rescuing musical virtue in distress.
Hip-Hop is known more for short, sharp and shockingly effective sonic hits rather than anything designed on a more ornate and grand scale, which is what makes this new album from New York's Calamity Jones such an interesting concept. A hip-hop concept album may be a rare commodity but why not? Boundaries are there to... Continue Reading →
Cupidkarma is an album that could only exist today. Not just for the fact that it sounds so utterly modern and refreshing but also because at 70 tracks long, a physical version of such an album would probably not get past the planning and costing stage. Thankfully times have changed and technology allows artists to... Continue Reading →
It is safe to say that Arda & The Stolen Moon make pop music. It is also safe to say that it is the sort of pop music which is all too rare these days. In fact, it is pop music that is so busy just being itself and having fun that it probably doesn't... Continue Reading →
This is a no nonsense anti-establishment band that put their uncomplicated stripped back folk/punk heritage badge front and centre. They deliver their brand of political tirades, kick-back ballads and ECO homilies with an up-tempo, danceable verve and vigour. Where does this recording sit? Well, I would most like to see this band after caning the... Continue Reading →
I have to admit that I m always a bit suspicious when I see a new generic label pop up. Generally, such fusions don't sit together particularly comfortably and feel more like a gimmick than a new musical adventure, something forced together rather than an organic creative process. But not this. Listening to this second... Continue Reading →
Hip-hop may have been forged from musical pioneers reappropriating technology and sampling classic songs to create a new sound and style back in the late '70s, but it has come a long way since those days. So far, in fact, that it is one of the most recognisable sounds, not to mention one of the... Continue Reading →
We have had lots of music born of the lockdown experience over the last year. Naturally. But now, as the rough shape of what the new normal might look like is beginning to make itself known, our thoughts, also, quite naturally, turn to how we might transition from the isolation of the last year and... Continue Reading →
I've seen him about. I've watched play in others bands. I've heard music that he has scored for other people's projects. I've even exchanged a few brief words with him here and there, post-gig and on the hoof. But I don't think you start understanding a musician until you have heard music that they have... Continue Reading →
The opening song of any album generally does one of two things. It either sets the tone for what is to follow, a sonic calling card and mission statement all wrapped into one. Or it goes completely the other way and offers something so odd and beguiling that you keep listening anyway. Here, with the... Continue Reading →
It's been a year of disappointments, nowhere more so than in the music and arts community with gigs, tours and festivals all falling by the wayside like a house of cards. And when the fickle hand of fate upsets your plans there are only really two responses. You can either feel sorry for yourself, moan... Continue Reading →
I've been a bit hit and miss with a weekly playlist of late, so this one will represent about 3 weeks worth of music. Hence the strange take on the title. Still, the sun's out, it's a bank holiday, so here's the perfect soundtrack to play whilst having a few beers in the garden. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1j6Uwg23FYzljszmSFxlNO?si=44003eea81aa4ce0
Can you give a brief history of Venus Fly Trap. I had been in a band called Attrition who were based in London at the time, I had done an album and toured Holland/UK with them. Decided to move back to my native Northampton famous for Bauhaus, Alan Moore and the film Kinky Boots, hooked... Continue Reading →
Bristol-based Avant indiepop outfit Modesty Blaise present 'And The Lights Went Out All Over Town', the closing track on ‘The Modesty Blaise’ LP, the band's first album since emerging from a 20-year hiatus. This track presents a vision of a dystopian present, rather than future, and an indictment of how the military/industrial complex has led us all to the point of ecological... Continue Reading →
Toronto-based First Nations singer-songwriter Madisyn Whajne presents 'Save My Heart' from her debut record 'Save Our Hearts', along with video produced by Bobby Bulat. Both invigorating and bittersweet, Whajne demonstrates resilience and survival in the face of pain and heartbreak. This long-player was recorded live to tape with Montreal super-producer Howard Bilerman (Arcade Fire, Wolf Parade, The Barr Brothers) and Shae Brossard (Bahamas, The Dears)at Montreal’s famed Hotel2Tango... Continue Reading →
Funky! Yes, with an exclamation mark. That's the word for this latest track from Monotronic. But funky in the most contemporary of ways, being a fusion of analogue grooves and digital sonic moves. And it is a fusion that not only works but works brilliantly. The bass is busy in the background, grounding the song... Continue Reading →
