rescuing musical virtue in distress.
As any album proudly bearing labels such as relaxation and meditation hoves into view, I have a tendency to brace for a salvo of head shop, whale noise nonsense and wind chime cacophony. But if more people working in such a broad and often misrepresented genre made music like Christopher Rapkin’s Release, then there would... Continue Reading →
Like much of the best music, whilst Colder wears its influences clearly on its sleeve, stark post-punk, early electro through to boundary pushing, modern, mood driven dance experimentations, it also manages to create its own plane of existence. That plane is one of cool late night bars, slick urban adventures, sophisticated socialites and effortless elegance.... Continue Reading →
I knew it wasn’t going to be an ordinary day. Not only did I manage to pick up some Philip K Dick anthologies in Oxfam and Karda Estra sent me their latest release inspired equally by 14th Century writer Giovanni Boccaccio and Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles, but I also find the latest Jezus Factory... Continue Reading →
If there is such a thing as “timeless” music then Nick Nicely is the ultimate timelord. Not only occasionally plundering the key working components that drove everything from 60’s psychedelia to 70’s pre-punk experimentalism to late eighties Shoegazing but also garnering sounds that seem somehow disconnected from contemporary music. Sounds more akin to industrial noise... Continue Reading →
I knew that this day would come. I just didn't know who would be the band acting as the messenger. It is the day when we finally have to abandon the tags, labels, comparisons and cross-references that in the past have been the tools of the journalistic trade and now be content to deal in less... Continue Reading →
I have to confess that as I dropped the CD into the player I thought, “anything could happen in the next half hour.” Then again I tend to think something similar with every Jezus Factory release I receive, they is not a label to be approached with preconceptions or already informed opinion. And if that... Continue Reading →
Loreena McKennitt is not a household name for many, though she has been creating a very unique brand of music for many years, her first album, Elemental was released in 1985. The cover of 1997's release, Book of Secrets, does suggest something of what you are going to find inside. The artist herself stands framed... Continue Reading →
History has shown that mixing music and spirituality rarely pays off. The results are largely shallow, new age kitsch at best or stiff necked, pompous Bible bashing at worst. It takes a deft musical hand, a sincere heart and clear mind to combine these factors with any real success. Thankfully Mantrasphere ticks all of these... Continue Reading →