Album Review: The Offline –‘La grande évasion’: another compelling sonic journey set in cinematic-soul snapshots.
For Felix Müller aka The Offline, a journey is always as important as the destination. His instrumental music, rooted in yester year soul, funk and soundtrack, has an episodic quality, snapshots which compile to reveal an overall mood. It all began in 2022 with the ‘En Clair-Obscur’ EP, a set of sleek instrumentals mapping his …
Album Review: Inwards –‘Free Flow’: Fizzing mod-synth and sampler refreshment straight from the Worcestershire wilds.
Electronic music can often seem fixed on darkness and dystopia, cavernous scale and vastness but Kristian Shelley’s electro-fusion projects as Inwards have always focused on the small things. Inpired by the countryside around his Worcestershire home there’s a folktronica playfulness about his music and a warmth to his quirkiness. Past Inwards tracks been built around …
Album Review: Fabiano do Nascimento – ‘Cavejaz’: a stunning collection of guitar and percussion miniatures.
It may be a decade into the consistent series of impactful releases from composer/guitarist Fabiano do Nascimento but here is a musician who continues to build on his reputation as an innovator both within the MPB world and beyond. A guitarist from the age of ten, his natural affinity for the instrument and intuitive feel …
Album Review: Levitation Orchestra – ‘Sanctuary’: Another expansive, spiritual jazz epic from the London collective.
UK jazz collective Levitation Orchestra show that the creative possibilities of the large ensemble can endure. Lead by trumpeter Axel Kaner-Lidstrom who first brought this group of young, scene-busting players together in 2018, the collective has been gathering momentum ever since. The Levitation Orchestra’s debut album ‘Inexpressible Infinity’ arrived a year after their formation and …
Album Review: Yalla Miku –‘2’: an energetic, ‘post-world’, sonic cocktail direct from the Bongo Joe community.
If ever there was an imprint that was more than just another indie record label it’s Bongo Joe. A musicians’ collective, a community, a shop and watering hole, a barometer of Geneva’s underground scene, an epicentre for ‘post -world’ music, this cutting-edge Swiss co-op is now in its tenth year. Fitting then that Bongo Joe’s …
Album Review: Sessa –‘Pequena Vertigem de Amor’: Uncanny magic and lush funkiness from the rising São Paulo songsmith.
Sergio Sayeg (aka Sessa) is an artist who travels through distances and circumstances with his music. Coming from São Paulo his first pull was towards the psychedelic pop-toned Tropicalia mash-up of Garotas Suecas, a band he guitared and sang with until his family moved to New York. Sessa then made the most of the Big …
Album Review: The Boojums –‘The Boojums’: From garage punk to grunge rock, the Nova Scotian trio never miss the spot.
It seems to have been a while waiting for this debut LP from Nova Scotian power-punk trio The Boojums. Last seen around here on their breakneck showcase gigs with We are Busy Bodies/Having Fun label mates No Frills and Absolute Losers, they caused a mighty stir with their driving dynamism and hook filled momentum. To …
Album Review: Emma Rawicz –‘Inkyra’: Bold, widescreen, dynamic jazz from the irrepressible saxophonist and her explosive band.
You could say prestigious young saxophonist Emma Rawicz is on a roll right now. Just a few months ago she was turning jazz-heads with her exquisite and sumptuous ‘Big Visit’, a duo album with the phenomenal Gwilym Simcock and now in hot pursuit comes her new set ‘Inkyra’ via the ever-discerning ACT. To be completely …
Album Review: Jessica Moss – ‘Unfolding’: The Montreal violinist/composer’s most incisive, inspirational statement to date.
Violinist and composer Jessica Moss has always made instrumental music that speaks out. Her essential work does more than reflect times, events and tragedies, it engages with them and voices our emotions about what is being witnessed or endured. Her last two studio albums, ‘Phosphenes’ from 2021 followed a year later by ‘Galaxy Heart’, captured …
Album Review: Smote –‘Songs From The Free House’: A striking return for the drone rock/ dark folk adventurer.
Daniel Foggin, landscape gardener, guitarist, psych folk expressionist and drone rock interpreter works relentlessly. His creative portal Smote is now five albums into its journey with the venerable Rocket Recordings, an expedition which only began in 2021 with the folk trance deep-dive of ‘Droomin’. Since then Smote music has intensified, from rustic rhythm-driven psychedelic ceremonials …