Where to begin? Manntra has so much going on in its music that it is really hard to sum up what they do concisely. But I will try. Imagine if Rammstein decided to change direction and become a folk band? Or if System of a Down had formed a musical collective with Gogol Bordello? Or... Continue Reading →
Ba-Jesus was a cracker of an album and, as a way of getting us ready for another full album release, Liverpool's Ernest Moon has ushered forth a typically fun single to whet our tastebuds. And even hearing the title you can make an informed guess about what that single might all be about. Or at... Continue Reading →
The first thing that hits you as I Am Your Queen struts and swaggers its way towards you is just how out of keeping the track is with any current musical fad or fashion. And I say that as a good thing. A very good thing. But then again, I guess if it had landed... Continue Reading →
Whilst it is impossible to place The BRKN in any one category regarding genre, style or sound, there is one word that springs instantly to mind. Competence. It's something that they have in no small amount. Their songwriting is fresh and forward-thinking, wilfully hopping genres as easily as a super-hero leaps small buildings. The musicianship... Continue Reading →
The only thing that you can predict when faced with a new track from Blind Uncle Harry is that what will follow is impossible to predict. Which is something, I guess. We've had songs that sound like Dylan going punk, we've had chiming acoustic pop, we've even had old-time country hoe-downs. Second-guessing what will come... Continue Reading →
Any album containing a song titled "Where's Joe Strummer?" has to be worth checking out. Right? Quite right. And although it isn't that track that is under the pen this time, Uncertainty also proves to be a great calling card for STH's latest album. Whilst so many other sites who have written about the track... Continue Reading →
We know that all the best things come in small packages and ahead of a two-track release, which in the past would have gone by the ungainly name of a double A-side single, LA-based multi-instrumentalist, AMMO, releases just one of those tracks to light the way. And light the way it does, shimmering and shining... Continue Reading →
We know that Color The Void is great at the art of soundscaping. Both Second Guess and the more recent single, Time, display their skills in this area perfectly. And soundscaping is an art in its own right, one that goes above and beyond mere songwriting. If I can turn to my oft-used analogy of... Continue Reading →
London-based indiepop artist Distant Voices presents 'Stranger Among Friends', a catchy track stemming from a European junket motivated by Brexit regret and the sense of social separation, which has taken on a whole new meaning under the conditions of the current pandemic. Distant Voices is the solo project of Valdis Stekelis, who wrote and began writing these tracks in 2019,... Continue Reading →
If certain wines seem to get better with age, the same is certainly true of the best musical artists too. Sure, if you just want some cheap sonic plonk to hit the spot, there is plenty of that available but sometimes you want something to savour, relish, slowly enjoy and really appreciate. Cathal Coughlan is... Continue Reading →
I always like to start with a bit of background, so can you tell me a bit about your musical journey from your earliest days to where you are today? Sugar Loaf Walker: I grew up in Chennai, a city in southern India. One of my earliest musical memories was listening to 20 Golden Greats by The Shadows from my... Continue Reading →
Say the phrase classical music and most people will automatically think of the past. But classical music is a genre like any other and so it moves with the times too. Star Goes Nova makes music that could easily be seen as the cutting edge of that genre, especially with this gorgeous creation. Okay, it... Continue Reading →
After charming us for just over a minute with a delicate wash of shimmering, ambient indie vibes, Neon then pulls the rug away from the listener's expectations and turns into an upbeat and texturally rich, pop song. And no matter at which end of the song's sonic journey you find yourself, you are cocooned in... Continue Reading →
Unlike its flightier and fun-time older sibling that goes by the name of rock and roll, progressive rock has always had something to say. Sadly, much of what it had to say was the product of reading too many Tolkien novels. Thankfully, Pentral, have a much more focused message running through their music, one that... Continue Reading →
Any band that can take you from ambient to epic in just over four minutes is a band that you need to take note of. Especially if they can do it through the deft use of measured increments, slowly adding sonic weight, building beat, turning grace into the groove, in a way that is so... Continue Reading →