Archives
Track: Blood Sport release new track Palomar, plus album news
When I came to Sheffield, I got told that people had said it was the largest village in the country. This (for those that don’t know) is one of the biggest cities in the country. Rubbish I thought on arriving here, but since then I have found it to be one of my favourite cities …
The Provincial Archive – Common Cards (time-limited download…)
There’s a lot of music comes through the Backseat Mafia front-door mail flap, as you’d probably expect. Perusing the stack of titles I came upon The Provincial Archive and I was snagged with the name. That understated, everyday-sounding handle evokes secret societies with niche and/or subversive agendas; not so much the illuminati or opus dei, …
New Music: MT Warning – Youth Bird
And so we propel towards the end of the Summer. Here in the north of England, it’s especially important to try and grab any chance we can to sit in the Sun, as we don’t get that many of them. It’s those rare times that we can relax and let the mind wander, usually (for …
Album Review: Franz Ferdinand-Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action
How many of you like me were enamored with Franz Ferdinand back in 2004? It’s hard to describe, but something about that debut album lit a post-punk fuse in me. I’d just begun listening to Gang of Four and had dabbled in The Jam as well. These cats were just the right modern take on …
See: Editors reveal new video for Formaldehyde, plus November tour news
Sometimes, as much as I love music, the way things look is the thing that makes them beautiful. When I was at University I had a poster of (this might seem a little sad) Edvard Munch‘s The Scream. To me it was scary and comical and cool and meaningful and, well, just brilliant. He himself …
Album Review: White Hills-So You Are…So You’ll Be
White Hills are one of those bands that are pretty much fearless. They’ve run the gamut on their records over the years from Sabbath gut busters to spaced-out Hawkwind to Tangerine Dream-esque ambient interludes. And the crazy thing is that they can pull them all off quite well. Their 2010 double album H-p1 seems to have …
Album Review: Justin Currie – Lower Reaches
It’s an inevitable result of the relentless passage of time that our social circles change as we grow older. As jobs evolve into careers and relationships develop into families, your life shuffles into a new shape and you inevitably lose touch with some of the people that, in your younger days, you felt would always …
Meet: We chat with The Magic Numbers, with new album news
You know sometimes you get this sort of blinkered memory of something, or somewhere. Like when I first went to Whitby and I thought it was this fantastic place where I had literally had the food of the gods (well, the best fish and chips ever), but every other time I’ve been I’ve so looked …
Remembering: Archie Shepp interview, 40 Years on from Attica Blues
Let’s get the background out of the way first. Archie Shepp is a jazz legend. Maybe not one of the big names of jazz, but a browse of the mans discography shows this guy could, and did, mix it with the very best. Born in 1937, his early collaborations included work with Don Cherry, legendary …
New Music: Puzzles/Paul Conrad/Violet May
Hello there ! A quick round-up of some of the new sounds pinging around in the Backseat Mafia inbox. First up are Sheffield quintet Puzzles. Made up of Matthew, Alex, Rob, Harry and Robert, the band formed at the University and have made music their refuge from the real world, at least for now. They’re clearly on …