain terms. Other times they tell their tales in less tangible ways, through emotion and feeling, or perhaps just a general vibe. The Warped Glimmer seems to do both but it is to the latter approach that it... Continue Reading →
I’ve been sat here listening to this debut album from Tiny Fighter trying to work out just why it is so great. Obviously it is full of deft and clever songwriting, it goes without saying that any album deserving such a label has that, but there is something in the delivery of these songs that... Continue Reading →
I guess the art of making music which falls into the loose and broad realms of dream-pop is getting the balance between blissful transience and an engaging structure just right. Wander too far one way and you are into formless ambience, head towards the other extreme and you end up making washy dance music. It’s... Continue Reading →
Four tracks in, as far as I’m concerned anyway, and I’m really falling for Phantom Phunk. I don’t understand what they are up to, how they blend their musical strands together, I just know that the world, and not just the music world, is a better place for them being in it. You have to... Continue Reading →
In an ideal world, the release of a new Fassine album would be something which brings the whole country together, like a new series of Love Island or the hunt of a serial killer. And to be fair, given their increasing popularity with each release, they will probably get there. But for now they are... Continue Reading →
It is interesting that speaking of this song, taken from the forth-coming album Forge, vocalist Sarah Palmer described it as being, “About a Magpie-type lover and all that comes with it, luring us into the hope of a beautiful relationship. It’s as close as we could get to writing a pop song on this album!” Interesting... Continue Reading →
If 4AD were launched today as a dance label, this would be their signature release. It’s a simple as that. Ballad of JC Quinn runs along on pulsing dance grooves, the sort of thing that Bristol’s underground scene revelled in during the 90’s, but then swathes itself in layers of shimmering sonics. The background beats... Continue Reading →
When I look outside my window I see a world built of angles and sharp edges, littered with colour schemes that are either brash or drab, skies half hidden by man made structures and people who seem to be dutifully going about their business and finding little joy in it. That’s why I listen to... Continue Reading →
I did it again! I took one look at the band name, the artwork, the track's title and jumped to conclusions. Everything suggested that what lay beyond would be some sort of strange electro music, digital dalliances made up of synth textures and angular, programmed off-beats. Well, you know what they say about judging books... Continue Reading →
I've said it before and I’ll say it again, “sun-damaged American music” is a pretty apt description of the sound Palm Ghosts make. At once vague and accurate, a description which doesn’t really tell you much going in but which in hindsight is the perfect summation, and Wide Awake and Waiting is another chapter in... Continue Reading →
Ahhh, Fassine, it’s been a while. Far too long. But all that will be put right soon with the announcement of Forge, a new album for March next year. In the mean time Limbs has been sent out into the world to test the water. So what has changed? Well, they seem to be a... Continue Reading →
Dream-pop, by and large, falls into two vocal styles. You can either submerge the voice into the music, allow it to become part of a hazy, ambient background, avoid any form of direct communication and instead turn it into part of the instrumental soundscape. Or you can present it front and centre, a confident contrast... Continue Reading →
The remarkable thing about Ummagma is their ability to wander diverse musical pathways, soaking up influences and juggling so many disparate and different sounds yet bring it all together in music that sounds cohesive, natural and …well, Ummagma-esque. There is nothing wrong with bands having a singular vision, to want to fit neatly into a... Continue Reading →
Blurring the lines between folk, dream-pop and chart accessibility, Roses, the title track of her EP, is a charming and graceful calling card. It revels in space and atmosphere, restraint and understatement, the beat doing only enough to provide sonic hooks to hang minimalist music on, the guitars used sparingly, the bass line merely punctuation... Continue Reading →
Slowness make music which seems less about presenting songs to the listener and more about cocooning them in smooth and sultry swathes of drifting textures. This isn’t so much music to be listened to at all, but rather to be experienced, something to surrender too and just let it wash over you rather than trying... Continue Reading →
I guarantee that if you asked 5, 10…100 different people to listen to Y33BA they would all come to a different conclusion as to where this mercurial band fit in the musical canon or which generic pigeon-hole they are best posted into. But that, I guess, is the art of it, finding a way of... Continue Reading →
If the term Shoegaze has always suggested intricate walls of guitar noise whilst Dream-pop suggestive of a more drifting and hazy soundscape, then it is where those two genres meet, merge and meld that Submotile operate. A strange world where solidity and structure are drenched in half-heard lyrical delivery and fluid, formless riffs, where music... Continue Reading →
Ummagma always take me by surprise, but I only have myself to blame. When I haven’t played any of their music for a while I seem to leave them compartmentalised in the drifty, ambient section of my memory, possibly taking virtual tea with SPC ECO or hanging about with members of Beach House. But then... Continue Reading →
Well, that’s a practical idea, naming your e.p.to align with your given musical pigeon hole. Here it works, nicely odd, wonderfully non-conformist and slightly reminiscent of Cocteau Twins often grandiose song titles. I’m not sure that it will catch on, I’m not sure I want it to, that would take all the fun out of... Continue Reading →
Some music hits the review pile to the voice in my head muttering “oh, them again, I suppose I might find time to write that up.” Other music evokes a pleasant, “Ahh, that should be a good listen.” Then there is music that falls into the category of, “ Man, I’ve missed you.” Phil Wilson... Continue Reading →