NEWS: Luke Jenner (The Rapture) announces new solo record, 1.
As a student growing up in the hedonistic disco-punk era of the ’00s, to see the news that Luke Jenner of The Rapture is releasing a solo record is a great start to a Friday morning. 1, released through Manono Records from May 15th, is being announced as a semi-biographical account of Jenner’s life; from …
News: Dinosaur announce “To The Earth” alongside European tour dates
Celebrating a decade of music-making, Mercury-nominated jazz super-group Dinosaur (helmed by trumpeter Laura Jurd) have announced the release of their highly anticipated third album, alongside a cluster of live dates across Europe. To The Earth marks the quartet’s return after the success of Wonder Trail, but strips away the electric aspect of the sophomore release …
Album Review: Elaquent – Forever Is A Pretty Long Time
“The compilation album is a rite of passage for elite hip-hop producers” we are informed by Guelph, Ontario-based producer Elaquent‘s team. It’s true – mixtape culture is still alive and well in the hip-hop scene, while collaborative efforts between producers and artists still frequent wherever you access your music from in this climate. Timbaland, Neptunes, …
Album Review: Disq – Collector
There is definitely something in the water in Madison, Wisconsin. Personal anecdote: I have a good friend from the area who has introduced me to a few bands in that scene. The Hussy, Dharma Dogs, Coordinated Suicides. He didn’t mention to me, however, Disq and yet, I seem already familiar with the acerbic power-pop the …
Album Review: The Hanging Stars – A New Kind of Sky (plus tour news)
Folk music seems to be a genre I dip in-and-out of; the multi-faceted style manages to have different elements that have the roots of traditional folk music underpinning those subversions that make it so sprawling. Anti-folk, neofolk, Americana – there is a list that can go on. Be it the earnest, lo-fidelity accomplishments of Willy …
Album Review: VASA – Heroics
The strewn out, atmospheric introduction to Scottish post-rock group VASA’s latest effort, Heroics, sits well with me, as a fan of the genre. “Childhood” is the album’s equivalent of the THX sting that accompanied movies of a certain period; it fills you with a sense of grandeur for what you are about to expect. It’s …
Album Review: Little Scream – Speed Queen
There’s a certain sun-burnt quality that informed “Dear Leader”, the first single released by Little Scream from her third album Speed Queen. It’s not quite in the realms of Americana, but it comes close. For Laurel Sprengelmeyer (the Little Scream in question, for the uninitiated), that warmth the lead single provided listeners acts not as …
Album Review: Low Hums – Zzyzx
There’s a happening taking place in Seattle, helmed by Low Hums’ “band-guru” Jonas Haskins. Or is it Sanoj Snikhas? Before the references to Manson Family occur though (who are back in the spotlight by virtue of Tarantino’s somewhat polarizing Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood), we are assured that Zzyzx, the fifth release from music-nauts …
Album Review: DZ Deathrays – Positive Rising: Part 1
It would appear some of my fondest memories of Auckland (New Zealand, Aotearoa) have managed to follow me to Backseat Mafia. I recall there was a buzz about a band from over the ditch (Australia. Just Australia) about a noisy three-piece who were of the Blood Brothers ilk. A little bit dance-punk, a touch of …
Album Review: Pixies – Beneath The Eyrie
How many subsequent releases after hiatus subjugate the lineage of a band? Is it one? Two? Three? Should they even reform and create new material anyway? What if it’s bad? Does it then dim the historical importance of a back catalogue? These are questions some Pixies fans, including myself, have asked since the release of …